24 / 50 books. 48% done!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)

Obviously, this was a re-read for me, but I have to say that I got a lot more out of it than I did the first time. For starters, I caught a lot more jokes, hints and other details I missed the first time out and actually enjoyed this book much more the second time around.

I realized that I almost always like Harry Potter books better the second time around. I realize that this is because I tend to totally race through them. I don’t race through a book like Lemony Snicket or Artemis Fowl, I savor each word and even reread bits.

I think the difference is that there is no danger of any of those books being spoiled for me by the CNN crawl.

For the sake of variety, instead of reading the print book this time around, I did the audio book. Jim Dale is a very talented fellow and he does a great job with the Peter and the Starcatcher books. In that book he is like many distinct different people. That said, everyone in Harry Potter sounds so much alike that its actually really confusing to listen to. Also, he has all of the female characters say Ha-reeeeeeeeeeeee in the most annoying way in the world and it was really grating on me by the end. I was disappointed based on my past experience with him.

23 / 50 books. 46% done!

The Picture of Dorian Grey

It’s a classic, I said to myself. How bad can it be?

I honestly think that, had I read an abridged version with the dull bits cut out, I would have really liked this book. Sadly, I didn’t and spent most of it bored to tears.

22 / 50 books. 44% done!

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

This was just an amazing book. I usually have no patience for fiction based on reality but I really loved this and it was somehow a page turner without anything much happening.

I have informed my husband that if he lies to me about our future babies I will have no choice but to kill him. He conceded that this seemed fair.