A case of Harry Potter fever

I have been looking for things to read, especially as I seem to have quite a lot of time sitting around the college and sometimes spare hours to pass on night shift. It was during such a hunt that I stumbled across some ebooks on a torrent site I use and started downloading like mad. By the time I had finished I had built up quite the collection on my phone ( which as it turns out is working quite well in lieu of an ebook reader) but instead of diving into something new and different I found myself beginning Harry Potter. I, like most people have read and thoroughly enjoyed the Harry Potter series having read them shortly after they first came out. I also listened to the incredibly lovely audio books as read by Stephen Fry and watched all the movies. Naturally I agree the books were best but overall its a fantastic series. I am certain most people feel this sort of warm nostalgia towards the books, the only notable exception I know of is my boyfriend who refuses to have anything to do with book, movie or reference that is in any way Harry Potter tinged so you can only imagine how much he is enjoying being in my company at the moment.

 So yes I loved the books when they first came out, I think four had been published when I was first introduced to the series and I would have been in my late teens at the time, my nephew who was only 8 or 9 at the time, had steered them my way. I remember my impatience at waiting for the new books to be released and having to share them with other family members. At one point my brother was reading either book 5 or 6 and he was taking such a long time that I begged him to just let me have it for one nights and he eventually caved, allowing me to devour it and return it read before he'd really noticed it missing. At the time I was struck by how fully JK Rowling engulfs you in this fictional world that she has constructed so cleverly. I remember seeing the first movie and feeling in a way like I had already watched it because while reading it I had such vivid images in my head of the scenes unfolding. 

 So I read the last Harry Potter book and watched the last movie and then put away those stories to be remembered as classics I had read while growing up. When I first discovered the audiobooks several years ago I found them to be incredibly comforting both Stephen Fry's voice and the story I felt I knew so well and of course the experience of being read to , which is essentially what an audiobook provides, is like recreating a part of your childhood. 
I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed the books upon rereading as well as how many of the details I had forgotten over time so I have been enjoying being surprised all over again. It is probably the only discernible benefit of having a memory like mine. 
I started book one on Sunday night  and flew through the first two on my ebook reader. Then  I had the genius idea of listening to the prisoner of azkaban (book 3) as I walked to college and catching up where I had left off later with the ebook and so combining the two I have had Harry Potter in my head all day long plus a far more pleasant walk to college. I did try listening to a bit in bed one night but it was soothing I fell asleep before he finished a sentence so it didn't really work. I have listened while cooking or lying on my couch and that works quite well. I just finished book 4 this afternoon and I am feeling fully immersed, I had some dreams involving magic the other night and while there is part of me that doesn't want to stop, there's another part of me that knows that at this rate I'll need something else for next week and I am going to be feeling a bit lost. I have also been dropping lots of Harry Potter references into conversation with Stephen which is lots of fun, especially when it takes him a moment to realise I am not just being strange (well not on this occasion) 

 I do have Roald Dahl ebooks stored up so perhaps this is where my trip down memory lane will take me next and after that who knows. For now though I need to get stuck into book 5, It seems you know who is rising to power again and I just can't remember how this one turns out. 

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