#64 "The People of Sparks" by Jeanne DuPrau

For a  book with such a promising first chapter, this sequal was as slow moving as the first. But now that I'm two books in, I suppose I should finish the series.

#58 "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau

As far as reading children's lit as an adult, this book is a low priority. It doesn't really grab your interest until the last 20 pages, and by then you've already decided not to read the next three sequels. But if you enjoy distopian children's lit, pick this one up after you've read Among the Hidden and The Runaway.

#57 "The Vile Village" by Lemony Snicket

Finally at home, I'm able to read these in physical form. But surprisingly this is slowing down the process.

But the Baudelaires are now runaways, which means this series is over half-way finished!

#56 "The Ersatz Elevator" by Lemony Snicket

While trying to finish all of your chores in a few days, and pack up your non-backpacking life into bags of the proper size and weight for international air travel, it is best to select books that are entertaining and quickly read.

Dear Lord, Snicket's writing style has gotten into my head. But at least I'm almost back on schedule! Now let's see how many books I can finish before I get home...

#55 "The Austere Academy" by Lemony Snicket

The plot thickens. If you're ever in search of a children's series with a plot practically as twisted as LOTR, this one is up your alley.

#46 "The Wide Window" by Lemony Snicket

Three out of 13. I need a break and some adult lit now.

#45 "The Reptile Room" by Lemony Snicket

Two down, 11 to go.

#44 "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket

I read these books for years. I got them every birthday and Christmas from my Grandma once I hit that age where she no longer knew what to get me. But I never made it to the end of the series.

A few summers ago I read the first two and a half books with a kid I was baby sitting and realized I did actually still care who Beatrice is and how the Baudelairs finally escape Count Olaf. Childish as it may be, I'm going to read them all the way to The End.

#32 "Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen" by J.K. Rowling

It took me longer than is completely reasonable, but I finally read a real, proper, full length book in German. Yes, it's Harry Potter but come on, this is my second language and with 4 years of language classes in high school and 7 months of living here I've finally gotten to the point where I can pick up any book or print media and read it (rather slowly and occasionally with some vocab help) and comprehend it! This is very exciting for me folks!

#29 "Fantastic Mr. Fox" by Roald Dahl

This is a crazy short book. Like the movie, which I loved, it's not quite kid-appropriate, but I love the twisted logic of the whole thing. Dahl of course is a slightly insane and thoroughly enjoyable author. And at 56 pages Fox provides a solid half hour of humor and humankind's expense.

#10 "The Secret Seven" by Enid Blyton

The Secret Seven is the first of a series of British children's mystery novels. It's beautifully written in the same style as Nancy Drew and The Horse Masters. Simple, but clever. Though they are children's books, intended for an 8 year old, and written in 1973, I enjoyed this first book immensely. For what it was. I would love to read this book with an advanced reader of a younger age, someone who will laugh out loud at the funny bits and be genuinely thrilled when the mystery is solved.

Thanks to Blyton I will also be adding "delumptious" to my wombination vocabulary.

#2 "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

I grew up with Harry Potter. I'm proud to be part of that generation and that fandom. 7 and 3 have always been my favorite books. So when I needed some brain candy to fill the hours between thesising when I can't stand to be looking at my computer screen any more, I rely on Potter for some light comedy (actually I rely on Potter for some angst drama and Fred and George Weasley for some light comedy).

This week was no different. I blazed through 7 for what has got to be the 6th or 23rd time, worrying less about plot and more about dialog and details that you forget when you haven't read the book in two years.

If you've had some reservation about reading the Harry Potter series, or you don't read it any more because you're a "grown up" and you don't think you should be reading that kind of lit, I have one piece of advise: get over yourself, and enjoy the written word.

A side story: Somewhere in the Xenophelious Lovegood chapter I was reading the mere two paragraph description of Luna's room and a memory came back to me from reading 7 the first time. My dad and I read every. single. Harry Potter book aloud. 1-3 he read to me. 4 we read together in the last year when I deemed it acceptable to be sitting on a parent's lap. 5 we took turns reading aloud while the other painted my bed room a hideous red color that I should never have chosen. 6 we read independently as much as we could but we read it at the same time and only had one copy so most nights ended with my dad reading a few chapters aloud before bed. And 7 we read aloud while driving through France. I read aloud during the day as he drove and at night he read aloud while I studied maps choosing our route and marking the sites we wanted to see.

In the Xenophelious Lovegood chapter, when Harry describes the portraits that Luna painted on the ceiling and the one word written in gold entwining them, "friends". And reading that moment aloud my dad was very touched. He explained to me how real that was. How he wanted me to be the kind of person who made people like Luna happy by genuinely becoming their friends. How everyone needs friends, more than we let on. He became so emotional over the whole thing that there were tears. I have only seen my dad cry because of emotions four times in my life. Once when he left the house because my parents were separating. Both times we had to put our dogs down. And once over Luna Lovegood's ceiling.

The Harry Potter series is not the best written, advanced, or exciting collection. But when you allow yourself to be open to it, your life gets stuck between the pages. Rereading these books on a nearly annual basis I am always reminded that it's not the characters or the plot lines that keep me turning the pages, it's the cheetos dust finger print at the top of a page in book 3, the first mention of Hermione in book 4 which I tried to read aloud to my parents and they couldn't understand who Her-me-own was, and the memory of overwhelming emotion and connection to characters that ultimately gave the people in my own life depth. These books are great because they hold memories. At least, that's why I read mine over and over.