Friday, August 17, 2007

If You Give a Boy a Toolbox...

If you give a little boy his own tool box, he is going to want to use it.
When he starts to use it, he is going to need things to use the tools on, including the screwdrivers.
To use the screwdriver, he will need to unscrew screws.
When he unscrews screws, they will fall out.
When they fall out, they will get lost.
After they get lost, you will continue to find them, even on the kitchen table, and not know which injured appliance or toy they go to.
But you will find them
and find them
and find them.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Accio, Book 7

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at 1:03 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25. I then got to have lunch that day with two friends (who had finished on Sunday morning) to compare notes. A few of the things that I still wonder about:

Does having a portrait done make a wizard immortal? Because they definitely get to continue to participate in activities through the portraits. Hell, Sirius's mother is probably still wailing behind a curtain somewhere.

And where were Ron and Hermione when Harry kept looking for them at Hogwarts and no one knew where they had disappeared to. I kept expecting them to show up with Moaning Myrtle or something and her to hold the key to the Ravenclaw Diadem.

My favorite passage:
"I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great Hall in twenty minutes, also," said Professor McGonagall. "If you wish to leave with your students, we shall not stop you. But if any of you attempt to sabotage our resistace or take up arms against us within the castle, then, Horace, we duel to kill."

"Minerva!" he said, aghast.

Since we've hit the halfway point yearwise, I thought I would publish my books read to date. This list doesn't include many of the children's books I've read with Garrett. The latest is Socks by Beverly Cleary. Oh, if only there was a sequel!

2007 Reading List
January
Old School by Tobias Wolff
One More Day by Mitch Albom
Ice Storm by Rick Moody
Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
February
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
March
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
All Saints by Liam Callanan
Persuasion by Jane Austen
April
Dead Father’s Club by Matt Haig
Mockingbird
May
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff
Grayson by Lynn Cox
June
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Grass Angel by Julie Schumacher
Warm Springs by Susan Shreve
July
Kiss Me Tomorrow by Susan Shreve
Stealing Buddha’s Dinner
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman