Consumed.

My blogging attentions have been diverted for the past several days by an old friend...

Yes, I know that I am revealing my inner-geek by confessing my Potter-adoration but I cannot deny that these books are seriously addicting.  On a whim I picked up The Deathly Hollows on Sunday and I literally have not been able to put it down.  When I have not been at work or asleep I have been glued to my couch, curled up in a down comforter, and reliving Harry's final adventure.  I have even gone so far as to read late into the night by flashlight so Rob can sleep and I can keep reading (does that sound familiar, Beaner?). Add this in with the blustery October weather and you have a recipe for what I like to call "good book weather" where all I want to do is stay inside, devote myself to a book, and enjoy the coziness of the season.

For me, reading these books is like flipping through my adolescence. I grew up with Harry.  My impressionable teenage years were spent eagerly awaiting the books each summer and watching the movies in the fall.  And as you can see, my enthusiasm has not lessened over the years...In fact it has probably only been enhanced as I have reread them.  Specific memories are attached to each book and it spans from my 8th grade year to my early twenties.  These books were read in my room, others were poured over while I was in Rexburg, Alaska, or D.C.  The last four were accompanied by tears others were accompanied by outbursts of laughter and delight.  While reading Harry I learned how to drive, made lifelong friends, met Rob, and got married.  I had adventures of my own but these books were always a constant source of anticipation, excitement, and curiosity. 

Although I read it last summer with the rest of world, I obviously read this book too fast to absorb the details.   Now that I am experiencing it the second time I realize that along with providing an entertaining read, these books have given me a mental vacation of escape.  The world is completely fictional but the events, the deaths, the lives are all real to me because I equate them to specific periods of my life.  And now each twist and turn in The Deathly Hollows is new, each death (of the many) is equally traumatic, and the story is even more gripping than I remembered.  I am so sad that I no longer have these books to look forward too each summer.  Pathetic, yes, but true nonetheless. I will miss reading about Harry.

So now I am left with a book void.  I know that many of you will recommend Twilight, but does anyone have a good book that they can recommend?