Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsby J. K. Rowling

Published in 2007. 759 pages.


I didn't think that this final book in the series could possibly be satisfying to me - but I was wrong. My daughters, Jelly Bean and Sugar Plum, read it first - both of them in less than three days combined - but I didn't get to it until this week, and it took me four days to get through it. But I've just finished it - and I think J. K. Rowling did a great job concluding the story!

Dewey has created a blog for discussing Deathly Hallows, while keeping our own blogs spoiler-free - so that's where I'm headed next. (Click here to join me.)

By the way, this is the first of my four books for Beach Blanket Bonanza - books I'm reading this summer just for fun!

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New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Published in 2006. 563 pages.


After finishing this second teen vampire novel by Stephenie Meyer, I'm still completely enamoured of her writing - and of her character Edward Cullen!

Both of my daughters read New Moon before I did, and Jelly Bean especially is obsessed with this series. She heartily recommends the Twilight Lexicon website to find out more. (By the way, School Library Journal labeled New Moon as "Grade 9 Up". Sugar Plum, who is in sixth grade, is a fantastic reader, so the reading level wasn't beyond her ability. I didn't find any of the content inappropriate for her either.)

I'd promised my daughters that as soon as I finished New Moon, I'd take them out to lunch and we'd have a Read Together book discussion. Knowing that I had a day off work today and that Sugar Bear would be at Kidz Kamp this afternoon, I'd been trying all week to get the book finished. I finally read the last of it this morning, and we went to Food for Thought for lunch and had a great discussion! I asked each of the girls to come up with two or three discussion questions, and they did a great job.

This sequel to Twilight picks up right after Twilight ends, and I'm anticipating that Eclipse, due out next month, will continue where New Moon ended. I love the characters of this series, and while I am not aware of the existence of any vampires in my life, the story lines seem plausible nonetheless. I was on the verge of tears at several points in New Moon as I struggled along with Bella about her feelings for Edward and for Jacob.

I do think I liked Twilight better than New Moon, but I whole-heartedly recommend this series! All three of us - mother, 16yo daughter, and 11yo daughter - are great fans of Stephenie Meyer!

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Read Together

Jennifer at Snapshot is hosting a "reading together" program for parents and children this summer. When she invited me to join, I was all over the idea!

Sugar Plum (my 11yo) and I have already decided we are going to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Holes. We will most likely read these independently and then discuss them. I'm really looking forward to talking to her about these books, because she always has some great insights about the books she reads.

Jelly Bean (m 16yo) has to read one of a list of four books this summer in preparation for her English class this fall. One of the four is Frankenstein, which I have been meaning to read for many years, so I told her I'd read it too. She'll probably read three or four of the four - so I may as well. (The others are King Lear, Wuthering Heights, and Great Expectations.)

Sugar Bear (my 8yo) is not a big reader, so I'm hoping to find something that he and I can read together. Maybe we'll try Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but I don't really know yet.

If you'd like to read with your children this summer, head over to Snapshot and sign up!