Magic

I preface my remarks here by stating that I don't like books that are just about people's lives. I just don't. I don't say this from lack of experience, but rather from too much experience. I have read a bunch of them, and I just prefer fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, space opera, and even some historical fiction.

For example, when I turn to the bookshelf that is to my right while I'm sitting here, I see Tom Clancy x2, Michael Crichton, Douglas Adams, Huebner, Anne McCaffery x5, Orson Scott Card x3, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, a Sherlock Holmes collection, Mercedes Lackey, a history of Kane County UT (family history), and 4 books of coins from my childhood collection.

See any "people" stories there? My mom loves them. My sister likes them too, I think. But I tried Cold Sassy Tree, Homeland, Like Water for Chocolate, and many others. People live. They die. They have children. They don't have children. Life is depressing. Life is normal. Life is happy. People just seem to exist in these books without there being any point.

Full post - you probably want to wait until you've read the book

So now you know the prejudices with which I started Magic. I was prepared to suffer through it for the good of the group, since other people seem to like that sort of book. I thought I'd be able to post a little rant about how boring it was, and what I could have done with the hours I wasted reading it, etc.

But.

Yes there is a but. I'm not afraid to admit that I was wrong. Oh, not completely wrong - there are far too many books without interesting plots that I just don't want to read, even if many many people find them fantastic. But Magic was just fine.

I think the biggest things that kept the book interesting to me were (a) the mystery - not knowing the story of how Livvy ended up pregnant; (b) Livvy's first person voice; and (c) the book actually went somewhere and did something.

And maybe it's a sign of growing up a bit that Livvy's story was interesting to me because it resonated with challenges I've had in recent years. No, I haven't been practically cast out of my family after falling in love with a soldier who abandoned me, leaving me stuck out on a farm which feels practically like another planet. But life just has a way of not following the course I plot for it. I think I see a future, I plan and plan for it - thinking of all the ways to make everything turn out the way I want, and it just falls apart. Nothing goes as planned. And then the future changes from a bright, happy place I've built in my imagination into a dark, uncertain place where anything can happen and there are no guarantees that I'll like what happens. And yet, as we do something new, it becomes more normal, more a part of us, and I find that maybe I would miss it if I hadn't had the chance.

By the way, I think this is called "growth" and "stretching" and "growing up" and probably other uncomfortable-sounding terms. Yes, life is uncomfortable. But it keeps us looking in new directions and hopefully becoming better people. I'm still trying to convince my self of that. Oops - enough personal philosophy there. :)

So Magic is okay - not fantastic - but it was a short and engaging story. I didn't really like Ray's almost slavish devotion to his new wife - there wasn't really a reason for him to even like her, much less fall in love with her. He just seemed too ... perfect? And I wanted to kick Livvy a few times and tell her to get her head back together because she kept trying to think of a way back to the life she had left. But really, she actually came around a lot faster than I ever have in real life. Months? That's pretty quick to redirect everything, from losing a mother and virtually losing a father, and losing your "chance" and your dreams - months was pretty fast to figure out that maybe life wasn't bad - just different.

As for Rose & Lorelei - I guess maybe their parallel story was kind of interesting, and it provided some plot or actions when nothing was really happening between Livvy & Ray. So, while some reviews that I read thought they were pointless, the story would either have been a lot shorter or pretty boring without them.

Will I read it again? Probably not. Do I regret reading it? No. Would I recommend it? Sure.

Anyone else ready to watch the movie soon?

Well, I must say that I think that I'm going to have to read Harry Potter again, just to digest it all the second time around. So much HAPPENED!

First of all, I heard J.K. say in an interview that she always thought that Snape would be a hero...I don't really think that I would have called Snape a "hero". I think that is too generous a word for him. I think that he is afterall a decent guy, but still I think that I need to read the book again. :)

Plus, I am so very excited that we are reading "Magic..." It is such a good book.....enjoy it on your vacation Julie C.

The movie is almost as good as the book.

Reading Something New

I think our next suggestion was The Magic of Ordinary Days, by Ann Howard Creel. It just came in on hold at the library for me. Since it is also a movie, maybe we could have a movie night at the end of August or early September? I'm taking the book on vacation with me next week, so I should have something to say about it afterwards.

Now, as for Harry Potter :)
Yes, this contains SPOILERS. If you haven't read it by now, it's your own fault if you go reading about it on the internet, isn't it?

Harry Potter part of this post.

So much to say ... how do I even begin.

I liked it. Why did I like it? I think that most of all I like good to triumph over evil, and I didn't want Harry to have to die. But I was enjoying the book even before the ending - I could empathize with Harry better in this book, now that he was less of a volatile brat; I felt that the characters showed a lot of growing up; I liked the little mysteries within the book (Aberforth, for example); I liked how the plot didn't try to follow every group of characters but instead stayed with Harry and yet still kept you aware enough of what else was going on that you could interpolate the rest; there was a really cool fight scene; and I really really liked that Snape was on Harry's side...

I think I better stop there. It was well written. It hung together. It pulled together the people and plots of the previous books to make a cohesive and interesting ending. And that was remarkable.

A few things still stuck out as a little odd - like Kreacher's easy conversion to loving Harry, for example. And while I'm glad that Harry could see Dumbledore again, I'm also glad that Rowling didn't try to explain more about where they were. And why was there a mewling ugly baby-ish thing there with them? Was that the part of Voldemort that had been in Harry? If so, once it was out of him, why didn't it go on and die? Why was Dumbledore there anyway? And why was it important for Dumbledore to have a "past"? It didn't really add anything for me to know that - but it could have been way more forced and stilted of an "explanation section".

Did I mention (yes, I know I did) that I'm glad Snape was on the right side? It just wouldn't have been right otherwise.

And the epilogue - that was cool. Especially the Malfoys being there and still being distant - it just made it seem more real. Well, as real as a book.

Although this may have been slightly rambling, it's really only a small portion of the thoughts rambling through my head. Anyone else have a favorite part? Things they didn't like?