Date Night with Harry Potter

So, Chris and I had a date night a couple of weeks ago, with Harry Potter. I have always been an HP fan, and thanks to our own Book It challenge, Chris was forced to read all 7 of the Harry Potter book too! (In exchange, I have to read the LOTR trilogy, yea.)

Anyway, with the impending release of the last film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, we decided to both read the entire set and watch all of the movies in time to watch the final movie together. It was a lot of fun for me to watch Chris experience all of what is Harry Potter for the first time! And, of course I really enjoyed re-reading all of the books again and watching all of the movies in a row. It's funny because I hadn't seen the movies in so long that it felt like they were almost new again!

Chris, being an awesome husband, decided we should go all out and bought tickets to view the Deathly Hallows Part 1 at a local theater and then stay to catch the midnight viewing of Part 2! It was a long work-night for us "old people," but definitely worth it. The Potter-style 3D glasses were a pretty sa-weet souvenir too, if I do say so myself.

It was bittersweet to watch the series come to an end. I've been reading the books and watching the movies for probably almost a decade. I've always been waiting in anticipation for the next book, or the next movie, and now the waiting is over. I loved the movie (even though, like most HP book-lovers, I did have a few issues with the interpretation and changes...). I loved watching how much the actors have grown-up, and how much the movies have "grown-up." While this might be the end, I don't think I'll ever get sick of reading the books and watching the movies. Someday, I hope my kids can like the series as much as I have!

BOOK IT!

Did any of you participate in Book It as kids? Chris and I definitely did!

For those of you that didn't participate in Book It - and I know you are out there - here is how it works: your K-6 teacher enrolls in the program, he/she sets some sort of reading goal for the students (for us, it was to read 5-6 book), and once the goal is completed, the teacher gives the student a coupon to Pizza Hut (we got a FREE Personal Pan Pizza).

Old school Book It! Pin (doobybrain.com)

Whenever we completed one of our books, we got a sticker to put on the stars of these Book It pins. I know that I *secretly* loved showing off my pin full of stickers. And, I swear, Danielle and I still have our old Book It pins lying around somewhere in our her room at our parents' house! The best part was the free personal pizza with the topping of my choice - most likely bacon. And, while I enjoyed collecting the stickers and pins and picking out my own topping of my own pizza, I bet my parents loved Book It even more than us kids because for them it meant a family dinner out, without having to pay to feed us! Win, win situation for all. Let's hope Book It is still around when we decide to have kids . . .

Anyway, on to the point of this post... Chris and I, missing those personal pan pizzas, decided to create our own Book It program, for adults. It all started when Chris realized that I had not read many "classic" and "great" books, such as 1984 and the Lords of the Rings Trilogy, and, that despite his constant haranguing, I still did not read them. (Not only did I not have time to start reading a book like Don Quixote, but I was stubborn and refused to start reading LOTR when Chris had not read Harry Potter.)

So, we decided that we would each read 10 of the other person's favorite books (that we had not already read), and, after we each completed the 10, we would reward ourselves with Personal Pan pizzas from Pizza Hut! Hence, our Book It program, for adults!

Chris' Favorite Books that I have to read:

1. 1984, George Orwell

2. Animal Farm, George Orwell

3. Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes

4. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

5-7. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

8. Candide, Voltaire

9. The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov

10. Dr. Faustus (David Mamet) Doctor Faustus (Thomas Mann), Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), OR, The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

  

My Favorite Books that Chris has to read:

1-7. Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling
8. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
9. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
10. Emma OR Mansfield Park, Jane Austen

In reality, we have actually already started this "contest." Chris has finished up the Harry Potter books (just in time for the final movie in July!), and I have read 3 of his books (Since, I have been busy finishing up this semester's classes). Right now, Chris is struggling through Tolstoy, while I am contemplating when to tackle Don Quixote . . . But, soon enough our brains will be full of new books and we'll be enjoying that sweet sweet pizza!

Any thoughts on our book choices? Anyone else have crazy awesome memories of Book It? Or, do you have no idea what I'm talking about?!