I feel like I would be a bad person if I didn't post something Harry Potter related today. And so, if you will excuse me, I will now ramble on about my feelings on the series. I shall try to be spoiler-free, but no promises. This is more something for me to look back on in 10 years and sniffle a little, rather than a blog post meant for other people. But as I don't keep a journal, here we go:

I was one of those stubborn children who refused to read Harry Potter just because everyone else was. Thank HEAVENS my grandmother is a teacher, and was able to finally convince me to read the series. I've never regretted it.

There are very few books that you can say changed your life. I think we can honestly say that Harry Potter changed the world. Even if you don't like it, or you adore it, you must admit that you've heard of it, and seen its effects.

I have never been a loud fan, I enjoy talking quietly with people about the books, and expressing my love in simple ways (I've been wearing an owl necklace all week). My favorite part of the books is when I would finish one, then immediately call up my friends and begin to discuss what it all might mean.

Over the last month I have been re-listening to all the audiobooks so that I can be as prepared as possible for the movie. I am glad to say that the audiobooks don't make me cry like the regular books. It would be very odd for me to begin sobbing while dusting the bookshelves at work.

This re-reading has given me a lot of questions. What's the American school for witchcraft? When is Hermione's birthday? How old is Voldemort? He must be over 60. If wizards have such a hard time dressing like muggles, why do so many seem to wear suits? These questions aren't really important, but they show how much I love this world. I want to know EVERYTHING.

HOWEVER, the books themselves make me sob every time. Last week (just for the heck of it) I decided to re-read the epilogue at the end of the last book. This was a mistake. I kept randomly bursting into tears throughout the day. Isn't it an amazing thing that a BOOK-- a fictional story-- can do that to a person?

And now, I would like to express my thanks to certain people who made the books so wonderful for me:

Dear Ron,

• Thank you for being the comic relief. This series would be incredibly sad without you.

Dear Hermione,

• Thank you for showing the world how cool it is to be smart.

Dear Ginny,

• I was totally apathetic towards you when I first read the books, but now I like you quite a lot. Thanks for being spunky.

Dear Neville,

• Thanks for never letting people get you down. You always know how to bounce right back, and are a great example of bravery. (And you totally deserved to grow up to be super-hot. Seriously. Have you seen the actor who plays him?)

Dear Dumbledore,

• Thank you for being the wisest person I've ever known. Some of the things you said will be in my heart forever.

Dear McGonagall,

• Thank you for being my favorite character. I want to be you when I grow up.

Dear Hagrid,

• Thanks for being loyal to a fault, and loving things that no one else does.

Dear Sirius,

• I'm pretty pissed at you, actually. I was scarred for life after book 5. That's just not right.

Dear Ravenclaw house,

• Thank you for being totally unnoticed and yet awesome. Seriously. Griffindor and Slytherin get all the attention. Even Hufflepuff gets a lot of attention (both because of Cedric Diggory in book 4, and just by the fact that it's a ridiculous house). You were always in the background (despite Cho Chang) and yet I know I would have been in your house. Much love.

Dear T & L,

• Thank you for being my favorite couple. I have a hard time thinking about you without getting teary.

Dear Harry,

• Thank you for inspiring a fabulous series. Thank you for always being brave, even though you were stupid a lot. In fact, I DON'T thank you for your attitude throughout all of book 5. I know you were going through the throes of puberty, but still, you were a jerk.

Dear Snape,

• Thanks for just being awesome.

I think that covers all the big ones... Perhaps I'll add more as they come to me.

And that's all I have to say.

All right, here's that bookshelf tour I promised. It's a pretty rough video, but you get the general idea.

December is a hard month for me. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my FAVORITE months. No school, Christmas, giving gifts, getting gifts.

However, it's also when my tuition payment is due. Oh, and giving all of those gifts costs money, and you have to buy new books for the new semester, and I still owe my dad $70 for my phone bill (we're on a family plan); and that whole "no-school" thing is really great, but I work as a teaching assistant, and so no school = no money.

I always find a way, though. I've got my tuition almost completely paid, I've bought all of my Christmas gifts, my dad's willing to wait a week for his money, and I've got all of my textbooks except one.

And that one is giving me a lot of trouble. I can't find it ANYWHERE for a decent price. I can buy it USED for $69, or NEW on Amazon for $72. Blah! It's one of the cheaper of my textbooks, but that's still a pretty penny. And I didn't know what to do about it. I spent all morning brainstorming on where I could cut back expenses. I haven't bought anything for myself in weeks. I have enough gas to last me the month. So... what?

Ready for the miracle part?

While I was studying for my last final, I took a break to check my e-mail and saw this:


I froze. Certainly this must be a joke. Some spam.

But no. I participated in Book Blogger Holiday Swap and Trisha is my secret Santa! With the gift card came a note that said something had gone wrong with the shipping of my gifts, and she was so sorry that I had to buy my own books.

Trisha, don't be sorry, you're my own personal Christmas miracle!

Would I rather use the GC to buy some fun books for myself? Yes. But that can wait. The GC won't cover the whole text book (that would have caused me to have a Christmas Heart Attack), but it'll cover a good chunk. I just about cried.

Thank you SO much, Trisha. Readers, go follow her blog right now. For serious. Click here to see it. It's called eclectic / eccentric, and it's really cool. I've been browsing through it all day. But now, back to studying.

Life is good.

No "real" post today because I spent all day performing Austenland. It was so, so fabulous. Thank you to everyone who came.

And what made it even better? I came home to this:



No, I don't actually have a copy of the book, just this not-quite-completed image. But that is enough for now my friends. Just the fact that it's coming 1 year from now gets me all excited.

A good day.

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for our family tradition of going to see a movie. It's sometimes the only movie I see in a theatre all year! We're going to see Tangled today. I'm excited.

I'm also thankful that no one in my family really likes turkey dinners. Instead we're having chicken cacciatore! YUM!

What about you? What are you thankful for? Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions?

We interrupt this last day of the Birthday Bash to bring you: THE BEST NEWS EVER!!!

The fabulous Kiersten White, author of the amazing book Paranormalcy and ruler of all things cool and short (have I mentioned her before?), had a contest to take a picture of yourself with Paranormalcy doing something cool. I bought two copies, so I was allowed to take two pictures. I have included my pictures below:


That, my friends, is a real liger! It is not a real live liger, but it is a liger nonetheless.

Okay. So I will answer your questions later, but first I have to say this.

Imagine my ABSOLUTE JOY when I went to the mailbox and discovered this:

  
Except mine was WAY cooler than this because it came in shiny green packaging (That I'm NEVER going to throw away) has a nifty "Advanced Reader's Copy" thing in the corner, is signed by the author, and the cover ROCKS MY SOCKS OFF! That picture above is NOT right. Not even a little. I hope the hardcover doesn't look like that, because (while I did think it was gorgeous BEFORE) I'm totally addicted to what the cover looks like in person.

LOOK AT THIS!!! SHINY!!!




Isn't that the most FANTABULOUS thing you've EVER seen? Oh. My. Word. As you can see, the cover is NOT grey at all! It's a fabulous pure white that sparkles like the rainbow when the light hits it!

Now all I have to do is read it... Tee hee.