I was just thinking I realize a series reread could be fun, but who says we need to read them in order. I saw the Book club section and I'm wondering if there will be seven different threads for the seven books or just one giant thread for all the books? I know that I for one would like to read book seven first.

 

I think that'd be an interesting idea, as someone said earlier there was a lot of foreshadowing in the books as early as book 1 and it'd but in perspective to see results and then hints.

Sounds great, I'm in.

 

I'm in. (Even though I said the same thing about the DF bookclub and completely forgot about it...)

 

I'm in for the Halloween idea, but that's mainly cuz I'm reading other shit right now and could use the delay.

 

Start a poll. I would prefer that we start as soon as possible, but if more people want it to start on Halloween, then that's obviously what we should do.

 

I'm tentatively in. I've been meaning to do a reread for a while, but unsure if i'll manage to stick it out through the whole series. Easy on the starting date.

 

I'm definitely in, can start on either Monday or Halloween, no difference to me.

 

I'm in! Monday is perfect.

 

I'm in, havent had a chance to read the books in a while, though depending on my sched, may not stick to the exact reading schedule

 

So, has it been decided? Are we starting tomorrow or on Halloween?

 

Just saw this. Have been thinking about doing a re-read myself. Totally in.

And yeah, lets start on Halloween.

 

I had actually started my very own reread some weeks ago but then didn't get far due to real life. As I will have more time soon, I'm also in.

Voting for Halloween.

 

What do people think about having a companion thread for every book we read to talk about the movie? People don't have to do both but could be fun to watch the movies around the same time and compare it to the book.

 

So have we started? I'm almost finished rereading book one and I have a few thoughts.

 

I have a potential amendment to my own proposed schedule. Thankfully, it isn't one that'll affect the date we start.

As it seems to have been agreed upon, the re-reading will begin on Halloween. However, doing some quick arithmetic, it turns out that exactly 26 weeks from Halloween is the week of May the 1st, 2017. And as we all know, Voldemort was defeated in the early morning of May the 2nd.

As appropriate as it is to begin the re-read with the day Harry became the Boy-Who-Lived, doesn't it also seem rather appropriate to end it just before the day he defeated Voldemort?

However, shortening the schedule from 28 weeks to 26 weeks would require us to read more at one time for at least two books. To that end, I would suggest reading more of Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix per week, to reduce the time to complete the former to 4 weeks and the latter to 6 weeks. In the current schedule, Goblet of Fire is completed in 5 weeks and Order of the Phoenix in 7 weeks.

(I would definitely appreciate if anyone else can confirm that the 26th week, including the initial week beginning with Halloween, is indeed the week beginning with Monday, May the 1st. Otherwise, everything I say after this is a moot point.)

Here's my breakdown of the consequences between the two options:

(A) Retain the current schedule as is.

Pros:

• The additional two weeks compared to the amendment ensures that there's an even, predictable pace as far as the amount of words read per week. It helps to further ensure that just about anyone, even if very busy, will be able to do the readings.
• If it isn't broken, don't fix it. As Taure said, the "fun part is the reading of the books and the discussion it generates," not necessarily any particular symbolic gesture.

Cons:

• Given the agreement to start on Halloween, it seems annoyingly asymmetric to not conclude the re-read on a similarly thematically appropriate date.
• Ending on some random week doesn't seem as fun as the proposed amendment.

(B) Amend the schedule as suggested, to reduce the time down to 26 weeks.

Pros:

• More thematic backing, especially considering that the re-read is beginning on Halloween.
• Shorter time ensures that the re-read is finished sooner rather than later and at an even six months.

Cons:

• Shorter reading time also means there's a somewhat more cramped schedule as far as assigned readings are concerned.
• The proposed schedule would create a somewhat less regular schedule, wheretwo of the books would be re-read and discussed at a faster pace compared to the others.
• Again, like the PRO in (A), this might just be a needless symbolic gesture that just adds a little more frustration than it does fun.

So, what say you DLP?

In any case, the proposed amended schedule is enclosed below in spoiler tags,

Proposed amendment to schedule:

Spoiler

Week 1: Philosopher's Stone, Ch. 1 - 9
Week 2: Philosopher's Stone, Ch. 10 - 17

Week 3: Chamber of Secrets, Ch. 1- 9
Week 4: Chamber of Secrets, Ch. 10 - 18

Week 5: Prisoner of Azkaban, Ch. 1 - 7
Week 6: Prisoner of Azkaban, Ch. 8 - 15
Week 7: Prisoner of Azkaban, Ch. 16 - 22

Week 8: Goblet of Fire, Ch. 1 - 10
Week 9: Goblet of Fire, Ch. 11 - 19
Week 10: Goblet of Fire, Ch. 20 - 28
Week 11: Goblet of Fire, Ch. 29 - 37

Week 12: Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 1 - 7
Week 13: Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 8 - 13
Week 14: Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 14 - 19
Week 15: Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 20 - 25
Week 16: Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 26 - 31
Week 17: Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 32 - 38

Week 18: Half-Blood Prince, Ch. 1 - 8
Week 19: Half-Blood Prince, Ch. 9 - 15
Week 20: Half-Blood Prince, Ch. 16 - 22
Week 21: Half-Blood Prince, Ch. 23 - 30

Week 22: Deathly Hallows, Ch. 1 - 8
Week 23: Deathly Hallows, Ch. 9 - 15
Week 24: Deathly Hallows, Ch. 16 - 22
Week 25: Deathly Hallows, Ch. 23 - 29
Week 26: Deathly Hallows, Ch. 30 - 36 & Epilogue

 

I agree with this proposal wholeheartedly. Let's get symbolic!

 

I'm in favour of the amendment too.

 

Symbolism for the win!

 

As with the choice of Halloween as a start date, my vote is against this on the basis that the symbolism has no practical benefits. However, I suspect I will be outvoted again.