Ready to be Potter-fied!

My progress on the two blog posts I have been crafting has stalled. I have been a little too distracted lately. I am preparing to teach an August Block course, The World of Harry Potter and Its Literary Roots. I need to get on rereading that series in preparation for teaching. I am very excited. It's been a couple years, but I have read each one of those books about half a dozen times. Outside of the scriptures and Paradise Lost, there are few books that I can say I have read that often. There is something about the Harry Potter books that appeals to me, as well as hundreds of millions of other people. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to teach the course. I know that a lot of the appeal has to do with how well Rowling incorporates classic literary traditions as well as ancient, medieval, and early modern lore about witchcraft, magical creatures, and   artifacts. The parade of motifs and archetypes come together to make an absolute amazing journey for all of the characters, not just Harry. I don't see another series like this coming along for some time, if ever. I'll let you know how the course turns out. It starts 1 August.