I am a fantasy nut so, of course, I love the Harry Potter books.  I read them all the summer before the last two books came out.  I then rushed to the store like a kid to get the new books when they came out, but I didn't have a kid as an excuse.  My daughter was still too small at the time.  I read the first three books out loud to my daughter, but then she was old enough to read for herself and she didn't want me to read to her anymore, so I let it go.  I have been waiting for my son to be old enough for the books.  I have been excitedly waiting for summer, because this is the summer I share Harry Potter with my son.  The only problem is, he has changed his mind and now does not want to listen.  I have been stubbornly reading anyway, but it has taken the joy out of it.  The movies have kid of ruined it for them.  They no longer are interested in the books, because they have watched the movies so much.

I need to rethink this.  I will now read Harry Potter as a "bonus" reading during the day and still let my son pick what he wants to hear at night.  I think we will also have a big family movie night to watch the movies after we finish the books.  Maybe I can make a Harry Potter theme day, food, games.  I need to whip up some excitement. 

Despite my continued insistence, my daughter, the raging princess, has not finished the books.  She has discovered vampires and now isn't that interested in Harry.  Here is the new plan--I read all the books to both of them.  R. Princess can join in when we finish the third book, whether she wants to our not.  Sometimes you have to push things a bit.  They usually come around and if not, at least, I tried.
  

Update:  Okay, I put my plan into action today. It went better. My son listened without humming. He was still playing with a toy, but I think he WAS actually listening. The bad part is, now I still have to read stupid superhero books over and over again at night. Sigh, the things we do for our kids.