I was a huge reader when I was a kid. HUGE. I knew exactly when the next Sweet Valley High book was coming out and made my parents take me to BookStop (old school!) to get it on the first day. I owned everything by Judy Blume. I read, and re-read, and re-read and to this day re-read the Little House series. I even had kid versions of the classics like Little Women and Call of the Wild that helped me know what was going on when I eased into the true versions.
In high school, reading became a requirement, which automatically makes it less fun. I still enjoyed (most) of the books, but doing dialectical notebooks for each one was a time suck and a pain in the ass.
~~We now interrupt this blog entry to explain what a dialectical notebook, or DN, is: While reading a book, you write a quote or passage from the book onto the left side of your page, and then on the right explain that quote or passage's significance. Minimum of 3 entries per chapter.~~
The only stuff I remember reading for pure fun in high school was Jane Austen.
In college I dropped reading altogether. This includes my textbooks, for the most part. College was when I went through my whole existential crisis, though, so at least there's a reason.
After I graduated, I just... didn't read.
Here's where Harry Potter comes in.
I had seen all the movies and thought they were really fun. The world fascinated me. I felt like a kid when I watched them. So, in 2007 when Deathly Hallows was published, I decided I'd order the complete Potter set of books and read them straight through. (I maintain that this was the best way to do it. I would have gone insane waiting years between books.)
It took me about six weeks to finish (I read the last half of Hallows in one sitting.) And a magical -- pun intended -- thing happened: I fell in love with reading again.
Now I have a little baby library in my apartment and a regular queue of book hold requests at the library. I borrow from and loan to friends. I can go to the movies and see a set of previews and know exactly what's happening because I've read the books already. (This drives my sister bananas, which makes it that much more fun.) :)
Not only am I now (again) an insatiable reader, I think all this reading is making me a better writer as well. That, I hope, will prove to be invaluable. And I have Jo Rowling to thank for it.
Other people will be emotional about the Potter era coming to a close this week for various reasons, but for me it's more than just the story or the end of an era. It's letting go a little bit of the thing that reignited my mind and spirit and imagination in the most wonderful way. Thanks for that, Jo.
But, as Rowling herself said at the London premiere, we don't have to be sad: "The stories we love stay with us. Whether you come back on the page or on the screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."
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