"Words are, in my-not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic." -Albus Dumbledore
When I was young I never much liked reading. My aunt and uncle gifted me the first Harry Potter book for my 10th birthday. The book sat on my shelf, collecting dust for quite a few years. I didn't want to waste my time reading a book. I felt that I did enough of that with school work.
That is, until I actually opened that first Harry Potter book.
I read that book cover-to-cover in just a few days. I couldn't get enough of it! The words literally leapt off of the page; each page seemed more exciting than the next.
And so that feeling went with the entire series. I anxiously anticipated each new book like I anticipated Christmas. I laughed and cried throughout the entire series (and went to most midnight premieres of the movies!).
Reading the Harry Potter series completely changed the way I viewed books. I no longer looked at books as a waste of time and figured out the types of books I enjoyed reading. I even learned to find pleasure in reading required school books (they weren't all that bad, especially books like The Great Gatsby or Of Mice and Men). I honestly love the feeling of starting a new book now and look forward to getting lost within its pages.
So, what book is on my nightstand today?
Well, a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to re-read the books that made me fall in love with storytelling, so I asked my parents if they wouldn't mind sending me my old collection of Harry Potter books. I anxiously anticipated receiving the books in the mail; I couldn't wait to get my hands on the worn pages.
I'm halfway through book 4 at present (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, my favorite book in the series!) and still feel as I did when I was a teenager. Sure, the books may be childish, but I've loved being reminded of the way I felt when I read these books for the first time years ago.