During the Fall, I felt an urge that I knew I had to listen to... I had to re-read the Harry Potter books. Why? I had not read them during the Fall when they came out, since they came out in the Summer, and when I have re-read them in the past it is at different times of the year. Never in the Fall.
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This time, I wanted to start reading the books in the Fall and figured I would also be dipping into Winter as well. Let me tell you, it felt great to read them in the Fall! They are the perfect books to pick up during Fall and feel nostalgic about school starting and getting ready for Halloween. I also knew that since I would still be reading the series in December that there would be the feeling of magic from the Hogwarts Christmas scenes.
And, man, was I right!
My house has a large brick fireplace that takes up a good portion of a wall in the living room area. Reading the Harry Potter books while sitting in a comfy chair with a brick wall and twinkly lights going felt like perfection.
This is my fourth time reading all of the books. What is crazy is that they are the only books I have re-read other than S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. But even though I know what is going to happen, I still love reading them for the detail around how everything comes to be each year at Hogwarts for Harry. Sure, there are the movies, but the books provide so much more that there is no comparison. I just read the book and imagine how it would play out in the movies and that feels ok for me.
These books were a foundation of my youth, which I know is the case for many people around the world. I was introduced to them in the third grade by my best friend, Meghan, since we would bond over which books we were reading. She told me I had to read Harry Potter and that it was going to be part of a series, which was very exciting to me.
In fourth grade, I remember asking for the second and third books for Christmas and those two books are the only things I remember getting that year because I could not wait to start reading them. Every subsequent year that the books came out, I would stand in line at Borders (R.I.P you beautiful place!!) to get the book and then would have to start reading it immediately.
When the movies came out, I was incredibly excited. I had a huge crush on Daniel Radcliffe and was the same age as him, so I literally grew up alongside the movies being pretty much the same age I was at the time. They all felt relevant to me at each of the different ages, ending with the last film being when I was in college and no longer a "child," just like Harry. Meghan and I went to see the last movie together, which felt like a total full circle moment. We left the theater saying to each other that our childhoods were gone and now we could officially be adults.
Yesterday, I finished reading The Goblet of Fire and am taking a brief break to read a book for a book club I belong to (we are reading The Silent Patient, so I am pumped to read that one!) then I will start back up with The Order of the Phoenix.
This Christmas, I am excited to give Lydia the illustrated version of the Sorcerer's Stone, because then she can enjoy the magic of Harry Potter at a young age with the stunning pictures. She and I read a lot together, so getting to share this story with her will be a parenting win for me. When she was an infant I read the first two books aloud to her, but now she can interact with the stories herself!
Have you re-read the Harry Potter books? Which book is your favorite and why? Let's nerd out together!
xoxo
TBS
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