The Joys of Reading

Is there a book (or series of books) that changed your life? I hope there is, because as someone who has had a whole slew of books change my life, I can tell you that it is an unrivaled feeling.

I was nosing around the internet earlier this evening, and on a whim I paid a visit to Mugglenet.com (I'm not ashamed to admit it!). Mugglenet is perhaps the premiere fansite devoted to all things Harry Potter, and I've been an ardent follower of the site for over 10 years, probably since not long after the site was started. I used to visit it daily, spending hours reading articles, updates, debates, essays, watching videos, basically anything I could get my hands on. I was so absolutely obsessed with Harry Potter that I needed something to fill the void while waiting for a new book to be published. Many of my high school friends were as ardent fans as I am, and we spent countless hours happily discussing, dissecting, and debating the books, and would argue endlessly about how we thought the series would end. We even threw a Harry Potter birthday party on July 31, complete with pumpkin juice, cauldron cakes, and pin-the-tail-on-the-hippogriff. Anyway, suffice it to say that I was in deep.

Since the books have all been published for a few years now, and the movies are all out now as well, I've stopped checking Mugglenet more than once every month or so, when I remember. It's not that I'm any less passionate about all things HP, because that's certainly not the case. I'm actually in the middle of re-reading the series at this very moment, for the umpteenth time. In any case, the top post when I clicked on to the site was a video in honor of Thanksgiving, full of messages from devoted fans like myself thanking Jo Rowling for, as many people put it, their childhood. And I have to admit, I got a little choked up. Because that's exactly how I feel. Harry Potter literally shaped my late childhood/young adulthood. I learned so many lessons from the books, like the value of loyalty, the strength of friendship, the power of love. The books became my refuge. Hogwarts was a place to which I could escape when life was too hectic, or too sad, or too hard. But more than that, the characters were practically like friends to me. I know that all of this is perhaps making me sound a little cuckoo, but it's the absolute truth. These books have literally changed my life.

Funnily enough (at least it's funny to me), I had zero interest in reading Harry Potter when I first heard about it. I remember going into Mystery Lovers, the small independent bookshop in Oakmont, with my mom when I was 12, and she pointed out a display of Harry Potter books, advertising Chamber of Secrets. She told me that she had heard that the books were good, and that maybe I would like to read them. I, however, was searching for the latest Redwall book (I was a MAJOR Redwall fan at that time) and would not be deterred. It wasn't until a few months later when my Aunt Diane bought me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for my 13th birthday that I even gave it another thought. I remember that the book sat on my bookshelf for a few weeks before I got around to picking it up, thinking that it was going to be boring. We were about to drive out to my grandparents' house in Jeannette, and due to my moaning about not having anything to read in the car, my parents insisted that I take the Harry Potter book with me, and if I didn't like it by the time we got to my grandparent's, I didn't have to keep reading it. Well, suffice it to say, I liked it. In fact, I couldn't put it down. I literally had my nose in the book the entire visit, except for about 15 minutes to scarf down some pasta. I even pleaded with my parents for us to stay later so that I could keep reading, because it was dark and I wouldn't be able to see in the car, not having brought a booklight with me. I finished the book that night when I got home, and upon learning that there were 2 more published books, forced my dad to go out and buy them for me. He came home from work the next day with Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban, which I devoured in about a day or so each. My dad, eager to see what the fuss was about, picked them up and read them in turn after me -- he too became completely hooked. The rest, as they say, was history.

It's entirely possible that my life wouldn't have been radically different from how it has turned out thus far if I had never picked up Harry Potter. Even though it's practically one of the defining cultural events of my generation, I have a small but pig-headed group of friends who never read the books and aren't interested (you know who you are), and they seem to have turned out alright, for the most part. But I'm really glad that I'll never know. I'm so happily enthralled to Ms. Rowling's world, that I can't wait to share these books with my own children someday.

My dad did just that with me, when I was a kid. As a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, my dad read to me The Hobbit as a bed-time story, chapter by chapter. After we finished that, we moved on to LOTR proper. I was probably 7 or 8 at the time, and so perhaps a little too young to fully appreciate the books. It certainly didn't help that after I fell asleep each night my dad would continue reading, and then pick up the story where he left off, so I would miss sometimes whole chapters. A few years later, I picked up the books and read them myself. Talk about being transported. I know that Tolkien is not for everyone, but I was so captivated by his writing that I instantly fell in love with these stories that I already sort of knew, but was finally coming to on my own terms. I remember shortly after finishing LOTR I decided to wade into The Silmarillion - a mistake if ever I made one. Since the entire book reads very much like an epic poem written in a dead language and translated into English (which, I guess, is sort of what it is), it was a little dense for an 11 year old to get through. That one had to wait a few years before I was ready. But I've ready Lord of the Rings so many times since then, and each time I've felt transported to Middle Earth, steeped in its history.

Another fantasy series (can you guess what kind of books I like to read?) that really hooked me and changed me was the Belgariad and Malloreon series. Written by David and Leigh Eddings, each 5 book series weaves a fantastic and epic tale through a wonderfully alive world. Introduced to me by my Aunt Alexis (it would seem my dad's sisters have a knack for this kind of thing), this is a series of books that I have read innumerable times, and enjoyed each and every time. These books are not nearly as well known as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, but in my mind they are every bit as enjoyable and compelling. The characters became so well known to me to be almost as close to friends as Harry, Ron, and Hermione were. If you can't tell, as I child, I didn't know the meaning of loneliness. I had too many friends, real and imaginary, to ever be lonely.

As I look at my bookshelves, I'm struck by just how many books I've read in my short life, and how many of them have impacted me in some way. Horatio Hornblower, Richard Sharpe and the rest of the novels by Bernard Cornwell, The Chronicles of Narnia, all have provided me with years of pleasure. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more books that I have yet to read, and so many series that I'm not yet done with. It gives me a great deal of joy to know that I could read every minute of every day for the rest of my life, and I'll never run out of good material (and if I ever do, I can always go back to my favorites).

The latest entry into my registry of books that have hooked me is The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins. Courtney has been talking about this book, The Hunger Games, for months. She kept going on and on about how much I would like it, this weird post-apocalyptic teenage battle royale, that I finally decided to cave in and download it to read on the train ride back to Pittsburgh a week and a half ago. And I couldn't put it down. I finished it that day, and have not been able to stop thinking about it since. I'm working my way through the sequel, Catching Fire, and will soon be done with that and will eagerly move on to the final entry, Mockingjay. I have to say that I'm completely surprised by how much these books have struck me. And having read them on a Kindle so far, I know that I'm going to have to go out and buy them in hardback, because books that I love MUST be on my bookshelf. I will not be satisfied to only own a digital, ethereal copy. Anyway, I know that there's a big blockbuster movie adaptation of The Hunger Games coming out in March, but do yourself a favor and read the book before you see the movie. It's well worth it.

Thanks for indulging me, Spackelites! I'm curious, what are your favorite books? Have any good recommendations for me?

Keep calm and carry on.