I Love Me Some Potter!

I've had a life-long love affair with fantasy novels. (Although I tried to keep it on the down-low in high school and college.) One of the very first books I fell in love with was A Wrinkle in Time. After reading it, I remember asking the children's librarian if she knew of any other fantasy books I might like. She printed off a list. I looked them up in the card catalog (yes, we had actual card catalogs. I'm old.) and the rest was history! The Phantom Tollbooth, The Dark is Rising series, Anne McCaffrey's dragon books -- I loved them all.

None of them even compare to the love I have for the Harry Potter series. My friend Jennifer read a lot of children's books because she was an elementary school teacher. She pleaded with me to read the Harry Potter books when we were both in our early 20s. I scoffed at her. Why would I read a children's book? I was an adult!

Eventually, I found out a movie was coming out. I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie. I was hooked from page 1. After that, I had to read all the books that were currently released. And then I progressed to getting guaranteed same-day delivery on Amazon. It's official...I'm a Potter nerd.

I've had a relationship with Harry for longer than I've known my husband, but luckily he's turned into a Potter nerd as well. He buys us T-shirts for the movies and last night he informed me that he has taken an inventory of which Harry Potter movies we have on Blu Ray. He's read the first three books and is now reading the last book. (Yes, I jeered him for skipping the middle, but he's a grown-ass man. What can you do?!?)

We went to see the final movie at midnight on Friday with our friends Liz and Matt. We got to the theater at 10:45 and were forced into the front section because people had been lining up since noon. I thought we were cool because we wore our t-shirts. However, I saw tons actual costumes: a couple Hagrids, a gaggle of deatheaters, a few Severuses, several slutty Hogwarts girls (their costumes were revealing - I have no knowledge of their moral standards), and one freaky looking Sirius Black.

The movie was fabulous. I laughed. I cried...sobbed, actually. I smiled. I fretted. And I remembered the joy I felt in reading the last book. It's a magnificent series. Even though J.K. Rowling built a phenomenal magical world, she made her characters very human and very relatable.

The only part of the movie I found disturbing was the epilogue. I thought they could have done more to make the characters look older. One of them looked like a high school student with a mom wig slapped on her head.

If you haven't read the books yet, you really should. Start with the first one. If you don't like it, you don't have to finish it. But, I think you'll like it. If you've already read it, read the Hunger Games! That movie is coming out next year and the series is absolutely amazing. I read it over Christmas vacation a few years ago and had to opt out of family activities because I couldn't stand to put it down. It's AMAZING.