How do I love books? Let me count the ways . . .

Photo by Michał Grosicki on Unsplash

It’s Valentine’s Day, and as bouquets of flowers are delivered to my co-workers, I’m finding myself sitting at my desk wanting to share my love story — with books. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love books. I remember sitting in second or third grade and being enveloped by stories as my teacher read them out loud. I discovered Nancy Drew when I was in fourth grade and devoured them as quickly as I could get my hands on them. My sixth-grade teacher introduced me to J.R.R. Tolkein when he invited a group of us who were avid readers to read it as a group after school. I’m not completely sure whether it was The Hobbit that was so attractive, or the extra time we’d be allowed to hang out in the reading loft we had in our classroom, but I jumped right in and found a love for fantasy comparable to my love for mystery.

In seventh grade, my English teacher offered up What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw (probably more recognizable as The 4:50 From Paddington) by Agatha Christie. I was utterly enthralled with Dame Agatha’s ability to weave a mystery so completely, and seemingly so effortlessly as I breathlessly reached the end of each of her stories and waited for Miss Marple or Monsieur Poirot to unravel the threads that identified the murderer in their midst. Eighth-grade English introduced me to Ponyboy and Sodapop and Johnny. I learned how important it was to “stay gold.”

 Also around this time a brand new library branch was built just a couple blocks from my house. No more waiting for a bookmobile or being limited to the books in the school library, or bugging my parents to take me to the nearest public library, which was several miles away. A whole new world opened up to me and I would ride my bike down to the library several times a week. The summer between ninth and tenth grades I read 93 novels, thanks to the proximity of that library. My dad hung a hammock in our backyard, and everyone in my family knew that was where to find me that summer after I’d done my daily chores (and sometimes before).

Since that time I have always chosen to read as much as possible. It’s my escape from the everyday. It’s one way that I find happiness. It brings me peace when life gets turbulent.

Books are magic. They transport me to places I’ve never been, to new worlds. They introduce me to characters of all shapes, sizes, colors and temperaments. I can visit the past. I can travel the universe or stay right at home. Because of books, my eyes are opened to possibilities, problems, perspectives, and people I might otherwise never have contact with. I can fall in love over and over and over. I can revisit my favorites places and old friends time and time again.

Maybe some of you feel the same way.

Harry Potter

2017 marks the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter!  As a person who loves all things Harry Potter this is a big year.  But this has not always been the case.

When the books were first released my dad bought them in the hope that they would get my younger sister interested in reading.  She has never been a reader and he had heard that this was something that was getting kids to read more.  But try as he might he never got her to pick one up.  He read the first four in quick succession.  I can remember listening to him laugh while he read the scene where Mad-Eye Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret and bounced him around the halls of Hogwarts.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at Universal Studios Orlando

I was not very interested in the stories of a young wizard because I preferred historical fiction.  They seemed silly to me until the day that one of my friends started reading them.  She started telling me how much she liked them and I decided to break down and try them out.  I was hooked from the first page.  I was a sophomore in high school when I started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and the first movie was coming out in November.  In a month I had read books 1-4 and then the wait began for book 5 (in which I cried my eyes out at the end).  Then 6.  Then 7.  But the wait was worth it.

Fire breathing dragon above Gringotts at Universal Studios Orlando

Ever since I picked up that first book I have been a devoted fan.  I have pre-ordered all the books, went to the theaters for all the movies and visited the theme parks in Orlando.  When I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter I was instantly transported into the books.  The shops, actors and rides were breathtaking.  I spent Thanksgiving morning eating an English breakfast at The Three Broomsticks.  I downed multiple glasses of butter beer outside the Hog’s Head Inn.  I rode the Hogwarts Express.  I battled dragons, escaped from Gringotts and flew on a broom through the grounds at Hogwarts.  I even got myself a wand.  This is every Harry Potter reader’s dream!

Ashley in front of the Knight Bus at Universal Studios Orlando

I thank my dad (and my friend) every day for introducing me to the world of Harry Potter.  I found something that made me even more passionate about reading and expanded my world.  I love that still today I have kids come into the library looking for the books I read and love.  They are experiencing them for the first time and I envy them.  I re-read/re-listen to the books regularly and each time find something I missed before.

And now I have to go to London to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour and see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on stage at the Palace Theater.