I’m so excited to be participating in POTTERHEAD JULY hosted by the talented Aentee @ Read at Midnight. Basically, this blog event, consisting of 85-some blog posts is to celebrate the release of the CURSED CHILD and Harry Potter in general! Today, I want to talk about my HP reading experience and add in some moodboards! Let’s get started!
Harry Potter was one of the first book series that got me into reading, and I owe a lot of my love for reading to this book series and my wonderful queen, J. K. Rowling. I remember when I was 10 or 11, my parents took me to a book sale that my local library hosted (and still hosts) every fall and spring. The second or third time I went to the book sale, I got the first book of the Harry Potter series. Shortly after, I finished reading it and every season after that, I would go to the book sale and purchase the next one or two books of the series and read them. I’m pretty fortunate to have been able to read Harry Potter at that prime age, essentially growing up with Harry (as I was around the same age as him during which I read the accompanying books). Thus, I’ve really just been super grateful to be able to grow with the Harry Potter books and have the movie adaptations on hand as well.
Harry Potter has been such an influence to me, despite how many times it has been said and done. I just feel like my reading of this series truly was the breakthrough of my love for reading. After Harry Potter, I started to branch off into different genres, such as paranormal (Twilight, anyone?) and more fantasy (Maximum Ride!), and it’s really opened my eyes to see how incredibly influential this series is. Even now, I still see posts on Tumblr and different social medias, talking about these subtle and insightful meanings throughout the novels that would have been overlooked in any other case. Thus, I’m truly so grateful for this magnificent series and I thank J.K. Rowling every day (just kidding, maybe like every month) for blessing us with Harry Potter.
arctic books 
It’s so interesting with all these posts and how many people were turned onto reading by Harry Potter. And I fully agree with you on how important that ‘growing up with Harry’ feeling is when it happens. After the first movie came out I decided to read it, and from there I was off and reading all sorts. I’m pretty sure I skipped the first book though…
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That’s true! I’m so glad so many people can connect in that way. Ah, you can always go back and reread it! 🙂
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I’m re-reading this series this summer for the first time in years and I’m so excited! Just got back from Leviosa Con which was amazing – everyone should put it on their calendars for next summer. 🙂
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Ooh, that’s awesome! Hope you had fun and enjoy your reread! 🙂
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I read Harry Potter for the first time when I was around seven after seeing the first movie. It was actually strange for me when I realized that I was now older than Harry was for the most of the series because I was used to him always being older than me when the books first came out. I also remember when I was twenty and suddenly realized that I was the same age James and Lily had been when Harry was born and only a year younger than when they died. That was a huge shock to me because, when I was younger, I didn’t quite grasp how young they died. They were adults after all. Then I was that age, and suddenly, I really got it.
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Oh, wow, that is pretty shocking. It’s amazing how much that these generations have grown yet the HP world will still be pretty much the same to me.
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I was a few years younger than you when I started reading Harry Potter but I feel like the effect was also similar. I was already an avid reader, but I think I started to get into the fantasy genre more after reading Harry Potter and that meant a particularly great deal to me and still does, because it’s mostly what I love to read now! I’m glad that Harry Potter worked out for you as such. 🙂
(Although, I might add, it took me a few years longer to get into Twilight and thus my paranormal side too. 😀 )
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That’s true! HP really sparked some fantasy loving in lots of people I know, including myself! I’m glad HP worked for you as well 🙂 That’s true; especially with all the negative reviews, it was pretty hard to get into it; I agree!
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Harry Potter is life, my dear. The books, the films, the MAGIC, will probably be with me until I die.
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Same with me! Harry Potter is simply amazing!
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I started Harry Potter when I was 8 (I think). Being me, I obviously didn’t start with the first book lol, but started with the Chamber of Secrets 😂🙈 I read all the books after. I didn’t know about book release parties or midnight releases, so I missed the release of the Half-Blood Prince. But I bought the Deathly Hallows the day it was released and read it in a couple days!
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That’s awesome; eight years old!! Ah, haha, that’s alright! That’s still super amazing! 🙂
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Well I first heard about Harry Potter when the movies came out (I was 5) and I literally had to beg my mom to buy me the first two movies because otherwise she wouldn’t have. It wasn’t until I was 10 that my friend told me it was a book series so I went to my mom and told her I wanted to read them but she said no. So I spent most of my childhood just watching the movies until the sixth movie was going to come out that I read the Half-Blood Prince and that was like 2007 or 2008, maybe?
I also read the Deathly Hallows before the movie came out and later on decided to read them from the beginning, however, I stopped at Prisoner of Azkaban because school started. And now they are just there waiting in my TBR pile for me to read them. 😞
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That’s a pretty interesting way to get into HP but I’m glad you got into it, nonetheless. I’m hoping you get to read the rest of the books soon because they’re simply amazing!
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I had read a review on the first book and ordered it immediately. My daughter was in the 5th grade and my son was in his second year of college. I managed to convince both of them to give the series a try and we all fell in love with it.
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Ah, I’m so glad that all three of you love HP! Shows how influential this series is! 😉
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What an awesome experience, to grow up along with Harry! I also love reading about other fans’ insights into the series. Despite so many years going by since it ended, there’s always something new to discover. I think that’s one of the reasons the series is so special.
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You’re right! There’s so many new things coming out (which can be good or bad; good for me!), and I love it!
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I love reading about HP start so many’s people journey to the bookish world<3 I'm also grateful that our fandom is literally "the fandom who lived". Years after the last book and movie, we still analize everything and find new meanings about it! 😀
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Me too! Glad you liked it!
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I can recall the exact period of my life when I read each Harry Potter book or watch each of the movie, so they are very nostalgic for me.
Lovely mood board and an excellent homage to the series that we love.
Thank you for your post and for joining Potterhead July!
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That’s awesome! Thank you so much, Aentee! 🙂
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[…] wrote about my Harry Potter Reading Experience + Moodboards for Potterhead […]
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I’m going to say i’m only going to “finish reading HP” once Rowling is utterly and completely done writing the books. I just read the Cursed Child and absolutely loved it, and would read anything else she is willing to write on the series. If you’ve finished it and are interested, I wrote down all the thoughts I had while reading it on my blog.
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I’m actually pretty wary of Cursed Child so I think I’m going to stay away from it for a while haha!
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All good! Thanks for the reply 🙂
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