Harry Potter has always been popular.
And I was a Potter virgin.
Somehow I avoided it all these years. Not because I wasn’t interested but when the first movie came out I was 21 and in college. I hadn’t read the books and during college didn’t have much time to read for fun. I refused to watch the movie. I wanted to read the books first.
I am weird like that… I always want to read the book first. More often than not it never happens. I would never watch movies if I waited to read all the books.
But I refused to watch the first Harry Potter movie, which meant I couldn’t watch any subsequent movie. I would look at the book box set at least once a year, but never bought them. Then it seemed *most* of the hype died down. I’d still check the price on Amazon but never ordered them (although, the box set ended up in my cart a few times but never purchased).
I bought the movies for Justin one year, as a present. He wanted the DVDs for the collection. He loved the movie. I still refused to watch. I wanted to read the books. When Potterland opened at Universal in California, he said we had to go.
Recently Harry Potter was everywhere again. A new book was out and so were some Hogwarts books. The Coyotes schedule came out and there was a game in Anaheim in January Justin wanted to go to, which meant going to Universal. To Potterland.
I was on Amazon one day and saw the box set. I hemmed. I hawed. I gave in. The books were in my cart. I just had to press the button. I had to read the books before going to Potterland. It didn’t make any sense to go and have no clue what any of it meant. Thank god for Amazon Prime. I had those books in just a two days.
I started reading immediately. I was hooked.
Why didn’t I read these sooner?
Then the other debate happened. Do I watch the movie as I finish each book or read all the books then watch all the movies?
It was a conundrum. I debated with myself for days and weighted pros and cons on Facebook with others.
After I finished The Sorcerer’s Stone I watched the movie. I had to.
I am still working my way through. I just started The Half-Blood Prince on Friday. But I will have all the books and movies done when we go to Anaheim. I have already checked…. Butterbeer is gluten-free (as are many items at Universal so YAY!). I haven’t even finished the series yet and I am looking forward to this trip and Potterland so much!
I don’t know if I would say I wish I read these sooner. I kind of like that I waited and avoided spoilers. I mean, how often does that happen?!? And it’s been fun to work through them and discuss them with people who read them previously.