August was a really good month for books! I finished eight books, four of which were graphic novels, one of which is a writing work book that I have been working through since October of last year, one of which was a re-read of "To Kill a Mockingbird," all of which were delightful in their own way.
While some of the books I read were technically better than, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," I did not enjoy any of them nearly as much as an overall experience as I did this book. I was a reluctant Harry Potter fan as a child. I had acquired the first three books as gifts from my grandmother as they came out. I have always been a reader, Amazon wish lists haven't always existed, I often was gifted books from Hot Picks! section of Costco. Nothing wrong with that. I've gotten lots of great books that way. But Harry Potter was POPULAR so that automatically made me think it SUCKED. I didn't want to like a popular book. I liked liking weirdo books that no one else was reading. (See also: Why I just read my first Jane Austen book this year.) So they sat on my shelf for a long time.
When I was a kid, ever summer for our vacation, my parents and I would take big, three-week long road trips all over the country. We saw many many national parks, very few tourist traps, everyone in the country we're related to, we saw A LOT out the window of our car. The trips were fantastic! I loved them! But you can't look out the window for three weeks so I brought books. Lots of books. I filled a crate with basically all the books I owned that I hadn't read and it usually wasn't enough... I'd usually read 10 - 15 books in a three week period. Ereaders hadn't been invented yet so I had to lug everything I wanted to read with me from home and after all the good stuff that I was super stoked to read was done with, I'd be left with the dregs. All the books I owned and hadn't read that I didn't care about got read on these trips. I didn't always enjoy them but I finished them because that's what I had.
Harry Potter was part of the dregs. I have never been more happy to have been wrong about something. After that trip, I was a fan for life. I dressed up and waited in line for both midnight book releases and midnight movie releases, I asked my mom to make me wizard robes, I was hooked. And when the series ended, it was like a friend had died. I cried. I couldn't believe that this thing that had become such a huge part of my life was over. I was losing friends. A whole book full of friends. But the bright side is that Rowling was fairly young when she wrote the Potter novels and she has not been felled by any horrible ailments, thank Dumbledore. There was always a chance I'd get to see my friends again but I didn't dare hope. I didn't want to be disappointed when it didn't happen.
Having the opportunity to read a Harry Potter novel for the very first time again was such a joy. Sure, it is a play and not a novel and some things are lost and the story isn't as strong or complicated as I would have liked, but it was a Harry Potter book! With Ron! And Hermione! And Ginny! And Draco! It didn't matter that I wanted to punch Harry in the face, I was just happy to have him with me again. Being a play, it was a quick read and I cried when it was over because well, it was over... and who knows if I'll get another. It isn't perfect, but it is a story that is mine.
