Harry Potter: Books that made me love reading challenge

When I was younger...

Are you kidding me? When I was younger, Harry Potter was essentially a god. Okay, fine, he wasn't really, but I grew up with him. I'm the generation that was just young enough to grow up with him and fall in love with every single character. I thought it was fantastic. The idea that someone could knock down your door and say, "Hey, I'm coming to whisk you away to a world of magic and mayhem - and on one of the greatest adventure you will ever see."

Now...
Because I read the book so many years ago, and have seen the movie much more recently, I remembered the movie better than the book. And although the book is still fantastic, I noticed some things. First, there are a lot more summaries than I remember, of conversations, of small side plots that don't need a huge explanation. I remember the dragon hatching scene being much more epic than it was (because I imagine the movie, not how it's described in the book). But J.K.Rowling was writing for Children - and she does some things flawlessly. Spoilers! Be warned! For example, setting Hagrid up to love dragons in the first chapter, when it doesn't even matter -- then. Setting up Professor Quirrell at every single location throughout. It was, and still is, brilliant. Though I remember my heart beating out of my chest when I was younger.

It's fast-paced, it's fun, and I still enjoyed it even though I am much older now than I was then. Oh - and Dumbledore provides necessary insight throughout, he actually says some very poignant things, that I don't think I really understood when I was younger.

Harriet the Spy - Books that made me love reading challenge

When I was younger...
I think I read the book after I had seen the movie.  I think seeing the movie first really altered my perception of the characters. While I loved the movie as a kid, and I loved book, I actually disliked the book this time around.

My perception of Harriet has changed a lot. I used to think she was curious and fun loving, this time around was very different.


Now...
Harriet's voice sounds a lot older than she is, which I give her credit for. But is her snarky attitude that is pretty poor.  She claims to want to learn everything, but she is unwilling to put herself in someone else's shoes.  She thinks she has all the answers and tends to put other people down.  Because of this, she has some major realizations and has to grow up fast when everyone turns against her.  Though, Harriet's story is still kind of fun and interesting.

Why I loved this book...
This book made me want to journal.  While I didn't really want to be a spy, I wanted to people watch and observe.  I wanted to be the fly on the wall when I was in public places, overhearing private conversations when I could.  But not breaking and entering, or anything to that extreme.

This book had a huge impact on my life.  I find it interesting that Harriet's voice no longer resonates with me.  Some of the things she says are a little too young.  And yes, it is a kid's book so maybe that's why I find her a little stuck up now.

For anyone that wants to read this, I do highly recommend it for younger readers. And I still love the movie, which I watched after the book.

Poppy by Avi - Books that made me love reading challenge

For some reason, when I was younger, I adored the idea of mice doing battle so much so that I bought almost the entirety of Brian Jacques series without even reading a single one of them. I'm a book hoarder, sue me.

But I think that love all stemmed from Poppy.

When I was younger... I loved how a timid little field mouse could do such a grandiose task.  It made me feel empowered, and I think it made me respect animals a lot more.  She fought for her life and won, she kept on going even when it looked bleak, even when she thought she was going to die.  Poppy was a fighter, and I hugely respected her courage.

Now...  since I have grown to love and respect owls, it is a bit of a bitter sweet ending.  While the owl is completely manipulative, and is a good villain, he is also just trying to survive.  The easiest way for him to do that?  To insight fear into the field mice.  This was an interesting one to read over again.

It's funny, when I was younger, I used to record myself reading and play it back.  The purpose?  To understand how I sounded to other people.  I actually really hated my voice - and for the most part, still do.  I also had a lot of issues with reading out loud.  I would trip over my words in class, and I read Poppy to try to get better at that.

I don't think it was very successful, but hey, it was still fun.

Shiloh - Books that made me love reading challenge

For some reason, I really thought that Shiloh was a sad story. I don't know why my childhood mind made up this idea, but for whatever reason that's how I remember it.  Strange what time and memory really does, huh.  It could be that I'm getting Shiloh and Shiloh Season confused - or maybe I just remember the graphic, bloody part better than the rest.

When I was younger...
I guess what I really enjoyed about Shiloh was the actual dog.  I was animal obsessed to the 1000th degree and really thought that someday I would be a vet.  (Then I realized that I can't physically cut into anything without become queasy).

Now...
I start to peel back the layers and realize there's much more substance to the story than I previously thought. The main character, while he lied to his parents, learns an important life lesson about keeping true to his word and being a generally good person.  He faces an enormous amount of hostility and adversity from Judd, but with his perseverance and strength of character, he reaches his goal.  It is one of those stories where you end up believing that anything is possible if you work hard enough.  Which, isn't that what all kids should be taught?

Of course, being older and a little more cynical (or realistic), I realize that this isn't always the case.  Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you will still be pushed in a different direction.  But I do believe that the different direction might sometimes be a better fit than where you once where.  And I think that's what I take away from this novel - work hard and eventually get rewarded, though sometimes the reward can surprise you.

Matilda

For this month, on the Books that Made Me Love Reading Challenge, I read Matilda by Roald Dahl.

What I thought then:
Matilda was a nerd, just like me.  She was a nerd and was capable of so many good things in the world - that it must mean that being a little bookish is okay.  I wanted to be more like the precarious child, I wanted to read more and emulate who she was.  And I think that really helped me read more often, because she was so enthralled with books.  I said to myself, "I want to do that - I want to read every book on the children's section."  And I remember that I did start picking up library books at random, but I never did get through all of them.

What I think now: 
Matilda is a little bit evil.  She's like a child version of Dexter.  Matilda plays tricks and pranks on people that deserve it - on people that are downright bad people.  Dexter has the same kind of philosophy right?  But the main difference is:  He is 100% a sociopath.  Matilda -- well, she just wants to get people back and live a good life (where other good people also get to live good lives).  But it is vigilantism, right?  I still love Matilda, and I still love her story.  I think it's a great book and speaks a lot about "Good things should go to good people."

Also, the illustrations are still hilarious, I don't care how old you are - that newt is precious!

Next month, I'll be reading Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.