We enter Day 13 of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge discussing more of our geeky favorites. Having already covered movies, comics, and video games, we now shift our focus on which book series is your favorite. Today’s post may sound a bit familiar as I’m once again talking about the Harry Potter books.
Favorite book series – I wrote for Day 7 of the challenge how the Harry Potter books are one of the most recent fandoms I’ve gotten into, but they have jumped to my favorite series of books since reading them. I started reading the books with the intention of simply seeing what it was that had produced such a rabid fanbase, but was genuinely surprised at just how invested I became in the lives of Harry, Ron, and Hermione and how quickly. My favorite books of the series are Prisoner of Azkaban and The Half-Blood Prince. I really loved reading through The Deathly Hallows as well, as you gain more insight into Dumbledore’s mysterious past and the ending did an excellent job of wrapping up all of the character arcs and storylines. I unfortunately don’t have any nostalgic attachment to the books as I read them as an adult. I really, really wish I would have read the Harry Potter books as a kid because they strike a perfect balance of being easy to pick up and read, but there’s depth to them that keeps you thinking afterwards.
Not a real long post for tonight as I don’t want to sound like I’m merely repeating my answer from a previous question. What’s your favorite book series or standalone book? Let me know in the comments below. We’ll keep on geeking out tomorrow!
As we enter day 7 of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge our question of the day asks about which geeky obsession do you have that surprised you the most. There are plenty of things that I have become interested in that I didn’t necessarily expect; I’m open-minded about most things so getting enjoyment from something isn’t usually surprising, it’s more of how invested I get.
What fandom do you love that you didn’t think you would?
One such example of this would be the Harry Potter series, it probably sounds strange as the earliest of memories for many people is the Harry Potter books and/or movies. I don’t believe I heard of anything until Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone(** Philosopher’s Stone for just about every other country**) was to be released in theaters. I grew up in a rural area that was, not surprisingly, very conservative and religious as well. The kind of place where something as innocuous as the Harry Potter books and movies were(sadly) regarded by many as promoting witchcraft <sigh> so I was never really given much of a chance to read the books. As I got older though, I always had a curiosity in the books, if for nothing other than to see what the fuss was about, but for whatever reason just never came back around to reading or watching any of it. Fast forward to only a handful of years ago, I bought a second-hand copy of Sorcerer’s Stone and read in my spare time at home. It took me about halfway through the book before I really started to feel an attachment to the Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hogwart’s. I remember the moment when I finished the first book, I was reading in bed during the middle of the night and I knew that I wanted to read the next book and keep going from there. I went out and bought a copy of Chamber of Secrets shortly afterwards, and also had the idea that I wanted to watch the movies alongside as I finished the books. So for every book I finished I would watch the movie afterwards to compare what I had pictured in my head while reading and to see what differences there were between book and film. Having consumed every book and movie in a relatively short amount of time, I could assuredly say that I understood now! I grew invested and attached to Harry’s story and the lives of the other characters as well. I finally understood what others felt when they would talk about Professor Snape or Sirius Black, my two favorite characters along with Hermione and Luna Lovegood. My favorite books of the series is The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Half-Blood Prince, which contained shocking plot twists and revelations that I couldn’t stop thinking about after reading. I finished the books and movies just in time to get the chance to experience the expanded universe of muggles and magic by going to see Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them in my local theater. The Harry Potter books/movies and Doctor Who are two fandoms that I have come around to in the last 5 years that I wasn’t necessarily surprised that I liked them, for me it was just the deep attachment and how quickly it happened.
Finally understanding this was heartbreaking…
That’s another day of the Geek Out Challenge in the books!( get it?…ok, I’m sorry :)) Another thanks to Megan at A Geeky Girl for the great questions, it’s been a blast so far. What is something that you didn’t initially see yourself loving, or at least not to any great level? Let me know in the comments below, see you tomorrow!
Gaming Omnivore 