Book Challenge Entry Four: Favorite Book of a Series

Entry Four Prompt: Favorite Book of Your Favorite Series

My Answer: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling

It may seem a little odd that my favorite book of a series is neither the first book nor the last book but it's true.

Let me set you a scene. It was the year I was in sixth grade so it would have been around 1999/2000. I don't remember if it was the beginning of the school year or the end, all I know is that was when I started hearing whispers, whispers of a fantasy book series that was amazing. And boy did I love reading, especially fantasy books so of course I was interested.

But then I looked through my homeroom teacher's classroom library as well as the school library and guess what? The first book in the series I had been hearing about, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", was checked out! So what to do, wait for the first book to return or read the second book which was sitting on the shelves just begging for me to pick it up?

Oddly enough for me, a girl who likes organization and order I chose to read the second book first. And even though I didn't read the initial set up with Harry and the Dursleys and Harry's rough start to school and the wizarding world, I was hooked. I'm not certain but I think I may have read the second book, then the first and then I read the second one again so that I knew them in the correct order.

Either way, that started the obsession. An obsession that led to pre-ordered purchases of books four through seven. An obsession that lead to movie showings and purchased VHS's, DVD's, jewelry, and clothing related to the franchise. And, even fourteen years after I first started the series, I am seriously considering a Harry Potter related tattoo and I am also regretting the fact that I didn't buy a pair of Deathly Hallows earrings when I was out shopping last weekend because I would rock those things.

Because, as many other fans of the series have said before me, the magic of Harry Potter is very real. And I have a feeling that, if I'm eighty years old and someone asks me if I still love the fandom, I'll be saying "always."