A Valuable Lesson

I've always loved to read. Cracking open a book is one of the greatest joys in my life, and talking to others about books comes in a very close second. But somewhere around the time when I started taking literature classes in college, I became a snob about books. I didn't  really realize it was happening, and I wasn't extremely open about it. I didn't scoff or chide people about their choices or recommendations, I just developed a strong opposition to the most talked about bestsellers, popular book club picks, and any book printed with a movie poster cover. I thought that these books were a waste of my precious reading time.Then a small, misfit British boy came along and changed everything.Actually, a charming, wildly creative woman came along and decided to write down one of the most epic childhood adventure stories of all time.But at first, I was a jerk. I resisted the Harry Potter craze at the beginning. I listened with a silent smirk as friends and strangers rejoiced in the magic or fretted about the looming danger swirling around  Harry and his "nerd herd" crew.   I just figured it was a passing blip on the never-ending cycle of peanut-butter-smeared books about boys and dragons.The third book in the series was already on the shelves when a good friend, and respected fellow reader asked me if I had read any of the Harry Potter books. Since we were close, I let her see my distaste as I muttered "No thanks, I don't have any interest in reading kids books, I think they are a silly waste of time." She should have stopped speaking to me on the spot but instead she posed an interesting question; "Aren't you curious to know what has inspired so many people to read?" She went on to suggest that many of these people may never have opened a book to read for fun in their entire lives and now they were so mesmerized by the story they were willing to wait in a long line through the wee hours of the night to have the privilege of starting the new book as soon as it was released. She also asked me if I had ever seen so many people reading in public spaces and wasn't I a little bit curious about the story that inspired all this excitement?Of course I was. I think I went out and bought the first book on my way home that day.It didn't take long for me to get sucked in. I started waking up earlier just so I could get in a few extra minutes of reading; I missed appointments and canceled dates with friends so I could keep going. I loved Harry and his quirky friends, and I admired the chillingly sinister bad guys and all the complicated characters in between. And I loved finally being able to join the conversations happening around me; from a small boy waiting for a table at a restaurant with his parents, to a group of women at an elder care facility—all of us eagerly talking about reading and books!More than anything I am glad that J.K Rowling decided to pick up her pen and share a corner of her vast imagination with the world. I learned a valuable lesson about the power of a story, and this experience helped me to become less of a snob about books. It doesn't matter what people read as long as they are reading and honoring the writers who are brave enough to commit their thoughts to paper.I am delighted to be a board member for an organization that provides space and support for women writers, who in turn inspire the reader in all of us.