It was a warm summer day in 1998 when I read my first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I was working as an intern in the catalogue department at Raincoast Books. We were struggling to get a more prominent display in our Spring catalogue for the 3 Harry Potter books.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was being published in the spring and the books were doing ok in BC. Vancouver Kidsbooks was selling them like hot cakes and begging us to print more. But the East coast and Toronto reps were unsure. The enthusiasm for the books hadn’t reached their territory.
We decided to put the book image on the front cover of the catalogue.
I was sick of hearing about Harry Potter. The UK press coverage billed J.K. Rowling as an up-and-coming writer, the kids were posting online about how awesome the books were, we were brainstorming how to help series along. I was tired of hearing about Harry Potter and never having read a chapter.
With the teen fiction I was promoting, I would read the first chapter, if it was good, I’d read the full book. If it was bad, I’d read a middle chapter, scan a couple of other pages and read the last chapter. That was my plan for Harry Potter.
My bus ride was an hour long, lots of time to decide if Harry Potter was good or bad. When I walked into Raincoast that morning, I told them that I couldn’t do any work. Harry Potter was stuck in the dungeon and I needed to see what was going to happen.
I was hooked.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone wasn’t the best writing that I’d ever read, but it was definitely fun. There was something captivating about the characters, poor Harry trapped in the cupboard under the stairs.
Since that morning in 1998 I have changed jobs at least 5 times; I’ve started my own business; I’ve joined Harry Potter fan sites, attended midnight parties and been fuelled by the excitement of so many kids (young and old) dressed up as wizards; and I’ve fallen deeper into Pottermania than I thought possible.
The friendships that I’ve gained because of the books have been deeper than I expected. This is the book series that I feel most passionate about. I hide that passion because when I worked at Raincoast I didn’t want my “outside” friends to badger me about the stories or inside-scoops they thought I might have. Now as the series comes to a close I want to celebrate the fun times that have been the last 10 years.
To that end, I’ve created a quick survey.
If you’re a Harry Potter reader, take my survey, see what kinds of experiences we’ve collectively shared during our time with the books. I’ll post the results on SinceHarry.com.