As Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part One about to open and the media machine around its release swirling with retrospective, I thought I would share my history with the Boy Wizard and how he changed my literary life.

Growing up, I was never a big reader. I learned how to read when I entered Grade 3 and all through school, even university I avoided reading any assigned books. Even I’m surprised I passed high school and have two university degrees.

I was 24 when I first read the first Harry Potter tome, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone but how I came to read it, I need to give that credit to….Anne of Green Gables. Yes, Anne Shirley. It’s isn’t because I read that book (which I did) is why I read Harry Potter, it was because around this time, the God-awful Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story was coming. Of course at the time, I didn’t know it was going to suck but there was a website set-up for its release and a forum for fans like myself. But first I need to take a step back and thank my mom who got me into Anne of Green Gables in the first place. I have a memory of it being 1985 and we were decorating the Christmas tree and we had the original brilliant mini-series playing and I really got into it so if it wasn’t for my mom then I guess I would never have gotten into Harry Potter so thanks Mom.

Anyways, one section of the forum was called the Anne of Green Gables Book Club. At first the books were mostly by LM Montgomery like The Blue Castle (which I did love) but then someone suggested the first Harry Potter. I had heard of this book series that was starting to sweep the world but was reluctant to read a children’s book.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. It wasn’t your stereotypical children’s book and after the twist in the first book, and I am not spoiling anything by saying this, that Quirrell was the villain and not Snape, which in a normal children’s book that would have been the case, I realized that I am not dealing with a children’s book. I realized that JK Rowling is a genius and I never underestimated her again and was waiting for more surprises to come.

I was lucky at this time (2000) that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was already out and I ordered it off Amazon and read both in about a couple of months.

Lucky for me too the the fourth book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came out that year and I read that the fastest that I had ever read a book at that time, which was a month. I later shattered that record in 2007 when I read the last Harry Potter book in 24 hours.

I remember everything about my Harry Potter experience like where I bought each book and where and whom I saw each movie version with.

I remember that I even got people into the Harry Potter series. I know the series inside and out and can pretty much answer any trivia question my way but I stress pretty much.

How has Harry Potter changed my life, as mentioned I never was much of a reader but because of Harry Potter, in the last 10 years, I have read way more books than I had before I read the first one at age 24. And I read faster too! When I was way younger, it would take me a few months to read a book, now it can take me over a week. If it’s really good then a few days or if it’s excellent then maybe 24 hours.

If it wasn’t for Harry Potter there would have been no Twilight Saga or The Hunger Games or any other books I have read since.

So thank you JK Rowling for Harry Potter. I am so glad that he is in my life for without him, I wouldn’t be nearly as literate today if I had never met him.