recommended – Thoughts to Pages

I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking and probably saying ‘Ashley! Everyone has already read (and most likely loved) Harry Potter’. I know! I wanted to do today’s recommend post a little different. I wanted to share my Harry Potter story and how I came to love this world.

I was introduced to Harry Potter after a few of the books had already been out for a bit. I don’t remember hearing a whole lot about it from the other kids at school. I think the first movie was coming out soon and that is why I heard a little bit of noise about it. I was reading other things here and there, but I was absolutely not reading as much as I do now. It turns out my cousins had the first two books in the series and I said Sure, I’ll give them a try. I was never much of a Fantasy reader; I still am not much of a Fantasy reader. So needless to say, I had a tough time getting into the first book. I know the first time I started it, I didn’t get very far at all. Long story short, it took me three separate tries to make it past the beginning, but I still wasn’t hooked.

I decided to pick up the second book, even though I wasn’t that into it. But with each passing page, I became more and more hooked. And I started to really love it. I don’t remember how many books were out at this time, but I remember I had asked my mom to purchase the books I didn’t own yet.

Sometime during all this, I started my first job and one of my co-workers was such a HUGE HP fan. She was going to the midnight premiers of the movies and reading the books non stop. We started to bond over it, and I started to fall more and more in love. My first midnight showing of one of the films was “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. I had the best time going to it, and I knew I had to do it again for the next movies.

When Deathly Hollows came out, we both picked it up on release day. We decided to not talk to each other until we finished it to avoid spoilers. I don’t remember how long it took me to read it, but it wasn’t long at all. I am sad to admit that I have only read this book one time, because I just remember crying through the whole thing. I did try to reread it a few years ago and within the first two chapters, I was crying and I said Nope. I am not emotionally ready for this.

I did go to a midnight showing of Half Blood Prince and once again I fell even more in love. But I will say, I have never seen Deathly Hallows Part 1 or Part 2. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want it to end and quite frankly, I could barely handle the ending of Half Blood Prince.

From there, my love of these characters and this world just grew, and continues to grow. I enjoy rereading the books and plan to do a complete reread this year. I love collecting different editions of the books. My first set of books was all in paperback, except Deathly Hollows, so currently I am busy collecting all the hardbacks. And the illustrated versions are so gorgeous. I just love everything that has to do with HP and I hope that one day I can get my nephews to love it as much as I do.

I am a Proud Slytherin

What is your Harry Potter story? Have you read them? Love them as an adult as you did a kid? Let’s talk in the comments!

Friday Recommends – – The Heart’s Invisible Furies

I’ve decided to start a new series on my blog. Every Friday I want to recommend a book to you. These are books that I love and can’t stop thinking about. My goal is to introduce you to some books that you may not have picked up on your own.

I knew I had to start this off with a book that I read 2 years ago but still can’t stop thinking about.

The Heart’s Invisible Furies – – John Boyne

I LOVE this book. I ask everyone I know if they have read this book, and if not, I tell them they need to pick it up. I read this book in December of 2017 and I remember making a Facebook post that said if you only have time to read one more book for the year, make it this one.

To be honest, I really didn’t have a huge interest in reading this. I remember seeing it was a Book of the Month pick and it was featured on an episode of All the Books, a podcast created by Book Riot. I had mild interest, so I did put it on hold through Libby. I couple months later I received and email that it was available. Usually in November/December, I don’t read a whole lot. I am super busy at work and have little energy when I get home. So I wasn’t reading anything at that particular time so I decided to give this one a shot. And I am so glad I did.

This book follows Cyril Avery. It spans across his whole life; from the time he is in his mother’s belly until the last days of his life. The novel spans decades, and in that time we really get to know Cyril. We get to watch him with his adoptive parents and their very strange relationship. We get to be there with him while he struggles with who he is and where he comes from. We are there for him when he finally finds love and happiness. We are there through all the ups and downs through important times in history. You really get to live a life along with Cyril.

I went through every emotion when I read this book. There were laugh out loud moments. Cyril is a very practical and humorous character. You cannot help but love him. There were moments in this that I cried. I really felt for the characters in this and what they were going through. There were some tough subject matters in this book, but they were beautifully done.

The Heart’s Invisible Furies clocks in at just under 600 pages, but it does not feel like 600 pages. It was just so compelling and it sucks you in from the very beginning. You can’t help but fall in love with all the characters from the minute you are introduced to them. Sometimes when books are this long, you think some stuff could have been cut out because it added nothing to the story. This is not the case for this one. Everything in here makes sense and if it wasn’t there, you would think you are missing out. It all just works perfectly together.

Please do yourself a favor and read this book. Spend some time with Cyril. I had no expectations when I went into this and it became one of my Top 3 All Time Favorite Books. It is so good.

Have you already read this? Thoughts?

Are you interested in picking it up this year?

Let’s chat about it in the comments!