Years Late to the Party

When I was in college in 1998, a book for young adults was released that really caught on. A second book was released, and a third, and in 2000, the first of a series of movies. While I was of course an avid reader, I staunchy avoided reading anything that seemed over-popular. I refused to read anything with an Opera's Book Club stamp on it, a policy I later revoked as it was keeping me from books that I really wanted to read. A cult following for this book grew and grew. I couldn't ride the train to school or get through a shift working at the coffeehouse without seeing someone with one of these books in their hands. I wasn't having it.
But, it just wouldn't go away. Books and movies continued to come. It won numerous awards. It was subject to a huge amount of press, good, bad, and downright crazy. Close friends would stand in line to buy new books at midnight release parties, and would stay up all night devouring them. My own father confessed to having read and enjoyed the series. I still hadn't read a single one, however, my feelings on the books changed. They did seem to be something that I would really enjoy, rather than just a curiosity. I saw a movie or two (or maybe all of them) and liked them a lot. I don't mind how much the story has seeped in to popular culture. The theme park looks amazing. My nephews look fantastic dressed up as the characters.
The 7th and final book was released in 2007. My excuse of wanting to wait until the series was complete has been void for 4 years. But finally, after a long and serendipitous journey, I bought the complete series this week and just finished the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, this morning. It's fantastic. I knew it would be. I look forward to reading the rest of them, and likely re-reading them often. I spent so much effort avoiding it at first, but I've desperately wanted to read it for so long now. Perhaps that's part of why my reading choices and conquests are so different now... I actively set out to read books that catch the public interest, so that I can judge for myself if they live up to the hype. I don't want stuck behind the literary times again.

With all that said, I'm still not reading Twilight.