Except for those colorful and outdated encyclopedia books I used to devour back in high school, I wasn't really into novels or books.
I hated pure text pages especially with font size only the Gremlins or the Chinese could read. It was just too bland for me.
Things changed in 2001 after I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. While I was entertained by the owls, the flying balls with broomsticks game (not informed of Quidditch yet), and Harry's bad acting, I didn't really get the story.
I got home and borrowed my cousin's pre-popular copy of the 1st installment of the Potter books and began to read. Keeping my eyelids up trying to survive the first three pages of The Sorcerer's Stone, I slowly got over the initial hesitation I used to have when reading all-text books. Three chapters later and I was hooked. I was possessed by the demon. There was no turning back.
Deathly Hallows marked the end of the Potter mania. I was one of the many souls inspired by it. JK Rowling is one of my real-life heroines, inspiring me to write my own story.
Now that she opened my eyes to the wonderful world of books, I moved on and tread on foreign waters; science fiction, young adult, thriller, I read them with zest.
Children's book still topped my list of go-to genre. I believe books should be entertaining, an escape from the real world and not some miserable accounts of life's miseries or countless details of an obsession with a troubled sparkly creature.
Highly Recommended:
1. The Wizard of Oz
2. Digital Fortress
3. Matilda
4. Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief
5. The Silmarillion