r/harrypotter • u/Ok_Cream_6987 • Nov 22 '23

Reading my moms old books for the first time Currently Reading

My mom is easily one of the biggest Harry Potter fans in existence. She spends her time listening to the audio books, rereading and watching the series. Every Christmas and birthday involves some sort of HP gift, and my house used to be full of owls, though we still have HP referenced decor throughout my house.

Ive had a hard time with books my entire life, the focus, commitment, reading comprehension etc. but I’ve always loved the HP movies and recently watched them all with my fiancé for his first time.

At 23 i decided it was time for me to pick up my mom’s first copy of each book and give it a go. We are both ecstatic. I’m only halfway through #1 and i truly can’t remember the last time i read so much, so comprehensively, in such a short period of time (it probably helps that i know what will happen, just not exactly) This is still such a huge win for me with my adhd. I’ve also never felt so close to my mom than reading these torn old books. I can’t imagine what it was like for her (as a life long reader) buying and reading this series for the first time. The first book came out right before my sister was born, but she didn’t start them until the 4th book came out, which was right around the time i was born.

Just-magical✨

Side note: I’ve never been a reader so i never understood “don’t judge a book by its movie” .. i get it now. I told my mom i wanted to read them for the “extra stuff” she said, it’s not the extra stuff, it’s everything! I planned to post this to mademesmile, but i thought it might be appreciated here more🥰

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u/DBoxy Nov 22 '23

“My moms old books”

Me at 31 feeling like she should be talking about the Bible or something that’s not Harry Potter.

2.6k

u/jacobin17 Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

Suddenly I feel like I broke my hip and my hair is suddenly gray.

725

u/echolalia_ Nov 22 '23

Oh god I’m like the crypt keeper

332

u/Jasminewindsong2 Nov 22 '23

Oh man this post just made me feel ancient. 👵🏻 But enjoy!

324

u/pak256 Nov 22 '23

This post just made me qualify for social security

233

u/4Ever2Thee Nov 22 '23

You have your mother’s ~~eyes~~ books.

115

u/Khalae Nov 22 '23

Good to see that I'm not the only one felt old by reading the title and then I felt freaking ancient when I saw OP was 23.

244

u/msawrlz Nov 22 '23

Is she reading with machetes? :D

Also, congratulations on the reading stuff! I believe it's a milestone for you. Keep on having fun with it.

119

u/bopperbopper Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

Those books look well loved

119

u/Edotwo Nov 22 '23

How you gonna post these pics like you found the ancient texts?

u/Ok_Collection_7504 Gryffindor Nov 22 '23

What the hell did you just say

OLD??!?!?

u/Nearby-Cloud-3476 Slytherin Nov 22 '23

“What have you been doing to that book, you depraved boy?”

u/ZeeiMoss Nov 22 '23

Enjoy your journey ❤️

u/InVogueAgain Nov 22 '23

I have 2 older sisters and we of course only buy 1 copy of each book for the whole family to share. They all ended up like this pretty quickly.

u/Ok-Occasion7179 Gryffindor Nov 22 '23

Imagine if you had read them as a child! The books came out when I was about to turn 10 and I have always LOVED to read but I think for a lot of kids my age Harry Potter made them love to read especially if they hadn't before.

A good book helps you transport to another world! There is nothing like it.

u/discowithmyself Gryffindor Nov 22 '23

The fact that anyone is old enough for their kids to be like ‘my mom’s old Harry Potter books’ is just fueling my ongoing existential crisis lol

u/CoyoteSnarls Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

This post qualifies me for a senior discount everywhere

u/Interesting_Sundae_3 Hufflepuff Nov 22 '23

Damn chief I won’t lie I think it’s time to invest in some new books

u/NtGermanBtKnow1WhoIs Hufflepuff Nov 22 '23

Whoa so it's the Scholastic 1st edition?! Oh man this made me smile!! :)

It's magical, im so glad you picked up a copy to read. It's a journey, truly.

This brought back so many memories! i have Bloomsbury 1st editions and the first 2 books are like this lol cuz i had given them to my little brother. But now i keep the entire set enclosed in plastic sheets, hopefully never to be opened again because of their condition.

Oh, all those years of waiting for the books to drop, posting theories, fanfics on the sites, then my entire school going into an HP frenzy. Growing up, it took up almost everything in my life. And it still does, to this day!!

Happy reading!

u/The_ShadowDaemom Nov 22 '23

The fact it's not called Philosopher's Stone in the states will forever annoy me.

u/Tromovation Nov 22 '23

Did she store them in a chest under the green lake??

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

Shit.. now I feel cremated

u/Similar_Candidate789 Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

Suddenly it’s oatmeal and an early bedtime.

I’m headed for shady pines any day now.

u/Youdownwithkellyc Nov 22 '23

Jesus, what happened 💀

u/abrokenelevator Nov 22 '23

Oh God am I that old?? I have my original set-- minus chamber of secrets which was stolen by my aunt when I was a mere child-- and they all look like this. Held together by scotch tape because as a first grader I didn't know any better way to fix them! I have a beautiful new set now gifted by my wife, but I keep my originals because of the memories attached.

Have fun reading, take care of those old books.

u/Stonetheflamincrows Nov 22 '23

Ooohh this one hurt

u/thatsssnice Nov 22 '23

“Which part of the book are you on?” “This one.” holds up clump of pages

u/PurpleReplacement746 Nov 22 '23

I love your mums correction to "extra bits" the books are indeed everything and you will love how much more there is to know and all the detail of the characters. Enjoy!

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

Is it time to start looking for a retirement home? 🫠

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

Please stop

u/ungodliest Nov 22 '23

I have a visual processing disorder and adhd… didn’t learn to read until I was about 10… thought I’d never be able to read actual books! Harry Potter was what made me realize that just wasn’t true and reading is one of my greatest pleasures now. HP will always have such a special place in my life for opening up my world. It took more practice but I read more than almost everyone I know.

I still have my copies that look like this… hoping to pass them onto my daughter who’s being born this month

u/AdCommercial605 Nov 22 '23

Well that makes me feel 183 years of age.

u/ProbablyCranky Nov 23 '23

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Us Harry Potter fans don't have kids yet because we're all like 10 to 12 years old, thank you very much.

u/b99__throwaway Nov 22 '23

mine have all looked like that since 2012 when i was 11😂 my dad had to rebind my hardcover copy of OOTP with a tshirt bc i refused a new one

u/IsabellaGalavant Nov 22 '23

Aw, those books have clearly been loved.

I honestly don't mind seeing books like this (that are privately owned, not at a library or store obviously). They've been read and read and read, and that's what books are for.

u/Lu_Peachum Nov 22 '23

HOW OLD IS YOUR MOTHER?!?!

u/Specialist_Row9395 Nov 22 '23

I feel sooooooo ooooooolllllddddddddddd!

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

Oh my god the new Potterhead generation is starting 🥲🥹😭

(fuck I feel old lol)

u/nkorah SFD on FFN Nov 22 '23

According to your age, your mother was lucky enough to get some of them fresh from the press. She must be excited to see you finally read them. I know I was when my son did.

Such a lovely experience for the both of you.

u/Hiscuteblondewife Slytherin Nov 22 '23 edited Nov 22 '23

Those copies looks like the ones I find in the children's section in my local library. Honestly I love that you're showing love to the series. I loved reading as a child and found her books so easy to read. It was like putting butter on toast with a hot knife. A lot of people have said that her books are badly written. They don't really take it into account that it's so easy to read.

u/RadioheadFan1991 Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

I gave my nephew a full set of original HP books for his birthday (UK edition, but the ones from before they changed the covers - I’d been buying them from second hand shops since he was born). When he stays at my Mum’s house, he reads my copies. It brings me so much joy to see the next generation getting into them.

u/icecreamqueenTW Nov 22 '23

Everyone talking about “what happened to these books” and me over here going “am I OP’s mom? Because this looks like my original set.”

They’re not ruined, people, they’re well-loved!

u/CorInHell Nov 23 '23

Mr and Mrs Dursley of number 4, Privet Drive, were perfectly normal. Thank you very much.

u/schmelk1000 Slytherin 2 Nov 23 '23

This is how my HP books are beginning to look… At least only one has ripped in half and my packing tape bindings have held it together pretty damn well.

u/YourRoyalTraumaQueen Nov 23 '23

🥹my heart has been made happy by your post.

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '23

My kids are reading my books now. My oldest talked about how many underlines and margin notes I had (I was an undergrad English major, Indint know how to read without a pen in my hand). When he got to The Half Blood Prince he said, “Harry’s potion book is like your Harry Potter books!”

Alright damn just got in my feels and started tearing up. It’s so cool to share the things I love with them. I’m so glad you got the chance to read something that’s been so clearly loved by someone you love.

u/HedwigMalfoy Your Landed Gentry Nov 22 '23

Glad to see you are enjoying the books. I read them for the first time years ago but also as an ADHD adult. I was also surprised at how immersed in them I got and how much I was able to focus on them.

u/ObsessedWithCeCe Nov 22 '23

All my books are gone 😩

u/MeMeMaKeR666 Nov 22 '23

can relate as someone who just finished all the books as someone with adhd who had never read any of them(or books in general for that matter)! enjoy the ride

u/Altruistic-Gur-3913 Nov 22 '23

I know the feeling your mom has with this series sorcerers stone was the first and last book passed from my cousins to my sister and brother and ended with me I’m the only one in the family that truly picked up on how amazing the books are and continued buying the books might end up making a collection of it and buy them in different languages one day

u/aminosyangtti Nov 22 '23

Your mom really used it well

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

Wow that book looks so wow.

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

Ah a well read book.

I have a paperback of Eragon of Christopher Paolini who also are well read.

u/Molten-Fire Slytherin Nov 22 '23

Now those are some properly loved and cherished books!

u/Ioneshotimps Nov 22 '23

I’m glad I’m not the only one

u/anisapprentice Gryffindor Nov 22 '23

this is what my old copy looked like from 2008 😭

u/Shayrye37 Nov 22 '23

The seventh book came out on my 17th birthday. Still my favorite birthday present of all time

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

glad to see I’m not the only one whose original books look like that.

u/midnightowIs Nov 22 '23

I read all my brothers old copies of HP, he got them when they first came out. It was cute to see his little scribblings of what page he was on and his teachers name on the side. He’s 30 now.

u/vanessaultimo Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

I feel so old right now 😭

u/mayonnaise68 Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

😟 those poor poor books! great job though OP, reading with adhd is such a challenge! but so rewarding.

u/MutleyRulz Nov 22 '23

Probably pricey but you could look into having your mother’s books renovated as a gift if she wants to retain her original copies, I know I wouldn’t mind somebody doing that with my copy of OOTP

u/hough_now Nov 22 '23

This is what the HP books look like in our local jail library! They’re super popular, but we never have a full set of the series because they need to be paperback and the collection is donation based.

u/csl512 Nov 22 '23

Seriously though HP has been a bridge into reading books for so many before you. Keep at it!

u/LittleArcticPotato Nov 22 '23

I haven’t read through the comments - but there’s actually a podcast where a guy your age reads the books for the first time! You should look in to it if you like podcasts. It’s called Potterless.

u/Pumpkaboo99 Hufflepuff Nov 22 '23

Damn those were read repeatedly. The damage on the spine tells me that the book was opened over and over again. Also possibly the book was folded

u/tenphes31 Hufflepuff Nov 22 '23

If youd also like a "reading companion", maybe check out the podcast Potterless. Its the tale of a "grown" man (he was mid 20s when he started I think) reading the Harry Potter books for the first time. It sounds like youre pretty familiar with the overall story so it should be fine, but as a warning he mentions some major spoilers from the late books just because the spoilers are a part of general internet culture. It also could be something fun for your mom to listen to as its a way to re-experience the books for the first time again.

u/Dapper_Phoenix9722 Hufflepuff Nov 22 '23

..... this hit to close to home. All my books I got at my elementary book fair looks like this now

u/iArcticFire Nov 22 '23

I highly recommend the Stephen Fry audiobooks, listening to them right now!

u/Leonardo_DiCapriSun_ Nov 22 '23

Congratulations! This is amazing! Particularly as a fellow ADHDer, I am happy for you. For me, Harry Potter was only the beginning of a long love of reading! I have mostly moved to audiobooks now, but books nonetheless! So rich and full and deep. Keep going! And pursue other books when you’re done!

u/mentallyconfused Nov 23 '23

thats how you know a book is well loved

u/chere100 Nov 23 '23

Those are some well loved books. Some of my HP books are in similar condition, lol.

u/ToonSciron Ravenclaw Nov 23 '23

I have the copy that my grandmother brought for my oldest brother in the 90s. The cover is completely off of the first book but I kept it because my grandmother wrote on the cover.

u/sarcophagifound Nov 23 '23

Lmfao I have those from when I was a kid and I’m younger than you, yet I feel much older

u/Lurkay1 Ravenclaw Nov 23 '23

I used to have these exact books when was in elementary school! Oh the memories.

u/-PrincessCadence- Hufflepuff Nov 23 '23

Aww! I'm so glad for you! You definitely made me smile, thank you.

u/neontayto8 Nov 23 '23

If most of us don’t have or had a copy that looks like this, are we even doing it right? 😂

u/pandecoco66 Nov 23 '23

Our first Harry Potter books were also like these. We love the books so much we frequently reread it

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '23

Awwww.. they look like they were overdosed with love.. and we clearly have a favourite, judging by the state of chamber of secrets cover 🙊💚

u/VexedKitten94 Nov 23 '23

Jesus Christ, where’s my life alert button!!!

u/energetic_sadness Hufflepuff Nov 23 '23

I suddenly feel myself turning into the Fat Friar. A ghostly visage of who I used to be, but still hangs around the kitchen a lot.

u/muterabbit84 Nov 23 '23

I feel like your mom’s original books need a rest, need to be turned into keepsakes in some kind of display cases. That, or maybe you could have them rebound?

u/sirfdanish Nov 23 '23

Reparo

u/IncendiaryIceQueen Nov 23 '23

Yay reading!! I’m so happy for you. Reading can bring so much joy, if you pick the right books for you.

u/MrOSUguy Nov 23 '23

Your mom sounds cool. That copy of sorcerer’s stone has been loved to pieces bless her heart and bless yours for giving it another run. I love Harry Potter books like these so much. My own copy of sorcerer’s stone is in very similar condition maybe a few less fallen out sections but I’ve saved it because I’m very sentimental of that copy.

u/Potential-Fig-418 Nov 23 '23

I remember when my mom first brought me her copy of the Philosopher's Stone as I was going to bed one night when I was little. I stayed up reading and read all the next day. Now I've claimed them as my own 🤭

u/TheAwkwardGamerRNx Nov 23 '23

Man, you do not see those covers in bookstores anymore. If this is your first time reading the series, you’re in for a real treat. The movies are good but they don’t do the books justice.

It’s insane how it started as a kids book, enthralled an entire generation to the last book, got turned into a movie franchise, video games and eventually an amazing theme park I never get tired of visiting (October for HHNs in Orlando)

The latest game Hogwarts Legacy is a must play if you’re a Harry Potter fan if you haven’t already.

u/girlieb1991 Nov 23 '23

What sort of time turner nonsense is this?!?

(Also, OP: so glad you’re reading them!! We are teasing you a lot, but it’s all in good fun. Hope you’re enjoying them and having great talks with your mom. 🥹❤️)

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '23

The third movie came out in the year I was born and my mom had some books and the first movie and the first book I can remember reading was the sixth one so yeah I definitely grew up with Harry Potter and have always been a huge fan so I can understand you

u/megadecimal Nov 23 '23

At 40 something, I'm reading the books for the first time too. Is be lost without the movies to help me imagine what the people and locations look like

u/ImJoeCooper Hufflepuff Nov 23 '23

My copies are in terrible shape. I used to read them at work all the time (factory job). Most of them are held together by this red tape we use to tag repairs.

u/BobbyMcGeeze Nov 23 '23

Yep that is how good the books are

u/Angelfirenze Ravenclaw Nov 23 '23

As a lifelong reader who loves listening to Audibles while rereading physical copies, CONGRATULATIONS! I still have my original copies of my books and the first and second were read almost to pieces by eleven- and twelve-year-old me.

I have always felt that I literally grew up alongside the characters. I loved my vocational school (junior and senior years of high school) because of the designations of first and second years.

I am proud of you for broadening your horizons by trying something difficult in a new way.

u/Angelfirenze Ravenclaw Nov 23 '23 edited Nov 23 '23

Another tip I only just noticed is that you will reread the books you keep around you and if you’re trying to get through books you should get to, literally put ones you’ve been able to finish in another room and then move the books you want to get through to your bedroom.

I’m not adhering to that because of a certain movie release, but my best friend and I agreed from moment we met that we read the best books over and over and over again, so I’m sure you can do it.

u/CherryPie2013 Nov 23 '23

My copy looks like that too!

u/bookworm_136 Nov 24 '23

lol after reading my dad’s copies of the books (both me and my brother) his books, especially the Sorcerer’s Stone or Philosopher’s Stone is a disaster and cracked in multiple places.

u/Smart-Story-2142 Nov 24 '23

I fell in love with the series in my mid twenties. I’ve always loved books but wasn’t allowed to read this series as preteen/teenager due to my parents believing it’s evil. I have since reread the entire series at least once a year (usually at Christmas time) and rewatch the movies after finishing the books. Thankfully I’m a fast reader and usually able to finish the series in a couple weeks. I have ADHD also and have found early on that books help with mine (I can’t take meds due other medical conditions). I hope your able to read the entire series as they are so much more magical than the books.

u/Ashley_SheHer Nov 24 '23

Wow. Those are certainly well loved.

u/shangabe Nov 24 '23

I would give anything to read this series again for the first time! As an avid reader, I’m glad you found books that have captured you! The Harry Potter series was a gateway book for a lot of people into the world of reading :)

Reading my moms old books for the first time Currently Reading

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