Sunday 10 July 2016

My old HP book set is finally complete! And here is the story behind it...

It’s incredible to remember the time when I knew nothing at all about HP! But the truth is that I didn’t know anything about it until 2001 when I went to see the first film and fell in love with its magic. It’s really amazing how there are things in your life that effect you in a very profound way and yet when it all starts you have no idea how far it will go… I can’t say that HP changed my life in any dramatic way – other than make it more isolated, I suppose, because I found everything that I needed in books and spent many years hiding there from the world – but it became an inseparable part of my life. It’s been more than ten years now that I’ve been a fan! I know that people are usually taken aback by how deep and great my knowledge of everything to do with HP universe and beyond is. The moment they mention HP in my presence I’m upon them and if someone is unfortunate enough to state a fact that is wrong or untrue I become very Hermione-ish, you know, in a very scary way.

Basically, my HP obsession has many different manifestations – one of them is book sets. I get crazy when I have mismatched HP books and unfortunately my favourite set – my old and battered set – is woefully mismatched. I knew nothing about HP when I went to buy the first book. But I would have no choice anyway, because I bought the only book that the shop had – Bloomsbury Paperback Adult Edition. I was lucky to buy the second and the third book of the same edition but when I came for the fourth book I found a different one. Of course, I bought it, because I had to know what happened next and I couldn’t very well wait for the same edition to appear! In retrospect, it’s a good thing that I didn’t wait, because it never appeared. Later, I discovered that it was discontinued. Then, a few months ago, I learned that it was discontinued after the fourth book came out and I never knew! So, of course, I had to get it. My first attempt, alas, landed me with yet another edition. But a few days ago I finally got the book that I actually ordered in the first place! 

So now, after so many years, I have a set and it’s complete and it’s beautiful! I wish Bloomsbury hadn't discontinued it, but what can you do? 



I also seem to have three different Goblet of Fire books now. But so what? 



Do I sound too crazy? 
Do you have similar obsessions when it comes to HP?

12 comments:

  1. Congrats! Those are really cool covers. I'm currently 1 book away from having a complete set nice paperbacks of the Scholatic covers. I already have a set of nice hardbacks, but the first three are quite a bit shorter than the rest, which is kind of annoying. I had the chance to pick up a DH adult Bloomsbury edition for a couple dollars and I didn't get it for some stupid reason. I don't know what I was thinking! I'm obsessed too. You're totally not crazy... well, no more than I am :D

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    1. I'm glad to hear that! :D Good luck with your hunt for the books! Sometimes I feel that it's quite unfair that there are so many great editions, because you just can't afford to buy them all, and as far as I can see they only keep coming.

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  2. We are very similar with our HP obsessions Farida! I will also compulsively correct people who are wrong about HP and if they try to argue, I tell them that they best take my word for it as I know the stories pretty much by heart LOL! Love your editions of the series. I have the Adult UK hardbacks but I want many other of the editions. And yes they MUST all match :D

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    1. It's good to know that I'm not alone in that))) People who are not HP fans or not into books as much as I am don't seem to get this particular compulsion.

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  3. LOL This is the only series that I have more than one copy of the books and what's worse is that I have 2 hard covers of Deathly Hallows and they both have the same cover. I bought it, a friend borrowed it, and I had to buy it again because I wanted to read it again before it was given back. Same thing happened with the 6th one but I have a paperback and hard cover of that one. I would love having other editions and a set that all matches. Mine is all the same edition but some paper back / some hard cover. I have debates all the time with people who bring up weird untrue facts from the Potterverse or things they only learned through watching the movies.

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    1. I completely forgot that I also have two DH books. Both Bloomsbury editions, both hardbacks, but one children and one adult. I also want to purchase an old special anniversary edition of PS/SS with Harry staring into the Mirror of Erised on the cover. It's so poignant and beautiful and I've always wanted it.

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  4. I fell in love with HP the same way, too- after seeing the first film! :D I got the first four books within a couple of days and just binge read them, lol. I love seeing all the different editions of the books. All of my books are hardcover, but every time I see the Scholastic paperback set, I'm so tempted to buy it because the covers and the spines are so beautiful!

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    1. Yes, they are all so beautiful and they just keep making more and more of them. I wish they took pity on our wallets, though))

      I also binge read the first four books, returning ever day to the shop to buy a new one! That was a great time. I remember the enjoyment, the excitement and the shock that I experienced while reading each book and then I would pass them on to my friend and she would read them in a rush and we would discuss them for hours after that...

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  5. I'm sure my books obsessions don't end with Harry Potter, but I feel you. I hate when my book sets are mismatched. It's especially bad, when the size of the book changes, or the publishers decide to change the appearance part way through for no apparent reason. There's literally nothing you can do at that point because there's not an edition floating around that would fix that mismatch problem, it's just how it is. Oh it drives me crazy! I'm so glad that you were able to find that edition of Goblet of Fire. :D

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    1. Argh! That drives me crazy too. Why would they do that?! Why would they change the format? I LOVE my books to stand in neat rows, all similar in size, font and style - but no! That's what happened with my Cormoran Strike novels by J.K. Rowling. The first book was of a normal size, the second actually monster-sized and the third never even got into our shops!

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  6. So what indeed? I have a few different editions of favorites. My sister collects 'Alice in Wonderland'; I think she's at around 10-12 different copies.
    It drives me nuts when they change editions before the series is complete. My Artemis Fowl collect will always look a little askew, because they completely redesigned the covers for the later books. ;_;

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    1. Wow! That sounds awesome! All those editions... at least, it doesn't consist of 7 books :D

      I know! Why would they do that?! Why change the format of the books halfway through and ruin the whole set? I never know what they think about when they do that.

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