Discussion Saturday - PJO read along - How did reading this series change my love for reading?

Discussion Saturday - Percy Jackson and the Olympians read-along - How did reading this series change my love for reading?

Hey all!

Welcome to this read-along’s last Discussion Saturday! (Yes I know it’s Sunday. Yes I know I haven’t posted my review yet. It’s coming I promise!)

This week’s theme is: How did reading this series change your love for reading?

Okay, so I’ve loved reading and being read to since I was absolutely tiny. I was one of those kids who could spend hours just listening to a story, and reading these stories when I got older. One distinct memory of mine goes back to when I was 8-ish, and I was sitting on a pillow in our living room, reading The Magic School Bus (You know the one where they go to space? Yeah that one.) I remember reading the entire thing without putting it down, and realizing that only an hour passed. I remember how proud I felt that I read a whole chapter book all at once! 

In elementary school (primary school), I was in a book club, where we would have book discussions and general reading knowledge competitions (our team won that year yay!) 

And then in 5th grade (year 6, CM2) I moved away to another country. My reading slowed down after that - getting accustomed to a new place isn’t easy. In the middle of 6th grade, I joined another reading group that would meet up in the library on Wednesdays. We had to bring our favorite book and explain why it was our favorite. I brought a series about dragons that I had read in the wrong order. One of the girls had brought The Lightening Thief (The one with the old cover which was all silvery with the monsters drawn into the lightening bolt). She explained the story, and something made me want to read it right then and there. After that meeting I went to the middle-grade shelves in the school’s library and picked up The Lightening Thief. And that was my first encounter with Perseus Jackson. 

I read the book two or three times over in that year alone! I remember having to do a book report for the summer in which we moved up to 7th grade, and instead of saying “The Thief Lord”, I kept saying “The Lightening Thief”. But hey those two are fairly easy to confuse, I’m sorry! 

That’s when I picked up the next books, and realized that only four of them were published... the agony of waiting for the fifth one was so real, especially with the cliffhanger the 4th one left me with! I remember finally receiving it in the mail, reading it, and everyone wanting to borrow it. 

That was the first time I waited for what felt like ages for a new book to be released. It was also my first introduction to Greek Mythology, which I now really love! Reading this series throughout middle school made me realize that there could be so many amazing stories that I’m still missing out on! So I continued reading, and adding to my shelf. But every year, I would read the quintet, just for the fun of reading such a good story that inspired me to read more. That’s also when I started keeping a book log, just so that I could always go back to stories that I’ve read one before. 

Thanks to reading those, in my middle school years I also discovered amazing series such as Stravaganza, Wings, Maximum Ride, The Dragon Chronicles, Exodus, Narnia, and many others! 

Now how it impacted me, as a person. First of all, much like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson grew almost at the same time I did. He was a kid like I was, and it showed me that even though things can get hard (like moving around and figuring out middle school with all of its absolute craziness), things can be figured out and made better. I felt like I didn’t fit in in middle school at all. Even though that was hard for me, the series taught me that that’s not always bad! (And that books are good friends as well!) But I think I only realized that later on. Plus it gave me that appreciation for greek mythology that I now have! 

Anyway, that’s it for this read-along! I’m sad that it’s over! (Sorta, I still have to finish the last book!) I really enjoyed taking part of it, and I hope that you enjoyed reading these books and following our discussions! 
I wanted to thank Erika for being an absolutely awesome co-host! I had so much fun going through this with such an awesome blogging buddy! C: 

What do you think about the subject? Also, make sure to check out Erika’s discussion! 

P.S. Oh and Percy says hi!
P.P.S. Tyson says hi-bye...?