Everyone should read the Harry Potter series.

I saw the latest Harry Potter movie last night, and it reminded me of how good this series is.

So let's get right down to it.

J.K. Rowling wrote one of the greatest stories ever told. Period.

Not because it's about wizards and magic. That fact becomes secondary if not tertiary by the time you're even one page into the first book.

It's about good verses evil and how evil has many many victories before good can celebrate its bittersweet triumph--a fact of life many of us are unwilling to accept.

It's about love and how it's always the little beacon of light to keep you going, keeping your heart beating.

It teaches many valuable lessons: Parents are humans and flawed like everyone else. Even the most powerful people have feelings--and weaknesses. And it's so important to be good to those around you, no matter how cruelly they've treated you in the past or how they publicly despised you before.

There's no blatant agenda hiding in the pages--many have claimed there to be, but there's not. Unless you count the aforementioned be-kind-to-others. It's simply a beautifully told story.

When the saga begins, Harry Potter is only ten. Every year, every book he grows. Coincidentally, the story telling grows with him, matures, enters puberty and then adulthood.

Yes, it was written for children. But it seamlessly transforms into a story about becoming an adult at a young age.

I beg you to read the Harry Potter series. Share it. I promise you both laughter and tears.

If it takes you fifteen years to finish, it's worth it.

You can borrow my copies if you need to.