Rewind eighteen years: My grandmother gave me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Autumn 1998, and it stayed on my shelf for perhaps weeks. One night I was bored and picked up the book…and didn't put it down for a week! Forever fascinated by fairy tales and introduced to Aesop's Fables and Hercules and Xena tv shows at a young age, JK Rowling captivated my imagination. I couldn't get enough! Three years later, the first Harry Potter movie came to theaters on November 17, 2001. For a friend's 13th birthday, we saw the movie and had a sleepover. We stayed awake for many hours discussing similarities and differences between the movie and the book, and how the next film would be. Eventually we fell asleep dreaming of being accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Throughout my high school years, I worked as a part-time lifeguard during the summer at the community pool. When no one was in the pool area, I went to class with quirky Professor Trelawney, played Quidditch with my house team, and ate in the Great Hall with my friends. Some of the regular pool guests, essentially my neighbors, were fans as well and we discussed theories and scenes in depth. This was a normal routine. Every summer I had a new Harry Potter book to read...and re-read! In 2007, I returned home after my first year of university to lifeguard again. The release of the 7th and final book, The Deathly Hallows, got me through that summer. In 2008, I re-read all of the books. When I returned home to lifeguard in 2009, I needed reading material but was reluctant to leave Hogwarts behind. I began searching for books and authors with similar qualities. I found some that captivated me just as much as Harry Potter!

For years, Harry Potter has entertained diverse groups of readers; a generation grew up with Harry and the Wizarding World. Quidditch teams and fan clubs popped up at schools and websites dedicated to "fan fic" still abound. We poured so much affection into these seven books! There are even Harry Potter theme parks! Maybe we have enough room to love some other books and characters as well.

For me, and for many others, Harry Potter is a boy who grew up while we were growing up. The only difference was that he got to attend a magical school and have amazing adventures. For others, it is a cherished story of courage and adolescence. For everyone, there is at least one reason that we fell in love with the story. Was it the orphaned boy who gained true friends? Was it the boy destined for greatness? Or was it…magic? Don't we all hope that we are somehow special? That we have magic? 

According to Dumbledore, love is the strongest magic there is. And it is not in short supply for Potterheads, or Harry Potter fans. Now that all the books are written; indeed they have been done for quite some time now, what is there to read? I am sure that many of you have re-read the series…probably multiple times, perhaps even without count (don't worry, so did I!). If you are eager to love another character, look no further!

Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull (Children's Fiction)

5 book cycle
First book: Fablehaven

A 14-year-old girl named Kendra and her younger brother, Seth discover that fairies exist. Along with them, a plethora of other magical creatures-not all of them good…

​Beyonders trilogy by Brandon Mull (Children's Fiction)

3 books
First book: A World Without Heroes

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind (Adult Fantasy Fiction)

17 book series
First book: Wizard's First Rule

Sorcery Ascendant Sequence by Mitchell Hogan (Adult Fantasy Fiction)

3 books published
First book: A Crucible of Souls

The Five Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull (Children's Fiction)

The Demon Cycle by Peter V Brett (Adult Fantasy Fiction)

Olympus Bound series by Jordanna Max Brodsky (Adult Fantasy Fiction)

Greek Gods are still alive but since no one worships them anymore, they lost their power; they are shadows of what they once were. A semi-retired goddess and a Columbia University professor must team up to stop a revived ancient Greek cult from killing innocents!

The Books of Beginning trilogy by John Stephens (Children's Fiction)

3 book trilogy
First book: The Emerald Atlas

Their parents left them in an orphanage with the promise that they would return. Years later, the two sisters and brother are taken in by Dr. Pym, an elderly eccentric man who lives in a big old house. Will they ever find their parents? Who is Dr Pym? Is magic real?

The Kane Chronicles trilogy by Rick Riordan (Children's Fiction) 

3 book trilogy
First book: The Red Pyramid (also available as a graphic novel)

Several years ago, the Kane siblings were separated after their mother died. She living with the grandparents in England, He travelling with his father, the archealogist, to digs across Egypt. Each year they meet up for one day…this year something goes horribly wrong  and they are abducted into a world of magic, and myth…by their uncle?