Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7)
Author: J. K. Rowling
Pages: 607
Published: 2007
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Personal

Description: Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of locating and destroying Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. Never has Harry felt so alone, or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I know it may be hard to believe it, but this as only the second time that I have read the book.  There are a few times that got me a bit freaked out to the point that I thought I may have nightmares as a result; one time was when Harry and Hermoine where in Godric's Hallow they met Nagini, disguised as Bathilda Bagshot.

One thing I liked about the book is that it brought all the elements of the six books together, even if they weren't as pronounced in the final book.  I also liked that there were quieter moments and how Harry was able to interact with Hermoine and also have sometime to reflect as to what is going to happen.

If there is one quote that I loved in the book it is when Molly Weasley said to Belletrix, wheen she was about to attack Ginny: "Not my daughter, you bitch!" I like it so much that I have had it as my user picture on Goodreads for a number of years, probably about 2009 or 2010.

Bottom line: I really enjoyed how Rowling tied up the series and how that while that most of the characters did survive, there were also characters that didn't.  Despite what some readers may think of the final book, I felt it was a satisfying end to the series.  Highly recommended. 

Rating: 4.75/5

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 607
Published: 2005
Challenges: Finishing the Series, Harry Potter Re-Read, Chunkster
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Personal

Description: It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry Potter is waiting nervously in his bedroom at the Dursleys' house in Privet Drive for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. One of the last times he saw the Headmaster was in a fierce-one-to-one duel with Dumbledore with Lord Voldemort, and Harry can't quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually appear at the Dursleys' of all places. Why is the professor coming to visit him now? What is it that cannot wait until Harry returns to Hogwarts in a few weeks' time? Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts has already got off to an unusual start, as the worlds of Muggle and magic start to intertwine ... (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: This is one of my favourite books in the Harry Potter series for a number of reasons.  My first reason is that the relationship between Harry and Dumbledore.  Dumbledore is able to impart information to Harry in way that doesn't make Harry feel inadequate or a child, but rather in a mature manner that allows Harry to ask the questions that he needs to ask.  Secondly, it shows how Harry has grown since the last book, not only in age but also in maturity and knowledge of what lies ahead for him.  The final reason that I like this book is because the author allows the book to build and gives the reader just enough to wonder what is going on but still be surprised by what happens, especially when reading he book for the first time.

Bottom line: While I had moments in which I felt that the book was hard sometimes to get through, I found the book to be a pleasurable and enjoyable read.  The book is a good continuation of the series and is an excellent jumping off point for the final book in the series.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.75/5

If you have read this book, what did you like or didn't like about the book?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 766
Published: 2003
Challenges: Chunkster, Finishing the Series, Harry Re-Read
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His best friends Ron and Hermione have been very secretive all summer and he is desperate to get back to school and find out what has been going on. However, what Harry discovers is far more devastating than he could ever have expected . . . (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: If there was a book in the Harry Potter series that I have difficult with, it would have to be the fifth book. The reason is that I didn't enjoy his moping about and felt that it distracted from the fact that it introduced elements that become important for the final two books.

There were times I would dread opening up the book and there were times that I felt the book dragged at times, especially in light of the action that took place during the previous book, The Goblet of Fire.

Bottom line: It was a pretty decent book through the introduction of several elements that become key in the next books, but felt that the book was somewhat marred by Harry's attitude, which at 15 is pretty common for most people.  It is a good continuation of the series that helps to move the series along.  Recommended to Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4/5

Pages for 2015: 1,919

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling (#hpreadalong)

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 636
Published: 2000
Challenges: Harry Potter Re-Read
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Personal

Description: It is the summer holidays, and one night Harry Potter wakes up with his scar burning. He has had a strange dream, one that he can't help worrying about...until a timely invitation from Ron Weasley arrives: to nothing less than the Quidditch World Cup!

Soon Harry is reunited with Ron and Hermione and gasping at the thrills of an international Quidditch match. But then something horrible happens which casts a shadow over everybody, and Harry in particular... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: While this isn't one of my personal favourites books in the series, it does have a lot going on in the book that keeps the reader engaged with the story.

 Another thing that the book has going for it is that it is a turning point in the series, in that there are things that happen throughout the book, especially in the final 4 or 5 chapters that show the reader that the tone of the series has clearly shifted.

Also the book starts to deal with more adult-like themes and situations starts to show that the dynamic between the boys and the girls are starting to change and the interests and strengths of the three main characters, Harry, Ron and Hermoine, are starting to be shown.

Bottom line: A pivotal book in the series that is very clearly darker in tone and more adult-like in the themes that are explored and is clearly meant for an older audience than the first three books, which are geared to a younger audience.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 5/5

Pages for 2014: 29,028

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling (#hpreadalong)

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 317
Published: 1999
Challenges: Harry Potter Readalong
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Personal

Description: Harry Potter, along with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry can't wait to get back to school after the summer holidays. (Who wouldn't if they lived with the horrible Dursleys?) But when Harry gets to Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: This is probably my favourite Harry Potter book, along with the Half-Blood Prince.

What I liked about the book is how the HP universe expands from the first two books to the village of Hogsmede and introduces the reader to such characters as Remus Lupin, Sirus Black and a number of other characters that become important in forthcoming books.  I also liked how the book became a little bit darker, but also retains some of the lighter elements of the first two books in the series and how the book adds a little bit more to the overall story arc.

Bottom line: This is probably the best one of the Harry Potter books because while the book is still fairly lighthearted like the first two, but still has is able to bring the darker side of the series and carry momentum throughout the book by giving the reader a bit more understanding to Harry's dad's life at Hogwarts and also introduces us to several new characters that are going to prominent throughout the last 3 books of the series.  Recommended for those that are a fan of the Harry Potter series.

Rating: 5/5

Pages for 2014: 27,932

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 366
Published: 2004 (first published 1998)
Challenges: Harry Potter Re-Read
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Edition: Mass-Market Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys were so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike. 

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls' bathroom. But then the real trouble begins--someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself! (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I quite enjoyed this reading of the book and emersion into the Harry Potter universe.  There were several things that I enjoyed about this reading of the book.  While did not glean any further insight to the book, I really liked how the universe was opened that more with further areas being explored and more characters introduced or used a bit more than the first book.

I also liked how the story arc of the series continues by continuing to use aspects of the first book in the second book (e.g. the use of Harry's Parseltongue) and how the book refers to certain aspects of the first book, but not everything mentioned within the first book.  As well, I liked how the the book was a little more coherent than the first book and how everything seemed to have some sort of purpose to it and that the book did not dwell too much on Harry's past and concentrated at the mystery.

Bottom line: A really good continuation of the Harry Potter series and really helps to move the story arc along.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.75/5

Pages for 2014: 26, 363

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 332
Published: 2004 (first published 1997)
Challenges: Harry Potter Re-Read
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Edition: Mass-Market Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord's curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Escaping from his unbearable Muggle guardians to Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles into a sinister adventure when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers which could be valuable, dangerous, or both. (via blurb on book)

Thoughts: This was my 3rd time reading the book since I started this blog and just like the first time that I read the book (before I had this blog), I really enjoyed the book.  What I liked about the book was  how the characters were drawn and also how the book was built over the course of the book, especially  how elements of the book were introduced to the reader in the same way that they were introduced to Harry.  I also liked how there were some shades of ambiguity brought into the book and not everything was clearly black and white.  But I did feel that the first book ended a little too tidy for my liking.

Bottom line: It was a really good start to the series and would probably appeal to most readers.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.75/5

Pages for 2014: 25,997

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 607
Published: 2005
Challenges: Blogger Summer Reading, Chunkster
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Personal

Description: It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry Potter is waiting nervously in his bedroom at the Dursleys' house in Privet Drive for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. One of the last times he saw the Headmaster was in a fierce-one-to-one duel with Dumbledore with Lord Voldemort, and Harry can't quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually appear at the Dursleys' of all places. Why is the professor coming to visit him now? What is it that cannot wait until Harry returns to Hogwarts in a few weeks' time? Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts has already got off to an unusual start, as the worlds of Muggle and magic start to intertwine ... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  While this book is not my favourite book in the Harry Potter series (Prisoner of Azkaban is), but is definitely is a close second.  One thing I did like about the book is that it does help to establish what is likely going to happen in the final book and allows for the story to move along, without giving away too much of what happens in the end.  There were times that the book was a bit slower, but things seemed to pick up again fairly quickly.

I also like the character development of the main characters and how they are starting to mature into young adults..  I particularly also like the background that the reader is given about Voldemort, as one is given a sense of his motives, even though they are evil, and where he has come from; it helps to give one a clearer picture of him.  But I also liked the side plot of figuring out who the Half-Blood Prince is (if you have read it, then you know, but I am not going to give away anything for those that haven't read the book).

Bottom line: It is a good set up for the final book, especially since the book introduces things that will become key components in the final book.  And like the other books have demonstrated, the book builds on the previous book and is meant for a more mature reading audience, as there are things in the book that could possibly scare younger kids.  But only a parent could be the judge of that.  I would recommend the book to those that have already read the previous five books and wish to complete the series.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.75/5

Pages for 2014: 18,164

If you have read the book, what did you think about it?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 766
Published: 2003
Challenges: OfftheShelf
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal Library

Description: Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His best friends Ron and Hermione have been very secretive all summer and he is desperate to get back to school and find out what has been going on. However, what Harry discovers is far more devastating than he could ever have expected . . . (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: At one point, I wanted quit reading it, as I felt that Harry was getting too petulant for my liking, but somewhere I remember that being 15 was no easy feat and was probably one of the hardest years I had to go through and gave Harry a bit of slack and understanding.  As for the story, it probably is the darkest book of the series, as it touches upon things that are significant in the final two books of the series.  It also shows how far the Ministry of Magic will go to cover up the fact that He Who Must Not Be Named is back (love the line in the movie when Fudge realizes that he is back; its simple but very effective).

Speaking of the movie, if they were going to include most of the stuff in the book, it would have taken either a very long movie (probably about 3 hours) or at least 2 different movies.  And yes I realize that some people really don't like the fifth movie in the franchise (I saw the movie about 20 times in the summer it came out; I was bored and couldn't find another movie that captured me enough to see it).  

Anyways, the book does a good job in showing the paranoia that was starting to envelope the wizard world and that they would do anything to make sure that bad news didn't leak out.  

Bottom line: It wasn't my favourite book in the Harry Potter series, but it was probably the book in the series that moved the storyline along the most, in that the reality that Voldemort is back is starting to have its true impact.  Interesting themes of censorship, absolute power, etc.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.8/5

Pages for 2013: 15,626

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 636
Published: 2000
Challenges: 2012 Harry Potter Reading Challenge
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Edition: Hardcover and audiobook
Source: Library

Description: It is the summer holidays, and one night Harry Potter wakes up with his scar burning. He has had a strange dream, one that he can't help worrying about...until a timely invitation from Ron Weasley arrives: to nothing less than the Quidditch World Cup!

Soon Harry is reunited with Ron and Hermione and gasping at the thrills of an international Quidditch match. But then something horrible happens which casts a shadow over everybody, and Harry in particular... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  Even though I really enjoyed the book as much as I did the last time I read it about 6 months ago, I had a little bit of an issue reading it and had some problems getting around to reading it.  I suppose a lot had to do with the fact that I was feeling overwhelmed by the amount I needed to read.  But considering I spent about 10 hours on Tuesday reading it, I would think that I enjoyed it and was gripped by the story, even though it has been about 12 years since the book was published.

Bottom line:  Really enjoyed the book and it was a nice bridge between lighter fair that I didn't enjoy and something that I am really enjoying at the moment.  The writing is more mature in nature and not as light and childlike as the first three books in the Harry Potter series and there is a notable shift in the tone, in that it becomes clearly darker and the shift to what happens at the end of the series is quite easily noted.

Rating: 5/5

Pages for 2012: 10440

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 317
Published: 1999
Challenges: 2012 Harry Potter Reading Challenge
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover and Audio
Source: Purchased and Library


Description:  Harry Potter is a very unusual boy. He can't wait to get back to school after the Summer holidays! But that's not the only unusual thing about Harry; Harry's school is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry is a wizard! But when Harry, along with his best friends Ron and Hermione, go back for their third year at Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school ...(via Chapter.ca)

Thoughts:  Its definitely a quick read and took me a few days to listen to the audio as I read along with my copy of the book and I realize that it took me a number of months to get through this book last year, but when reading it with the audio, I was able to get it done in about 3 days (probably I could read it within a day, but honestly, it would have been a little much).


What I love about the book is that the book still has the innocence of the first two books, but has the element of darkness throughout the book and quite honestly, this is my favourite book of the series for the simple fact that most of the story is included in the movie of the same title, even though there are some slight differences between the book and the movie and when you compare it to the next three book/movies, there wasn't a lot that was omitted in the movie.  True there was things that were switched up in the movie, but the essential story and the various subplots that take place in the book are included in the movie as well (okay, the thing with the Firebolt being stripped down in the book isn't included in the movie, but its so minor that I think most fans will overlook it).


Bottom line:  This is probably the best one of the Harry Potter books because while the book is still fairly lighthearted like the first two, but still has is able to bring the darker side of the series and carry momentum throughout the book by giving the reader a bit more understanding to Harry's dad's life at Hogwarts and also introduces us to several new characters that are going to prominent throughout the last 3 books of the series.  Recommended for those that are a fan of the Harry Potter series.


Rating: 5/5


Pages for 2012: 3909

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 366
Published: 2004 (originally published in 1998)
Challenges: 2012 Harry Potter Reading Challenge
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Edition: Paperback and audiobook
Source: Purchased and library
Rating: 5/5

Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys were so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike. 

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls' bathroom. But then the real trouble begins--someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself! (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: Felt that this story was a little more developed than the previous story, especially since there are allusions to the story of Tom Riddle In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (I suppose reading it basically a month ago doesn't hurt and therefore allows one to understand how each of the first six books aid in the final book and its final plot).  I felt that the story did have its element of light-heartedness in the form of Gilderoy Lockhart and the fact that he really wasn't what he said he was.

Bottom line: An excellent continuation of the first book and one gets to understand why Hagrid is the gameskeeper at Hogwarts.  I also liked the developing relationship between Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and some of the other students at the school.  Its still on the light-hearted stuff and isn't as scary as the latter books and is good for those who are probably in grades 4 and above.  Language is still on the simplistic, but you can see that darker themes are being introduced.

Pages for 2012: 1632

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 332
Published: 2004 (originally published in 1997)
Challenges: 2012 Harry Potter Reading Challenge
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Edition: Paperback and audiobook
Source: Purchased and library
Rating: 5/5

When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord's curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Escaping from his unbearable Muggle guardians to Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles into a sinister adventure when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers which could be valuable, dangerous, or both. (via blurb on book)

Thoughts: I read this book while listening to the audio at the same time and I while I had thought I had read the book, I really hadn't, as I found passages in the book that I had basically glanced over the first four or five times that I have read this book.  I can't exactly recall what I missed, but there were quite a few portions of the book that I clearly had missed as I listened to the book.  As to the book, what can't I say?  I really enjoyed it and thought the book there was a sense of the magical and the fantastical throughout the book.  I read this book as a part of the 2012 Harry Potter Reading Challenge.

Bottom line: Very enjoyable and definitely something that I think that most people will enjoy reading; its definitely something that can quickly be read by most readers.

Page total for 2012: 1266

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 636
Published: 2000
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Rating: 5/5

It is the summer holidays, and one night Harry Potter wakes up with his scar burning. He has had a strange dream, one that he can't help worrying about...until a timely invitation from Ron Weasley arrives: to nothing less than the Quidditch World Cup!

Soon Harry is reunited with Ron and Hermione and gasping at the thrills of an international Quidditch match. But then something horrible happens which casts a shadow over everybody, and Harry in particular... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: This is my first re-read of this book (I have re-read the first three books a number of times that I have forgotten how many times I have actually forgotten how much I have re-read those three) and it was the first time that I listened to the audio version of the book (listened to it as I read the book) and I have to say that from my limited experience with audiobooks, that the reader for the Harry Potter books is one of the best that I have heard.  That aside, this book is probably not my favourite one of the series, but it does definitely set up the action for the final 3 books and is definitely more darker than the previous 3, which always had something light-hearted mixed in with the books, but you can start to see the shift in which Lord Voldermort is going to play a bigger role in the series and a bigger role in Harry, Ron, and Hermoine's lives from this point on.

Overall, the writing was really good for the age group targeted (10+) and because I slowed down and read it while I listened to the audio, I noticed things that I hadn't noticed before, like the fact that the S.P.E.W. storyline seemed to be dropped by the 3/4 mark of the book (which explains why that storyline doesn't appear in the movie).  And quite honestly by that point, I was more interested in the primary action of the Triwizard Tournament rather than whatever Hermione was trying to do for the house-elves, even if it was admiral thing on her part.  I also noticed the storyline of Hagrid's in which Dumbledore asked him to go and do something top secret over the summer, which is explained in the next novel.  The storytelling by Rowling is very good and the book does jump off from the end of the third book and by the end you can see that its going to get a lot darker before things start to clear up in the wizard world.  Highly recommended and can't wait to reread Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 317
Published: 1999
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Rating: 5/5

Harry Potter is a very unusual boy. He can't wait to get back to school after the Summer holidays! But that's not the only unusual thing about Harry; Harry's school is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry is a wizard! But when Harry, along with his best friends Ron and Hermione, go back for their third year at Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school ...(via Chapter.ca)


Thoughts: This was the 3rd or 4th time that I have read this book and is one of my favourites in the Harry Potter series  and was probably the best one that was adapted to film (its also my favourite movie and was the first one that I saw of the Harry Potter movies), but I digress.  One thing I like about the third book is that it deals with stuff that is still fairly light and fun (the Maurader's Map, the trip to Hogsmeade), but also deals with quite a bit of darker factors in the the story that have implications in later books (the introduction of the dementors, Lupin and Pettigrew, etc.). In other words, it has a nice balance of the elements that were in the first two books, but also is a nice introduction into the darker elements that come into more prominence over the next four books.  Recommended highly.

13035 / 15000 pages. 87% done!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 366
Published: 2004 (originally published in 1998)
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Rating: 5/5

Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys were so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls' bathroom. But then the real trouble begins--someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself! (via Goodreads)


Thoughts: I really liked it.  I liked how Rowling moved the story along, while also leaving in the whimsy of the first book.  I found that during this book one got a sense of looming darkness that the books seem to get as the story progresses along.  While the main characters are starting to mature, you also see that they are still children in some senses.  They are still children and have that curiosity, but they are also keenly aware of the fact that they are growing up and that things will change as they grow up. Another excellent installment in the series.

4155 / 15000 pages. 28% done!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 332
Published: 2004 (originally published in 1997)
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord''s curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Escaping from his unbearable Muggle guardians to Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles into a sinister adventure when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers which could be valuable, dangerous, or both.

Thoughts: I really liked it.  I had forgotten how much I liked the book until I sat down and read it again.  While the book seems to start off slowly, it has a purpose and once I was in the middle of the book, the action seemed to get quicker and that more intense and I really didn't want to put it down, but my body wouldn't allow for me to do so.  I really like how Rowling allows to go into a world that is one of pure fantasy, but also one that entirely enjoyable.

1645 / 15000 pages. 11% done!