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

Looking for Potter-heads! A Winter Re-Read/Readalong

As some of you know, I really enjoy the Harry Potter books and movies and when a fellow blogger, Sheila at BookJourney, announced that she would be doing a re-read/readalong this coming fall/winter, I was definitely interested.   It starts on November 1, so you have plenty of time to dust off those Harry Potter books or get your hands on a copy of the books.

Even though I have read or re-read the books on a number of occasions, I couldn't pass this opportunity down.

If you wish to join, you can find out more information at BookJourney, sign up using the form she has available, and grab an icon.  I hope that if you are interested, that you sign up.