Still, the books never get old and I seem to find something new to say every time. The books are just that good. Every time I read them I notice something different and they often seem more real than my own world (that doesn't mean as much as you think--I live in LA).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is at times both my favorite book in the series and my least favorite. Not only is it the slowest paced book in the series, but it also doesn't fit as well with the rest of the series as the other books do. This book could definitely have stood on it's own (wink, wink everyone writing series) and a few things bother me that seem inconsistent with later books. None of these things (like the first years taking the boats back across the lake at the end of the year) are important, but still they bug me every time I reread this book.
At the same time, the book has this special place in my heart. It is Harry's humble beginnings as a wizard and he falls in love with Hogwarts at the same time as we do. This is the book where we get to play in the magical world without really being afraid of Voldemort. It's where we meet some of my all time favorite characters for the first time and often reading this book is less like reading a book and more like a trip down memory lane.
Either way, these books just make me want to keep reading them.
This book counts towards the following challenges: Read Me Baby One More Time, 100+, and the Hogwarts Reading Challenge. Track my progress at my 2011 Challenges Page.
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Kate got me hooked on these books just right before the very last one came out and I loved them! I've read the whole series once and listened to the audio versions more times then I can count. But like you I always catch things that I didn't notice before.
ReplyDeleteLast time I listened to the first book, there was some joke that Harry makes at the very beginning that I had previously never picked up on. And then all of a sudden I got it! So I called Kate and was just laughing so hard that it took me that long to understand the joke. I wish I could remember what the joke was...something about a toilet?
Reading your blog makes me want to re-read them as well! But I have so many other new books to read...UGH there is just never enough hours in a day!
Well, even if I don't get around to re-reading them, I'll look forward to all your blogs about them!
I was hoping to reread and review the entire series before the last movie, but it's coming up so quickly that I'm not sure I'll be able too. The first book is one of my favorites, just like the movie.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say, these books are just special. It breaks me up inside to think that the movie franchise will end this year. No more midnight releases. No more dressing up in wizard's garb. No more talking excitedly with friends about what just happened or what's coming. I wish it didn't have to end at all...
@Bittner: I know what you mean; it's so hard to find time to reread books. Right now I probably have a stack of 30 new books bought in the last 6 months that are waiting to be read. It's ridiculously out of hand.
ReplyDelete@Lindsay, the last movie will make it really feel like it's coming to an end. I am still holding on to my hope that JK Rowling will write some more... or a new generation at Hogwarts. If anyone could pull it off without it feeling "gimmicky", she can.