There was a day when I thought I needed to defend Harry Potter, in the midst of the now dead Twilight craze, and you can see that below in what was my original review. It is a testament to the power of this series, that while various other franchises (Twilight, Hunger Games) have surged into popularity and then faded, Harry Potter remains unwaveringly strong after nineteen years. It is clear readers hold just as much admiration for these books as they always have. Time has not dimmed that. To the review... I liked the book. I have no idea why it has sold a gazzilion copies more than any other children's book or why so many adults are so taken with it. JKR writes solid enough prose, though her addiction to adverbs in dialogue tags irks me no end, he said testily. She writes a fun and inventive story, though the internal inconsistencies would have distressed me even as a child. Why do the finest wizards in the land leave a great treasure guarded only by a series of puzzles rather than actual defences? If in the final scenes the puzzle poem hadn't been left to give the solution to the potion test ... or the key hadn't been left in the same room as the door that wouldn't yield to magic ... would that not have been a better way to defend the treasure? Yes ... it was more fun this way, but ... dammit ... kids aren't stupid... The fully illustrated Philosopher's Stone still has all the wonder and amazement as the boy-turned-wizard embarks on a harrowing 7-book-adventure and the illustrations bring a whole new dimension.

No matter a Playstation 4 is out, or new Xbox, the Books still there...with its most beloved magic.. Harry Potter Box Set in epic style, with illustrations by Mary GrandPré and cover art by Kazu Kibuishi But the Harry Potter books were new. Brand new. They were shiny, they had never been touched by another reader. And Khanh was tempted. When Bloomsbury Children’s Books published the first Illustrated Edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2015, readers were instantly mesmerised by Kay’s magical and rich evocation of the Boy Who Lived. J.K. Rowling said at the time, ‘seeing Jim Kay’s illustrations moved me profoundly. I love his interpretation of Harry Potter’s world, and I feel honoured and grateful that he has lent his talent to it.’ The series established itself as an acclaimed international hit, with fans eagerly awaiting each new instalment. Rowling presents two Englands, mundane and magical, divided not by social classes, but by the distinction between the "perfectly normal" (mean and selfish) and the adherents of sorcery. The sorcerers indeed seem as middle-class as the Muggles, the name the witches and wizards give to the common sort, since those addicted to magic send their sons and daughters off to Hogwarts, a Rugby school where only witchcraft and wizardry are taught. Hogwarts is presided over by Albus Dumbeldore as Headmaster, he being Rowling's version of Tolkein's Gandalf. The young future sorcerers are just like any other budding Britons, only more so, sports and food being primary preoccupations. (Sex barely enters into Rowling's cosmos, at least in the first volume.)

After 13 years of the book's existence and me ignoring it, did I finally make a good decision of reading it? Are all of those 39 friends of mine in Goodreads wrong in giving this 5 stars? Most of them did not bother writing a review. Maybe those would be too long or maybe they read this when they were not in Goodreads yet. But I am in Goodreads already so I can make this review long. Harry Potter was easy to read, understand, and there was no hesitation when it came to rating it 5 stars. Now, I hate myself once again and ask myself, again, "Why did I not read this earlier?" The answer is obvious, because I already know it and it's because I was never a fan of it. I hate speaking about my past, but this is one ugly past and I hate it. I hate the choice I made and I hate myself for allowing it. But soon I'll get over it and will be able to re-read this as many times as I will be able to during my last 3 years of being a teen. Yes, a 15 year-old that has not read Harry Potter simply because she chose not to when she was able to and when she was young. PATHETIC. Only rarely does a story come along that can so completely wrap you up in a warm blanket of contentment and good feelings. One that can hold at bay, even if only for precious moments, the nasty brutishness of what often passes for daily life. These stories do that.

Harry Potter, orphaned before he was one, was sent to live with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He was always a bit of an odd child - much to his family's dismay.And here comes another character I’ll never forgive. Snape is a horrible teacher and an even worse human being. There I said it. Nothing that happens over the course of the following books will change anything about the fact that he’s unfair and mean to his students! His past doesn’t excuse his actions. Still, I gotta give Rowling kudos for all the foreboding! Boy, alone the comment with the bezoar. XD And Dumbledore explaining the relationship between Snape and Harry’s father. Well done! ;-)

The mechanics of reaching a boarding school on a dedicated train laid on for the purpose and of sorting a boarding school into four groups to be housed in four towers was something I encountered at a still younger age in the early 70s in my mother's copy of First Term at Malory Towers (1946). So it was very normal when in this year, 1996, when Joanne, a 31 years old lady from England , handed the manuscript of her first novel to 12 publishing houses, all of them rejected it... Therefore, my only experience with "Hermione" is the SNL skit where Lindsey Lohan shows Harry and that other scarfed dude her ginormous tatas. Oh well, the Bible says that sorcery is Satan's work. The book even used the word Transfiguration as a subject in the sorcery school. Blasphemy.But all these effort didn't attract “more and more” of new youth readers as intended, it just made more and more books for those few who already reads.

You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.” Many years ago, I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when it was first published in the US, before the movie, before all of the fame and merchandising opportunities. Initially, when I read it, I devoured it in two days. Now that I am old, well as old as Megan Fox, I wanted to hate on the author but couldn't.And that did not include Harry Potter. Harry Potter is 11. Khanh is 14. There is a vast difference in their ages. Khanh was a teenager, dammit. The good news is, the literary movement didn't stop there, Harry Potter and Reprinted Classics. No , there's more new books come out for the increasing demand from the readers..