These Are The Stories Before We Had SmartPhonesMany 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.JK Rowling makes writing look easy. Her prose is easy to read out loud, very smooth. Although the world that she has created is magical,...

(A-) 83% | Very GoodNotes: An effortless enchantment, it's lush with warmth and lore: seeded well, it casts a spell, and leaves you wanting more.*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary: Progress updates:01/11/2020 - Preamble(1) After nearly 9 months, I finally finished all five "A Song of Ice and Fire" audiobooks, I was going to run a poll on what I should listen to next but, c'mon, let's be real.(2) I decided on the Stephen Fry version over Jim Dale simply because I can't abide by "...

Can you hear me screaming?As expected, the illustrations brought this book to a whole new level. I legitimately want to buy another copy, solely to take it apart and frame it.Each page is just bursting with new life. Honestly, how could you not love such beautiful images?Hogwarts, Hogwarts. Hoggy Hoggy warty warts.I think at this point, everyone and their great-great-grandmother has heard of this book.Harry Potter, orphaned before he was one, was sent to live with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vern...

Update – 4/4/2022 – Reread out loud to my kidsBoth of my kids were born after the whole Harry Potter series was released. They are now old enough to start appreciating the story so I thought it would be fun to read it out loud to them. While it did take us a while because, you know . . . life happens . . . we were able to find a few minutes every few nights or so to read a chapter or part of a chapter. It was really fun to see them getting into it. They are looking forward to watching the movie ...

Rereading for the 3rd time for the group read.Once upon a time, there was a 10th grader named Khanh who didn't get along with people very well. She wasn't an outcast in school, and all the bullying and teasing stopped with the commencement of high school, but she had always been a bookworm and has generally preferred the company of her own thoughts.Lunchtime had always been dedicated not to eating, but to sitting in the library, browsing through books.(Not to worry, she got her nutrition in 5th ...

I will never ever rate this lower than 5 stars. BEAUTIFUL.

I'm going to keep this brief since there isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. *clears throat*I think the reason I waited so long to read this series is because I just couldn't imagine myself enjoying reading about an eleven-year-old boy and his adventures at a school of wizardry. I thought it would be too juvenile for my taste. I was wrong, of course.I can honestly say that I loved every minute of this. It's a spectacular little romp with funny, courageous, and endearing characters t...

Publishers have my sympathy. If I try to put myself in the place of an editor picking this manuscript from the pile I can say with some certainty that I would not have recognized it as the ticket to a multi-billion dollar prize. I would have thought to myself that it was a good fun read, revisiting the magic-school trope and doing a fine job for children in the 8 to 12 range. If I hadn't had anything better land on my desk I might have published it, but then again, like quite a number of publish...

My original review was a comparison of sorts between Harry Potter and Twilight. However, this is stupid as the two are incomparable. Honestly, its not even worth discussing. Its not just that Twilight doesn't come close, it is the fact that Harry Potter transcends other similar works. Its peerless. To quote Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction: It "ain't the same fuckin' ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same fuckin' sport." There was a day when I thought I needed to defend Harr...