Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is one of the most celebrated books of all time for one simple reason...because it deserves to be!



I'll write a full review when I have time, but for now here's my...

"Book, you have the right to a speedy trial" review

n  THE DEFENSEn
- Rowling's prose is absolutely magical
- Story is not only exciting but often sweet as well
- Lead characters are all captivating
- Comic relief (mostly from Ron) is blended perfectly with the more dramatic events
- Never a dull moment


n  THE PROSECUTIONn
- Rowling is occasionally too over-the-top for her own good (especially during Harry's time with the Dursleys)
- After reading this, anything else you do may seem like a waste of time that you could have used to read Harry Potter again!


n  THE VERDICTn
Some books are worth reading once, this one is worthy reading many times! A brilliant adventure that anyone can enjoy!

As wonderful and magical as promised. Because I didn't remember the movie, the third act of the book was a delightful surprise to me.

I wish I'd had this book when I was a kid, because the idea that someone could be special without knowing it, and then get to visit a special world where the things that made him different were the same things that made him awesome would have been really inspiring to me.

Anne's finishing this, too, and I have to wait for her before I start in on the second book ... HURRY UP ANNE!

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 period in the form of a giant 6-inch M&M studded cookie and a package of Sour Patch Kids and/or a package of Reese's Pieces. Ah, the effortless metabolism of youth.)

One day, there were shiny new books on her school library's "New Releases" shelf. Harry Potter, books 1 through 3. She had heard of the books before, of course, since they were a constant presence on the NYT bestsellers list, but she had always avoided them, thinking of them as children's novels.

At the grand age of 14, surely she was too old for a little kid's fantasy novel. She had read the Outlander series earlier that year, after all. And it had sex in it. SEX! She didn't really quite understand everything in the book, but the point is, she had read them. Surely, at 14, Khanh was ready for more mature novels.

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.

But the Harry Potter books were new. Brand new. They were shiny, they had never been touched by another reader. And Khanh was tempted.

She picked up the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The end.

Or rather, the beginning.

Idk how to rate this, it’s so nostalgic I love it

Momento histórico: acabo de terminar de leer por primera vez el libro de Harry Potter, como ustedes saben yo no los leí de niña pero nunca es tarde para
comenzar ❤️

I simply adored this book <3. It was such a fast and funny read! Also, it brought childhood memories back, because I saw the first Harry Potter movie when I was 10 years old, and I was so nostalgic remembering it all <3.

I'm not used to read books after I watched the movies, but it'll be that way with my Harry Potter books, because I'm a huge fan of the movies and I've already saw them all. The good thing is that I don't really remember anything at all, haha (just the "big" parts. Oh, and also the deaths *cries*).

Sooo, I loved this book and I'm impressed by that! I mean, I knew I was going to like it! But it was so much more. Since the first page it had me hooked. J.K. Rowling has such a fluid writing style! I never got bored and I was gasping in some parts even when I knew what was going to happen!

Can't wait to read the next books :).

Doing a listen of the entire series, Stephen Fry edition.

Update – 4/4/2022 – Reread out loud to my kids

Both 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 and starting in on the Chamber of Secrets!

Original review:

One of my first jobs was at a bookstore. When I was a kid my Mom would take me to the mall and I would spend tons of time hanging out at Waldenbooks (who here remembers Waldenbooks?) Right when I became legally old enough to work, I went in and submitted my application and a few weeks later I was selling literature to the masses.

Why do I tell you this story on this review, you ask? Well, at the time, young adult/teen literature consisted mainly of RL Stein, Christopher Pike, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and a few other classic Newberry Award winners, but certainly we did not have a YA section to the extent you see it today.

Towards the end of my tenure at Waldenbooks - as Oprah's book club was hitting its stride and Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus was in its bazzilionth week on the New York Times best seller list - a book display arrived featuring a buzzy new title about a certain boy wizard. I remember the display at the front of the store, and selling a few copies, but I didn't realize what it would become.

A few years later (early 2000s), I had kinda gotten out of the loop on what was big in books. I had just finished college, which had taken up most of my free reading time. A friend of mine named Bronco (yup, real name, not a nickname, who also was the Best Man at my wedding) had a copy of this book on his coffee table. Holy cow! Here is that same book we were selling at Waldenbooks about 5 years before - what was he doing with it!?

Well, he said it was good, so I borrowed it. I quickly plowed through the first 4 books and then got the pleasure of joining the world in waiting for the release of Order of the Phoenix. And, I noticed when I went to the bookstore, the YA section and selection was not so small anymore. I truly believe it was Harry Potter that opened the door to get more young adults (and even adults, of course) reading and authors interested in writing for that genre.

These Are The Stories Before We Had SmartPhones

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.

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, it isn't confusing or that difficult to imagine unlike LOTR or Dune. The book is also incredibly fast paced. Many of the fantasy books that I have read have at least 100 pages to warm up. So how does the author make us want to root or cheer for Harry? How do we become invested in him? He is an orphan and an abused orphan at that. On the one hand, this formula definitely works, but isn't it a little over done? JK Rowling also sets up some beautiful scenes like when Harry is receiving his invitation to Hogwarts. How many people actually try that hard? When Ron and Harry discover that Hermione is in danger, they both go to assist her. However, most people these days would go, "Oh well." Sorry my INFJ is showing.

There were a few things that I didn't like:
*Why does JK Rowling hate cats? Mr Dursley sees something odd, a cat reading a map. My cats play chess, play the piano, watch TV, and once even typed "hi" on my computer. I don't find reading a map to be a bit strange at all. Maybe my house is just brimming with magic and as a muggle I just don't know about it? Mrs. Figg also made Harry look at photographs of all of the cats that she has ever owned. As if that is some sort of punishment!
*How Hermione is treated. When Ron and Harry are in trouble, Ron screams at her, "Have you gone mad? Are you a witch or not?" Um Ron, if you treat me like, you can save yourself. At the end of the book, Hermione is never fully rewarded for her portion in saving Ron and Harry, just figuring out the riddle. Even after she was a better person than I.
*Quidditch and chess - not really my thing although this opened up a brilliant line of merchandising for the author.
*Some things didn't make sense to me. Why was there a sip of the potions left? Why exactly was Dudley so popular at school?

Now, I think a trip to Orlando is in order to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

2025 Reading Schedule
JantA Town Like Alice
FebtBirdsong
MartCaptain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
AprtWar and Peace
MaytThe Woman in White
JuntAtonement
JultThe Shadow of the Wind
AugtJude the Obscure
SeptUlysses
OcttVanity Fair
NovtA Fine Balance
DectGerminal

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still slays. ⚡️

Auch nach über zwanzig Jahren hat Harry Potter nichts von seiner Faszination verloren. Es ist immer wieder schön, sich in diese ganz besondere Welt zu begeben und spannende Abenteuer zu erleben. Harry Potter ist auch eine der wenigen Reihen, die ich immer wieder lesen, hören und auch sehen kann, ohne dass es langweilig wird.

I LOVE Harry Potter, fantastic start to the series.

Reread December 2014 for #HarryXmasToYou

There are SO MANY foreshadowing things I never noticed before! Like the centaurs talking about the innocent being the first to die? And just so many things just mentioned that come up later, the dragon in Gringotts, Dittany, Sirius Black, Etc.
There's also a lot of things I've forgotten weren't in the movie, which is crazy! But so good. I love it just as much IF NOT EVEN MORE.

Reread for #HarryXmasToYou 2017

Thing I got emotional about this time because I forgot about it: Hagrid gathering pictures from people who knew Harry’s parents for the scrapbook. SO EMO. I ALSO STILL LOVE THIS BOOK. And the illustrated edition is BEAUTIFUL