I know this may be shocking to some, but I just started reading those Harry Potter books for the first time, and you know what? They’re a pretty good read! Since I’d seen the first three movies, I decided to read The Goblet of Fire and immediately after finishing it (which I did very quickly since I couldn’t seem to put it down), I ran to B&N to purchase The Order of the Phoenix. Why didn’t anyone tell me these books were so good? 😉
Update I finished The Order of the Phoenix yesterday, which I didn’t love as much as its predecessor, but I still couldn’t put it down. I was going to wait until we moved to Vermont to read the newest Harry Potter book, but I ended up buying it today because I had to know how Harry did on his O.W.L.’s. This is truly a sickness!
Please, please, please tell me that you went back and read the first three and are not just going off of the movie versions??? Otherwise you’re missing a lot.
my two cents.
I haven’t, but I’m sure I will read them. I don’t mind not reading them in order as long as I understand what’s going on in the book I happen to be reading. These books are like a drug; once you start, you can’t stop reading them. Reminds me of how I was with the Chronicles of Narnia as a child. I remember crying after reading the last book and learning that C.S. Lewis was not alive and wouldn’t be writing any books. I guess once a fantasy reader, always a fantasy reader. 🙂
Heh…good for you Meredith! I got addicted to the Harry Potter series years ago, thanks to my siblings. Now I’m a fully converted fanatic…I even went to the Midnight Madness this time around! Whoo-hoo!!
Welcome aboard! I think the HP series ranks right up there with Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark is Rising, and the Abhorsen trilogy for a pure good fantasy read.
I second what skagirlie says. I have the first three books three times each. Is that addicted?
They are definitely addictive. I find that they awake what the American philosopher Russell Kirk called the “moral imagination.” They are a kind of read that is akin to the “Chronicles of Narnia” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I will miss them once Ms. Rowling ends them after book 7 or 8.
Welcome to the cult, Meredith. 😉