THE HARRY POTTER PROJECT: THE SORCERER'S STONE

A number of years ago, I got a couple books for Christmas - a gift from my mother. It was the first three books of a series she had read about and thought I would like, based on my love for the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings as a child. They were by a new writer, J.K. Rowling and were about the adventures of a boy named Harry Potter. My mom was right - I liked them a lot. This was before full-scale Pottermania, though I noticed that when the fourth book came out the following summer. My wife and I have read the new ones as fast as possible, sometimes picking up the book when the other puts it down. This summer, of course, brings the seventh and final book of the series. I always said I would reread the series so I could have everything relatively fresh in my mind as to enjoy the last book as much as possible. A couple weeks ago, I started the project.

The first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is very readable. The plot moves at a fairly quick pace, the language is descriptive without bogging down, and the energy of the book makes you want to read it as fast as you can. It's full of cool ideas and names - Muggles; Quidditch; Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Beans; broomsticks and spells and evil and and and... It's fun. And it's good. Reading it again makes me want to read the rest of the books right away, though I'm going to spread out the remaining books. I do have until the end of July...though at the rate I've been reading, I do need to be careful.

One other note, I've been keeping track of how many books I've read since the start of 2001. From that time, I read 215 books before I started this project and this is the first time I've reread anything. Not a bad streak.