Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I’ve read the Harry Potter books far too many times to actually review them, but I wanted to just write out some thoughts. The last time that I read all of the books was in the summer of 2007, right before Deathly Hallows was released. Before that I read them about once a year so it’s interesting to come back to them with a little distance.

I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the first time in December of 2001. I had been pressured by many people, including my family and friends, to read them and finally decided to cave and borrowed Jenny's copies. I was taking a trip to Colorado to see Clay and figured that they would work well as airplane books. I started reading Sorcerer's Stone about a week before my trip because with work and finals I thought it would take about that long to read it. I was very, very wrong about that. It took about two days and I had to hide the rest of the books from myself so I would be able to save them for the trip.

What can I really say about this book? As the first book in the series Sorcerer's Stone is the reader's introduction to the wizarding world. The entire book exudes a sense of wonder and magic. I love that the characters are complex and realistic. Harry has a wonderful snarky quality that makes him so likable. Sure there are some plot holes, but the whole books is so much fun that I really don't care at all.