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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SPOILER ALERT- FOR THOSE LIVING UNDER ROCKS!

One of the greatest things my mother has ever done for me is to give me this book back in 2000 and say, “Welcome to a magical journey that you’ll never forget!” Since then, I’ve read the series over 10 times and have loved every moment. It has been over 5 years since I’ve read them though, so when I drew out a Harry Potter entry from my reading system (see my Reading System post) I was overjoyed. A much needed catch-up was due.
 
The result: an amazing read that hasn’t diminished at all from the first time I read it at age 7. It sets the tone perfectly for what is to come later in the series and establishes a wonderful world that can never be forgotten.

To me, this book is protected by the nostalgia factor. I could never find many faults with it. It just has so many positive elements! Even after a considerable amount of time away from it, I don’t find the writing style disjointed or muddled in any way. The pacing is also really well done. J.K. Rowling manages to find a way to jam-pack content into a novel while also not overwhelming readers or bogging them down in wizard lore. The combination of humour and story progression is seamless. The story is really easy to lose yourself in. The details are incredible and Harry’s view of Hogwarts and wizard life is so easy to relate to.

Speaking of Harry, I know there is a lot of criticism out there about how he isn’t the greatest character. To that I say (in the words of Hagrid), “Codswallop!” He is likeable, innocent and intelligent enough to not always believe what he is told by adults. He reads between the lines of what is explained to him and is curious enough to investigate events that other students at Hogwarts wouldn’t give a toss about. I think he’s a great character! But as much as I like him, there really isn’t much comparison to Hermione Granger. She’s fiery, respectful, so bloody intuitive and intelligent, and can see through people’s bullshit quick-smart. Her introductory scene is hilarious and she’s a wonderful role model for young readers.

And of course there are the characters you love to hate: Draco, Mr. Filch, the Dursleys and Snape. God, I get so cranky when Snape takes away points from Gryffindor for no reason (how did he get chosen to referee Quidditch?). Obviously, we know that Snape plays an extremely important part in this series, but it is nice to go back and see our first impressions of him. These characters are slimy and add enough obstacles for our heroes to conquer while being immersed within Hogwarts.

Hogwarts. What an awesome place! There isn’t a part of that castle that isn’t worth exploring and there’s so much to love about it that this review would probably go on for years if I tried to list all the exciting parts of it. Rowling got the setting downpat. I’ve yet to meet a child who doesn’t want to get their Hogwarts letter.

I can’t play devil’s advocate in any way because, to me, there’s nothing to criticise. As a proud Hufflepuff, I am loyal to the book through and through. If, by some miracle, you have not yet read this book (first of all, what?!), you need to read it immediately. Stop whatever you’re doing and read it NOW, because I guarantee that you will need to figure out what house you’re in! In fact, go check out the Pottermore quiz if you haven’t already to know for sure! I’ll include the link at the end of this review.

I hope Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone changes your reading life forever, like it did mine.

So, what do you think of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone?
What house do you identify with?
Who are your favourite characters and do you think Harry is a great lead?
Is this your favourite book in the series? Or did you not enjoy it? If you didn’t, I’m intrigued to hear your reasons!

Pottermore house quiz: https://my.pottermore.com/sorting
View all my reviews


My 100 Books Bucket Lists!

Recently I have been trying to branch out my reading tastes to include titles that I previously wasn’t interested in, to become a more sophisticated reader. So when I was shopping one day and saw this “100 Books to Read Before You Die” list, I knew that this would be a great step towards my new reading goal.

As you can see, there are lots of classics here that I have read and are yet to read. This bucket list inspired me to purchase a lot of books in December of 2018 to farewell my bookshop job. So even though they aren’t all scratched off yet, I have most of these titles on my “To Be Read” list, in my reading system and on my shelves at home.
I’ve had this list for about a year and these are the titles I have managed to read (if you’re unable to see the pictures):

“Lord of the Flies”- William Golding
“The Great Gatsby”- F. Scott Fitzgerald
“To Kill a Mockingbird”- Harper Lee
“Matilda”- Roald Dahl
“Frankenstein”- Mary Shelley
“Wuthering Heights”- Emily Bronte
“1984”- George Orwell
“The Grapes of Wrath”- John Steinbeck
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”- Ken Kesey
“Lolita”- Vladimir Nabokov
The “Harry Potter” Series- J.K. Rowling
“The Picture of Dorian Gray”- Oscar Wilde
“The Road”- Cormac McCarthy
“Les Miserables”- Victor Hugo
“The Catcher in the Rye”- J.D. Salinger
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”- Mark Twain
“Gulliver’s Travels”- Jonathan Swift
“The War of the Worlds”- H.G. Wells
“A Game of Thrones”- George R.R. Martin
The “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy- J.R.R. Tolkien
“The Handmaid’s Tale”- Margaret Atwood
“The Hound of the Baskervilles”- Arthur Conan Doyle
“The Count of Monte Cristo”- Alexandre Dumas
“Tess of the D’Urbervilles”- Thomas Hardy
“The Time Machine”- H.G. Wells
“Animal Farm”- George Orwell
“The Diary of a Young Girl”- Anne Frank
“Dracula”- Bram Stoker
“The Kite Runner”- Khaled Hosseini
“Pride and Prejudice”- Jane Austen
“Misery”- Stephen King
“Moby Dick”- Herman Melville
“Jane Eyre”- Charlotte Bronte

Out of the 100 on the list, I have read 33. Not too shabby if I do say so myself!
And then I was surprised with a second list for Christmas…



My brother gave me this list without knowing that I already had one, so there are quite a few crossovers here. These are the books on this second list that I have read that weren’t on the first:

“Romeo and Juliet”- William Shakespeare
“Go Set a Watchmen”- Harper Lee
“Catch 22”- Joseph Heller
“The Sound and the Fury”- William Faulkner
“Rebecca”- Daphne du Maurier
“The Outsiders”- S.E. Hinton
“On the Road”- Jack Kerouac
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”- Roald Dahl
“The Secret Garden”- Frances Hodgson Burnett
“The Alchemist”- Paulo Coelho
“Brave New World” Aldous Huxley
“Fahrenheit 451”- Ray Bradbury

On this second list I have read…33 out of 100!
Kind of creepy.
So every time I read one of the list books, I scratch it off immediately and compare both lists. I have definitely read my fair share of science-fiction from these bad boys!
It’s really fun and easy to do so I highly recommend it if you’re looking to broaden your reading horizons. Also, if any of these books grab your attention, I have rated and reviewed most of these on my Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/readingreviewingloving
I just recently scratched off “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton from one of these bucket lists. If that book is one you’ve read already and want to know my thoughts, I’d encourage you to check out my review of the book on this site that I posted previously. Every book review that I post has a spoiler warning at the top, so be wary if you haven’t read it yet!

So do you think you’ll try out these lists? Are you looking to read some more of a particular genre? Have you already got one of these bucket lists at home? If you do, I would love to see how you’re travelling and what books are making you happy dance!