Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1) in Retro Chapter Chicks

May 15, 2020 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, audio, fantasy-all, hardback-own, childrens

So I read the newest editions of the books that I’m going to collect. I have so many different collections I’ll probably add later. In these new books I actually love the art on all the pages instead of the interactive stuff. I put together a collage of a couple pages

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Where in shit’s ass is my review with all of the pics of the illustrations from the book in it!! Rat bastards!!

Anyhoo, reread on Audible 😘

Well, I actually found my review in my blog so suck it GR 🤣😂

Blog: http://melissa413re ...more

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Nov 10, 2016 Brina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: magical-realism, j-k-rowling, middle-grade-kids

2024: Summer Break started but life threw me a curve ball last week. I did not as much pick up a book for four days. That’s life. Last weekend, my daughter and I started crafting together our summer movie list, which, of course, includes our annual viewing of favorite series like the original Star Wars trilogy, Mission Impossible, and Harry Potter. She is finishing seventh grade and first read Harry in kindergarten but decided that it was time for a re-read. Yesterday we started discussing key e 2024: Summer Break started but life threw me a curve ball last week. I did not as much pick up a book for four days. That’s life. Last weekend, my daughter and I started crafting together our summer movie list, which, of course, includes our annual viewing of favorite series like the original Star Wars trilogy, Mission Impossible, and Harry Potter. She is finishing seventh grade and first read Harry in kindergarten but decided that it was time for a re-read. Yesterday we started discussing key elements of the series and, she mentioned that maybe I should re-read the series as well. It’s been so many times but a good four years since I immersed myself in Harry’s magical world. If I ever needed an escape to Hogwarts in my adult life, it is now. So off we go and maybe some other family members will join us, and, maybe just maybe, I will actually get through book 5 this time around.

It is now 2023 and Harry Potter is now 25 years old. It is hard to fathom that days may be long but time passes quickly, and, yet, Harry has been around for my entire adult life. Time marches on. I hope he is just as beloved when my future grandchildren are old enough to read his story.

In 2020, I decided to reread the Harry Potter series again with friends in the Retro Chapter Chicks group. As adults we lead busy lives. There are infinite numbers of books published and with this lack of time, we need something magical, especially in the winter months when the sun doesn’t shine as much in the northern hemisphere. My solution to the winter doldrums was revisiting Harry Potter’s magical world even if for some of us like myself it is at least the 20th time reading the series. Magic has a way of brightening one’s day and in any saga you can pick up new intricacies with each read through. The best part will be the discussions afterward but after all these times there is nothing like hearing “You’re a Wizard, Harry”, and there is something magical in hearing those words as I began my reading year on New Year’s Day.

I have read Harry Potter more times than I have fingers and toes, and all four of my kids have read the entire series through twice. They have indulged in fan fiction and been sorted into houses on Pottermore. At this point, I have two Slytherins, two Ravenclaws, and my husband who is determined to take test again because he was inadvertently sorted into Hufflepuff. Of course, he claims it’s ok because Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is supposedly also in Hufflepuff. That is how much Harry Potter has permeated society, to the point where the gulf between the books and fan fiction is at an all time low. Harry Potter was first published in 1998 and has been around my entire adult life. Imagine if it existed when I was my kids’ ages and had the luxury of reading for the first time at age five or six. By this point in my life, I would have the entire series memorized the way I can rattle off lines from the original Star Wars trilogy verbatim. Like Star Wars, Harry Potter is timeless. It was also written by an author who was unsure if it would be successful and initially only submitted the first book to be published. How wrong was J.K. Rowling when it came to betting on herself as more than twenty years later she has created an entire empire out of her franchise.

There is something about adolescence that places a child in a gap between childhood and adulthood that makes it a magical time in one’s life. Just yesterday my twelve-year-old daughter noted that she wants to be an adult because she’s too old to be a kid but too young to drive or do adult things. Point taken. What I have always loved about this first installment besides discovering about the magical world for the first time is how young Harry and his friends are. He notes at one point to Ron and Hermoine that Dumbledore gave them the tools to succeed and it was up to them to complete their tasks. Just as in real life an adolescent needs guidance, they are also capable of doing many things on their own, but they are oh so needy. Like Harry was when he didn’t know how to get to platform 9 3/4 or how to mount a broomstick or how any of the first year students still are in need of a helping hand of the prefects to show them the way as they navigate Hogwarts for the first time. Having kids in this age range allows for me to think wow, parents are allowing their eleven year old children to go away for school. They are entrusting others to help raise their children in this big, scary world that we live in. And the children in turn become independent at a younger than usual age, fostering layers upon layers of character development that Rowling employs even from this first book. It is little wonder that I was giddy to get started with the series again.

In this 2020 reading I have noticed yet again that Rowling has set the stage for events that will come later on in the series. They can be as mundane as the mention of Nicholas Flamel on the back of a chocolate frog card, or as crucial as Harry noting that Snape appears to be able to read minds. Knowing what we know about Snape and his character development makes me laugh at this line, only because I know of all the adventures that will occur and how Snape is either in the way or foiled by Harry in the end. I also noticed this time around the gulf between love and evil and that Harry’s mother’s love for him is something Voldemort can not understand. The stage is set for the interplays between Harry and Snape and the many iterations of Voldemort here in the first book, and one needs to read carefully so as not to miss anything. Reading this many times, I still managed to gain something new, and I think this time around, my key theme will be the characterization of every character, major and minor, and the nuances in dialogue between various personas. Harry having an aha moment about Hagrid might have been lost to me at age twenty but I get immediately and find myself chuckling a bit at age forty. As the books get longer and darker, these conversations which I once thought were fillers will become all the more important to the development of the plot, and I look forward to reaching them later in the series.

I am thankful that I have finally reached a stage where I am captivated by a plethora of books, not just one series like I was as a younger, less experienced reader or when I had little time for hefty books when I had young children in the house. I am glad that J.K. Rowling created this world so that kids can foster a love of reading and become lifelong readers. For that, nineteen years later, I can still turn to Harry in times of need and be grateful that Harry, Ron, and Hermoine will always be there for readers in need of an escape from the vagaries of everyday life. I recently bought the series for myself so I can turn to this ultimate comfort read in times of need and not be reliant upon the library for my copy. Being able to read a whole book in a day or favorite passages is pure magic to say the least. So in 2020 I will be undertaking seven years of magic again. The kids are at a stage when they read from the teen section of the library and I find myself craving children’s books. Needless to say I need some magic in my life as I read about other teenagers and adolescents as a means of escaping the everyday stress that comes with raising kids that age of my own. It should be a fun journey and now that I have book 1 under my belt again, I look forward to spending a good chunk of my 2020 reading year inside of Hogwarts.

As always, 5 stars ...more

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Jul 30, 2014 Kris (My Novelesque Life) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5 STARS

"Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a Cloak of Invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny cupboard under the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in ten years.

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a won ...more

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Oct 17, 2008 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, children-s-literature, concierge, library

When someone suggested this book for our book group we virtually all gave a collective groan. I did not want to read this immensely popular kid's book about a young wizard. But all I can say is ... WOW! Our entire book club LOVED it! I was hooked and read all four of the (then) existing books. Well-written. Good vocabulary. A "moral" story. There are universal themes here and the writing moves the story along quickly.

I think the best thing about Rowling is that she has enthused her readers ... ...more

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Jan 17, 2019 debbicat *made of stardust* rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-read, spring-challenge-2020, 2020

Second read. I loved this! I read the newer version this time with the animated photos that is available to read for free right now if you have Kindle Unlimited. I highly recommend it. There were also things I didn't remember.

Coming back later with a better review and a few quotes. This just made my heart happy. Believe it o not I never read the whole series so I am now ready for that and will do it this summer. I can't wait. Love these characters. Seems I am late to the party, and I have seen ...more

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Oct 03, 2021 Theresa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: highly-recommended-by-me, fantasy, geek-read, ghost-story, pets-wildlife-animals, children-and-ya, revisiting-faves, coming-of-age, first-in-a-series, nostalgia

Still a wonderful read, though at least the 3rd time actually reading it (I have listened to Jim Dale read the audiobook a few times as well). This time I opted for the original British edition and frankly I don't understand why they changed the title for US audience? there were a handful of vocabulary that were changed in the text -- barely noticeable.

In fact, I was drawn to read it again after recently watching the movies that turn up on cable tv regularly these days. I just wanted to go back ...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Theresa rated it really liked it

Shelves: children-and-ya, coming-of-age, fantasy, geek-read, ghost-story, nostalgia, pets-wildlife-animals, debut, first-in-a-series, christmas

I've re-read this one so many times - in hardcover, paperback and eve audio - I've lost count. Having a long drive this past weekend to my maternal family reunion, I needed an audiobook I'd already read to listen to as I drove. (I only can listen to audio of books I've read) Lucky for me I had just acquired Stephen Frye reading it with one of my Audible credits, and it seemed a fitting 'reunion' with Harry, Ron & Hermione in Hogwarts Year 1.

I was surprised at the bits and pieces I had forgotten ...more

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Oct 04, 2020 Theresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children-and-ya, fantasy, revisiting-faves, ghost-story, nostalgia, pets-wildlife-animals, coming-of-age, debut, first-in-a-series, christmas

Always lovely to spend time at Hogwarts with Harry, Ron and Hermione. I had actually forgotten bits here and there, but not a lot. Definitely an excellent pandemic insomnia listen. Enjoyed it so much I ended up listening to it at other times as well.

The audio is superb given the master Jim Dale is bringing it to gorgeous life. Won a few awards for doing so too.

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