Rating: 
Summary: these books sell by reputation
Review: With the fourth book about to come out and the first three staying in the top ten on all best seller lists, I thought it was high time that I read the series to find out what makes it so popular. Besides, my wife and my ten year old son love the stories.I discovered that J. K. Rowling has a wonderful writing style. Although the stories build upon themselves they can be read independently as she reviews aspects from the past. She creates very interesting characters. We admire Harry Potter and his friends Hermoine and Ron. We despise Malfoy and Harry's muggle relatives. The characters that start out as villians may turn out to be heroes. All the plots are intriguing and magic is brought in to help the plot. This is the longest and best of the three. In fact I think each book is better than its predecessor. They are all great! In this one it is Hermoine's secret that leads to the surprise ending and helps Hermoine and Harry save Sirius Black and Buckbeak but also Pettigrew. Pettigrew's escape seems to be a lead in for book 4 where I suspect he will return to Lord Voldemort.
Rating:
Summary: Siriusly Suspenseful! (**Spoilers, so beware!**)
Review: With this book, Rowling shows us how masterfully she can weave her plots. I was so uncertain of how this novel would turn out, that all the new things she threw at us, I approached with skepticism - Lupin, Sirius, the Dementors, and even that cat, Crookshanks, that Hermione buys in Diagon Alley. I never suspected that the answer was right under our noses!
Even at the end when all these mysteries were resolved, I was still skeptical, until "Scabbers", now free of his manacles, ran off into the woods.
It was wonderful to read at the end that Harry had finally found someone to help him out, in the form of his godfather, during his summers with the Dursleys. But as quickly as we are given this happy news, it is taken away from us. It was also distressing, as it was to Harry, to read that Pettigrew was returning to YOU KNOW WHO!
What is wondeful in this novel is that we witness the growing-up of these characters, as we see Harry begin to develop what looks like a little crush on a Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw seeker (awww!). and we see a little more of what started in the last book - Percy's relationship with his girlfriend (barely in the story, though).
The character development doesn't end with the kids' growing up, however, as we see in the nastiest behavior of Snape yet. Rowling does an excellent job of creating 3D characters, and the surprises we sometimes receive are just part of the proof that her characters, like real people, cannot be described in 300 or 900 pages. This book was full of delights and terrors, and of course, humor. We witness Rowling's growth as an author, and see how this fantastic world is more serious than just child's play. It is darkening, this magical world of hers, and the hints of the darkness, which were apparent in the very first book, are now strikingly so. This has to be my favorite book so far, coupled with the second one.
Ploughing through book 3... =)
Rating:
Summary: Best one of the series so far...
Review: With this installment, author J.K. Rowling chronicles the third year of Harry Potter's time at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. This one sets forth an intruiging mystery - The evil Sirius Black, henchman of Harry's nemesis, Lord Voldemort (also known as He-who-must-not-be-named) has escaped from the Alcatraz-like prison fortress of Azkaban and is apparently intent on finding and killing young Harry Potter as part of a plan to restore Lord Voldemort to power. The wizarding world is determined to find Black and send him back to prison, while protecting Harry by any means necessary. Unfortunately, this includes sending out the enforcers known as Dementors, who are sinister creatures who strike fear into the hearts of all who see them, especially Harry, who faints at the mere sight of them. Of course, as with the first two books in the series, nothing is as it seems, and Harry and his friends are drawn into another adventure as they attempt to get through the school year. All the continuing characters from Harry's previous adventures return here, including his good friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, the Care-of-Magical-Creatures teacher Hagrid with yet another brood of wild and wooly creatures for the students to learn about, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professors McGonagall and Snape, the nasty Dursley family, and of course, Harry's annoying rival, Draco Malfoy. In addition, this book provides a healthy dose of Quidditch matches, as Gryffindor House once again attempts to win the yearly competition with the other houses. Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor house team, is in his last year at Hogwarts, so he is STRONGLY motivated to win this time. There are also several new characters introduced, including the aforementioned Sirius Black, and Professor Lupin, who is the latest in an ongoing string of Defense-Against-The-Dark-Arts professors. The book is a very enjoyable read, better than the first two (which were both still very good). Harry picks up some more magic skills, refines his Quidditch playing, and learns more about his parents and the manner of their death. I have a feeling that as this series progresses, we will continue to get more and more familiar with Harry's (supposedly?) dead family. Of course, as with the other books, Harry goes through the year trying to get through classes, while also breaking the occasional rule with the help of Ron Weasley and his mischevious older twin brothers. The Hogwarts student body continues to be fleshed out in this book, as we get to know more and more of the other students there besides Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Overall, an excellent read. These books continue to improve. I look forward to reading The Goblet of Fire.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK EVER !
Review: WOW ! I totally love Harry Potter series, but this one is the best one i have read so far! There are so many hardships and struggling with Crookshanks and Scabbers. I cant wait to get my hands on Harry Potter Books 5,6 and 7 !
Rating:
Summary: I SIMPLY LOVED IT
Review: WOW I LOVE HARRY POTTER I LOVE HOW SHE WRITES ABOUT HISCHILDHOOD ANDHOW HE MAKES BROOM FLY, ONCE I WET THE BED AND I WAS SCARED BUT MRS ROWLING MADE IT BETTER WHEN I READ THE BRAVERY OF HARRY HE IS AWESOME, I LOVE THIS BOOK WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT BEING IN THE PRISONER PLACE (I CANT SPELL THE NAME) EVEN THOUGH MY BI SISTER MADE FUN OF ME I KEPT READING BECAUSE HERRY INSPIRED ME TO SURVIVE THROUGH TOUGH TIMES JUST LIKE WHEN I WET THE BED, IT WAS EMBARRASSING BUT BECAUSE OF HARRY I AM INSPIRED, THE BOOK FLOWS WITH THE ARTISTIC PROMISE THAT MAKES U NEVER WANNA PUT THE BOOK DOWN, I LOVED IT And SO DID MY GIRL FRIEND LESA HAFFORD THIS BOOK GAVE THE COURAGE TO ASK HER OUT, I HOPE THIS LETS YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS BOOK CAN INSPIRE EVEN THE OUTSIDE PEOPLE TO DO GREAT THINGS IT SURE INSPRIED ME....THANKS HARRY I LOVE YOU........
Rating:
Summary: !~*AwEsOmE bOoK*~!
Review: WOW is all that i have to say about this book! the one~star readers must not have payed attention or something!! JK Rowling did an awesome job on this!! It kept me in suspense the whole time!!!
Rating:
Summary: A good Re-Read
Review: Wow this is the first book I have ever found that I can read and re-read and not Get tierd of it!m Woo Hoo!!!
Rating:
Summary: Five stars? I give it 10...50...maybe a hundred...
Review: WOW! I heard about Harry Potter on Rosie O'Donnell and figured I'd get Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. I must repeat: WOW! I read it in 2 days. Chamber of Secrets, another 2 days. I didn't know if The Prisoner of Azkaban would measure up, but, need I say, WOW! The book is the BEST yet, and one of the absolute greatest ever. The writing is fresh, the characters are WONDERFUL, and the twists and turns are delicious. I admit it: I read it in NINE HOURS. I believe these books will become classics. J.K. Rowling, Keep it up and get cracking on book 4!!! And don't give up on Lupin and Sirius Black, because they are DA BOMB!!! Hope you love these books as much as I do!
Rating:
Summary: Bought 9/9, read 9/9... could not put it down!!!
Review: Wow! Rowling's trilogy has managed to become books which can be read by all ages from preteen through senior citizen and still appeal and make any reader feel like the book's target. Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts spring to life on the pages. The events unfurling within the story manage to snag even those which seem randomly inserted and weave them into a tapestry every bit as engrossing as so-called Adult popular fiction. Yet the content is suitable for all ages. Suffice it to say, that Rowling's Harry Potter books are pageturners, and the kind of books you can not put down! She manages to bring the magic of Roald Dahl (complete with clever tributes), CS Lewis and many other classic children's writers into the nineties while still avoiding dating elements. And perhaps the most vivid effect of these books is that of seeing children from age 7 and up come bursting into the bookstore waiting breathlessly for the next Harry Potter book! Read these books and smile :) Josh
Rating:
Summary: Harry Speeds Up In Book No. 3!
Review: Wow! Super! Fantastic! Add suspense, humor, intrigue, and more than a little human relationship--and you have Book 3 in J.K. Rowling's very successful Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." And whatever it takes to create a mega-success, well, Jo Rowling certainly has it. The series doesn't even think of slowing down! Back for his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry, Harry is thankful that his summer is over. Again, he's had to endure the miserable conditions of the Dursleys, his foster family. (And this time, Aunt Marge descends on the family which creates even another crisis! Harry breaks a Hogwarts rule--not to use his magic during summer recess--causing Aunt Marge to blow up like a balloon!) The plot thickens, when Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban. Black was involved with the murder of Harry's Parents and is now eager to extract some revenge on the young Potter for his part in thwarting resident "baddie" Lord Voldemort. At Hogwarts, guards (the Dementors) from Azkaban have been sent to get Black. (And we learn why wizards live in fear of Azkaban!) The story gets complicated! But in an exciting sense, of course! Harry continues his Quidditch play--certainly a game for all time! And with pals Ron and Hermione (and the rest of the gang we've come to know so well), how can the story fail! Literally millions of readers--one suspects that a great percentage are adult readers! --have become quite intrigued with the Rowling adventures, with the whole literary world (not to mention book sellers!) awaiting for Book 4. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
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