Best book so far?

[XemaSab]

Poll question: Best book so far?

Which Harry Potter book do you like best?

[Solly Mack]

1. HBP is my "current" favorite

I love them all.

I hate it when a poll is lonely :)

:hug: for the poll

OK..so D is still alive. Snape is sacrificing himself for the greater good...(currently exploring that angle in-depth)....

[XemaSab]

2. thanks for voting!

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/extras/aa-jointerview3.html

this is a terrific interview with JK... I had just gotten settled into my interpretations of HBP and this interview definitely will stir some things up.

:hi:

[Solly Mack]

3. Cool! That interview makes me feel as if my guesses are correct

so far...


still gotta go through the D is alive thingie...just to refine my guesses and eliminate possibilities

A few of us are taking it point by point and dissecting the entire series...we've been re-reading and re-hashing. We are on book 3 now.

I can't believe I actually read, make notes,then go debate this book.

It's fun though!!!!

[XemaSab]

4. I wish there was a group like that here

the closest I have is the group on DU and reading posts on other sites.

the problem is that someone comes up with a good theory and there's not much ability to question someone and get them to eleborate, where IRL you can sort of butt heads until you have a workable theory.

I've been doing a reread and taking notes on the books... lots and lots of stuff there.

JK's sure playing some things close... I will have to reread the interview tomorrow.

[ET Awful]

6. I wonder how much money I could make selling

"******* LIVES" T-Shirts :)

[Solly Mack]

7. Probably quite a bit

:)

[XemaSab]

8. I'd prefer a shirt that said

"I believe Severus Snape"

[davidinalameda]

18. put me down for one

medium

navy would be nice with white lettering

[Rhiannon12866]

5. My favorite was The Prisoner of Azkaban.

I know that it's darker than the first two, but I thought that the storyline was much richer and it explored the characters and Harry's past much more deeply. I just thought that this was the most interesting of the books. And I loved the references to Mooney, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prong. That kept me guessing and was cool to figure out. As for Hermione's traveling in parallel time, I find that concept fascinating in any book.:-)

BTW, I haven't read the latest one yet, but I doubt I'll change my mind.:shrug:

[giant_robot]

9. Goblet of Fire.

Mad-Eye Moony is the man!

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Me too

I love the quidditch world cup and the wizarding tournament.

[robbedvoter]

10. Another vote for Azkaban.

Not only was it unpredictable and rich in interesting characters, concepts (dementors, bogarts, time turners), but unlike HBP it had a deeply satisfying conclusion. And by that I don't mean a happy ending (Snape managed to keep Sirius a fugitive), but nevertheless some measure of justice.
HBP was an excellent read - loved the confrontations, the horcruxes and the general school stuff. But the ending is so frustrating. Again, not because it's an unhappy event - but because it makes no sense in the story.

[Pithy Cherub]

11. It took me a while to choose.

Each of the books is rich with detail and it is amazing how Philosopher's Stone lays out the next 5 books. You "meet" Sirius, Voldy is vaporguy with huge clues from Firenze, you understand Harry's rare gift for parsel toungue, Ron & Hermione definitely don't click at the outset, the Mirror of Erised sets up HBP, Neville displays courage it's just chock full of what will happen in each book.

But with that said I chose HBP because of Harry's solo journey into adulthood.

and DUMBLEDORE IS NOT DEAD & SNAPE will have some redeeming Value or Virtue. Ginny will still snog Harry (and more) and hopefully happiness will be ultimately hard won for Harry because Voldy now has the upperhand until the end of Book 7. Polyjuice or a Timeturner is in the 7th book somewhere - DD's return... and that is all - hidden for those who haven't read all of them yet.:grouphug: Thanks ALL for discussing the book here!

[XemaSab]

12. I'm interested in the fact that

as of this writing on Sunday afternoon, nobody has voted for CoS. I think CoS does a HUGE amount in setting up everything to come... the Tom Riddle story, the horcuxes, parseltongue, Hagrid, Myrtle, the House Elves, Ginny, and so on.

I like OOP best myself. Lots of detail about things like Grimmauld place, and the occlumency lessons. :-) And Umbridge is SO NASTY. She makes Snape look like Father Christmas.

Very close second is Goblet of Fire. I think GOF has the best, most cohesive plot as a stand-alone read. The Tournament provides a structure that the other books don't have. If you're looking at the moral universe of the books, GOF is the most morally ambiguous... he cheats his way through the entire tournament.

But then again, they're all good.

[Pithy Cherub]

15. Goblet and OOtP are like my 1A & 1B, even though Jo

went through the tortures of the damned to write it. She was truly a stressed out, freaked out human at the time. But the end result was magnificent. Order was all about teenage angst and while your hormones are out of countrol fight evil to the death.

Have to disagree about Harry cheating through the Tri-Wizard - that was expected from the outset. Hagrid was an equal opportunity clue giver as was the fake Moody. The scoring was for the judges and harry would have never been in the ting if Crouch/Moody hadn't cheated... And the end, well when your tied to a headstone your options are pretty limited.

[XemaSab]

16. the fact that it was expected

is interesting, as is the fact that all the champions cheated.

[usedtobesick]

13. Goblet on Fire!

[redsoxliberal]

17. Goblet of Fire

1. GOF
2. OotP
3. CoS
4. PoA
5. HBP
6. PS

[davidinalameda]

19. HBP

they just keep getting better

[Mist]

20. Hard to say-love them all for various reasons

The first (Sorcerer's Stone) introduced me to the Potterverse. I LOVE the third, Prisoner of Azkaban, really filled out more of the magical world, and Harry's father's past, as well as introducing the wonderful character of Remus Lupin. Goblet of Fire was a nice big fat read, lots of subplots and the kids growing up a bit. Order of the Phoenix had bits that annoyed (I didn't care for the occlumency stuff, or the repeating dreams), but it advanced the story, and introduced the wonderful Luna Lovegood. The recent book, Half-Blood Prince, advanced the story further, and DD finally cut loose with all the info he'd been sitting on for long, but I wish the book could have been longer! For some reason, I've never cared for the Chamber of Secrets; the plot hinged on a character (Ginny) who wasn't as fleshed out as a character as she should have been, it seems.

[XemaSab]

21. The more time goes by

the more I really, really like Lupin.

I agree with you on Ginny--even by book 6, I don't understand why Harry likes her when she's been such a shadow in the books so far. :shrug:

[Mist]

22. Ginny is barely there until HBP, and suddenly she's pretty, popular,

sassy, and a great quidditch player. (Hideous glurge: "Ginny was the life and soul of the quidditch team.") I think Ginny is JKR's Mary Sue. And Ginny being the perpetrator in CoS felt like such a red herring--she's hardly mentioned throughout the book, then she's the linch-pin? That felt like sloppy plotting to me.

[XemaSab]

23. The thing that keeps her from being a total Mary Sue

is the whole being-posessed-by-Voldemort thing in CoS.

Some of Rowling's early red herrings I was really irritated about at the time, but later they fit into the larger story in such a way that I forgave Rowling for them.

I deeply suspect that the fact that Harry is dating a girl who was posessed by Voldemort is more than just coincidence.

Within the week we will know for sure.

[Mist]

25. Well, I wondered about Ginny at DD's funeral--her "hard, blazing look" and

her snarky question "It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?" (when Harry tells her they can't be together anymore). And, a few short paragraphs later, Ginny says "You've been too busy saving the wizarding world." Just seems off somehow, the "hard blazing look" and the remarks that could be taken as sarcasm. Putting the words "stupid" and "noble" together sounds more like Voldy. I'm not aware of others thinking there may be something up with Ginny, but then I really don't want to go to the "big" HP sites (Leaky Cauldron, hpana, etc.) and read through a thread of over 100 pages to find out if others have my dark suspicions of Ginny!

[LWolf]

24. I don't have one "best."

I like all of them. I can find something I really like, and something to criticize, about each.

I always fail the "what's your favorite ________" question, lol.

Especially when it comes to books.

I guess, after a tough wrestling match, I could pick the most recent 2.

OOtP because of the way it highlighted the outrageousness, the hideousness of fascist takeover of education. NCLB. I also really liked "Dumbledore's Army."

HBP because each of the characters is coming into his/her own as a strong, smart, courageous person. As they have to, to face what's coming next. Also because of the focus on Dumbledore's assertion that the power of love and hope can overcome the power of fear/hate. The U.S. could use a little reminding and encouraging in that direction right now.


After re-reading HBP last week, I find myself getting irritably impatient for the 21st. Will it be THE favorite? It depends. After 10 years and 6 books of suffering, loss, stress, ridicule...if Harry dies, if he doesn't get to find closure and move on, DH will not be my favorite. ;)

[Matilda]

26. I like the way they're unfolding - each one a bit darker than the last.

I think Goblet of Fire the best so far, because it was the first really dark book, and I was
hypnotized by Voldemort's torturing of Harry - that was just so scary. Cedric's death was such
a shock - I felt JKR was leaving the children behind in that one.