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

It’s now Day 5 of my Harry Potter Read-a-thon!!

If you’ve been following along, you will have begun reading Book 2, The Chamber of Secrets this morning!

Wondering what this read-a-thon is all about?? Click here to go to my original post and then travel back here to read all of my thoughts on Harry’s first year at Hogwarts!

I really forgot just how witty J.K. Rowling’s writing is!! Like she has some sass in her characters, especially towards the Dursleys. Throughout the book, I would continually catch myself sneaking a laugh here and there with all of the sarcasm that we don’t always catch in the movies.

Between the characters and the scenes that she puts them in, it is obvious how this series became the sensation that it has developed over the last twenty years.

Harry is definitely one of those characters that is strong despite the horrible treatment that he has endured since the moment he was dropped off on his aunt and uncle’s doorstep. He stands up to the bully (AKA Draco) instead of letting the stress of the situation overcome him which leads others to stick up for one another such as in the multiple cases of Draco-vs-Neville. This can be a great example for all the younger readers.

The other characters are a diverse mix. We get to picture the differences between the blood-status and economic-status that is similar to our racial and social status views of our muggle world. This series as a whole could be seen in a political spotlight, but what is nice about J.K. Rowling’s twist is that it doesn’t dominate the story. We get a nice blend into Harry’s world through this.

What I really enjoy about this series (and yes, I have read it MULTIPLE times over the years) is just how quick I can go through each book. The writing itself is very easy to read and you get so engrossed in what is happening that the next thing you know, you’re already to the end!

Like I read this book in less than a day.

So if you are looking for a book to combat a reading slump or you just want a book to keep you company on a quick road trip, this is the one you will want to pick up!

I initially picked this book up about 10ish years ago from my small-town public library. I remember taking it home and devouring it within a few days. To this day, I still devour it!

I. Was. Hooked.

Now I own everything from multiple sets of the books to Funko Pops to jewelry and tattoos! This series continues to entertain me between the books and the awesome movie adaptations.

Between the wizard training, the awesome magical spells, the creatures, and the characters, this book is a great start to an even more fantastic series! I give the Sorcerer’s Stone 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to ALL readers of ALL ages!!!

The book and movie are, for the most part, VERY SIMILAR!

The team that assembled the movie definitely based most of the dialogue, character descriptions, and scenes straight from the book. There are a few parts of the book that were either changed around or just left out of the movie, but the movie itself did not add or subtract anything substantial from this first segment.

Some of the book differences included:

A more descriptive version of Mr. Dursley’s imagination going amuck with the initial news of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s demise.
Dudley didn’t actually fall into the snake cage and get trapped behind the glass
Harry had a babysitter growing up.
Harry was supposed to have a showdown following his recovery of Neville’s Remembrall from Draco.

And finally..

Good ol’ Peeves’ mischief throughout the Hogwarts castle. This was definitely something that would have been really fun to see turned into the movie since this character is incorporated throughout the rest of the book series.