divine angst

The Harry Potter books, by J.K. Rowling

Yes, these were all re-reads for me, but I’m gearing up for the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I have already ordered and which will be shipped to me, from England, in about three weeks. Yee!

So I think almost everyone knows the basic plot of the Harry Potter books—it’s the basic orphan-makes-good story, with some twistiness. (If you’ve been living in a cave, maybe you don’t know the story, so stop reading now if you don’t want to know anything about the plot.) Harry lives with his dreadful aunt and uncle because his parents have died. He discovers on his 11th birthday that he is a wizard and that his parents were killed by an evil wizard. And that he gets to go to school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Each book recounts a year at school, and each year at school brings a fresh adventure that features Harry facing down the evil Lord Voldemort, as he returns to power.

I like the Harry Potter books. The stories are good—engaging, lively, humorous at times, and easily relatable. (Did I say that right? Anyone can relate to these books, really.) The writing is pretty good. Rowling isn’t a master of language, but the writing is clean and age-appropriate (these are YA books, after all).

All in all, I recommend these books. I’ll keep re-reading them every time a new release comes out (after Half-Blood Prince, there will only be one more, though) and I’ll keep enjoying them.