Is it unreasonable that aged 30 my favourite books are the Harry Potter books?

[DarlingDuck]

I read them all once a year, usually around Christmas

Im reading Frank McCourts 'tis a memoir' at the minute and i am really enjoying it.

If anyone is wanting to add to their Chalet collection I'd recommend bookmarking the Girls Gone By site at www.ggbp.co.uk/ but be warned, don't approach it with an empty purse or bank account!

These are the people who are also currently republishing the Lone Pine series and did the fourth and fifth Katie books. If anyone is searching ebay for the latter two I suspect it'll be the GGB versions you're most likely to get.

I would judge you far more if you listed Jane Austen amongst your favourites. Hideous drivel.

Agree wholeheartedly. And yet so many people see them as essential reading. Although actually everyone should read at least one just to discover the above for themselves.

My sil watches the films daily and re reads the books, I love them but there's only so many times you can watch/read them. My niece (just turned 1) will probably know them off by heart by the time she can speak! But I would say yanbu cos they are good!

I always thought of The Catcher in the Rye in that light, LeQ.

Mumslife, there is a tale in Strewelpeter about a little girl named Harriet who plays with matches despite the fire warnings of her cats, and burns her house down. All that is left is her little red shoes.
'So she was burnt, with all her clothes,
And arms, and hands, and eyes, and nose;
Till she had nothing more to lose
Except her little scarlet shoes;
And nothing else but these was found
Among her ashes on the ground.'

fire warnings = dire

My favourite books are Enid Blyton's St. Clares.

For the Antonia Forest fans on this thread

mumslife

Try www.chaletschool.org.uk/ebd-books/chambers-and-girls-gone-by for a list of GGB and hardback books, and this
www.chaletschool.org.uk/ebd-books/armada-collins for the list of Armada paperbacks.

No, the Girls Gone By books aren't cheap, but they're doing limited print runs for a mostly adult customer base, cheap and cheerful paperbacks they ain't. They really are lovely editions. :)

YANBU - although I found the last 3 a bit heavy and hard to read.

I love the HP books too, and re-read them every year.

There are an awful lot of excellent books out there though, that it has taken me 38 years to get round to reading. Dracula was utterly unputdownable for me, as was Frankenstein (I had no idea it was sooooo good), Jane Eyre was completely wonderful as was To Kill a Mockingbird, East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath.

I thought Catch 22 and The Catcher in the Rye were both very over-rated and found them very dull.

Variety is the spice of life.

I don't really get F. Scott Fitzgerald either. I liked The Great Gatsby, but couldn't make head nor tails of Tender is the Night.

diabolo - I am the other way. Loved Tender is the Night, cannot get through Gatsby (but am determined to do it one day, I just need to be in the right mood for the book).

Darling Duck and everyone else who's read the HP books recently, can you answer a question for me please?

I read a lot of HP fanfiction and along with the usual descriptions of Snape (pale, skinny, tall, greasy hair) they often go on about his voice. Is this that something that was mentioned in the books or is that just from the Alan Rickman influence from the films? I could dig the books out I know, but I figure it's quicker to ask here

As a completely pointless aside, I find it very weird that when I read the books now I still see Harry and Snape as I originally imagined them (although I hear Snape's dialogue in Alan Rickman unbelievably lovely voice) but everyone else has morphed into actors.

mumslife You're welcome, glad to be of 'help'.

diablo I love the film Catch 22 and have seen it two or three times, but I've had two attempts to read the book and I just gave up, the book just doesn't grab me at all.

YANBU! I farking love the Harry Potter books. Am reasonably well read, but in between reading new books I regularly reread, especially Harry Potter and Agatha Christie books. Generally can't stand book snobbery, however I must admit I am not a big fan of chick lit, in fact can't even stand the term!

Actually now you mention it Diabolo I also thought Catcher in the Rye was very overrated. I've actually reread it too, but only because I couldn't remember anything about it from the first time round, and even then when DH asked what it was about I still struggled to explain it. It seems to be one of these coming of age novels, that you might find to be a revelation if you happen to read it at exactly the right point in your life, but to me it was a load of nothing. Call me old fashioned, but I like my books to have a discernable story.