Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) - by J.K. Rowling

I admit it's taken me awhile, both to write my next post and to get into the Harry Potter series. I was one of those rare people who hadn't caught the Harry Potter bug, and now that I don't have to sit here anticipating the next book or movie, I've finally decided it's due time I gave the series a serious chance.

I'll admit this wasn't my first date with Mr. Potter...I had attempted to read novel 1 about four times and had never made it past chapter 2 without straying, and when the last movie was first in the theatre, I made an attempt to do a marathon session with the previous movies so that I could see the final movie in the theatre with my sister (who is a pretty big fan of the Potter books and movies). I made it to movie four, I think, and realized I hadn't been paying enough attention to be able to understand such a complex story.

I'm pleased to say that I've finally made it through the first book and found myself a little bit excited to read the next. I confess that I really had to push myself through the first few chapters. I found them to be slow moving and they introduced too many characters for my liking. The talk of "magic" was also a bit confusing throughout the first novel and I realized quickly that having watched the first movie really helped me to picture the details in the book. I think this is a rare occasion where watching the movie first assisted in my understanding of the details of the novel. I still do plan to watch the movie again very soon and give my review.

After reading The Sorcerer's Stone, I can understand why people just cannot get enough of the Harry Potter series. Even though I felt there were too many secondary characters introduced, which made it quite confusing to visualize at times, the details about places, objects and magic were enough to make you really feel like you were right at Hogwarts alongside Harry and his friends.

Now that I have FINALLY finished the first book in this series, I really look forward to reading more about Harry Potter and his adventures. I'll admit that I am not completely in the dark when it comes to Harry and that I know about bits and pieces of his life (I think the only way not to is if you lived in a cave for the past several years), but it's fun to get to know him myself, and maybe now I'll understand more what all the hype has been about.

Are you a Potter fanatic? Let me know why!