When blackbootz and veen came out I bullied them into coming up with a list of 10-15 books each for my eternal infernal bicycle ride this summer. They came through. And then my library informed me that Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone was available. I enjoyed bugging the shit out of Harry Potter fans by telling them I'd read the books once all the movies were out - after all, the book is always better than the movie (right?) and that way I could appreciate the movies for what they were and then get still more fulfillment out of the books. And then the last movie was made and I was busy doing something else so I'n'I have been getting my Hogwarts on. Know what I remember from popular reaction to Harry Potter? Everyone freaking out about all these kids reading and whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy would they read HP when they have no interest in The Scarlet Letter or Castle Ghormengast or Atlas Shrugged or A Collection of Proust Juvenalia or some shit like that and holy fuck, people, it's because it's fucking fun. Know why people like The DaVinci Code? It's fucking fun. I've never read any Danielle Steele books but you know what? I'll bet they're fucking fun. And for most people, fun is enough. I've got a screenplay that was basically The Martian ten years before The Martian came out. Except it's also a ghost story. And it's angsty as fuck. It is not "fucking fun." I let people convince me to write a novel after starting the Game of Thrones books because they're really good. But they're no fucking fun. I kinda wonder what my craft would have looked like if I'd picked up Sorcerer's Stone in 2001.
Harry Potter is the closest I've ever came to become part of a "fandom". I find it starts really light and fun as any kids book, but it does get a lot more serious and dark towards the end. The contrast in tone is seriously shocking when you re-read the first book after going through the series. But growing up with the books, and having years in between them it was perfect :) Enjoy!
The Sorcerer's Stone came out in Swedish in 1999 when I was 10, the same year I began learning English in school. My parents have the books in English and Swedish in their bookcases from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix going forward because I couldn't wait for the translations, but then I re-read them when the Swedish edition arrived (since my comprehension was honestly not that great), before allowing my siblings to read them. I have friends from back then then that I doubt has read any other books since then that weren't assignments. Can't really blame them. I don't know if they're available as audiobooks, but if they are, The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg is 1780 pages between the four of them, all of them really good.
They're available as eBooks. I've added them to the list. I really enjoyed the Millennium Trilogy the first time through. The second time I realized that Anita Blomqvist is not a hero and that kinda tweaked me a bit. I'd love some exposure to something better. Thanks.
One of the highlights of my parenting life was reading the HP series out loud to my kids. I ripped through them with the older cohort a decade ago, and I’m on round two with my younger kids. It’s joyful.. because they’re fun!I have been getting my Hogwarts on.