Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Oh my Gooooodness! I’m going to say right now that I enjoyed this book much more than the Sorcerer’s Stone. It was easier to read probably because I now had a basic understanding of the world so I wasn’t focused on trying to remember and learn everything and I could enjoy it. I picked this book up because it was the next book, but after reading The Chamber of Secrets I can. not. wait. to get started on Prisoner of Azkaban.

Also, can I just say that I adored Ginny’s crush on Harry. My eleven-year old self understands.

Start Date: 10/7/16

Finish Date: 10/8/16

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling opens on the summer after Harry’s first year at Hogwarts.

The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley’s younger sister, Ginny. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone, or something, starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects: Harry Potter himself?

What I Loved:

Fred and George. And Ginny. And Fred, George, and Ron’s love of Ginny. And their friendship with Harry. And my heart is exploding with how much I loved the scene of Fred and George protecting Harry from the cursed buldger in Quidditch. I can’t handle it.

I also really liked T.M. Riddle and the dynamic and twist to the story that Rowling made by bringing him in.

What I Didn’t Like as Much:

I don’t like Dobby, I was feeling secondhand frustration for Harry, but I generally have adverse feelings for needy characters anyways.

I also didn’t like Gilderoy Lockhart, he seemed like a useless character to me, but at the same time I loved to hate him.

A Tiny Taste:

“He missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a constant stomachache. He missed the castle, with its secret passageways and ghosts, his classes, … the mail arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, visiting the gamekeeper, Hagrid, in his cabin next to the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and especially, Quidditch, the most popular sport in the wizarding world”

For Bookshelf or Borrowing?

I said Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was a book for borrowing or Kindle, but Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is going on my bookshelf for sure. I could definitely reread this book!

About The Author

J.K. Rowling is the author of the beloved, best-selling, record-braking Harry Potter series. She started writing the series during a delayed Manchester to London King’s Cross train journay, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel. J.K. Rowling is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees.

Extras:

More Aout J.K. Rowling

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

The first time I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was in November 2015 during my train rides to and from work. I had already seen all the movies so while reading it I zoned in and out instead of actually paying attention to the story.

It’s October  and I am in the mood for some cozy and beloved books to love on thus I have come back to this series. It has been almost a year since I read this first book, so I am going to reread it and then read the series in a semi-fluid motion.And this time I am actually paying attention to the story and what is going on.

I thought I was going to read this book in a day, but it turned out to be over three days because I couldn’t stop watching the Gilmore Girls heh…heh..

Start date: October 4th, 2016

Finish Date: October 7th, 2016

The book is about an eleven-years-old  boy named Harry Potter who is quite famous in the Wizard world. He was one year old when the most feared wizard in history, Voldemort showed up at his family’s house, killing his parents. When You-Know-Who turns on Harry something stops him resulting in his defeat and disappearance. Harry is the first person to ever survive an attack from the Dark Lord thus naming him The Boy Who Lived. After his death, Rubeus Hagrid delivers Harry to the home of is Aunt and Uncle, The Dursleys.

The Dursleys hate the Potters and everything to do with magic, so they try to stomp it out by never telling Harry who he is and making his life miserable, including making him live in the cupboard under the stairs.

The story really starts ten years later when Harry turns eleven and is (surprise!) accepted in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All at once Harry learns the true story of what happened to his parents, how he got his lightning-shaped scar, and why strange things happen when he loses his temper.

Harry meets his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley while also finding enemies among his schoolmates such as Draco Malfoy. During his first year he picks up on the danger that is lurking behind the school walls and is soon on a self-imposed quest with his friends to find and save the Sorcerer’s Stone, if he can survive the encounter.

What I loved: 

I love the world building and how the story of Harry Potter going from a loveless home to a world where he and his kind are celebrated progresses. The story moves along at a great pace, never bored but also not wishing things would slow down.

Rowling makes you wish that you were a witch or wizard going off to Hogwarts. I can close my eyes and imagine the roar and warmth of the dining hall, the crisp air on my cheeks and my breath turning into steam as I watched Quidditch in the stands.

What I Didn’t Like as Much:

I love the story, but Rowling’s writing style isn’t one that sucks me in for hours, leaving me to come back into reality gasping for breath. I could follow along with what was happening, but I never got lost in the story.

Every writer has a unique voice and every voice speaks to a reader differently, her’s just doesn’t speak to me.

A Tiny Taste:

“A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours’ time by Mrs. Dursley’s scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…He couldn’t know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: “To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!” ~J.K. Rowling

For Bookshelf or Borrowing?

Somebody is going to kill me for this, but I say for borrowing or for owning on Kindle. I’m glad that I borrowed this book from my sister’s bookshelf and don’t have to find a place to keep it. If you’re reading it for the first time, borrow it from the library or from a friend and then buy it if you love it.

I can see myself owning a few books from this series for special rereading privileges.

About The Author:
J.K. Rowling is the author of the beloved, best-selling, record-braking Harry Potter series. She started writing the series during a delayed Manchester to London King’s Cross train journay, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel. J.K. Rowling is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees.

Extras:

More Aout J.K. Rowling

Movie Trailor

Goodreads

Magical World of Pottermore