Favorite HP book?

[gmalivuk]

So, now that the series is over, which one was your favorite?

My heart will always hold a special place for Goblet of Fire, but I don't know how much that one was actually better than the later ones, and how much it was just the first one I thought was really good. Having listened to them one after the other fairly recently, I'd say the only one that could give 4 a run for its money is 6 (Half-Blood Prince).

My guess would be that this trend is pretty common, but I included all of them to preclude any complaints that I didn't include your choice in the poll.

Also, I know some of you didn't read them and/or think they're all crap. Obviously this thread isn't for you, so move along now.

(Yes, I did mostly make this because Pi started encroaching on my poll-count, but I am also genuinely curious.)

[GhostWolfe]

That was a very hard choice, but I had to pick #4 - it introduced my favorite two characters and was probably the happiest point of Harry's life if you don't count the epilogue.

[b.i.o]

I picked #4 as well, it was just my favorite overall.

After that, this would be my ranking:
6, 3, 5, 1, 2, 7

[__Kit]

I like Harry Potter and the Otter/Duck

[kcr]

I like Harry Potter and the Otter/Duck

An underrated classic.

5, 6, 7 are my favorites. But that's probably just because I read them very recently. (I didn't vote in the poll.)

[hyperion]

#7 was my favourite, until the epilogue when it slipped down to last.
So the next would be #6

[Narsil]

Deathly Hallows can go fuck off.

Half-Blood Prince was the sex. End. That book fucking delivered.

Close second is Goblet of Fire.

[Invisible_Insane]

The epilogue for Deathly Hallows bothered me nearly as much as the epilogue for Crime And Punishment. "Their love resurrected them." Disgusting.

[b.i.o]

The epilogue for Deathly Hallows bothered me nearly as much as the epilogue for Crime And Punishment. "Their love resurrected them." Disgusting.

That whole book annoyed me...deathly hallows should have been several hundred pages longer. There were so many things she didn't bother to develop...

[Narsil]

Not the least of which being WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT VEIL THING IN ORDER OF THE PHOENIX AND WHERE DID SIRIUS' BODY GO??

That was like the only reason I read that book. I thought "Finally! I can know what that veil thing is!". Literally. I thought this when I laid my hand on the book at the store.

[Twasbrillig]

I went for Half-Blood Prince, but GoF was really close.

6, 4, 5, 2, 1, 3, 7

[PatrickRsGhost]

The epilogue for Deathly Hallows bothered me nearly as much as the epilogue for Crime And Punishment. "Their love resurrected them." Disgusting.

That whole book annoyed me...deathly hallows should have been several hundred pages longer. There were so many things she didn't bother to develop...

Agreed. It seemed too rushed for the most part, and seemed to drag out forever in the sections when they were camping in the woods and sneaking into the nearest town/village/whatever to get supplies, news, and whatnots.

One thing that bothered me about book 7: If Harry's father was an Animagus, why didn't Harry himself practice at being an Animagus? I'm sure he, Ron, and Hermione could have tried hard enough. If they knew how to put a Disillusionment Charm on the tent, so that anyone who came close to it would see it as something else, or else make it appear invisible, they wouldn't really have had much of a problem hiding from the Death Eaters.

I like them all equally, really. But the two that top my list would have to be #5 and #6.

[peter]

Sorcerer's Stone, or "Philosopher's Stone".

I only read #1 and #2, so yeah. Thought it was pretty good, with a good ending.

[__Kit]

Sorcerer's Stone, or "Philosopher's Stone".

I only read #1 and #2, so yeah. Thought it was pretty good, with a good ending.

This makes me lol.

[Narsil]

It makes me cry, actually.

[b.i.o]

Not the least of which being WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT VEIL THING IN ORDER OF THE PHOENIX AND WHERE DID SIRIUS' BODY GO??

That was like the only reason I read that book. I thought "Finally! I can know what that veil thing is!". Literally. I thought this when I laid my hand on the book at the store.

Well there's that, but the thing that annoyed me most was the whole RAB thing. First, she creates a load of suspense by leaving that at the end of book 6. Then, in book 7, she puts in a simple narrative, and doesn't even bother to try to explain Regulus's reason for doing what he did....

[Memo]

Not the least of which being WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT VEIL THING IN ORDER OF THE PHOENIX AND WHERE DID SIRIUS' BODY GO??

That was like the only reason I read that book. I thought "Finally! I can know what that veil thing is!". Literally. I thought this when I laid my hand on the book at the store.

Well there's that, but the thing that annoyed me most was the whole RAB thing. First, she creates a load of suspense by leaving that at the end of book 6. Then, in book 7, she puts in a simple narrative, and doesn't even bother to try to explain Regulus's reason for doing what he did....

Why should she explain something obvious? I mean, it happened after the Kreacher vs Voldemort thing. And who was the one loved Kreacher to pieces? RAB.

[Dr.Robert]

3rd book for me. It was just when Harry Potter started to become less of a newbie at magic. The time sequence was my favorite chapters in the entire series. The whole second half of that book was absolutely stellar.

[gmalivuk]

Sorcerer's Stone, or "Philosopher's Stone".

I only read #1 and #2, so yeah. Thought it was pretty good, with a good ending.

You lose. Firstly, why bother voting when you only read the first two (shortest, most juvenile) books of the series?

Secodly, the scare quotes should be around sorcerer, not philosopher. Because that was just a stupid American editing job that probably reflects the fear that a book with "philosopher" in the title will be assumed to be boring.

The philosopher's stone, while mythical, is very well-attested throughout the history of alchemical "research", and was supposed to do exactly what they say it does in the book (transmutate metals and create the elixir of life, among other nifty things). The "sorcerer's stone", on the other hand, first appeared in American versions of the first Harry Potter book and doesn't really mean anything.

[Ren]

I actually really, really liked "Deathly Hallows" despite all of you hating on it. I didn't like the Epilogue, but aside from that...

I suppose, were I to rate the others, it would be...erm...
3 = 4 = 6
And then... 3, 4, 6 > 5 > 1 > 2

[Princess Marzipan]

With the first 4 books, I felt the like the whole time I was just waiting for the revelations at the end. The climaxes were fantastic, the rest of the books not so much.

When the OotP started, I had an immediate feeling of "stuff is happening." HPB and DH had the same feeling to me.

I go 5/6/7 > 4 > 1/2/3.

[gmalivuk]

You know it is perfectly acceptable to include equalities and inequalities in the same line:

5 = 6 = 7 > 4 > 1 = 2 = 3 would actually be more clear to me than using other characters between the ones you rate equally.

Just so long as no one says something like 4 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 4. Cycles=Lose

[Sprocket]

I just love that no one picked two...It's SO TRUE!

[Joseph]

I haven't finished 7 yet, but for now:

7 > 5 > 4 > 1 = 2 > 3 > 6

[Sprocket]

3>5>1=4>2 I haven't finished 7 and I really don't remember 6. Actually I've never read two. I read some of it, and then I saw the movie and then I was told the movie was all I needed and two wasn't worth reading.

[Violetstranger]

I think the games in GoF presented the most interesting dynamic.

[mister k]

Book 4. I have problems with 6- once it gets going it's actually awesome, but it takes a bit of time to get there. As for the 7 haters- the veil was the veil of death, I thought that was pretty damn obvious- and the epilogue initially threw me until I realised the whole point of it isn't for US to have our happy ending. It's for Harry. He spends all 7 books longing for proper family and a sense of belonging, and the epilogue quite clearly points out he's got it. Also it gives a little closure on Severus with Harry's talk to his son.

In order, I guess I'd go 4 3 6 7 5 1 2. The first two are a little unexciting, and 5 lets itself down thanks to shouty Harry.

[bbctol]

Prisoner of Azkaban, then Half-Blood Prince. Deathly Hallows wasn't terrible, but it wasn't particularly good.

[Sandry]

I voted 6. I think mostly because it pains me to read the first few now - Harry and co are so painfully naive. I can't really consider 5 objectively because my skin crawls when Umbridge is in a scene, and 7, which I did mostly like, a) has that travesty of an epilogue, b) kills off Snape (*sniff*), c) really skims over some things. It's not that they're not understandable, but that on the whole it gives the book this uneven quality.

I really need to re-read 4. It's been too long. Except I imagine I'd have to just keep going through the end again if I did so, and I don't want to dedicate four evenings of my time right now.

[Herman]

"5" > "6" > "3" > "1" > "4" > "2" > "7" >> 1 (They're all really good).

[Kythyria]

I voted #5. #7 had that stupid near-death experience at the end, and does seem a bit uneven in hindsight. Apparently the film of #5 leaves loads of stuff out, which is a shame, because the effects people could have really gone to town on some of it.

For me it's 5>6>4=3=2=1

[gmalivuk]

Oh, the effects people did go to town on it. That's part of why everything else sucked, methinks.

[ocarina_21]

My personal favourite... I guess I'll have to give it to Deathly Hallows. Reading that book got me a prescription from my doctor. I got it at the midnight release, and read it solid. It was hot, so I sat with my face straight in the fan. The several hours with my face straight in the fan dried my eyes. I have to take eyedrops now...