Welcome to this month’s Collaboreads post! You can read more about this link up here, but the basic synopsis is that you read a book based on that month’s criteria, and then write a review about it! There’s even a mnemonic that’s been created to review the book (see below!). It’s a fun and amazing link up, and I hope you join in with us!

This month’s criteria: A Book in a Series

Book I Chose: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Synopsis: Harry Potter’s life is miserable. His parents are dead and he’s stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he’s a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry. Though Harry’s first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it’s his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.

I’ve been thinking about how much I need to re-read the Harry Potter series for a while now, and what better excuse than a #Collaboreads prompt! If you’ve been around these parts for a while you probably already know that I’m a huge HP fan, and, well, that’s all you really need to know about me 😉

RIVETING.

What part of the book could you NOT get enough of? The whole thing! I love the first book in this series because it brings back such nostalgic feelings to me. I first heard of Harry Potter when I was 10 and in 5th grade, and my teacher read us this first book. I was immediately drawn into the story, and have a fan ever since! There is nothing like the first time reading any book, and it’s fun to relive those feelings as I re-read the Sorcerer’s Stone.

ELEMENTS.

How did you relate/care for the characters? What’s your thought on the plot line and twists and turns? Harry, Hermione, and Ron are so fun to get to know. Some of my other favorite characters are McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Hagrid. And I love how Rowling created the characters of the Dursleys, as well. They’re awful and hilarious. Rowling is just an amazing writer, and now, having read the books multiple times, I love how I can find little breadcrumbs and hints of what’s to come in later books, even though they just seem like throwaway details at the time. She’s a genius, I tell you. She’s also hilarious — I chuckled out loud multiple times.

ASSOCIATE.

What other books are like this one? If none, did it remind you of a particular TV show or movie with it’s themes and characters? Well, of course I think of the movie versions. For whatever reason, I hear the characters of Ron, Hagrid, Snape, and Hermione from the movies in my head whenever I read the books, the rest not so much. It’s interesting what the brain does!

DESIGN.

You know you judged this book by the cover. What did you think of it? How did it relate to the contents of the novel? And the font and layout of the pages? Again, nostalgia. I love the cover. 

STARS.

How many out of five do you give this book? Would you recommend this book to a friend? 5 out of 5, of course! And I recommend this book and series to everyone.

 For Next Month:

September’s theme is a brand new book, so find any book that is was published recently, give it a read, and them come link up with us on September 26th.