Have you read all seven of the Harry Potter books?

Never read any of them, nor seen the films. Not my thing..a niece of mine a big fan though. To each their own I suppose.

As a kid, I read them (for the most part) as they came out and then reread the series in college. I have seen all the movies at least once. I was never a fanatic but I enjoyed the story and immersing myself in the Harry Potter universe.

I read the first one, and was impressed only by its popularity. I’m not dissing it, it obviously has some great magic going on to garner such a huge fan base, and I think it is marvelous that it made so many kids really enjoy reading.
The thing is, I found the writing to be unexceptional and the plots and themes to be seriously clichéed, so my hat is off to Rowling for inspiring such passion.

I spent a decade selling books, and would read a lot of children’s and YA fiction to be able to recommend things, and there were so many that were better written and more original.

But I know avid readers today that couldn’t bear to crack a book until Harry Potter.

I always wondered about Louis L’Amour,too.

I’ve read them all and enjoyed them well enough; have seen the first few of the movies. I agree with @canidmajor that I thought there were better fantasy series for children than HP but it certainly took off and led many kids to reading.

I had children and read them all as they came out. I enjoyed them. I’ve never bothered to reread any of them, and I will reread a book that I really like over and over. I honestly don’t know how many times I’ve read Gravity’s Rainbow. I saw most but not all of the movies, and I’ve never watched any of them again. I’m very glad they helped turn my children into readers. I wish they shared my adoration for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

I read the first four out loud to my children, and then we all devoured the remaining books as they came out. And we saw each of the movies within a week of opening (my son’s eighth birthday party was all the boys in his grade all seeing The Prisoner of Azkaban on the Saturday it opened.)

We watch the movies again on occasion, when a network shows them all.

And I know a lot of people in their twenties who became avid readers because of Harry Potter.

I read the first one to see what my kids were reading. And that is where I stopped. It just never clicked for me.

Haven’t read one of the books and I saw most of the first movie and about 30 minutes of the second. I couldn’t get into it. I did go on all the Harry Potter rides at Universal in Florida and walk through Hogwarts. It’s a fabulous section of the park, and I can only assume it’s even more amazing for people who are very into the stories.

My girlfriend who writes magical cozy mysteries says giving magic to a child is never going to be as good as adult women who really know what to do with the powers. Lol. She and her boys did love HP though, the whole family loves reading.

I bought and read all of the books (plus some outside of, but related to the series) in my 50s. Have since given them to a young girl who’s g’mother is a friend of mine. Also bought and have watched all of the movies. I thought the series was wonderful. I used to read a lot of the popular lawyerly/mystery/crime stuff (can’t think of any names), and I gave HP a try when I was in a depressed period. It helped me quite a bit. I would have dreams about flying on a broom, swooping all over the place – really magical and wonderful dreams.

Yes, I definitely think it started a whole generation or two of kids reading, and they probably grew to love books in general.

All books, all movies. I dig it all. The books were given to a teen girl a few years ago.

I read the books as soon as they came out and many times since then. I saw the movies on first release on big screen, and two or three times a year since then on my big screen TV.

I’ve never read any of the books. I’m not interested in the “magic and spells and wizards” type of genre. That being said, I have seen all the movies. I can tell you why in two words: Alan Rickman.

P.S. I’m an avid reader, but Harry Potter just doesn’t interest me as far as choosing books to read. As a kid, I loved the Little House series, and Anne of Green Gables series. That’s more up my alley.

Yes, and more than once. All were purchased once released in the US, thus in hardback. A young niece highly recommended it, and her mother (my sister), a high school English teacher, agreed.

What was appreciated about the series was how, not only the characters developed over time, in addition to the growing maturity of the writing to coincide with the targeted readers as they developed, but the fact that it was so strategically written. There were very few questions, if any, left unanswered. A final caveat was that all of the characters have personality flaws, making them come across as “humanly.”

As for the films, they are owned as well; a gift form my SO. Overall, they are well-made, other than “HP and The Goblet of Fire.” It made too many changes from the novel that were unnecessary.

My niece is now an adult, married, and they have a young child who loves to read. I look forward to the day that she is old enough to be introduced to the HP series.

@Pied_Pfeffer Great analysis but did you really mean “caveat”? That’s usually a negative.

Yes & yes.