Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Currently Reading: "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Next Up: "The Crimson Petal and the White" by Michael Faber

Yeah, yeah, I know. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban kind of cut the line and paused my reading of Catch-22, and the continuation of my reading with the Michael Faber book. Get over it. With all the hubub surrounding the latest Harry Potter installation, and me having only read Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, I have catching up to do!

Why, oh why did I allow my disappointment in Chamber of Secrets to stop me from continuing the series?! Prisoner of Azkaban was wonderful!

"For Twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts ... he's at Hogwarts." Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst."

- synopsis from BN.com

I feel as though I've gotten the first taste of what JK Rowling can really do. Now, I truly know what the fuss is about. I love the way the main characters, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have grown and become more complex as they've aged. They feel like real people to me now. The entire world of Hogwarts feels more real to me in this one, too....I loved the story - everyone's motivation comes into question, the story gets much darker than it had been previously (Ron gets his leg broken! There are double-crossers....triple-crossers...!), and the ending was genuinely "edge-of-your-seat." I'm very much looking forward to Goblet of Fire now, which seems to be many people's favorite...

Maybe the Harry Potter hype isn't so silly and unfounded after all! :)