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

Get yourself prepared for the entire Harry Potter series. I've already read 1-6, but I'm re-reading them. Why? Because I'm a big nerd. I figure I can read them all now and be finished by the time the seventh and final book comes out in July, and then I'll have read them all in order at one go. Sounds great, doesn't it?

[Baby] 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... 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!"

Now that I know the future of Harry Potter and how dark the series gets toward the end, it was interesting to go back to the beginning. Harry and his friends -- and the book's style in general -- all seem so innocent. It's also interesting to note how identical the first book and the first movie are: Chris Columbus, who directed the first and second films, was a huge Harry Potter fan and made sure to include every little detail in his movies. There are even lines of dialogue that are identical, which made it a bit odd to read -- I could hear the characters' voices in my head.

One of my favorite things about this series are all the little unrelated details that Rowling adds into her stories. She includes all sorts of things that don't matter to the plotline at all, but still make a big difference in the story. Short one-sentence descriptions pop up all over the place. For example, right in the middle of the part where the kids figure out that the stone will be stolen that night -- a very serious, dark part of the story, Rowling writes: "They wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows." I think these sorts of additions lend to what makes the Harry Potter world come alive, and how it feels so real when you read or watch the movies. The details make the story.

Overall: A+