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Harry Potter

J. K. Rowling

25 readers recommend it across 17 discussions

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THE WORD OF MOUTH

What made it worth passing on?

Original Hacker News comments, in the readers’ own words.

haakonhr
A good chance reflect. There are several: - A Conferedancy of Dunces, Peter O'Toole: tragic, hilarious and absurd - Fooled by Randomness, Nassim Taleb: this was my first exposure to a lot of biases and other interesting phenomena - The Design of Everything Things: eye-opener! Harry Potter, Tolkien, Dune and a lot of other sci-fi has also affected me, although I find it hard to point out one in particular. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein stands out a bit.
lnwlebjel
Mo Willems is awesome (Pigeon series, Elephant and Piggy). Some of the Dr. Suess books are still great and fun to read (I can read with my eyes shut, One fish two fish). The book with no pictures, the day the crayons quit, dragons love tacos, and the princess and the dragon by Audrey Wood are all books that I've probably read 100 times and still enjoy. As my kids got a bit older the Box Car children series was compelling, and the girls loved the Rainbow Magic books. Capt. Underpants and Dog man are hilarious and just subversive enough that a 7-9 yr old feel like they are getting away with something. Then on to Mysterious Benedict Society, Harry Potter, Rick Riordan, and Keeper of the Lost Cities. Our M.O. was to max out our Library card on a regular basis with just about everything possible and then iterate from there on the authors the kids enjoyed. I feel like reading is one of the things we've gotten right so far.
AndrewLiptak
A bunch of books: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (as well as several of the sequels), American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, and a bunch of others.
cududa
Triumph And Tragedy of Lyndon B Johnson (his effectiveness to pass legislation fascinated me) Harry Potter (comfort series) Charlie Wilson’s War (it’s hilarious and informative), Game Change (a sobering reminder of the 2008 election and how we got to today), Lincoln’s Melancholy (on his depression). I’ve read lots of books twice, but the above are the only I can find in my library I’ve read 3 or more times. Outside of Harry Potter, I view the figures in those books most responsible for turning points in our nations history.
dreamer7
Harry Potter!! The writing is simple but the wisdom is profound. Everytime I have reread one of the books in the series, I discovered something new. One particular scene made such a strong impression on me about being calm in difficult situations. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is flinging Dumbledore's precious instruments around, Dumbledore remains monk-like still.

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KaiserPro
I personally hate self improvement books/management, so here are some narrative books that I loved and got lost in 1) The tiger's wife - To me it has a brilliant full universe. Its comprised of a overarching narrative broken up with lots of short stories. 2) night watch/ making money / going postal - terry pratchett Fun stories with full characters. 3) THe pigeon tunnels - john le carre, Again composed of short stories, not overly spy-y just fascinating character studies, with a bit of history. 4) differently morphous - Yahtzee croshaw this one is a scifi comedy, 100% worth getting in audiobook form 5) rivers of london - ben aaronovich, policeman who was all set for a life of being a desk clerk accidentally becomes a wizard policemen. 6) harry potter, obviously :)
oh-moses
I'm also in the Harry Potter generation; I was 8 years old when the first book came out. I remember my grandma recommending it to me at the time. It sounded like "kid stuff", so I didn't pay much attention to it and went back to reading Asimov. I finally read this "kid stuff" years later, in my mid-twenties, and I liked it very much!
chatmasta
I’m surprised only one other comment mentions Harry Potter, which is definitely my answer. I was part of that “Harry Potter” generation that was right around his “age.” Those books really were incredible for spurring reading in children, and they definitely stimulated my imagination more than many activities in my childhood. Reading them now is comforting not because of the content of the book, but because of the feelings of nostalgia for and positive associations with my childhood that come with it.
godelmachine
1) All of Robin Sharma's books - especially The Monk who sold his Ferrari 2) The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell 3) Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson 4) The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius 5) Barking up the wrong tree by Eric Barker 6) This might be strange - but Harry Potter series also teach us a lot, especially about Courage and Conviction.
goodroot
* Harry Potter! * A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy: Taught me much about myself and reinforced a healthy pattern of practicing will power. * The End of Your World: After discovering spirituality and meditation I had lingering questions. This is a frank book on the trappings of the spiritual journey. The break-down of abiding vs. un-abiding enlightenment helped me navigate through fascinating times.
rsfern
I'll second the Harry Potter books -- I've been reading the Sorcerer's Stone (electronically) in Portuguese after working through Duolingo. It's nice because I am familiar with the story and there's loads of new vocabulary, which I look up (after guessing) by switching to a translation app. If you're on iOS, the built-in dictionary app will give you Spanish->English.
b3b0p
My favorite fiction book is Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry. I am not a fan of the Star Wars books nor am I a hardcore Star Wars fan, but this book captures me every time. Other favorites, not including those mentioned by others already are Jurassic Park and the Harry Potter series. I like to go back and read these often. For fun, my favorite, far and away is Foxtrot by Bill Amend.

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