29) Sterling's Gold: Wit and Wisdom of an Ad Man-Roger Sterling

Any fan of Mad Men knows that Roger Sterling spent most of season four quietly writing his memoir. Like anyone else, I was really hoping that AMC would take it to the next level and actually go ahead and publish the damn thing so we could all feel really cool telling people we read it. No? Just me? Whatever. The point is, they at least did it. Somewhat.

If you're a fan of the show, I definitely suggest owning this. Sadly, it's not his story, but it's full of some of the best Roger Sterling quotes from the series. I repeat, this is a compilation of quotes, not his memoir. So many times I've watched an episode and wanted to high five the writers for coming up with such genius lines. He dedicates sections to dealing with clients, dealing with women, dealing with coworkers and how to properly live life. Not only does it include quotes, but it has some really fantastic photos from episodes as well. I liked sitting there reading it and going, "I TOTALLY REMEMBER HIM SAYING THAT. THAT WAS THE EPISODE WHERE..." I felt pretty awesome about that. Again, that might just be me, but that's not what we're talking about, is it?

As that's really all there is to say about this short little literary gem, I shall leave you now with one of Roger Sterling's shining moments. Isn't he a charmer?

Look, I want to tell you something because your very dear to me and I hope you understand it comes from the bottom of my damaged, damaged heart. You are the finest piece of ass I ever had and I don't care who knows it. I am so glad I got to roam those hillsides.

(Sidenote: Buying this book had nothing to do with my massive crush on John Slattery. Okay, maybe it did.)

28) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-JK Rowling

Ah, here we are. We have finally reached the end, the finale, the conclusion we've all been waiting for (and reading up to over thousands of pages and millions of words). I remember getting this at midnight and having to run to my car so as to avoid the possibility of someone screaming out what happened. I stocked up on cupcakes and energy drinks to stay up and plow through it. It turns out I needed neither as this book was more amazing than I really think anyone had anticipated. Yes, it was going to be amazing, but it was far beyond my expectations.

Snape delivers news to Voldy that Harry is to be moved earlier than expected. He kills the Muggle Studies teacher, a guard shows up at Privet Drive and the "Seven Potters" are on their way. The Death Eaters are in hot pursuit, Harry's wand does some fancy work against Voldy, they end up at the Burrow with Mad-Eye dead, Mundungus gone and George without one ear. The wedding of Bill & Fleur approaches, Scrimgeour relays the last will and testament of Dumby to the trio and BOOM. The ministry falls, the minister lays slain and the Death Eaters attack the wedding. Next thing you know, the trio finds themselves on the run. After a run in with two enemies, they apparate to Number 12 Grimmauld Place and the hunt for the Horcuxes begins. They realize that they threw away one of the horcruxes when cleaning the house and ask Kreacher if he kept it. He recounts the story of Regulus, Voldy and the locket and tell them Mundungus took the locket. He's sent off to find him, he tells them that he sold it to Umbridge and a plan is hatched to attack the ministry. After a disastrous encounter at the ministry, they get the locket and escape, only to have Yaxley see where they were apparating to. They now begin to camp in woods, fields and areas where they can be concealed with more than just the protective charms Hermione uses. When they can't figure out how to destroy the locket, they take turns wearing it which leads to problems and unease among the trio. Conversations repeat themselves and the lack of news and interaction of and with the outside world takes its toll. In a fit of rage, Ron leaves. After a few weeks, Harry and Hermione visit Godric's Hollow where disaster strikes once more. Finally, Ron returns at just the right moment and helps Harry destroy the locket. Soon after, Hermione suggests a trip to see Xenophilius Lovegood. They discover the meaning of Dumby's gift to her and learn of the Deathly Hallows. Harry soon realizes Voldy has set off in search of the Elder Wand. More time passes and without thinking, Harry says Voldy's name and the trio is caught by snatchers. They realize they might have Harry Potter and take them to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix sees the sword, tortures Hermione and Dobby helps Luna, Dean, Mr.Ollivander, Griphook, Harry, Ron and Hermione escape. Once at Shell Cottage, Harry hatches a plan to break into the Lestrange's vault. The trio and Griphook use the hair found on Hermione's clothes to disguise herself as Bellatrix. The break-in goes awry, but they find another horcrux. They narrowly escape on the half-blind dragon guarding the deepest vaults and Harry sees that Voldy knows they're on the hunt for horcruxes. 

It's time to head back to Hogwarts.

They apparate into Hogsmeade, almost get caught by awaiting death eaters and are thankfully saved by Abenforth Dumbledore. They tell him they need to find a way into the school, so Abenforth tells the portrait of a lovely young girl that she knows what to do. She returns, her portrait swings open and a beaten Neville appears. He aids them in returning to the castle and Harry asks if anyone knows of anything of Ravenclaw's that might be of value. Luna takes him to the Ravenclaw common room to see what the diadem looks like, but a Carrow is waiting to press her dark mark to call Voldy to the school. McGonnagal sees Harry, alerts the heads of houses, epically battles Snape and begins to evacuate while simultaneously protecting the school. 

The battle begins.

A battle of epic proportions. A wizard battle only JK Rowling could dream up. There's witches, wizards, giants, unnecessarily large spiders, dementors, werewolves and ghosts going hard. Bits of the castle crash and crumble. People are lying dead or cursed left and right. Harry finally finds Ron and Hermione, having just destroyed the cup, and enter the room of requirement in search of the battered bust with the tiara that guards Harry's potions book from the year before. Another Horcrux. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle head them off and one of the idiot goons sets off fiendfyre, almost killing them all. The diadem is vanquished. A bit more fighting, the absolute worst demise (in my book), Snape meets his end and Voldy stops the fight and gives Harry one hour to hand himself over. Harry views Snape's memories, realizes what he is and heads toward the forest. 

Personally, the next sequence in the book was the hardest for me to read. I remember reading that chapter and just losing it once he turned the Resurrection Stone. Not because I knew that Harry was going to meet his end. That was a fact that we all more or less knew was bound to happen (he was always a silly little martyr). No, it was how incredibly emotional it was when he turned it thrice in his hands and those four important characters presented themselves to him as his own personal guard. I read that and thought to myself, "Poor Daniel Radcliffe. It was hard enough to read this scene. Imagine having to act that out. That's terrible." Now I wonder whether it was a closed set and if it was, who he talked to or what he did after. If it was open to anyone, who showed up to watch that and how did it make them feel? I know that that's silly, but it is what it is. Okay, back to the story.

He ends up in a sort of limbo after being struck with the killing curse (good lord, this post is getting long!) and decides to go back thus killing the horcrux. He's carried back by Hagrid, Neville proves himself worthy of being placed in Gryffindor and Harry escapes. The battle rages once more and Harry does all he can to further protect those he loves. (Sidenote-did anyone else smile a little when he started listing those he loved off and named Luna? It was just so perfect.) Molly Weasley gives the best line in the entire story, slays Bellatrix and it's now come down to Harry and Voldy. After the shock of his being alive subsides, they circle each other and Harry reigns victorious.

Celebrations. Happiness. 19 Years Later. Harry and Ginny. Ron and Hermione. All their kids. Draco and his little family. It's off to Hogwarts for the new generation of students. His scar didn't hurt and "All was well."

I loved that this book was so incredibly labyrinthine. She was pulling small details that we all overlooked from all of the previous six chapters of the story. The deluminator, the basilisk venom, saving Pettigrew's life, using Harry's blood, the mirror, the tiara guarding his book. It was all important. She didn't just give us a book that tied up loose ends. She gave us a book that was a stand alone, edge of your seat masterpiece. I hardly say things like that, but then again, we hardly find writers as talented as JK Rowling.

I frankly loved the way both parts of this book were adapted. The first one perfectly encapsulated the loneliness they found themselves in and the problems they faced by continually having to move their location. They were always in danger no matter what they did. I also feel that part one was WITHOUT A DOUBT, Emma Watson's finest acting to date. No one could match her in that movie. Granted, everyone was absolutely fantastic, but homegirl owned it and made it hers. What I enjoyed most about the first one was Scabior. They made him a much more important character and I was, in an odd way, extremely attracted to him. I thought that was a fantastic change. For the second movie, I thought they did an amazing job with showing the urgency in finishing the job and the intense panic that was running through everyone. The battle was huge and crazy and amazing. Of all of the movies, my personal favorite change was Neville admitting that he loved Luna. I wanted them to be together and wish she would have written that into the story. I was a little upset at the end when they weren't, but they were in the movie and that's what matters.

There will never be anything like Harry Potter for my generation. It's been with us for over a decade and seen us through elementary school, middle school, high school and into our college years. Kudos to JK Rowling. Good luck to the three young stars turned fine adult actors. Goodbye to the boy wizard.

27) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-JK Rowling

I just had the longest post imaginable written about this book and then my computer decided it didn't want to save it. Shame on you, mac. Shame on you. Anyway, I guess I'll just go ahead and do what I did with the previous post and will continue to do the same with the final book as well.

Harry's sixth year starts with Dumbledore asking his assistance in bringing back Horace Slughorn to teach at Hogwarts once again. (Of course, Harry has no idea that that's not all that Dumby is wanting Slughorn back for.) When they achieve their goal, Harry heads to the Burrow where Dumby says to relay the information he has learned (and will be learning) to Ron and Hermione, and soon it's off to Diagon Alley to see Fred & George's new shop. They see Draco Malfoy skulk off down Knockturn Alley and, of course, follow him. They see him threaten Burke and ask him to keep something safe as he is mending the other one. Having not much to go on, they find their way back and soon find themselves back on the Hogwarts Express. Harry sneaks into Draco's carriage, hears some less than helpful information, is found out, Tonks finds him under his invisibility cloak and he soon learns of the extensive security measures placed around the school. He and Ron are told to take up Potions again which leads him to the battered book of the Half-Blood Prince's. Soon after, his lessons begin with Dumbledore and instead of learning extensive magic, he's learning vital information that will help in the destruction of the Dark Lord. Months pass and after winning the coveted bottle of Felix Felicis in potions, Harry is forced to take the invitation to Slughorn's Christmas party. As many girls are hot on his case, Hermione recommends finding someone fast and he asks Luna. When he finds she's well occupied, he sneaks off after Draco and Snape and learns of the unbreakable vow between Snape and Narcissa. He voices his concerns at the Burrow on Christmas, but both Lupin and Mr.Weasley suggest it's nothing and tell him to move on. Back at school, Harry finds that Slughorn has tampered with an important memory regarding Horcruxes, a term that Harry knows nothing about. But Draco is still nagging at his mind. He sets Kreacher and Dobby on the case and learns he's in the Room of Requirement. Dumby suggests that it's nothing and that the memory is much more important. When he tells his friends he's had no luck, they suggest taking Felix. He heads down to Hagrid's hut after taking it, bumps into Slughorn and by the end of the night has the proper memory. Dumby explains that Voldy succeeded in making as many as six (whoops, seven!) horcruxes, yet they have already destroyed two while he's already on the hunt for the next. He almost kills Draco, hides his potion book under a battered bust topped with a rusty tiara in the room of requirement, learns that Snape is the one who overheard the prophecy and relayed the information to Voldy and then they're off towards the cave hiding the horcrux. It's in this cave, in my opinion, that one of the darkest sequences thus far in the series takes place. Now that the locket is in their possession, it's back to Hogwarts where they find the Dark Mark cast high above the Astronomy tower. Dumby asks him to fetch Snape, but Harry doesn't get far as the fight between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters is going full blast. Draco disarms Dumby, Snape kills Dumby and Harry chases after them as they flee. The fight continues and most of the Death Eaters are gone before Harry can get to them. Despite admitting his feelings for Ginny, he breaks up with her and tells Ron and Hermione that he's off to finish Voldemort and will let them know where he is when he can. Hermione reminds him of how stupid he is, that they've had plenty of time to back out and they're aware of the danger they're in by going with him. As Ron puts it, "We're with you whatever happens."

This is not only my favorite book of the second half, but this is also the first book in the series to make me shed a few tears. What's worse is that it's only the last page and a half that makes me tear up. That seems like some sort of joke, but the friendship between the three of them is just so...well, for lack of a better word, magical. Anywho, what makes this my favorite of the second half is that it's virtually all plot. There's very little action. Unless, of course, you consider the action to be entirely hormonal then yes, it's action packed. But I think that's what makes this book so wonderful. It's the precursor to the grand finale, the battle between good and evil, the WWII of the wizarding world. Without any of this crucial information, a good portion of the seventh one wouldn't make any sort of sense or would seem entirely boring. I also really like it for the amount of hilarity pulsating within the walls of Hogwarts. It's usually just a good joke or one-liner here or there, but this one was full of humor. I love that.

There were a few changes in the film adaptation that I quite liked and a few that I wish would have been kept in. For instance, the added scene of Bellatrix and Fenrir attacking the Burrow at Christmas was amazing. It really added an element of danger to an already mounting sense of unease. I also liked that Luna was the one to find Harry on the train instead of Tonks because, well, who doesn't love Luna? I wish that they would have kept the fight in between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. I thought that that sort of chaos would have translated really well to the screen in the hands of David Yates. Ah, well. I enjoyed it all the same.

Good god. I seem to have let my hands get away with me again. It would be so much easier to talk about these books if they weren't so damn good. 

26) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- JK Rowling

All right, kids. After going through the last few posts about the HP series, I realized I MIGHT have gone a bit overboard. Listen, we all know what happens in these books. So, instead of going on a massive summary that essentially tells you the finer details of the stories, I'll just go ahead and write a simple one, say what I like and my thoughts on the book as a whole. Sound good? Awesome.

So, we enter into Harry's fifth year at the prestigious Hogwarts. Voldemort has made his return, but Harry and Dumbledore are accused of creating this monstrous lie in order to gain attention and create unease among the wizarding world. After dementors are sent to Harry, he learns of the resistance known as the Order of the Phoenix. Mr.Weasley accompanies him to his hearing where he's freed of all charges, he heads back to school and the whispers about him start up once again. Dolores Umbridge takes over Defense Against the Dark Arts, refuses to teach them properly and for the first time, Harry is thrust into a much larger role in leadership as he starts to teach what becomes known as Dumbledore's Army. Throughout all of this, the dreams starring Voldemort happen more and more often resulting in Harry seeing Mr.Weasley being attacked. After that, Harry begins to practice Occlumency and manages to completely fail. Of course, Voldy learns of it and uses it to his advantage by placing the idea in Harry's head that he has captured and tortured Sirius to lure him to the Department of Mysteries. Umbridge catches the trio trying to get there, rounds up Luna, Ginny and Neville as well and once they get out of that mess, the group heads to the Ministry where Harry grabs the prophecy, the group fights off a group of Death Eaters and members of the Order come to join the fray. Bellatrix kills Sirius because she's a bitch, Harry chases after her and comes face to face with Voldy. Dumbledore shows up, he and Voldy duel and the Wizarding world finally comes to terms with Voldemort's return. Simple enough, right?

This is always the problem book. I have no problems admitting that. I can rip through the first three books in a week, get through the fourth in a few days and it isn't until I get to this story that I feel like I'm entering boot camp. It's the largest of the series and feels like it's honestly never-ever-ending. It's one of the few books where four hundred pages deep still doesn't feel like an accomplishment. Even when you're almost finished, you realize you STILL have two more books to read to complete the series. Oy-vey.

There's a lot to process with this book. There's so much going on and when you read the book, you realize how much just didn't make it into the movie. Not that that's necessarily a problem, it's just a fact. The movie is meant to be the book in a nutshell and get to the core of the story. If you wanted every detail, the book is where you look to. 

Things I wish would have been in the movie: The St.Mungo's scene with Neville's parents was one of my favorite parts of the book. It gave you a serious look into why Neville feels the way that he does and what pushes him to prove himself. I wish they would have told everyone that Trelawney made the prophecy and that Umbridge was the one who sent the dementors on Harry. It would have been nice if they had shown that Sirius had given Harry the mirror because it seemed sort of out of place when Harry magically has this bit of mirror in Part I. The Department of  Mysteries fight sequence was so elaborate in the book and I wish it would have been in the movie, but it was still wonderful nonetheless. When Voldy smashes the windows? Ugh. My favorite.

The most important aspects of the book and movie are as follows: Luna Lovegood is easily the best character introduced in the later portion of the series. There is no one who brings as much joy in books and movies 5-7 as Luna. It wasn't until this movie where I really thought that Daniel Radcliffe was going to be a really successful actor. I'm not trying to say that he wasn't great in the first four movies because he was. What I'm saying is that the scene where Harry is talking to Sirius in the Black family tree tapestry room is the first time I said, "Wow. Daniel Radcliffe is going to have an amazing career ahead of him. He's going to be an incredible actor." 

I think that's more than enough to go on. Ah, this is incredibly long!

25) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-JK Rowling

The bridge between the light and the dark. The first really large book in the series. The one where everything starts happening and it's a game of cat and mouse from here on out.  I'm going to make this as short as possible because too much goes on.

The Weasley's come to fetch Harry from the Dursleys and talk him to the Quidditch World Cup. After the match has finished, the Death Eaters make their presence known, the Dark Mark is cast by Harry's wand and Barty Crouch's house elf is seen as the culprit. Unease as spread and at the start of term feast, they learn that the Triwizard Tournament has been reinstated and will be held at Hogwarts. The sky goes apeshit, some creepy man with a steel leg and bizarre eye waltzes in and fixes it. They learn within the week that Professor Alastor Moody is not someone you want to be messing with. I mean, come on. The guy performs the Unforgivable Curses in front of the entire classroom! What is that? 

Anyway, a month goes by and the school is soon infiltrated by the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. They learn of the rules of the Triwizard Tournament, the dangers that it entails, the courage needed and the fact that you must be seventeen to enter. On Halloween, the champions (Cedric, Fleur and Krum) are announced, but the clapping soon dies down as Harry's name explodes from the goblet. Of course he's meant to compete because it's a binding magical contract. Rita Skeeter jumps on this information and begins writing article after article on him. This also causes serious tension between Harry and Ron which leaves Hermoine stuck as a not so successful peacemaker.

Harry learns that the first task is dragons from Hagrid. Moody then helps Harry to see that he needs to play to his strengths. Luckily, they are learning Summoning Charms and Hermoine helps him perfect it in order to summon his broom to him in the dragon pit. Since he doesn't have it easy, Harry gets the angriest dragon, the Hungarian Horntail, to try and get the egg from. He summons his broom, gets a few injuries, collects the egg and gets the highest score of the event. This causes Ron to realize what an idiot he's been, they make up and it's all good. They learn of the Yule Ball, how they have to finally talk to girls that aren't Hermoine and that Harry must open the dance as one of the champions. Harry asks Cho, but obviously too late because she's already going with Cedric. Tough luck. At the last minute, Harry asks Parvarti if her and her sister would like to go with him and Ron so they don't have to go alone. They overhear an upsetting chat between Hagrid and Madame Maxime that oddly winds up in the Prophet and Ron upsets Hermoine. Again.

Cedric wishes to repay Harry for the information about the dragons, tells him to open the egg in the bath and to use the prefects bathroom. Myrtle tells him he should open it underwater. He hears the song of the merpeople, searches every book possible, loses the help of Ron and Hermoine the night before and almost sleeps beyond the starting point of the second task if it weren't for Dobby spotting him in the library. Still unsure of what to do, Dobby tells him to use Gillyweed. With only an hour under the black lake, he searches for the merpeople and what they have taken from him. He sees Ron, Hermoine, Cho and Fleur's sister tethered to rocks and attempts to free them all. He's only allowed one, frees Ron, takes the song too damn literally and after saving Fleur's sister as well, reaches the top of the lake a little outside the hour. He is awarded second place for moral fiber. 

Harry finds Barty Crouch stumbling and muttering in the woods, he pleads for Dumbledore and Harry leaves him with Krum. When he returns, Krum is stunned and Barty is gone. After some commotion, he finds himself in the pensieve looking upon a few trials held in the Department of Mysteries, including the arrest of Barty Crouch Jr. and Bellatrix Lestrange. He then tells Dumbledore about the dreams he has been having and how Voldemort is in search of Harry once more. Moody starts to seem really fishy, but hardly someone to focus on with the third task edging close. They learn the last task is to be a maze full of creatures and road blocks that will want to prevent them from the cup placed in the middle. Harry and Cedric reach the cup together, take hold of it and are transported to the graveyard of Voldy's dad. Here is where Voldy kills Cedric (later turned vampire and relocated to America), uses a spell involving Harry's blood and regenerates. A duel between Harry and Voldy breaks out, but due to their sister cores, they can scarcely do any harm. Ghostly apparitions appear and help protect Harry so he can return to the cup and spread the news the Voldy has come back. Once back, they learn of Moody really being Barty Crouch Jr., the story of how he got out of Azkaban and how the Dark Lord has returned. Everyone goes home wondering whether Dumbledore and Harry are telling the truth.

And so the darkness begins...

24) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-JK Rowling

Ah, my favorite of the innocent years. The way I see it, the series is separated into two parts. The first half, years one through three, is the innocent years, the second half, years five through seven, being the dark years and the fourth bridging the two of them. If we're talking first half, this is by FAR the best in the first half.

It starts off like any other book. Harry is continually being mistreated by the Dursleys and it has now become intensified by the appearance of Aunt Marge. Always one to rag on Harry, she goes too far one night and he causes her to turn into a gigantic human balloon. Harry runs off with his belongings and sees a black dog peering out between some bushes which causes him to fall back and summon the Knight Bus. Once on the bus, he learns that Sirius Black was actually a prisoner in and escaped from Azkaban for a mass murder the day after Harry escaped Voldemort. Not feeling at all comfortable with this information, he turns up at the Leaky Cauldron where the minister is waiting for him. After a few weeks, he is joined by Ron and Hermoine before heading back to school. 

But, as this is Harry Potter, he is not far from trouble for long. After telling Ron and Hermoine all about Sirius Black, the train comes to an abrupt halt and is searched by the dementors. This is the first time Harry is reminded of the pain of Voldemort killing his mother, for he hears her screaming whenever the dementors get too close. He eats a bunch of chocolate, they wonder how Hermoine is getting to all of her lessons and they begin their new subjects of Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Trelawney soon starts seeing the Grim (a giant spectral dog that is "of the darkest omens of our world. It is an omen of death.") every time she sees Harry and Buckbeak the hippogriff takes a liking to Harry. 

Because he didn't get his Hogsmeade permission slip signed, Harry is forced to sneak into the village by means of stealth. When the Weasley twins discover this, they offer him the Marauder's Map. This allows Harry to sneak into the basement of Honeydukes, meet up with Ron and Hermoine and into the Three Broomsticks where he learns of what happened the night his parents died, how Sirius is his godfather, who he murdered and how he's now on the hunt for Harry. He learns to cast a patronus from Lupin, as a few close scares with Sirius and has to deal with the fued between his friends over their pets. They go to visit Hagrid before Buckbeak's execution and things start to go wild.

Once they leave Hagrid's hut, Scabbers makes a run for it. Ron chases after him, leading the other two to chase after Ron, wind up at the base of the Whomping Willow and Ron gets dragged into the base by a large black dog. Obviously Harry and Hermoine go after him and follow the tunnel until they reach the Shrieking Shack. They arrive to see an injured Ron cupping a squirming Scabbers and a dirty, ragged version of Sirius. Before he can get his story out, Harry attacks, Lupin comes in and he begins to realize Sirius might not be guilty. As the story starts to unfold, Snape comes in, is knocked unconscious and Scabbers turns out to be Peter Pettigrew. The story of what happened unfolds and Harry's world is knocked for a loop. They go back to the school, but halfway there, Lupin sees the full moon, transforms into a werewolf and in an effort to save the trio, Sirius turns back into the dog to fight the Lupinwolf. Harry follows Sirius down to the lake where the dementors close in and almost kill both of them before a shiny silver stag prance across the lake. They wake up in hospital, Harry learns of Hermoine's time-turner, Dumbledore gives them directions and the two of them are off. They go back in time, save Buckbeak and Sirius and save the day. Yay! Just another year at good old Hogwarts.

What I really love about this one, apart from the movie being directed by none other than Alfonso Cuaron, is that it had the first really MASSIVE twist in the series. This little rat that has been in on their every conversation for the last three years is actually a HUMAN? And not just ANY human, but the one that was the secret-keeper for the Potters and betrayed them to Voldemort? It absolutely blew my mind and still does whenever I read it again. It was not something that anyone who was reading it could see coming. It resolves yet sets up so much of what happens in the rest of the series. He knows so much of what they know and throw around in order to stall his return. I think that that is absolutely wild. That twist alone is a testament to the talent that that woman possesses. 

Another little note on the movie: I am still dying for a heart shaped cotton candy like the one either Neville or Seamus has in the movie. If anyone can help me with that, I will be terribly grateful.

23) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets-JK Rowling

If we're being honest here, this is my least favorite Potter book. I really dislike spiders and snakes and what's this book filled with? A GIANT SNAKE AND A TRILLION SPIDERS. Yes, that makes reading this book an exceptionally wonderful read. Only not.

So, moving on...

Here we find Harry shut up in his room and not allowed to even SPEAK to anyone in the wizarding world. When a house elf (who doesn't love Dobby? Honestly.) shows up in his bedroom and tells him that he must not go back because terrible things are going to happen at Hogwarts and proceeds to tell Harry he has stopped his letters, Harry is both curious and furious (I really couldn't help the rhyming). Dobby refuses to take no for an answer and smashes a pudding over a visitor's head. This clearly doesn't bode well with the Dursleys and Harry becomes an absolute prisoner in his own home. Luckily, the Weasley brothers come to the rescue. 

The chapters where Fred, George and Ron come to rescue him and he's at the Burrow are my favorites. They're just so much fun. 

After crashing the flying car into the whomping willow, seeing Lockhart at the staff table, a few weeks of schoolwork and Nearly Headless Nick's 500th deathday party, the trio happens upon the first attack once the chamber of secrets has been opened. There's a few more attacks, people accuse Harry, Lockhart really sucks at being a wizard, Hermoine turns into a cat, Harry and Ron follow the spiders ("Follow the spiders?! Why couldn't it be follow the BUTTERFLIES?" is one of the best lines from that movie), they suspect Hagrid and Ginny is taken into the chamber. Being the ever adventurous duo (as Hermoine is petrified and they cannot be a trio), Harry and Ron set out to help Lockhart. Seeing as he is completely inept and cause a cascade of rock, Harry leaves Ron behind and enters the chamber to save Ginny. Why is Tom Riddle here? How has he not aged a day? Why does he have Harry's wand? Fishy stuff, if you ask me.

Anyway, it turns out that the diary is a "preserved memory" of Voldemort's sixteen-year-old self and Harry erases it with a basilisk fang. He rids the school of the monster within, saves Ginny and helps to free Dobby. Just another year at Hogwarts, you know?

I think what I have enjoyed most about rereading the early books (it's the last time to ever read the series before a movie comes out, duh) is how incredibly intricate the series as a whole is. I mean, she gives you clues in the first two books that are immensely important all the way in the seventh and final episode. I would also like to point out that for a book I enjoy least, I sure as hell had a lot to say.