Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J. K. Rowling, 1997
★ 4.47 from 11.9m ratings on Goodreads
A boy who has never been loved learns he is a wizard, enters a castle school of moving staircases, and finds the first friends who choose him. A warm, brisk school story with a witty, moral voice, moving from lonely wonder to the pleasure of friendship and small triumphs.
Feels like wonder, nostalgia and joy. About friendship, ambition and morality.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy boarding-school adventures, gentle magic, and humor that undercuts earnestness. Some readers find the climax weak and are uneasy with certain portrayals, so it may suit you less if you want a more even finish or more careful characterization.
Why read it
It offers the simple pleasure of watching an unloved boy find friends and a place, told with humor and a steady sense of right and wrong.
A page from the book
The moment a magic lesson becomes a contest of who says it right.
‘And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?’‘Throw it away and punch him on the nose,’ Ron suggested.Wingardium Leviosa!’ he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.‘You’re saying it wrong,’ Harry heard Hermione snap. ‘It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the “gar” nice and long.’‘You do it, then, if you’re so clever’ Ron snarled.Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, Wingardium Leviosa!’Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads. What readers say
Readers overwhelmingly describe warmth, wonder, and nostalgic comfort, often calling it magical and emotionally transporting. A minority finds it merely lukewarm or flawed, citing a weak climax and discomfort with some portrayals.
J. K. Rowling.Rowling wrote much of the first book in Edinburgh cafés, often with her infant daughter asleep beside her; the manuscript was rejected by twelve publishers.
Books that feel like this
More by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J. K. Rowling, 1998
A second year at Hogwarts turns sinister when a hidden chamber opens, a voice hisses in the walls, and everyone suspects Harry—while a vain new professor steals the credit.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
J. K. Rowling, 1999
A prison break, soul-draining guards, and a map that insults its readers: Harry's third year at Hogwarts.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J. K. Rowling, 2007
A fugitive year spent hunting the pieces of a divided soul, while the wizarding world chooses sides and every friendship is tested.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy boarding-school adventures, gentle magic, and humor that undercuts earnestness. Some readers find the climax weak and are uneasy with certain portrayals, so it may suit you less if you want a more even finish or more careful characterization.
- What is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone like?
- A warm, brisk school story with a witty, moral voice, moving from lonely wonder to the pleasure of friendship and small triumphs. Feels like wonder, nostalgia and joy. About friendship, ambition and morality.
- What should I read after Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?
- If you liked Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, try Charlotte's Web (E. B. White), The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) and Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen).
A taste of the feed
What contentment looks like when it includes the rats and the manure.
It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar, with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything.
Charlotte's Web · E. B. White
A creature speaks in magnificent, terrible grandeur, asserting a dominion that defies all reason.
“The King under the Mountain is dead, and where are his kin that dare seek revenge? Girion Lord of Dale is dead, and I have eaten his people like a wolf among sheep, and where are his sons’ sons that dare approach me? I kill where I wish, and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows!” he gloated. “My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!”
The Hobbit · J.R.R. Tolkien
A man reframes his self-interest as an act of atonement.
Having now a good house and a very sufficient income, he intended to marry; and in seeking a reconciliation with the Longbourn family he had a wife in view, as he meant to choose one of the daughters, if he found them as handsome and amiable as they were represented by common report. This was his plan of amends—of atonement—for inheriting their father’s estate; and he thought it an excellent one, full of eligibility and suitableness, and excessively generous and disinterested on his own part.
Pride and Prejudice · Jane Austen
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