Friday, September 21, 2012

Follow Friday - Seventy-Seven Is the Smallest Positive Integer to Require Five Syllables in English


It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and two Follow Friday Features Bloggers each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
  2. Follow the two Featured Bloggers of the week - Northern Plunder and The Authoress.
  3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
  5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
  7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
  8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
And now for the Follow Friday Question: What hyped up book do you think was worth all the talk?

This week's question and I'm going to go to the inverse of last week's answer and pick Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (or, the original title which doesn't assume the reader is illiterate, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). I know that choosing this book means that I am bypassing jumping in on the Hunger Games (read review) bandwagon, and although I think that the Hunger Games did live up to its hype, I think the first Harry Potter book did so even better, at least for me.

I know that last week I picked Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the book that most failed to live up to its hype, and I stand by that assertion. But the first book in the series was an entirely different kettle of fish. When the first Harry Potter book came out, I didn't really pay much attention. It was a fantasy series for kids, and I was busy sucking in as much science fiction as I could get my hands on. But my brother read them and was converted, and then spent his time telling me I should read them. It wasn't until he sent me the first three books in the series as a Christmas present that I actually deigned to read them. And he was absolutely right. The books were great, and completely lived up to the press they were getting. The series slowly slid downhill later, but the first book more than lived up to the attention it was given.

Go to subsequent Follow Friday: A Typical Tarot Deck Has Seventy-Eight Cards

Follow Friday     Home

20 comments:

  1. The Deathly Hallows was a tad weighty, where the first book was well edited I think.
    New follower on GFC
    Katja @ YA's the Word

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  2. I never read Harry Potter or saw the movies.

    New GFC follower

    My F&F - http://bookbloggermom.blogspot.com/2012/09/feature-follow-7.html

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  3. I got the first HP book hopped up on morphine and Oxy (car accident) a few years after it came out. It was good enough to prompt me to have my hubby go purchase the next few books all ready out and now I have all 7, plus the movies. Very good choice.

    I admire your goal on your blog. Good luck with that!

    Oh, I'm a new follower on GFC btw for the F&F.

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  4. Completely 100% agree! Love this series and it deserves all of the hype it gets!

    New GFC follower. My FF

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  5. So many chose this series i guess cause its that good.

    old follower
    http://itchingforbooks.blogspot.com/2012/09/feature-and-follow-921.html

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  6. I never read them book buy love the movie FF follow me and follow back www.vampandstuff.com

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  7. I love Harry Potter, its one of my faves of all time.

    My FF

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  8. Harry Potter is amazing, but it's interesting you didn't think DH lived up the hype when actually that's my favorite of the books. :) (CoS is my #2 and that's an incredibly unpopular opinion. LOL) But I'm like you with THG trilogy. I HATED Mockingjay. So I totally know what it's like to feel let down by the end of a series.

    My F&F

    New GFC follower!

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  9. @Katja Weinart: I think you are exactly right - as the series went on, Rowling was increasingly free of editorial input, and as a result the resulting books suffered.

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  10. @Book Blogger Mom: If it were not for my brother, I would probably be in the same situation as you.

    I have mixed feelings about recommending the series. The first few books are really good, then the book get long and windy and become less good.

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  11. Cia: I'm slowly grinding my way to the stated goal. Once my copy of Edgar Pangborn's A Mirror for Observers gets to me I'll probably be able to finish the International Fantasy Award reviews in short order. The Hugo Awards will take me considerably longer.

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  12. @Courtney Reads a Lot: I love the hype that Harry Potter gets. I just wish it would translate into kids reading authors like Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper, Poul Anderson, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

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  13. @Shane: It is very good. It is not the best children's fantasy series I have ever read, but it is one of the good ones.

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  14. @Nikki Archer: The Harry Potter movies follow the books very closely. I like the books better, but that's mostly because I like books better in general.

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  15. @BLHMistress: I don't know that I would say that Harry Potter is one of my favorites of all time, but I definitely enjoyed it.

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  16. @Susan: I really enjoyed Chamber of Secrets as well, so you are not alone.

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  17. @Michelles Paranormal Vault of Books: Thank you.

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  18. The question is, which one was your absolute favorite?!

    I love your choice... for both weeks.

    Old follower
    http://littlesqueed.blogspot.com/2012/09/feature-follow_21.html

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  19. @Heather: I'd have to say Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite. It was polished and featured characters in a world that had been laid out well, and was the last volume before the books in the series began to become bloated and unwieldy.

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