What should I read next?

[David]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Cindy C." <cynthiaanncoe at h...> wrote:
> I need to move on until OoP arrives.
> 
> Should I read "The Hobbitt" or the "Chronicles of Narnia" next?  
> Which one is "better"?  Or maybe "The Phantom Tollbooth?"

Yup, all of them.  More seriously, what do you like about HP (answer 
on main list - topic always worth revisiting)?

If it's the manufactured world, go for Tolkien; Pullman's trilogy is 
also good.  Narnia superficially has that too, but it's not the 
attraction.
If it's the magic, elves, wizards, etc, Tolkien but also any number 
of others - many here liked Susan Cooper's work (I read the first one 
too long ago to remember).  I like Dianna Wynne Jones.  Terry 
Pratchett is very funny, though the humour is not the same as JKR's.
If it's boarding school, then HP always reminds me of Anthony 
Buckeridge's Jennings series - I read this at age 10-12 so my 
memories could be rose tinted, but I thought then the humour was good 
too.  Steer clear of Billy Bunter unless the British class/school 
system really fascinates you.  Kipling's Stalky & Co requires a 
strong stomach - it appears to condone bullying.  The Worst Witch 
really is kids' stuff - but not bad for that.
Detective element - in some rather undefinable way the Holmes-Watson 
team (forerunner to the modern telly series/soap) comes closest to 
the problem solving side of HP; later work tends to be more dryly 
focussed on the intellectual problems.
Teenage and younger bildungsroman - Jaqueline Wilson, again very 
definitely writing for children, tackles stuff like family breakup, 
death in a way JKR doesn't get to (she pushes back the boundaries of 
what is meant by childrens' literature, IMO)
Character development - the ocean of eng lit lies before you and 
there are plenty here who know better than me (also true of the other 
categories above).
Oh, and the Phantom Tolbooth doesn't quite fit any of the above, but 
read it anyway.

Finally, and I hear the collective groan go up, search the OT Chatter 
archive: after British food, other books are the commonest topic of 
discussion here!

David