Discovery of HP

[plinsenmayer at yahoo.com]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C824
From: plinsenmayer
Subject: Discovery of HP
Reply To: [Yahoo! #822] So here is a new thread...I think
Date: 3/31/00 2:53 pm  (ET)

I don't think this has been discussed yet Voicelady and I too am curious
how others *found* the Harry books.

My sister is a 3rd grade teacher and had asked for them for Christmas. My
book club had also discussed possibly reading the first one, although now
so many of us have read them on our own that we probably won't ever do it
as a group. So, anyway, when I was buying my sister's set through bn.com,
I discovered that they were like $9 each. Decided that at that price
I could buy myself a set "just to see what all the fuss was about." I
had, of course, noticed their presence on the NY Times Bestseller list
for ages.

I really knew virtually nothing about what they were about when I
bought them. And, fantasy fiction has never been my genre of choice,
so I'm horrified to say that I am not sure I *would* have bought them
had I known more about the subject matter. Yikes! Now I can't imagine
life without my HP books!!

So, this brings me to another subthread . . . for those of us who didn't
grow up reading L'Engle, Dahl, Tolkien, etc., how do these authors compare
with the HP books? Are people taken with HP because it's the current rage
but they really think some of these other fantasy authors are better? Or,
are the HP books a cut above the rest?

Is anyone else on any other book/author-related listserves or message
boards? I've been on various Laura Ingalls Wilder lists for years now.

Penny