A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

A History of Magic: A Journey Through the Hogwarts Curriculum (Harry Potter: A Journey Through #1-4) by Pottermore Publishing, Rohan Daniel Eason (Illustrator)

Genre:
Fantasy, Historical Nonfiction, Magical Realism, Mystical Creatures, History of Magic, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Harry Potter Universe, Media Tie-In, British Literature, Supernatural, Paranormal

Publication Date:
August 29, 2019

Page Numbers:
413

Read/Finished Date:
March 30th, 2025

Rating:
3/5

Premise:

This non-fiction eBook features content adapted from the audiobook Harry Potter: A History of Magic – inspired by the British Library exhibition of the same name. It is the complete collection of the four eBooks in the series A Journey Through... and will examine the colourful characters and curious incidents of the real history of magic, and how they relate to the Hogwarts curriculum of the Harry Potter stories.

Spells and charms have captured the imagination for hundreds of years. Warding off evil – with talismans and magic circles – is something that has concerned people throughout history; potions have long been made have been brewed by apothecaries to make medicines, drugs and poisons, including the elusive Philosopher's Stone; and plants have been important components of medicines as much as myth-making and magic – from stink lilies to screaming mandrakes. In this way Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Herbology are all important subjects in the wizarding world.

From the use of bones and shells thousands of years ago, to peering into teacups in the parlours of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, for millennia people have strived to see what fate and fortune holds. The study of the night sky has fascinated those trying to read their destinies: from the star atlases of ancient China to the celestial globes of 17th-century Venice. As well as this, famous folkloric creatures – giants, dragons and merpeople – and lesser-known beings such as Acromantula and Hippogriffs, all play a key role in Harry Potter's journey. As you'll see, Divination and Astronomy, as well as Care of Magical Creatures, are as central to the Harry Potter stories as Harry, Hermione and Ron.

The history of magic is as long as time and as wide as the world. In every culture, in every age, in every place and, probably, in every heart, there is magic.

Review:

I am on the fence with this book. While they do provide entertaining information on the history of some things, the books are short. I would have loved if this book had been longer, with a more thorough look into the history of which would have been part of the Harry Potter curriculum. I am pretty sure those books were thicc, and they carried a ton of information from the first wizard and witch to the first spell cast to the first herb used in the cauldron.

These books did not give us anything worth a chance to enjoy.

Similar Books:

The Hogwarts Collection by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter: A History of Magic by British Library, J.K. Rowling, Julian Harrison

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter) by J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré
(Illustrator)

Genre:
Fantasy, Middle School, Witches and Wizards, Adventure, Kindle Unlimited, Young Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, Book Series, Magic, Wolves, Werewolves, British Literature, Contemporary, Harry Potter Universe

Publication Date:
June 2, 1999 by Arthur A. Levine Books

Page Numbers:
352

Read/Finished Date:
March 24th, 2025

Rating:
5/5

Premise:

Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys had been so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange impish creature who says that if Harry returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls’ bathroom. But then the real trouble begins – someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects… Harry Potter himself!

Review:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Harry has returned to the Dursley's home only to find they have grown even meaner than the last, and what has been worse is a house elf named Dobby, who has made it his mission to cause mischief and prevent Harry from returning to Hogwarts and his friends. But Harry is rescued by the Weasleys, who take him back to the Burrow to remain there for the remainder of the summer.

As Harry enters his second year at Hogwarts, he finds that strange occurrences have begun to happen, including students being found petrified and mysterious messages appearing on the walls, warning Harry that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. A chamber said to be housing a monster that could only be controlled by the heirs of Salazar Slytherin, one of the school's founding members. With the help of Hermione and Ron, the three of them must find who has opened the chamber and confront the monster within.

Another marvelous entry in the Harry Potter series. The story continues to captivate, not only myself but the ones seeking to enjoy a fun fantasy novel. The world-building has been expanded outside of Hogwarts. We get to see a Womping tree, the Burrow, and meet more of the Weasley family. I also enjoyed that this novel was almost as short as the first and that it kept you glued from the first page.

I am glad to see Harry continue to grow.

Similar Books:

The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
Percy Jackson Universe by Rick Riordan

Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Harry Potter #8)
Author: J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne
Format: Epub
Rating: .5/5
Status: Did Not Finish
Reading Date: March 11, 2017
Book Summary: Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a new play by Jack Thorne, is the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. It will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on 30th July 2016

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.
Book Review: Real rating: .5

I really tried to get into this book but I felt such a disconnection with the characters. Personalities seemed to have changed drastically and the magical aspect that made this world one of the most interesting seemed to be gone. There were very little displays of magic whatsoever that I felt it should have just played out in the muggle world.

This story read like fanfiction rather than a play that was part of the Harry Potter universe. Albus and Scorpious were interesting and I tended to feel sorry for the latter than the former. I understood though Albus' reluctance to be apart of his father's legacy. It seemed like a huge burden to such a young child to carry upon his shoulder. No one ever wants their parents' legacy to hang over them and I suppose I can see why Albus held a bit of a resentment toward his father for it.

Although a part of me was happy to see the Harry Potter universe expanded a bit more, I was just disappointed in the whole thing. It now makes me reluctant to pick the Fantastic Beasts one.