Which is your Favorite/Best?

[HBP]

Now that we have seen all the books, which book of the series is ur favorite /best. Its kinda hard in separating favorite from best without making them clash, as ur favorite may not necessarily be which u thought was the best.

Favorite
1) Dallows - Superb
2) HBP
3) COS
4) Philone
5) GOF
6) OOTP
7) POA

Best
1) Dallows
2) COS
3) HBP
4) GOF
5) OOTP
6) Philone
7) POA

[manephelien]

In the process of re-reading at the moment. Tell you later.

[little smaug]

I think my lists are pretty similar to each other:

1) Prisoner of Azkaban
2) Goblet of Fire
3) Half-Blood Prince
4) Deathly Hallows
5) Order of the Phoenix
6) Philosopher's Stone
7) Chamber of Secrets

[HoopyFrood]

Hmm...let me think...Like Little Smaug, I think my lists will be similar:

1. The Prisoner of Azkaban
2. The Philosopher's Stone
3. The Goblet of Fire
4. The Deathly Hallows
5. The Chamber of Secrets
6. The Order of the Phoenix
7. The Half-Blood Prince

[bookaholic]

Deathly Hallows has got to be my favourite, I love it to death

MY LIST

1. Deathly Hallows (you just have to love that book!)
2. Order of the Phoenix (I love the bit when everyone is against Umbridge)
3. Chamber of Secrets (Harry shows his merit to the world)
4. The Philosophers Stone (The first adventures of Harry have got to
make you smile)
5. Half Blood Prince (Snape is made out to be so evil!)
6. Goblet of Fire (poor Cedric)
7. The Prisoner of Azkaban (I love the bit when Harry has to read the
comments of the Marauders aloud to Snape)

[Thadlerian]

My list of "best" correlates perfectly with my list of "favourite":

1: Prisoner of Azkaban - This one was perfect, with wonderful harmony between the safe world of Hogwarts and the dangers of the outside. In no book the "Hogwarts" feeling is stronger, it feels such a tight-knit, warm little community. The books take a mature turn here. And, perhaps most of all, so many of the characters introduced showed potential: Sirius, Lupin, Peter, Buckbeak, Cho, Cedric.
2: Goblet of Fire - Maintains the "Hogwarts" feeling, but a tendency that was to mar later books started here: The trite antagonism of minor characters against Harry. Still, a very good book, bringing along a whole new dimension of complexity with Crouch senior and junior.
3: Deathly Hallows - Might have been rated second, but with Hogwarts being largely absent, this does not hold the same wonder and comfort as #3 and #4. Still, loads and loads of memorable scenes.
4: The Philosopher's Stone - This book introduced the universe with a bang. The Hagrid sequence on the little island - isn't it every child's dream, to discover he/she's someone completely else than initially thought? Of course, there's a very strong "Hogwarts" feeling, but seen in hindsight, the book is far less exciting than those that were to come.
5: The Order of the Phoenix - The "Hogwarts" feeling was rapidly diminishing, but the large character gallery, and the death and its emotional aftermath makes this a book I like rather than dislike. Nevertheless, the anti-Harry antagonism is stronger here, and I was very disappointed to see that Cho Chang was such a shallow character after all. This book is where the problems of HP characterization get visible: Anyone outside of Harry's closest bunch of associates is by default stupid, unsympatethic and potentially evil.
6: Chamber of Secrets - This book just felt generally childish. Dobby is a memorable character, but his introduction was just stupid. Likewise Gilderoy Lockheart, a character introduced who then disappears without ever influencing the plot at all. Also, this book for me established the notion of Ginny as a primarily annoying character, which made that part of HPB uninteresting.
7: Half-Blood Prince - No Hogwarts feeling whatsoever, but lots of anti-Harry antagonism. I found nothing enjoyable in this book, and many of the characters were unrecognizable as the ones I had got to learn earlier in the series. Especially the one who died - I was just glad to see it happen.

[HappyHippo]

My favourites are as follows:

Goblet of Fire It was the first I read - purely coz it was the most recent, and largest, at Tesco's! However, I loved the was the teenaged emotions were written. The swings between loyalty, antagonism, love, hate, etc were as I remembered my teens. The battle between Harry and Voldy (so much better than the film!) was wonderfully epic. Once I'd read the ohter books, I also appreciated Hermione getting some romantic action - she's not just a brain!
Azkaban The back story made this one for me; the relatinship between Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs explained a lot. Also the Last bit with Harry, Sirius and the Dementors, then going back with the timeturner was wonderful.
OOTP Umbridge vs the Weasley Twins. Nuff said!
Dallows All the loose ends tied up. A little too neatly for my liking, but it's over. I feel cleansed!
Philosopher's Stone Reading this is a bit like getting in touch with an old mate on Friends Reunited. 'Do you remember when?' I love Prof Quirrell.
Chamber of Secrets Moaning Myrtle is a legend. Again, I like the backstory about Hagrid's expulsion. Not at all keen on the spiders - even in print it's a bit too much!
Half Blood Prince Didn't tick many boxes for me. Was getting fed up with Harry's hormonal strops, didn't like the lake scene, the end was too abrupt and seemed to come out of left field.

[faerietalegoddess]

My Favorites:

-The Order of the Phoenix. I like it just because the reader starts to discover what kind of people are working in the Ministry of Magic. Fudge is no longer this caring little Wizard...instead, he's completely paranoid and neurotic. I also really liked the character of Umbridge and her evil tendencies toward Harry and some of the other students. I also like it because we see some rebellion and for me, Hermione finally became a character unto herself in this one. And reading her line about Ron having the "emotional range of a teaspoon" sent me into a giggle fit.
-The Deathly Hallows. My main reason for liking this one so much is that Snape is finally revealed to be good and Dumbledore, finally, doesn't look like the sparkling old man that everyone thought he was. I liked the message in that and I also just enjoyed watching Harry finally live up to what everyone thought he was going to be. And Ron finally became a bit more than comedy relief, which was good to see. And Narcissa Malfoy lying to save Harry was one of the greatest parts in all of the books for me.
-The Prisoner of Azkaban. I think Lupin was at his best in this one, hands down. Just reading the part where he condones Harry for risking his mother's sacrifice just for a few treats was good and I also liked the relationship between him and Sirius that was shown in the Shrieking Shack.
-The Goblet of Fire. I thought there were quite a few funny scenes in this one. I also think this was a strong one on emotions that hadn't been seen before...from the capture of the Muggles by the Death Eaters (at the Quidditch Cup), and from Cedric's death. It gets rated lower for me because, other than Mad Eye, the characters just didn't stand out too much and I thought the fight between Harry and Ron went on much too long. Moaning Myrtle, however...quite lovely.
-The Sorcerer's Stone. It's great to revisit it and read Harry's transition to becoming a wizard, but there wasn't loads of emotion or characterization for me.
-Chamber of Secrets. Other than Dobby beating the crap out of himself all over the place, there wasn't much else in this one for me. It just seemed like filler, though I did like the scene where Malfoy and Harry duel and it's discovered that he can talk to snakes.
-The Half-Blood Prince. First off, I found it hard to believe that it took Hermione THAT long to find the connection between the name "Prince" and Snape. I didn't care for Slughorn very much either and the entire hormonal thing made me feel like I was reading a teenager's advice magazine at certain points. The emotion was high...as were the dramatics.

[HellMaster]

Similar to most, I think:

• 1) Prisoner of Azkaban
• 2) Goblet of Fire
• Deathly Hallows
• 4) Half-Blood Prince
• 5) Order of the Phoenix
• 6) Philosopher's Stone
• 7) Chamber of Secrets

[Leisha]

I'm the oddball.

My favourite:

1) Possibly Deathly Hallows or Half-Blood Prince (near the end, when it became interesting)
2) Whichever of the previous two I decide I like a little less (no idea yet!)
3) The Goblet of Fire
4) The Order of the Phoenix
5) The Prisoner of Azkaban
6) The Philosopher's Stone
7) The Chamber of Secrets (I found this one dragged)

[Joel007]

1) Half Blood Prince
2) Prisoner of Azkaban
3) Deathly Hallows
4) Goblet of Fire
5) Philosopher's Stone
6) Chamber of Secrets
7) Order of the Phoenix

I don't have any particular reasons, although Snape and Dumbledore were the only characters I was really interested in.
That's just the order of enjoyment I had.

[Siberian]

1) Prisoner of Azkaban
2) Deathly Hallows
3) Philosopher's Stone
4) Goblet of the Fire
5) Order of the Phoenix
6) Half-Blood Prince
7) Chamber of Secrets

Chamber of Secrets and Philosopher's Stone are the most childish of them, but Philosopher's Stone is a great introduction to the HP universe while Chamber has the least interesting plot. PoA is a favorite because it's darker than the first two but doesn't drag like the last 4 sometimes do. I was very surprized with the Sirius twist and liked the whole Marauders story
Half-Blood Prince has too much in way of hormones and "snogging" and OotP as the longest book definitely drags the most although I does have Sirius, for the last time Deathly Hallows is the finale and I think she resolved all the plot lines very neatly. Unfortunately, I missed Hogwarts with Quidditch and other activities so it's not the top favorite for me. Finally GOB was a very good read, but nothing about it stands out enough to move it higher on the list.

That said, I enjoy them all and view as one great story

[Marvolo]

1. Deathly Hallows
2. Half-Blood Prince
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Chamber of Secrets
6. Order of the Phoenix
7. Sorceror's Stone

[Cayal]

1. Goblet of Fire
2. Half Blood Prince
3. Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Deathly Hallows
5. Order of the Phoenix
6. Philosophers Stone
7. Chamber of Secrets

The distance between them all is very slim. They were all fantastic in their own way.

[Nesacat]

Mine would be:
Prisoner of Azkaban
Philosopher's Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Goblet of Fire
Order of the Phoenix
Half-Blood Prince
Deathly Hallows

I loved the first three (read them in one sitting), was alright about the fourth and read the last three just for the sake of ending it.