Biographies of world figures

In honor of the twentieth year anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (UK version: Philosopher's Stone), here are 20 things you need to know when reading or re-reading the book. Please take note that if you haven't read the book or the rest of the books in the series for that matter, proceed with caution since this post is definitely full of spoilers. If you have seen the movie but never read the book, reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a whole new experience. It contains a lot of J.K. Rowling's signature nuances and subtlety. I've read it countless of times since I first came across it in 2000 but I still find new things to ponder on. This is the shortest book among the seven that came out that tell the tale of the Boy who lived. Those who first read it in the 1990's or early 2000's have grown up together with the Hogwarts gang. If Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of their friends were real people living...

Every Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling is a magical experience but the one that resonates the most to me is the 6th book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I promise no spoilers even though it has been 9 years since the book was published plus the highly-successful movie came out in 2009. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince It is a simple book. The storyline is the most anticipated among the HP books. How did Tom Riddle become Lord Voldemort? What is that special and disturbing connection between Voldemort and Harry Potter. Who is the Half-Blood Prince? The story is not complicated. Reading the book and enjoying it is not complicated. When it originally came out in 2005, I stayed up all night to finish reading it. That was how engrossed I was with the Half-Blood Prince. It's full of angsts --- young love, longing, discovery and loss. At the end of the story, our young heroes face uncertainty. The author, Rowling, was able to bring to life what we felt when we were the cha...