It’s practically impossible to rank these classic books, but we’ll do our best. We understand that it’s subjective, so for all of you who may disagree with us, we salute you! In addition, we should clarify that we know the books and the movies are different, so for the sake of everyone being on the same page, let’s just take these fun rankings with a grain of salt. Ready? Let’s begin!
Oh… there will be spoilers, by the way. But if you’ve gotten this far, you probably already know what happens.
1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The fourth book is just perfect. It’s the bridge between the first three books and the last three books, and it’s where we first see the characters starting to mature. It’s one of the longest, but there is never a dull moment and every chapter feels absolutely necessary. There is just so much jam-packed into this one that it’s hard to know where to start. From the Triwizard Tournament, to the introduction of other Wizarding countries, to the Quidditch World Cup, to Harry starting to have crushes on girls – it’s all a huge blur of awesomeness. It’s basically a giant masterpiece, where Rowling weaves in a puzzle of facts throughout it all, leaving our head spinning until the climax at the end, when everything gets explained. Oh yeah, and Voldemort comes back.
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The average Harry Potter fan usually says that Prisoner of Azkaban is the best book. We give the edge to Goblet of Fire, but we can see where these people are coming from. We’re introduced to Sirius Black, a man who Harry is supposed to hate throughout the entire story – until the very end where we learn he was good all along. The twist at the end – where we learn the truth about Scabbers AKA Peter Pettigrew – is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Also, Harry wins his first Quidditch championship.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Say what you want about the Deathly Hallows, but you can’t beat the story that ends it all. Sure, there is a lot of time Harry spends with his friends camping, and doing a whole lot of nothing. But it’s all worth it in the end, because as we know they end up tracking down all of the Horcruxes, and Harry eliminates Voldemort once and for all. It’s all very beautiful and lovely, and we see where they end up 19 years later as well. As a whole, we wouldn’t necessarily say that Deathly Hallows is better than ones that aren’t on this list – but there is something to be said about the power of closure, and we receive that in this long-awaited series climax.
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Of course, just like we have to throw in the last one – it makes sense that we should add the first one too. The Sorcerer’s Stone made everything possible, hooked everyone in, and rendered us happily waiting for more – how could it not be on this list? Harry discovers he’s a wizard. Check. Harry meets his best friends. Check. Harry and his new friends discover their passion for rule-breaking and mystery-solving, and find themselves in a hunt to save the day. Check. JK Rowling introduces her ability to give a mind-blowing twist in the last chapter, when we discover that Professor Quirrell was the culprit all along. Triple check.
