I promised myself I would not include a Harry Potter book here at least for a very long time. Then I reread one and realized how silly that promise was.

Some of you don’t remember how rare it used to be to stumble across magical books in the Children’s section of  a library. You might not remember a time when books like The Chronicles of Narnia or The Dark is Rising or any Roald Dahl were few and far between. Nowadays we have Percy Jackson Nathaniel and Leven Thumps and all sorts of magical characters and worlds.Well, you can thank Harry Potter for creating the Renaissance of Literature that allowed the others to flourish.

Then why not recommend Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the book that started it all? Mostly because it’s not the one I’ve just read, and partly because I’ve over-read it myself (I stopped tracking forever ago at ten reads).

Also and more important, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows brings conclusion to every little aspect of the entire series. While it’s awe-inspiring to watch a masterpiece tie together, it’s even more spectacular that the story does so without trying to.

Assuming you’ve read the series before, you know that this is where the heart of everything comes together, the place where magic knows no bounds. This is the long-awaited grand finale where Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort are supposed to battle to the death.

If only for the sheer intensity, pick this book up for your first or hundredth time and read it!