Your age

[Oberon]

dob=1952. My sons got the ball rolling.

 

[Patchwork Girl]

I believe I was about 11/12 when I first started reading them. My year six teacher would read the first book to us in the afternoons, then I had to go out and buy it, and I think the second & third ones followed quickly afterwards, because I own those in paperback.

I'm now 16...nearly 17.

 

[magemanda]

I'm now 25. I got into the books when I was 22, after some of the initial hype had died down. Picked up the first in a car boot for 50p, because I thought it was worth seeing whether the hype was justified. Raced through the others that were out at that point and became a convert.

 

[KaiNYC]

I was 22 when I first started reading them. My sister who was 14 was into them and my mom and I got hooked as well.

 

[Puddleglum]

I think I read them for the first time when I was 26 about 3 years ago. I'm pretty sure I went through the first 4 books in as many days.

 

[h_carnahan]

I starting reading the books when I was 11, I was very sad when midnight came on my birthday and I still hadn't recieved my letter.

 

[alisa]

I started reading Harry Potter when i was 10 i think in spring 1998. The second book was just about to be published that summer.

 

[Dianora]

This feels like an AA meeting of some sort.

But shouldn't it be PA for Potterholics Anonymous? Hi, my name is Dianora and I've been a Potterholic since I was 16. Now I'm 20.

Picked up the first in a car boot for 50p, because I thought it was worth seeing whether the hype was justified. Raced through the others that were out at that point and became a convert.

That's exactly what happened to me. The hype made me very suspicous of the books. I was sure they were just commercial bullshit. Well, I was hooked from the very beginning.

 

[Billy]

I'm 35 now. My daughter started reading them and introduced them to me when I was about 30, I think.

 

[~BookWorm~]

I was 18 when I read my first Harry Potter book. I'm now 21

 

[Miss Shelf]

I've never read them and I doubt I ever shall. I don't believe they are for me; I do believe that they are for children and shall, in my head, remain so.

That's what I thought, too, it took a couple of years for a friend to persuade me to try one. I like them, I don't rush out and buy them as soon as they're published, but they're enjoyable and don't strain the brain too much; neither are they too juvenile. Where's your inner child, Stewie? You've read "The Chronicles of Narnia" since you were a child, haven't you? I've found plenty of so-called "adult fantasy fiction" too juvenile for my taste.

 

[perigrine]

How old are you? When did you start your first HP book?

I'm 32 now. I think I would have read my first one about 5 years ago. Yes, that sounds right. I think...old age is atching up with me now...

 

[bren]

The reason I have been reading some of the children's and young adult literature is that, as a child, I was WAY TOO MATURE, in my own mind to bother with such siiliness and I now feel I must have missed SOMETHING.
So, now I read whatever looks interesting to me.

First read Harry Potter when my oldest daughter borrowed it from a friend about five or six years ago. I was immediately hooked, while at the time I didn't have to wait for the next book, as there were already at least two of them out, I've been waiting with eager anticipation for each one ever since.

Also, my son was, at that time a non-reading first grader, and after hearing some of it from his sister, began to read it with relish when her "read aloud" steam ran out. Love the series, look forward to the final installment and seeing the evil one get comeuppance.

 

[abecedarian]

I read the first HP book about 5 or 6 years ago too. A lady from my church works at our local library, and she asked me if I'd seen this book that "lots of kids were reading" and that "some people thought were bad." I figured if they were the next fad for kids, I'd better know what they were about, so I read the first book in the series. I couldn't see anything morally wrong, and loved the story, so I passed that library book around among my current readers. Since I'm still 44..you guys can do the math to determine by age then.

 

[bren]

Well, my first post attempt was lost, I've contacted admin. and I'll say I'm forty-seven and skip all the rest about those who think HP is the road to ruin for children! (It wasn't terribly vituperative, just thoughtful and slightly exasperated.)

Got to go!

 

[Stewart]

Where's your inner child, Stewie?

Waiting to read His Dark Materials.

You've read "The Chronicles of Narnia" since you were a child, haven't you?

Not since. I read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was eight. I believe that was the last time.

Regarding Rowling, I believe she has stated on record that she started writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone "for herself" and, having read the first four pages, I don't hold out much hope of her, once finished the series, of writing for an adult audience. Yes, adults, read her books; it's still for kids though.

 

[Baddie]

I'm 22 years now. Think I started reading HP when I was 18. Have read book 1-5 in Norwegian and 1-6 in English.

Think the books are for both children and adults. Worth a read in my opinion. Looking forward to book number 7, but there will be a bit sad to say good bye to HP too.

 

[bren]

Ooh, His Dark Materials! LOVED it! The Golden Compass set me up to expect an awful lot from the others. The protagonist is a corker. And I almost NEVER read adult fantasy.

 

[Stewart]

Ooh, His Dark Materials! LOVED it! The Golden Compass set me up to expect an awful lot from the others.

The Golden Compass?

I have it as Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. I'm guessing Northern Lights as renamed for an American audience to create an easy to understand trilogies of Thes.

 

[muggle]

IMHO, I think the HP books are for whomever enjoys them, young or old alike. I put my 80+ year old "sophsticated" aunt onto them. She enjoys classical music, does quilting, plays piano, paints and teaches painting, is into gardening, and she really enjoys the HP books. I say all this to point out that categorizing something doesn't always work.