Let me share my own experience with the first three books. A long time ago I was given the first and second books for my birthday. I never bothered reading them cause I was wayyy into John Steinbeck at the time. Finally one day I was extremely bored and tried to sift through book 1, I must admit I couldn't do it, the plot was just not exciting enough. So I decided to give the second book a chance, I started reading the first chapter and was absolutely annoyed at how slow the story was moving so I put the book down. The next day I made a second attempt at reading the second book, but this time I opened to the middle. I arrived at a part where Harry was chassing a sound he heard in the wall. I was hooked, I read three chapters then went to the beggining of the series until I reached that point again so I could figure out what happened. I zoomed strait through the first 3 books actually. Then I picked up book 4 and it was an extreme improvement over 3, but it still remained a children's book in my mind. Alas book 5 came out, and the darkness of the plot made me wild, I wasn't one of the fans who cried, I was freaking excited, and that emotion still hasn't worn off as I anticipate the release of the sixth installment in the HP series. (Sorry for my grammar, I'm typing at a library, and I have a time limit)
EDIT:
HP is not a book you can take at face value though, if you just read it, it will come off like any other bestseller, it has a lot deep meaning and undertone that a lot of people don't catch. Read between the lines, figure out the mystery, it is more exciting than just reading. My books are filled with post-its. hehe.
