Did a search and I didn't notice a thread like this... now that the 7th book has been out for about a week I presume most of the frequenters of this forum and avid fans of the series have finished it, so which novel was your favorite? Why?

For me, nothing ever touched the greatness of the third book. The 3rd and the 4th were the peak of the series for me, but the introduction of the timeturner, the Marauder's Map, Moony Wormtail Padfoot Prongs, and the first encounter with the Patronus charm pushes the 3rd book to the forefront for me. Plus, Lupin and Sirius were always my favorite two character of the series.

It is probably too early to rank them all, since seven is "fresh", while I've read/listened to all the others multiple times.

Three used to be my favorite, mostly due to the climax, but I now drop it down a few spots because everything prior to the climax is a bit weak. I think five is my favorite now. The battle at the ministry is great. I also really liked the DA, the Quibbler interview+reactions, the Fred/George parts, the attack on Mr. Weasley, the hearing, Luna, etc. Grawp/Hagrid drags it down a little, but too much. Harry's angst bothered me a little the first time I read it, but on subsequent readings, it really isn't that bad. I think I had built it up in my mind to be worse than it really is.

Right now, I'd probably rank them:
5
4
7
3
6
1
2

I could see seven possibly moving up after it ages and I reread it though, but maybe not.

I love them all dearly, but my favorite was "Goblet of Fire" by fair until "Deadly Hallows" came out. I loved that book so much it made me cry happy tears. I am so happy she ended the series so well.

Best to worst, for me:

Half-Blood Prince
Goblet of Fire
Deathly Hallows
Prisoner of Azkaban
Sorcerer's Stone
Order of the Phoenix
Chamber of Secrets

Prisoner
Half-Blood Prince
Deathly Hallows
Goblet of Fire
Order of the Phoenix
Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone
Chamber

-ringding-

1. Prisoner of Azkaban 2. Deathly Hallows 3. Half Blood Prince 4. Goblet of Fire 5. Order of the Phoenix 6. Sorcerer's Stone 7. Chamber of Secrets

Half Blood Prince is my fav by far

1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Goblet of Fire
3. Half-Blood Prince
4. Deathly Hallows
5. Order of the Phoenix
6. Sorcerer's Stone
7. Chamber of Secrets

7, 3, 4, 5/6 (tie), 2, 1.

Goblet is my favorite...

I liked deathly hallows the most in part because it was a satisfying conclusion to a series. Think about it, how often are you satisfied at a much awaited conclusion to a series of anything? Its not that often for me, most of the time there is a letdown.

I think nothing tops POA as a complete package. The novel is balanced and has little back-story, which really bugs me about HBP and DH. I found the middle of DH very slow and chapters like Snape's memories and Dumbledore's "purgatorio" seem awkwardly placed. Harry almost always has the answers told to him ala deux ex machina, rather than him figuring it out on his own. My second favorite book is GOF.

Agree. But that exception aside, I prefer the first books when we were first being introduced to the magic world. It seemed every chapter brought something new. What an imagination!

Deathly Hallows did what I thought it couldn't - it displaced Azkaban as my favorite.

DH
PoA
OotP
GoF
HBP
CoS
SS

1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Deathly Hallows
3. Order of the Phoenix
4. Goblet of Fire
5. Half-Blood Prince
6. Chamber of Secrets
7. Sorcerer's Stone

There is truth in this. I felt like the 6th and 7th books couldn't really add anything new to the world of Harry Potter so they tried *really* hard to develop character backstories instead (Snape/Dumbledore) and this just isn't as exciting.

For instance, I really liked the mirror in the first book. And like I said, the introduction of the patronus in the third book was awesome.

Almost the same as me but switch #1 with #2.

I'll start by saying I have about 50 pages left of book 7, so I can't rate it yet (I've been doing 2 chapters a day to pace myself so I didn't finish too quickly).

That said, prior to the release of 7, I re-read the first six in order to prepare myself properly, and that re-read tremendously changed my order.

My initial order:

Goblet
Prince
Prisoner
Sorcerer's Stone
Order
Chamber

Post re-read order:

Goblet/Prince
Order
Chamber
Sorcerer's Stone
Prisoner

This is entirely due to the complete nonsensical, illogical mess that is the end of book 3. I LOVED the book the first time through, when I obviously was not reading critically. Anyway, I wish I could somehow excise the third book (or really, just the last few chapters) from what is otherwise an amazing 7-book achievement. Since I can't, it goes at the bottom with a begrudging sigh.

1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Deathly Hallows
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Sorcerer's Stone
5. Chamber of Secrets
6. Half-Blood Prince
7. Order of the Phoenix

Nothing too shocking with the poll results. The books with most deaths and darkness come out on top around here!