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16 Books That Inspired J.K. Rowling to Write Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling may be a Muggle (as far as we know), but she creates magic with the written word. Instead of a wand, she wields a pen, and in place of a Hogwarts education, she has years of voracious reading under her belt.
We've collected a list of books the beloved Harry Potter author has said inspired her as a child and as an adult. How many have you read?
Do you and Rowling have similar reading tastes? Let us know in the comments! And discover more magical adventures on Listopia: What to Read After Harry Potter.
We've collected a list of books the beloved Harry Potter author has said inspired her as a child and as an adult. How many have you read?
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Comments Showing 101-112 of 112 (112 new)
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Jennifer
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Aug 14, 2015 01:57PM
These are books that JKR said inspired her. Unless someone has evidence that JKR said that she was inspired by--or even just read--LOTR, the list does not "need" to include LOTR.
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I see 10 I've read -- and several more I will! Very interesting to see her list.
Oh please chill out. So she liked Emma. It is lovely and who cares if it has any impact on HP. If you had to name the ten books that you most loved would you be able to defend whatever it is you do all day long if they were your handbooks? Relax. It is a fun list. Not intended for idiot audiences.
Chebionne wrote: "Where's charlie bone on this list? I feel as though charlie bone and harry potter could almost be brothers!"Charlie Bone was published after Harry Potter so the influence went the other way.
While I love LOTR as much as the next person, this list is supposed to be books that J.K. Rowling says influenced her work, not just books that have parallels with the HP series.
It's pretty arrogant to assume you know best which titles belong on this list and which do not. The post clearly says "We've collected a list of books the beloved Harry Potter author has said inspired her as a child and as an adult." These titles are specifically mentioned by JK herself, it's about what she felt inspired by, not your opinion of what she should have been inspired by.
I'm glad to see Dorothy L. Sayers is included in this list. Her Lord Peter Wimsey novels capture the essence of the Golden Age Mysteries. Her tight and complex plots will leave your head spinning, while Lord Peter's adventures will have you wishing you were in the passenger seat of his beautiful roadster.
Roxana wrote: "Dani wrote: "Johnie wrote: Harry Does Not Die!!!!! I would know I have watched EVERY single movie And read EVERY single book too!And also Aslan comes back thanks to The Deep Deep Magic Deeper than..."
okay Harry does die he just uses the resurrection stone to come back to life. Aslan does the same thing just not with a stone so your wrong
Kristy wrote: "Linda wrote: "Rowling read MacBeth as a child?! I'm impressed."Reading Shakespeare as a child isn't normal?"
reading Macbeth in childhood. Dont you think is abnormal.
Himanshu wrote: "Kristy wrote: "Linda wrote: "Rowling read MacBeth as a child?! I'm impressed."Reading Shakespeare as a child isn't normal?"
reading Macbeth in childhood. Dont you think is abnormal."
Nope. I enjoyed it! It was a bit like a spooky mystery whodunit, but you knew who did it. At least, that's how I read it...
I just finished Charmed Life, and she must have been strongly influenced by that. There's You-Know-Who, extra lives contained in objects and animals, nice kids and awful ones, an old-fashioned English setting, orphans, portals, transfiguration...the echoes made my head ring. Charmed Lives was more complex and difficult to follow than Harry Potter, though, for me.
Erma wrote: "Himanshu wrote: "Kristy wrote: "Linda wrote: "Rowling read MacBeth as a child?! I'm impressed."Reading Shakespeare as a child isn't normal?"
reading Macbeth in childhood. Dont you think is abnor..."
What's considered childhood? I read it in tenth grade. Legally, that's still a child. We also read excerpts from it in seventh grade.
