"Potter Analysis" Books: A List of References

The following is a list of "Potter Analysis" books that I have read and intend to refer to in subsequent blog postings. I will provide as much publishing information (as well as cover art) as I can about each so that others may look to reading these fine works of writing and hence further their understanding of the Potter series. I hope to update this list as accurately as possible. Of the titles listed below, I believe that most are not officially authorized by J. K. Rowling or Warner Bros., except perhaps Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli, as it contains a foreward by Rowling. Also, I believe all of the titles are only available as paperback editions, with the exception of Logospilgrim's work, bring forth the best robes.

Post-Deathly Hallows publications:

How Harry Cast His Spell

by John Granger

Published in September 2008 by Tyndale House Publishers.
Available through Zossima Press, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com to name a few. It is 302 pages long. This is without a doubt the best book that I have read on the subject matter. Of course, I am biased as having met the author, lol.
ISBN: 1414321880

The Deathly Hallows Lectures
by John Granger

Published in July 2008 by Zossima Press.
Available through Zossima Press, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com to name a few. It is 312 pages long. This is, to date, the only book I know of which focuses exclusively on the final installment of the Potter series. It is absolutely superb.
ISBN: 0972322175

The Seeker's Guide to Harry Potter
by Geo Athena Trevarthen

Published in March 2008 by National Book Network.
I know that this book is available through both Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com to name a couple of ways to get it. It is decently lengthy. I found this to be an intersting read. I especially loved her elemental descriptions of the four houses and notes on the more villainous characters of the series. I believe she is a professor in the United Kingdom; I wish I could have attended one of her classes.
ISBN: 1846940931



Harry Potter & Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds

by Travis Prinzi

Published in December 2008 by Zossima Press.
I know that this book is available through both Amazon.com and the Zossima Press website to name a couple of ways to get it. I believe that I heard Prinzi speak at a lecture at my university; it was excellent. Although some of it could have been better edited (grammatically) and it takes a few chapters to really get into the book after having read John Granger's works, Chapter Three, "Hogwarts, A (Haunted) History" seals the deal in this book being necessary to those who read "Potter analysis." The subsequent chapters are excellent.
ISBN: 0982238517



Harry, A History
by Melissa Anelli (Foreward by J. K. Rowling)

Published in November 2008, published by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book, and I couldn't put it down. I read it in a few days, and her treatment of the history not as a biography of Rowling or of the publications of the books, but as a general global phenomenon is well thought-out and felt complete. I am sure we will see more books on the Harry Potter phenomenon in general, but this book just feels right. At the end of Anelli's book, it was as if I was again at the bookstore at 10 PM on July the 20th, 2007, anticipating the release of the final installment, and hoping against hope that "all would be well." On a side note, this book did make it, at one point, to the New York Times bestseller list of paperback non-fiction. It is also being published in German in May 2009.
ISBN: 1416554955


bring forth the best robes
by Logospilgrim

Published in September 2008 by Lulu.com
Available on Amazon.com and Lulu.com, to name a couple of places. I had been searching for more Potter analysis books on Amazon.com and stumbled upon this little book (it is about 100 pages long) on Severus Snape. Not only did I quickly order it because of its subject, but because I recognized the author's pseudonym from a website visited. Plus the book had also garnered some favorable reviews from others, which are all correct in what they state. This "Spiritual Understanding of Severus Snape" is exactly what it portends to be, and it is an uplifting little book to read. I eagerly await the publication of her second book on Snape's character. On a side note, the layout of the book is also intriguing - the topic of the spiritual lessons and themes are arranged by the ordering of the Harry Potter books themselves. In some ways, it adds to the character of the book. The editing was also well done, which is unexpectedly admirable for a small publication.
ISBN: 1435736532


The Gospel According to Harry Potter (Revised and Expanded Edition):
The Spiritual Journey of the World's Greatest Seeker
by Connie Neal

Published in February 2008 by Westminster.
Available on Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com to name a couple of places. At 305 pages long, this is a delightful little book and it is useful in the fact that it recognizes its writing as being reductionist, mostly in response to other anti-Potter books that are reductionist in their own way. In this sense it is objective, but the content is subjective itself. This is a well-written, easily read bok on some of the Christian content of the Potter series, but probably not as complex as some of the themes tackled by John Granger or Logospilgrim's work. However, this is not to its detriment. It would probably be a useful introductory work, prior to reading the other two authors.
ISBN: 0664231233


Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter (2nd Edition)
by Elizabeth Heilman (editor)

Published in August 2008 by Taylor & Francis Inc.
Available on Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com, to name a couple of places, this is an excellent compilation of essays well-arranged and ordered to get multiple perspectives on the themes in and utilization of the Potter series in general. The essays, however, read at a college level, so this book may be more difficult to digest for anyone who is not at least in high school (but it would be a good challenge for developing minds). The essays I have read in this book have opened up in my mind discussions on how to view and use the Potter series, especially from an educational standpoint. To those who are teachers (or would be teachers) and also parents who wish to use the Potter books as a bridge to discussions of other subjects, I suppose that this book would be a useful guide. On a side note, I much enjoyed Peter Applebaum's essay on "The Great Snape Debate." The book is 356 pages long.
ISBN: 0415964849



Prejudice in Harry Potter's World
by Karen A. Brown


Published in March 2008 by Virtualbookworm.com.
This is one of the socio-political study books that I am sure will not be the last of its kind, dealing with a specific issue that runs throughout the Potter series. In its short 300 pages, the author analyzes prejudice and discrimination in the "wizarding world" and links it to real-world issues on the same subject. Well-written and decently edited, it is a nice little book on one very relevant subject.
ISBN: 1602641536

Pre-Deathly Hallows publications:

The Hidden Key to Harry Potter: Understanding the Meaning, Genius, and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels
by John Granger

Published in November 2002 by Zossima Press.
I know that this book is still currently available through Amazon.com's used book service, and may be available at other websites. Please note that this book does not include any information and analysis from Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows, but its essays can still be well appreciated. I especially enjoy in this book Granger's argument about Quidditch, especially when he analyzes Goblet of Fire. I do not recall reading this point in his How Harry Cast His Spell (2008). The predictions are also startling. Granger did manage, in this book, to almost perfectly predict the fates of at least two characters: Neville Longbottom and Severus Snape.
ISBN: 0972322108

Potter Analysis Books that I have ordered and intend to examine next:

Repotting Harry Potter: A Professor's Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Re-Reader

by James W. Thomas

Published in January 2009 by Zossima Press.

Available through Zossima Press and Amazon.com, at the very least.

It is 376 pages long.

ISBN: 0982238525

The Great Snape Debate

by Amy Berner, Orson Scott Card and Joyce Millman

Published in January 2007 by Benbella Books.

Available through Amazon.com used books and probably other used book retailers.

It is 192 pages long.

ISBN: 1933771356

The Reason for Writing and a Tribute to John Granger

I honestly would not have even considered writing this blog if it were not for the inspiring lecture delivered by John Granger (which I had the pleasure of attending at my graduate school, La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA) entitled "Who Killed Albus Dumbledore?" in the early spring of 2007. Though already having been a fan of the series, my admiration of the books as great works only began in the months that followed and was decided by the final installment of Rowling's masterpiece, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I have read a number of Granger's books, including The Hidden Key to Harry Potter (2002), How Harry Cast His Spell (2008) and The Deathly Hallows Lectures (2008). I eagerly anticipate his publication of Harry Potter's Bookshelf, forthcoming for this year.

John Granger's thoughts on Potter set the gears in my brain into motion. This is not to say that they were not already in full-swing; at the time of his lecture, I was preparing to begin my Master's Thesis and a summer of historical research. "Potter Analysis" (as I've come to call it) was merely a worthy distraction from everday life. An intellectual debate over a fun subject which I could look at for free at hogwartsprofessor.com.

And then Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on July 21st, 2007, and everything changed. I went back to my second year of graduate school, and while working on my thesis, debated Potter with some undergraduate friends. I argued over the virtues of several of the characters. And I watched as another friend in late November read the last chapters of Deathly Hallows in the graduate work-study office for the first time. I knew that she was reading the chapter entitled "The Forest Again" as did everyone else in the office; for once, it was absolutely silent out of pure respect for the literature.

I continued to debate Potter, but again, I had other pressing matters to finish. This was wise - I completed my Master's Thesis with flying colors and a second research project over the summer. When I returned home from graduate school and finally had some time to myself, I got to read John Granger's 2008 publications.

And again, I was blown away. I've come to read a lot of "Potter analysis" books and articles in the recent past, and I've found that I cannot continue my admiration for the series without giving something back to the phenomenon. And so I am beginning this blog, partially in tribute to the others who have gone before me in their efforts, so as to join this great discussion of what I truly believe is the best literature of the turn of the 21st century.