Which has been your favorite Harry Potter Book so far?

My melodramatic pangs of indecision currently between Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire lead me to seek your expert opinions. Though it must be said the PTSD (known as adolesence coupled with trauma) Harry exhibits in Order of the Phoenix was really well done. Harry's Goth period as it were. :)

Prisoner of Azkaban is where the wizarding world really takes on more dimensions. Not all of them good. The introduction to Dark Creatures and then the goodness shining from a werewolf professor was a great twist. More characters with pendulum swings in yin and yang -in all of them. It was great, comical and absorbing on many levels.

Goblet Of Fire was continuous drama and great insight in how humans, young and old, come to trust. Barty Crouch Jr. and Voldemort in a father son thing was brilliant. My understanding from a Jo Rowling interview is that this book was extremely painful for her to write in the time allotted. She was under a great deal of duress and offered to give back the advance. Not sure if high drama in the author's life contributed to the high drama in the book - but an excellent outcome.

My first read of these was this summer so some of you fans with longer histories may be able to provide some great insights! thanks!

(the usual HP goes to school - has confrontation with Voldemart, lessons are learned). This one is almost Voldemort free - the change is refreshing. I like the many changes of themes, plots - the bad guy from first part becomes the good guy, new bad guys appear - previously thought as protectors. The Dementors - as the best villain of the book (better than Voldemort)
GOF suffers from some structure faults - JK Rowlings had to re-write the first part with the Quiddich game several times to reconcile the plot points . Somehow, it has the feeling of being less seamless than the others.

Prisoner of Azkaban as well for many of the reasons you mention.

The Dementors have more stuff going on than the (Jungian) archetype personal power/super ego (Freudian)issues with Voldemnort. Voldemort in therapy - disturbing thought... Being exceedingly cold is one of my worst fears and so the Dementors were very compelling to me too. But still GOF... betwixt & between still! :)

Most days, GOF. I think they're equally good, in different ways, and so the longer one wins that one. :-)

terribly sad to hear she was going to make Book 6 shorter. (hopefully not a lot shorter)

She said 5 was going to be shorter than 4. :D

The scenes at the end when Harry is dueling Voldemort is what makes GOF my favorite. He decides he's not going to just roll over because he's a kid and not as magically powerful as V. The whole thing is powerful but when the wands and connect the phoenix song hums... and the echo/ghost people - Harry's dad telling him to hang on just a little bit longer. It made me cry, and still does even thinking about it as I type this now. Great stuff.

is something we forget is ours. Harry choosing to go out valiantly was im my mind the epitome of being a Gryffindor. The books powerfully touched me and I still can not reason out why.

Jo's daughter chooses with you - she has difficulty between GOF & OOtP.

The books powerfully touched me and I still can not reason out why

Me too. I can think of only one other book that comes close, and its a kid book too... My Side of the Mountain. I have been completely taken over HP. I have a theory about it- why its got me.... It makes you think. So many things about it are great.... the latin spells and the names of the characters, the symbology, and most importantly the message(s). So much in our world is false or surreal, and/or predigested... In these books we find virtue and honest morality in a fantastic setting(ironic).... Not ala preachy moralizing, or authoritarian edicts, but a sort of friendly guide to the 'good life' (in the philosophic sense, not the materialistic sense). I may be way off, but I think these books are heavy philosophy for the Everyman, and that we are so starved for virtue and critical thinking in our lives that the HP books are a sort of oasis in the middle of the Sahara.

Not because of the characters getting older and having to deal with more pressing problems (e.g. troubles in their own families) -- but because of the number of people showing unexpected facets. Harry's dad, and Ron's mom, and even Aunt Petunia!

My dad wasn't a fan of the books before -- said they were too simplistic -- but decided to read them anyway, since Mom and the neighbour's kids are talking about them all the time. He was surprised by Book 5. I told him that one of my favourite parts was where Harry learns that his father wasn't as noble and saintly as he'd imagined him. (I recently learned things about my own parents' pasts which ... well, they weren't as shocking as Harry's revelation, but they did shake up my views a bit!) I said, "I guess we've got 2 books left, to see whether Harry forgives them for not being perfect", and looked over at Dad (who then got as emotional as I've seen him).

is absolutley fascinating. My resistance to read them lasted for years as well. They have a beautiful complexity inside of a simple seeming good versus evil theme that just draws you in emotionally. The same has happened for your father. I wish you both well on your journey to reconciliation and acceptance.

with Umbridge like decrees as a teacher at the time, plus the entire Ashcroftian air (the search for the forbiden Quibler), the hiding of the truth on Voldemart (lies leading to war, 911 negligence cover-up) , it read as a thin veil chronicle of the times I was living (in spire of it being conceived years before, and written in a different place and time)
I was the third buyer of book 5 at midninght, June 21. 48 delightful hours later - I had it all scanned (I needed a second reading to see what actually happened - the first time I only followed the Fudge/Umbrige plot)

and the ending was excellent, if somewhat depressing.

Thank you for answering!

Harry really grew up in this one

This was a real Rite of Passage for Harry, and the first sign we
have that he's no longer a boy.

The death of Cedric was a turning point - he was too young to be
aware of losing his parents, but this death was right in front of
him, and something neither he - or we - quite expected. It was
a sudden descent into darkness.

The battle between Harry and Voldemort kept me reading until the
early hours of the morning; it was gripping stuff. And if this
was Voldemort not yet at full strength, we can only guess at his
power by the last book.

I love Lupin. But I generally like the most recent HP, in this case Phoenix, because the story advances!

I guess Goblet of Fire would have to be my "gun to the head" favorite though choosing between it, Azkaban and Phoenix might make my head explode. It's all good.