8/9/17 update: I've seen reviews from some of my friends on here wondering what the big deal is about this book series. Some have tried it and found it wanting. Others can't bring themselves to give it a go because fantasy and kiddie lit isn't their thing. I applaud both camps (not that anyone needs my approval). Kudos to those who stepped out of their comfort zone and gave it the old college try, and kudos to those who know the genres they don't like and refuse to waste time on them when they could be reading something they enjoy. I've tried a couple of romance novels. I don't like them, and I don't need to read all of them to see whether or not I will like them since the issue has already been settled in my mind, though I might try a Jane Austen one day, but that would be for the sake of reading a classic and not a romance. 
 I think I can clear the Harry Potter matter up. If you're already an adult when you try this, you need to be able to get in touch with your inner child and read it through a child's eyes in order to enjoy it. I enjoy kids' books, so this was easy for me. To be clear, I consider only the first two in the series to be solid child lit, possibly the third. But things take a dark turn in the fourth, and they continue to get darker through the end of the series. It doesn't come close to Game of Thrones or Stephen King gloom, but it still gets intense in places. For people who don't enjoy kiddie lit but do like fantasy, it's hard to guess whether or not this is for you. If you think your love of the latter will outweigh your disdain of the former, then by all means give this a try and just muddle through the first couple of books. If the opposite is the case, then I suggest you leave the series alone. 
 I don't have those hang-ups, though. Hell, I've read/listened to this at least eight times, so I must like it. I loved it the first time I read it, but looking back after having finished the series, I see where some things need to be tweaked for the sake of consistency. You can tell Rowling had a bigger plan even when she was writing the first book, but you also noticed she changed a few rules later in the series and was stuck with some things that no longer make sense in the first book. For example: (view spoiler)[Dumbledore flying to London at the end is fine, but when he realized something was amiss back at Hogwarts, he could've just apparated back to just outside the castle gates, then walked in, or he could've used floo powder. Why did he fly hundreds of miles over the course of a couple of a few hours if he was in such a rush? (hide spoiler)] 
 One other thing that's always bothered me about the ending is (view spoiler)[Snape's get-through-the-fire-ahead bottle. How is it still there if Quirrell used it to move forward? I used to wonder about the chessmen being intact when the kids got to them, but if regular wizard's chess pieces are repaired after a bout, then I suppose the same could apply to life sized ones. (hide spoiler)] 
 This books gives us a good introduction to the main cast, and is a lot of fun to read if you don't take it too seriously. It is still kiddie lit, after all, and you need to make some allowances with that genre or else the target audience wouldn't be able to read it. Adults definitely aren't the target audience (though that doesn't mean they can't like it), especially for the first few books, so bear that in mind if you decide to give this a whirl. 
 As for the audiobook, it's narrated by Jim Dale, and he is perfect for this kind of novel. 
 2010: A light and fun read. I've read it several times, and am rereading the series, so it's kind of essential. It has the feel good qualities of a kid's book, which I enjoy. Some of the stuff in here doesn't make sense when viewing the whole plot of the series later, but as a book in and of itself, it's very enjoyable.