J. K. Rowling Books

It all started with the “Boy Who Lived” and the magical adventures of the most famous wizard of our generation - Harry Potter, of course!

J.K. Rowling is the author of the much-loved and best-selling children’s book series Harry Potter. The series has sold over 500 million copies worldwide and has been translated into at least 70 languages.

But the magical adventures don’t stop there! There are also several spin-off prequel series such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, all forming the Wizarding World transmedia franchise. In 2016, Rowling announced a new story in the original Harry Potter Series with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a two-part play written by Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne.

She is also the writer of the popular crime-fiction series Cormoran Strike, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. 

Biography 

Joanne Kathleen Rowling is a British author and philanthropist, best known as the author of the Harry Potter series, which was published between 1997 and 2007. She was born on 31st July 1965 and grew up in Yate, Gloucestershire in England and in Chepstow in south-east Wales. 

Rowling graduated from the University of Exeter in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Classics. She recalls preferring to read the work of Dickens and Tolkein during her time at university, which went on to inspire her own work later on. After university, Rowling had several jobs working as a bilingual secretary and a researcher at Amnesty International’s London offices. 

Most people are familiar with J. K. Rowling’s rise to fame of how she went from being a single mother to becoming one of the most highest-paid children’s author in the world. She wrote most of the Harry Potter books in Edinburgh, Scotland after moving there in 1993, in the Elephant House cafe. 

However, it was on a delayed train travelling from Manchester to London King’s Cross that Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter in 1990. With the train being delayed by four hours, the famous trio Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasely sprung into her mind allowing her to fully explore the characters in her imagination before reaching her flat where she began to write. 

Best-Known Books

Whether it's reading the books, or watching the on-screen adaptation, the name Harry Potter is known by children and adults worldwide. Rowling’s much-loved Harry Potter series follows the titular character of an 11-year-old orphan who was brought up by his horrible aunt and uncle. 

On the day of his birthday, everything changed when he is told that he comes from a family of wizards and is to be enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry- the most famous British boarding school of magic. But life isn’t ever easy for Harry - each year brings new trials and dangers that Harry must face, with the help of his best friends Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger, until he must defeat Lord Voldermort in a final battle 

Those children too young yet to delve into the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends will instead enjoy Rowling’s collection of children’s books such as The Ickabog and The Christmas Pig perfect for readers aged 7-9.

Rowling has also written a series of books for adults under the pen name Robert Galbraith. The story follows the cases of Cormoran Strike, a private detective and his partner Robin Ellacott. There are five novels in the series, with the sixth novel titled The Ink Black Heart to be released in August 2022. Her novel Casual Vacancy was her first novel for adults under her own name, which has now been adapted for TV in 2015.