I started a C2 community to keep track of my own favorite fics, having hit the 150 favorite limit too many times. I thought I liked all kinds of HP stories, but found that's not true when I looked at the list. I've been out of school far too long to be enthralled by the adventures of adolescents attending classes, plotting dates or planning pranks. I like stories with action or drama where characters do things...not angst or snog for 35 chapters. It's impossible to avoid HPGW pairings, unfortunately. I'm not a Ginny hater, however, stories in which her character is interesting and strong are rare. The stories that I like are about Harry and sometimes snarky Snape, dealing with non-canon situations. I went through various phases...my Azkaban period, for instance, which is reflected in my choices. Currently, I'm into Harry fixing the world via time travel.

After reading thousands of fan-fics, I avoid a long list of usual suspects. For me, that includes 2-3 chapter WIPs, cutting, transfer students, except Gabriel :~), Mary Sue's, wimpy, indecisive Harry, Draco and Ginny...Draco and anybody, come to think of it...any ship written to satisfy teenage sexual fantasies, which seems to be most of them. James and Lily are dead, damn it. R.I.P. I don't want to read about their antics in school or anywhere else. Okay, maybe from a picture, as they advise their son. Let's draw a line somewhere. That bright, shining line should be whispering to us way before Harry turns into a veela. Badly written, explicit sex scenes with a thin excuse of a story. Oh, what the heck...I like a well-written, creative story and if Harry sprouts silvery wings, kisses Draco goodbye, and travels back to visit fifth year James and Lily in 19whenever...I'll probably read it. You may not get me to admit it publicly though.

I won't be adding a lot of fics to this list. I'm trying to keep the list relatively select, meaning fics that I like to reread or would recommend to someone else (as if I knew anyone who admits to reading HP fanfic.) To the handful of subscribers: I do think of you every time I click the "add to C2" button. There was a barren period in my reading when I added some lackluster stories, mainly because they were longer, completed their ideas and decently written. I just added a story that is typical of the "would I really recommend this" variety. The writing was plodding and uninspired, but the story took a different slant, contained new ideas and was a decent length, maybe 12 chapters. With reservations, I added it while wishing I could write a note to you explaining why.

Following is a list of highly recommended off-site favorites for easy access. Some of these contain adult content. Follow site advisories.

Josan's great stories - The Gift of Light series, Severus and The Crup, Not What It Was Supposed to Be

Resonant's The Familiar

Fanficauthors.net is a select group of authors worth checking out. A great site that you need to sign up to read. Jeconais' "This Mean's War" is complete there. http://jeconais.fanficauthors.net/ Bob & Alyx's brilliant "Sunset Over Britain" stories are also there. - Registration required

I recommend either of two free programs that download stories, so you can collect and store to your computer and read off-line. Google for fanfiction downloader and you should come up with "Fanfiction Downloader" and "The De-FFNet-izer". If you use Firefox browser, try the Accessibar extension. It allows you to fill the screen background color and increase text size. I change the background color to tan to cut the screen glare. Combined with a larger text size, reading for hours on the computer almost becomes a pleasant exercise.

The C2 name, "A Bit of Light Reading", was donated by Hermione during the hunt for the Philosopher's Stone.

Updated: Nov. 5, 2007