I don't automatically think reading Harry Potter as an adult is a bad thing (I'm 22 and my fiance is 20 and we both LOVE HP), but the article is correct that many people do not read enough and that Harry Potter is all they read. I see this first hand in my fiance's family and even my own.

And yes, "His Dark Materials" >>>>>>>>> Harry Potter in terms of complexity and literacy (it is an allegory of Milton's Paradise Lost, after all), but very few people I've suggested this to seem to want to pick it up.

Lack of reading for pleasure is a huge problem in this country, and while I am happy HP seems to get young adults interested in reading for the joy of reading, there still remains the problem of making it a life-long habit.

I don't see this as a snobbery issue, but as an indicator that we as a culture do not vale reading anymore. Hopefully, this can change.