I am trying to be hep to the youngsters out there by reading Harry Potter books. I read the first two and my wife picked up the latest one. If I read the latest will I be out of sorts or are the books written so you do not need the entire serial?

I recommend you read them in order.

There is too much in the earlier books regarding ideas and events in the later books.

By the way, in my opinion, the later books in the series are the best, and the last book is by far the best.

Makes sense, I'll have to get the couple books I missed, thank you sir.

You really need to read them in order.

Another vote for "you'll be a bit lost if you don't take them in order."

MagicSanta,
You will enjoy the way the books grow progressively darker as you go. The stories are also loaded with characters and plot elements that will make the last books hard to follow without the earlier ones to build on.
Don

Thank you. I am one of those guys who went to see Halloween Two and never the first one so I end up lost, don't want that to happen with ol' Harry. I have to say they are well written.

Actually, from what I understand, the way Rowling wrote the books was that she intended the audience to be the same age as Harry in the books.

ie, book 1 is for 11 year olds, book 2 for 12 year olds, etc etc...

That is interesting...and smart. That way each year a new group starts on the books.