Tell me you don't read much, without telling me you don't read much...

 Professor emeritus ann althouse reveals her reading habits in her comments.  I get it:  JK Rowling sold a lot of books, both children and adults were gung-ho for Harry Potter, and she made a mint off of her fictional creations...  

Brilliant writer though?  C'mon...

Only to somebody who has not sampled the world's finest.  (I don't think audio books reveal fine writing as much as reading, and the former professor has indicated she is more a book listener than a reader, so maybe her sample set is skewed?) (or maybe -- and I hate to go there but...  maybe people adjust their own critical evaluations based on whether or not they agree with the political views of the artist?  So here, if you're inclined to support Rowling's "feminist" take on transgender issues, then you're more likely to convince yourself she's a brilliant writer.  Bestselling, yes...  But I don't think a strong young-adult children's series, no matter how much it brought in, really qualifies whether you're talking about the writer as a craftsman or even as a thinker grappling with big issues in their work...)