I can't call this entry "Goodbye, Harry," since it's more like "Hello, Last Book." But it's the beginning of the end. I won't say goodbye to Harry, Hogwarts, the wizarding world and all the other memorable characters J.K. Rowling has created until I've reached the last page. And I can't even put it off. There are too many people out there who will trumpet the news of how the series ends. Some way too soon. There have already been possible spoilers, even the whole text, supposedly, laboriously photoed and uploaded to the web.
But eventually people will feel free to talk about the book, assuming (correctly) that everyone who cares will get and read the book as quickly as possible. Since there's no escaping the end, I may as well read on. At my own pace though; not too fast, not too slow.
As I'm sitting here typing, the parties are about to get underway at bookstores. I'll be heading out in about an hour. I don't want to get there too early, since I'm too old to join in the games and trivia. I'll give myself time to shop around a bit. They start lining people up at 11:30.
Since I was in the area earlier today, I picked up my "place in line" bracelet. They go by colors. I'm silver -- the second group which will assemble. But I don't know how many constitute a group.
They're also having a couple of prizes: the chance to be first in line and a chance to win a poster of Deathly Hallows book cover, signed by the artist. I'd rather have the latter; I'll get the book soon enough being there at midnight.
This is probably the last time I'll head out at this time of night to get my copy of a book as close past midnight as I can. There's one other series I would do this for: The Destroyer. But a book series has to be phenomenal for the demand to be so great that book stores stay open for a midnight release. And The Destroyer, as good as it is, will never appeal to such a large cross section of people.
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