books: July 2007 Archives

The opening gambit of last night's Colbert Report:

(Technorati tags: Stephen Colbert, Harry Potter)

Once you’re finished with Harry Potter and the Deathly Halllows and you’re after another magic fix, head over to the Cosimo Blog. Cosimo is the boutique publisher I freelance for, and I’ve made some suggestions for diving into the history of magic in myth and folklore in classic works Cosimo has reprinted.

(Technorati tags: Harry Potter, Cosimo, magic, myth)

LOTS OF SPOILERS. DON’T READ THIS POST UNLESS YOU’VE ALREADY FINISHED THE BOOK OR YOU DON’T CARE IF IT’S RUINED FOR YOU.

Spoilers after the jump. You have been warned.

[no spoilers here!]

10:48pm. Done. Whew.

Must assimilate. Will sleep on it and have some reactions tomorrow.

(Technorati tags: Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows)

[no spoilers here!]

8:40pm. Up to page 607, end of Chapter 30...

Amazon copy arrived around 4:30 -- I was already more than halfway through my Borders copy...

(Technorati tags: Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows)

[no spoilers here!]

3:50pm. Up to page 423, end of Chapter 21...

Amazon copy still has not arrived...

(Technorati tags: Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows)

[no spoilers here!]

The staff at Borders at Park Avenue and 59th Street was superorganized about things (although apparently some smoky magic trick set off the fire alarm and brought in a fire marshal). The crowd -- which consisted of way more adults than kids -- was cheerful and excited. Picked up my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at 12:10am. Started reading on the subway on the way home.

At 11:30am, I finished Chapter 10, page 200. I might actually finish today.

Glad I didn't wait for my Amazon copy: it's still not here...

(Technorati tags: Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows)

It never quite made sense to me that so many Christians are so down on Harry Potter. And then I read this in the Washington Post:

Excellent Harry Potter parody:

via Media Bistro

(Technorati tags: Harry Potter, Welcome Back Potter)

I am counting the days till Friday night, when I will be lining up outside a Borders in Manhattan to pick up my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (I had preordered from Amazon, but then I learned that Amazon isn’t guaranteeing delivery until 7pm on Saturday, which would have meant the loss of an entire reading day. So I’ll be off to Borders. Not that Amazon would let me cancel my order... bastards.)

Anyway, in the meantime, there seems to be a teeny wheeny bit of buzz about the new book. Like this stuff:

Oh, so wrong on so many levels, yet hilarious, too:

J.K. Rowling Hints At Harry Potter Date Rape

(Note: Deeming this "hilarious" does not, of course, constitute any kind of endorsement of rape of any kind, but instead brings it to the hoopla surrounding the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and yet should not be interpreted to mean that the blogger will not be at a Borders at midnight on July 21 in order to get her grubby geeky fingers on a copy as soon as is humanly or Muggly possible.)

(Technorati tags: Harry Potter, Deathly Hollows)