northern lad

Let's just put this out there right now. I am a huge dork and a big fan of the Harry Potter books, and movies. I fought this for as long as I could, but finally in January of '03, I read the first four books while traveling across Spain and France. I was immediately hooked. I only brought the first three books with and finished them within a few days. I made my sister run all over Madrid with me, looking for the fourth book in English. Yes, I suppose could have read it in Spanish, but I didn't feel like putting forth the effort.

Last Thursday I decided I should re-read book 5 so that it would be fresh in my mind for when the new one was delivered to me on Saturday. I was very ambitious and wanted to read 980 pages in just two days. I did it in two and a half days. I spent my night Friday and entire day Saturday reading, just waiting for my book to arrive. It never did. I wasn't too upset because I still had some of book 5 to finish. When I woke up Sunday morning, book 5 finished, there was still no sign of my book.

No big deal. I hit the town with the girls and did our usual brunch, to JR's, followed by shenanigans routine. When I finally got home late Sunday night, there was my book waiting for me. Apparently the boys upstairs had it the entire time. It was delivered on Saturday, but no one bothered to come down and let me know!!! I was just a little bit pissed about this.
I immediately ripped the package open and started reading. Not the best idea after a full day and night of drinking. After struggling through the first chapter, I gave up and passed out.

Monday morning I started in on the book with a vengeance. I would leave my desk for 30 minutes at a time and sneak to the lobby just to read a couple chapters. By Tuesday at 10 PM, I was already done with book 6. The book was amazing. Very fast paced, even more so than the last couple books. I also thought that this book did more to explain past events than any of the other previous books.

Now though, I am sad for a couple reasons. First, the book definitely ends on a sadder note than any of the previous books. I mean, who wouldn't be depressed about Hermione carrying Snape's baby??? KIDDING!!! I think the more depressing thought to me though is that there is only one more Potter book left. Ridiculous right? Bernie, you are a grown man. Why are depressed about the end of a series of children's books??? All I can say is that these books have captivated me in a way few other books have, at least not since my teens when I read for fun, on average, a book a week.

When I finished the book, I had this anxious feeling that I could not escape. For some reason I was hyper and pacing around the house, almost as if hoping that the 7th book would mysteriously appear in front of me. Just goes to show how impatient I am. Thank God Dan Brown has a new Robert Landon book coming out soon. That should keep me entertained for two or three days, depending on how much reading I can do at work!