Speaking of Witch...

I don't know why I let this story get away from me, since this is another thing I've been waiting ages for... The final book.

I guess I figured I'd let the initial hoo-hah die down before contributing to the swelling momentum leading up to the July 21st publication date. Anything I might have to say could easily get lost in the initial press frenzy; I feel much safer leading the second or third wave. Or at least, that's what I tell myself.

I was a bit of a Johnny-Come-Lately to the series. I never read them until the release of "The Prisoner of Azkaban", when I bought and read the first three books at once. For that reason, I tend to think of the first three as one book, and certainly they do read that way. Lengthwise, the first three books fit neatly into "The Order of the Phoenix" with room left over.

One of the rituals I've developed is to reread the previous books before the new one is released. I think I'll be doing this again, especially now that I have the blog, since the blog has such a voracious appetite for content. This seems like as good a time as any for a retrospective, which I will be offering my readers as I make my way through them.

Another ritual is going down to the bookstore at midnight on the date of release and mingling with all the diehards and weirdos. I do it because it's good to be among my people. I love the idea of being caught up in something with millions of others, whether it's the series finale of "Friends" or even a hockey game. Such is the unifying effect of pop culture.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hits bookstores at the witching hour, midnight on Saturday 21 July. If this book is anything like the last one, I should close the back cover on the Monday following.