I love it that people are getting this excited and celebratory over a book. It seems like the sort of thing that happened back in the nineteenth century, when people were waiting for the latest installment of one of Dickens' novels.

Yeah, say what you will about the quality of the books themselves, but J.K. Rowling's made reading cool and fun again, which is awesome.

Yeah, say what you will about the quality of the books themselves, but J.K. Rowling's made reading cool and fun again, which is awesome.

I've found some very good reads on the "If you like Harry Potter, you'll like _______" tables in various bookstores and libraries. (Garth Nix's "The Keys to the Kingdom" series being foremost among these--imagine something that's a cross between Harry Potter and "The Man Who Was Thursday")

Does the Quidditch field double as a polo field?

I love how much Oak Park is getting into this too. If I had a car, I'd drive in for the festivities.

I picked up a copy of the Marauder's Map this morning. What you see online is only a part of it. It's very cute with Daigon Alley and Hogsmeade Village and the Quidditch Pitch.

The Quidditch Pitch (aka Mills Park) is home to the Pleasant home and some lovely gardens and grounds, but that's it.

Today's Unshelved (a library comic strip) on Harry Potter

[link]

They had a big article in the Chron the other day about how a local summer camp was going to pick up the new Harry Potter book at midnight, then wake up all the kids before dawn, and drag them out to a campfire with hot chocolate and begin reading it to them as the sun came up. That'll be a cool memory for a lifetime.

J.K. Rowling's made reading cool and fun again, which is awesome.

I think one of the most disturbing things I ever saw while working at the bookstore was when a teen around 15 years old was standing at the counter buying a book. Some of his friends apparently saw him from outside the store and came in to harrass him for doing something so dorkish as to actually buy a book for reading, and one that wasn't required for school. He wasn't shamed by it, but I told his buddies that someday he was going to be their boss. They blew me off, but I still think about them and wonder if they ever learned their lesson.

I can't fathom thinking that reading made me a dork. What made me a dork in school (and even now, actually) is that I'm a geek about the subject matter and tend to pull a Cliff Clavin at the drop of a hat. (I was able to correct my sister on some details after we saw RotK together by quoting the timeline in the appendix, and she just shook her head and said, "You're such a dweeb." My very mature reply was "Nyah, nyah, nanahnyah!" Yes, we are approaching middle age.)

That'll be a cool memory for a lifetime.

And five to ten for the counsellors who get tried for the child abuse.