Potter-mania

I blame my family.

Like most people my age, when I heard about the Harry Potter phenomenon, approximately in 1999 or 2000, I thought it was for kids. I heard my aunts go on about it at family gatherings, but I never believed the hype. When my parents finally bought into it, and liked it, I thought it would be worth looking into. With the first Potter movie looming, I caved and bought the first book. I was hooked. I'm sure I can't say anything about the books that other people haven't already said, but I'm going to say it anyway.

The books are remarkable on a lot of levels. There's the struggles of poor Harry, who lost his parents at an early age. There's the magical other world, so fantastic, but feasible enough that you can see yourself in it. There's the good vs. evil, with the mystery of never knowing for certain who is on which side. I am addicted. Every book I have read at least once, but I have listened to each of them a number of times. My parents, having never turned a page of Potter, chose to buy the books on CDs. I have the entire set of books on MP3s as well. The audio books have kept me company while working on house projects and while making long drives.

April and I went to Media Play at 1115 last night to get in line to get Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth installment of the series. We got the book minutes after midnight, and, though I was tempted, went to bed shortly after getting home. I woke up at 630 this morning, and did little else but read the book until about 9 tonight when I finished it. I'm going to spare writing a detailed review for a few days, because presumably, there are people who did not dedicate their Saturday to reading the book (my wife included). It is enough to say that the book is incredible. For a book this long (652 admittedly large-printed pages), it's remarkably fast paced. I had intended to put the book down for the day, and finish it on Sunday, but made the mistake of starting one too many chapters, over one hundred pages from the end, and had to finish reading.

If there is anyone reading this that isn't on the Potter bandwagon (and knowing that I only have 2 readers, there probably isn't), now is the time. Buy the first book (it's available on paperback). You will not know why you waited so long.