Just finished "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

I took the day off from work today and finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7). About the book... I won't say anything at all. Except I'm glad I read it, a little sad it's over. For me that marks a good book. But no details. You'll have to read it yourself.

One Warning: If you are planning on reading the book, do not read the table of contents. Do not flip through the book. Start at page one and read on through. I say this because I accidentally saw three words towards the end of the book before I should have, and it ruined a surprise for me. Caveat lector.

I got the book at nine minutes after it was released at 12:01 AM on Saturday, 21 July 2007. I had pre-ordered my book from Borders, and they had a little celebration. Since Sònia and Daniel were in Barcelona, this was my first and only opportunity to be present for one of these Harry Potter celebrations. I'm really pleased I got a chance to participate in this phenomenon. The group of folks who gathered at the Borders were my people-- kind of geeky. The group represented every demographic, and I was surprised to see a lot of people who I normally would not have picked as readers participating in lively debate over very exacting points of the previous six books.

There were tiny children who could not possibly have been born when the first book came out who could quote you chapter and verse of any of the books. There was a woman, about my age, who had come with her mother, and apparently this series of books have become a source of constant discussion for them. There was a young man, probably 15, who came dressed as Albus Dumbledore, right down to the pointy hat, who argued passionately that Snape was a good man. He reminded me of me when I was 15, except he seemed a lot more comfortable with his role as "alpha geek".

I wonder what will happen now? My niece read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) nine times when she was just eight years old. It would seem a shame for something that has so animated kids to read not to have some successor, even if J. K. Rowling does not write it.