Harry Potter Mania

Yes, everyone has heard of Harry Potter. I am not a huge fan--I have read some of the books and watched a couple of the movies, but am definitely not going to go to any extreme lengths or sacrifices for either. Book 7 (the latest and last of the series) came out in the U.S. on Saturday, July 21. All big book stores, like Barnes&Noble (B&N) and Borders, were advertising Harry Potter parties at midnight the night of July 20-21; women dressed as witches greeted people on the sidewalks outside these bookstores ready to usher eager fans inside.... I found the whole thing a little ridiculous (apologies in advance to any Harry Potter fans, but I always speak my mind).

My sister is a somewhat bigger fan (also not the type to line up and wait for hours to get the book, but she has read each and every one of them). So I had promised to get it for her from the States. That proved a little harder than I had imagined. I pictured going into a bookstore and just purchasing it, but no. On Saturday (the day the book came out), Borders and B&N were only giving out copies to people who had preordered them. All others (myself included) were placed on a waiting list. A little later that day I got a call that I could pick up my "waitlisted" copy. At that point I was too far away from that particular bookstore to go back there again, but thought, well, if they have extra copies now, I can surely get one tomorrow. Next day, the couple of bookstores that I visited were all out of Book 7. In the end, I resigned to the possibility that I might just have to order it online for her and have it shipped to Europe. But the next day, on a visit to Target, I caught glimpse of piles of Book 7. No lines, no waiting lists, no nothing. I think there is something to be said about multiproduct/-line stores like Target. You can usually find everything there.

Not that I am trying to advertise or anything. But it worked well for me. Now Book 7 is residing in my sister's room, waiting to be read.