Harry Potter 7 - Part 2, The Reading

…continued….

Amy and I read a few pages while waiting to be picked up…Chris comes a few minutes later and we head home, all packed into my Jeep.

1:00am – we get home, get the kids in bed, and Amy and I return to the dining room to read the first chapter together. We indulge in some double stuff oreos (the ultimate harry potter snack food, c'mon now) and get to the reading. We have already determined that although we are not promising to read side by side all weekend, we'll need to check in with each other periodically to see where the other one is, and bounce ideas and theories off one another.

1:30am – I head upstairs to bed, leaving Amy in our guest room to finish reading and eventually sleep. I read until about 2:20am, forcing myself to turn out the light, because I know I'll want to be ready to read all day tomorrow. Of course Jo does not help me here because I tell myself "I'll just finish this chapter" (cuz I'm one of those OCD readers that will only stop at the ends of chapters) and she proceeds to leave a big cliffhanger at said chapter, therefore forcing me to read one….more…chapter….I was asleep by 2:45 I'm sure.

SATURDAY
(the book is 36 chapters, approx 100 pages longer than the last one…we anticipate we'll be done by Sunday a.m. sometime. My sister has said we are to call her as soon as we are done, or she'll call us if she finishes first…)

I come downstairs about 830am and see Alex in my living room. I'm holding the book…he asks how far I got. I tell him about 85 pages…and somebody has already died! His eyes widen. He wants to know who and of course I won't tell him. He wonders if it's a main character. I shrug…we talk some more….then I meet Amy over the Dining Room Table to Get Our Acts Together.

We read all day. We stop every few chapters to touch base and see how we like it, try to clear up any fuzzy spots in our brains, and start theorizing on what we think will happen in the end.

I'm liking it a lot, but there is just so much that Jo has to answer, I've already convinced myself that there is just no feasible way for her to satisfy my every craving in this last book. I'm going along for the ride, enjoying every little bit.

Amy and I admit repeatedly that we are having to force ourselves to read slowly. I know I am skipping words (not on purpose) and full sentences even just because I want to devour the book. This is a horrible habit of mine, and I'm trying to counter it by forcing myself to stop and talk to Amy every few chapters. She's having the same problem.

6pm: My sister calls – we hear her leave a message saying she's done and we can call her anytime. Amy and I look at each other in amazement. She's done? We are only on chapter 18! How can she possibly have read it all? We decide we better get crackin….

This entire time I'm fighting a bitch of a sore throat, horrible sinus headaches and overall pure exhaustion. I know that I'm running on pure adrenaline now, but I will not give up! I will persevere. It's not like I'm not already doing the most relaxing thing in the world already….I can always read. Always.

7pm - A friend of mine, who knows what weekend this is and how I'm not answering the phone....leaves me a message that she knows it's HP weekend, but it's really important and she really needs to talk to me. When I call her, all worried that something serious has gone wrong, she admits it was just a test to see if I was the true friend or not. Sheesh.

9pm
Amy and I are tired, but not sleepy-tired. We have 8 chapters to go. We are liking it a lot, but are astounded that JK has introduced something so new and so important this late in the series….We know that at some point soon, we'll have to stop checking in with each other and just wait til we're both done to talk again. We're not quite at that point yet.

We also know that 8 chapters is a lot to read tonight, but we can't possibly go to bed this early. The caveat to that is, if we keep reading, it's almost like a commitment to finish tonight. There's no way we'll leave just 2 or 3 chapters til morning…..We decide to hunker down and try to finish.

My sister calls and is dying to discuss. I tell her we might not make it and turn in, but we'll try to finish tonight. I am exhausted….my sinuses are killing me…but nothing will stop me now…

10pm
Last check….we both finish Chapter 33, easily the most emotional chapter of the book (or was it 32? "The Tale of the Prince") and we are in just "wow" mode – utter amazement. Not shock as much as just pure literary enjoyment. This book is good. Rowling is a genius. We discuss said parts of this chapter and decide this is it – we'll finish tonight and no more interruptions til we're both done. We've been reading in my living room and we continue to sit across from each other, reading….reading….reading….

…Amy's a few pages ahead of me, and every few minutes I hear a gasp, or a chuckle….quickly followed by an 'I'm sorry! Its' just….' – or better yet, a big groan or grrrrrr…..it's awesome. Exactly as I had always pictured us devouring this book. It's complete nirvana.

We finish. She finishes first. We just kinda take deep breaths and say "ok? What did you think?" and we start to discuss. We don't discuss much cuz it's 12:30am and exhaustion is slowly creeping in….it's off to bed – and then it will be DISSECTION TIME tomorrow.

(But, just FYI – I loved it)

Harry Potter 7 Part 1: The waiting

Most of you know I have an unnatural obsession with Harry Potter. I have greatly admired JK Rowling for years and really felt the stories she wrote were so layered and worthy, not just the simple kids' books that some people thought them to be. I loved losing myself in them. I won the contest to go to England and am on the Goblet of Fire DVD for cryin' out loud! When it comes to Harry Potter obsessions, there's nobody quite as devilishly addicted as me.

Friday, July 20, 2007
This is it! Book 7 is coming! Tres Delish! I'm off of work and ready to salivate over the final chapter to my favorite story….soon, grasshopper, soon…I have no patience. The anxiety is both nervewracking and welcoming. I love feeling this giddy. This, it could be argued, is the best part.

9am: I stop by Borders in Novi (where my book is reserved) to pick up my wristband and am literally shocked to see how many people are standing in line already. And Channel 4 filming all this nerdy gloriousness, too. Now, mind you, this is not the line to get the book. The book is released at midnight and they don't want 10,000 people swarming the cash registers at 12:01 so they devised this "wristband" system. This is the line to get your specific colored wristband that will tell you when you will be called to stand in line after midnight. So basically, there are hundreds of folks standing in line to get a ticket to stand in line later that day!

Insane – I went home and came back.

11am: Got my wristband (no crowds, just walked right in) – I'm silver. Ok, what does that mean? The guy explains there are 4 colors in front of me, and I'm probably about 400 people back. I'll be called in the 4th group. Ok, that's about where I was last time, and it went faster than it sounded (got my book last time about 1230)… so I'm ok with that. There are about 7 colors after me, so hey, I'll take what I can get.

I go home, take a nap, try to shake off this horrible respiratory thing I'm still fighting, then welcome my friend who drove down from Frankenmuth to experience this with me. Amy and I have been looking forward to this for years. We made a pact a few years back that no matter where we were or what we were doing when Book 7 came out, we'd get together to get it at midnight and read it together. There is nobody on earth I'd rather experience this with than her – we are of the same mind on all our obsessions (Harry Potter, Star Wars, X-Men) it's nice to have someone to share this with.

8pm: Head out for a quick dessert with the kids, Chris, my friend– some yummies from TGIFridays is always a good precursor to standing in line, right?

930pm – Arrive at Borders. Last time they had all these activities going on (face painting, magic tricks, crafts) that were Harry Potter themed, to keep us all from killing ourselves waiting, I'm sure. This time, same activities are planned, however about twice as many people are in this building. I'm sure the Fire Marshall was having an ulcer. I could not walk without bumping into someone. Forget browsing the shelves, just try to get from one side of the store to another without losing a kid, a shoe, or your mind!

Ughhhh….we end up hanging out in the back of my jeep for a while, just to get fresh air. Yes, we are tailgaiting for a book. I love the idea that I've never tailgaited in my life, but for a book, I'm ready and waiting. Too bad we didn't bring any munchies. I get the surreal nerdiness of it all and am telling my kids for the 12th time, No I don't want to eat a Vomit-flavored Every Flavor Bean!

11:50pm – Amy and I head back into the store. If I thought the building was full before, I was in for a rude awakening. Wall to wall people. No room to move. Ugh. The kids and Chris wait in the car, ready to make a speedy getaway with us once we have the treasured tome in hand.
It's hot. Borders starts "attempting" to organize and let people know what the plan is, but they don't use their paging/intercom system. They have some girl with a very weak voice, standing on the counter with a megaphone, trying to explain things. Um, ok.

We are getting cranky. It's 12:10 and they haven't called our color yet, but we are next. But it seems like the line is not moving (from where we can see anyway) and there are just so many throngs of people, I'm certain we won't get our book til 2am. My cell phone rings and it's my sister, who is in Lansing. I tell her not to even bother with Borders, just stop by a Kroger and see if she can get one real quick. She does. She gets the book in about 45 seconds. She is on her way back home, book in hand. I pretty much despise her at this point.

12:15am: Silver is called! YAY! We start making our way over to where we think the line is. It's a mess. Chris had left to go see if he could pick one up at Meijer's, but called to say that there was a huge line over there as well. I told him we're actually IN LINE now, so just come back and we'll wait it out.

12:30am: Wow – we are up to the register already! We are buying the book! She is handing me the book! It's in my hands! The cover I've only been able to view online the past few months – it's so beautiful…. the heavy BIG juicy story is in my hands!!!! (Georgi, can you hear me saying "My prrreeeccciousssssss"?)

We walk outside, but Chris hasn't returned from Meijer yet. There are people streaming from the entrance, making their way to their cars, stopping to chat…it's fun to watch….Amy and I find a bench and sit down, not even needing to explain to each other that we just want to read. No words need to be said at this point….We sit down and take the plunge. There are enough lights on in the parking lot that we can successfully read. Ahhhh….I'm savoring every moment, soaking in the constant and ever-moving moments that I'll never be able to experience again.

This is it.

(to be continued)