A couple of years ago during a night in June, I sat in Barnes and Noble waiting for midnight. No it wasn't New Year's Eve, it was the release of Harry Potter 6. A friend of mine accompanied me out of curiosity, expecting to be entertained by the people in costume, and he was not disappointed.
As an aside, coincidentally I had been on vacation those two weeks prior to the release of the book. I'd spent a great deal of that time on Barnes and Noble University's Harry Potter bookclub discussing the prior five books with people all over the world. The discussion was lively and in some instances confrontational! Who would have thought adults would get so heated over a discussion of Harry Potter. The response to that book club had been so monumental that the one bookclub session had to be extended to five! Two were added immediately and the other two were added when the book was released. Later on the bookclub was extended for three more months before it was retired completely. (It is back on now of course! BN online bookclubs .)
Back at B&N, at one point as we sat sipping our lattes in the cafe and we noticed an odd man approaching us. He wore pajama bottoms, a white ribby wife-beater and he had a cape around his shoulders with a bandana tied around his head. The guy looked scruffy and a bit scary. As we looked for the best escape route, the creature said our names. In astonishment we found that he was a co-worker in costume. He'd brought his family for the big event and decided to go all out a la World Quidditch Cup in Goblet of Fire. He'd done an excellent job!
Holding my ticket I waited patiently for the book. The fact that I'd already paid for overnight delivery on two copies from Amazon didn't matter in the least! The fact that my two daughters were at that very moment waiting in another bookstore up by their grandmother's house in Punta Gorda where they were visiting, for their copies made no difference.
Later that morning I fell asleep having read about half the book, and I finished the rest by noon the next day. Then after getting some more sleep, I went back on the Barnes and Nobles online University HP bookclub and chatting away with other folks all over the US that had read the book.
It was a great experience! If this year's is half as good, I'll be happy.
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