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Harry who?

I bought the 7th Harry Potter novel a few days ago. To tell the truth, I can't even tell you what its name is, except that I knew I wanted to read it before it came out in paperback and there is no way I'm going to check it out from the library this century.

Those of you who know that I read fast might ask if I like the ending. Yes, I do, although I haven't read the middle yet. It seems a bit scandalous, but almost the first thing I did was turn to the ending and see if it ended satisfactoraly. Before you judge me too harshly, keep in mind that I have 3 children, two of whom don't nap and the one who does nap has this tendency to stay up at least an hour in the middle of the night. This means that my reading time is limited to 10 minute spurts during the day between fights, and after they are asleep (when I usually clean the kitchen) and even when I am reading, I have such a small tired attention span that I can barely keep track of anything. This is a big book, and before I invest a large amount of my free time and energy, I want to make sure I will get a good return.

(Also, I didn't re-read the first 6 books before picking this one up, and I found myself reading the first chapter several times, trying to figure out who the minor characters are and if I've met them before. I think all long books should come with a web interface, so that you can mouse over the character names and get a brief description of who they are, and click on them and get a list of all their previous appearances in the book---perhaps that is another post.)

I'm still not sure that I'll keep reading tonight, there are so many other things to do:
  • watch Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek Voyager
  • read the Baroque Cycle (Neal Stephenson---now that's a series worth diving into)
  • embroider
  • clean the kitchen, living room, breakfast area, ad nauseum...
Clearly I am not as into this as many other people are, even as much as I was a few years ago. The book is not going away, and I might be better able to appreciate it in a few weeks when school starts. Until then, I'll read a few words when I can.
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