Monday, July 23, 2007

Random Weekend Paragraphs

I did not receive our copy of the Harry Potter book until this morning, so it will be a while before I’ve finished it. However, I have availed myself of as many of the book discussions going on as possible, just because. No, it doesn’t spoil reading for me – it rather helps in a way. Lots of times I read reviews before reading this book to get a sense of what I’m going to be delving into, and this book is no exception. The whole hoohah about people not wanting to see any reviews before the book came out just struck me as annoying as heck – if you don’t want to read them, don’t read them – but some of us do want to read them . . .

I happened to go into two bookstores on Saturday and you could see all of the detritus of the late night Potter parties, complete with empty tables and bleary, cranky staff. One store didn’t close until 2:30 in the morning and then they still had to show up the next day. One clerk talked about finding kids settled into nooks in the store, reading intently, but the staff really wanted to go home. They had to nicely say stuff like “You know, this isn’t a library . . .”

In one bookstore, my friend took a peek at the last page of the Harry Potter book, and I also sneaked a view. Afterwards we could honestly chortle that we knew how the book ends!

I had a very lovely weekend, with only two mosquito bites. I now don’t consider it a good day out unless somehow I’ve been munched on by a bug or two. I forgot to put insect repellent on my neck and upper shoulder blades, which I guess the buggers found very inviting, despite the fact that I had enough DEET on elsewhere to eradicate a locust plague . . .

After the Fringe Festival ends on Sunday, my friend and I have decided to take a rest in August from playgoing. We have to start saving up more money because these things are pretty darn expensive! Let’s see – we’ve seen 8 plays in the past few months and after Sunday we’ll have seen 10 . . .

It’s beautiful out today – not too hot and not very humid – I do hope this weather holds for a while . . .

I hope everyone had wonderful weekends!

1 comment:

CS said...

I was one of those who avoided all reviews, and couldn't wait to dive into the book and discover the ending for myself. But I'm fine with people write reviews in advance, as long as there is a clear spoiler warning.