Well I finished the book. We've had ever so much fun (don't I sound posh?) this weekend and I'm so impressed and pleased. I took the kidlet and her best friend to the shop where, to be honest the 'fun and games' weren't all that fun - but I got to hang out with my old co-workers that I haven't seen for a while, so that was nice. We got last-minute panic calls earlier that day telling us we needed to ensure that we bought the pre-order gift card or else we might not get a copy, so had to rush out and grab a couple (I wanted 2 copies of the book). So midnight finally rolls around, one woman was going to have a minor heart attack if she didn't get her copy. I wanted to smack her actually, she was annoying and her kid's diaper needed changing. Not pleasant when you're crowded close together in a packed line. Anyway, we got our books and my daughter carried them reverently to the car. Arrived home and went to bed. I know she was reading aloud to her friend for a bit, but I think I read for about an hour and a half before I gave in to sleep. So by morning I was about 5 chapters ahead of her and it just about killed me to stay quiet as we read. And did we ever read. Both of us, the entire day Saturday with small breaks for food and stuff. I wanted to just devour it and I didn't want anyone to spoil the surprises in the book for me so I stayed offline for most of the day. It was so wonderful to curl up with my daughter on the bed and just read together. What a wonderful time.

I just couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it around 3am-ish. I did have a couple of breaks, one to chat online for a bit with an old friend, and another to chat on the phone to another friend. The kid gave in to sleep around 1am and she finished the book this afternoon (poor thing slept til noon :)). We are both exhausted from our marathon reading session, but thoroughly satisfied as well. It was so worth the wait.

The reason I'm impressed is because I'm thrilled to see so many people - adults and children - lining up to read. Especially to read a book that's nearly 1000 pages long. What an accomplishment. I admire JK Rowling so much.

Ahhhh... Now I'm going to re-read book 4, then read the 5th one again. Anyone out there reading this, I hope you enjoy it. If you're not a fan, that's okay - it's probably not everyone's thang. But I wouldn't trade the experience the time I've had sharing this wonderful book series with my daughter for anything. Sappy, I know, but oh well :)