Harry Potter Book Shows Up In Philadelphia

So I'm on the computer, trying to figure out how to go to the Caribbean in the winter cheaply, cursing the airline blackout dates and only half listening to the evening news when suddenly I hear something about the new Harry Potter book...hot dang! There it is! In the flesh! or would that be in the pulp?

Channel 6 ABC Action News had a story about a local family who received a package in the mail. The post office called them before they had even opened the package and asked them if they had received the Harry Potter book. "I don't know" said mom. She opened the package and sure enough, there it was. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She had ordered it on some online site and it just...showed up early. The post office begged her and her family not to read it before the 21st, as did the publishers.

I am so sure they will not be reading it before the 21st.

I have been searching like crazy for a link on the Channel 6 website for the very brief news story about this book but cannot find it. Maybe they just haven't posted the story yet. I'll look again tomorrow. But I swear to you, I saw the book on t.v. There was one very excited kid holding the book in her hands, next to a bemused mom speaking to the reporter.

Dang! Now why didn't I order a copy from some nefarious online site?????

Or is it the P.O. that has egg on its face here????

Alas, I did not even pre-order a copy so who knows if I will even be able to obtain the precious script on the 21st. If I do, it's really going to screw with my blogging time. As if the migraine interruptions weren't time-consuming enough already. But what can you do? Once it's in hand I will be helpless until I reach the last word.

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When the sixth book came out, I stressed over reserving a copy, and the mailman finally delivered it at 5:00 that evening...although I saw stacks and stacks of copies at Wal-Mart earlier in the day, reserving it turned out not to be necessary. Hopefully they'll have similar stocks for this one, I wouldn't worry about being able to get your hands on a copy!

Also, relating to early releases: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/books/19harry.html

Bookstores will have so many copies on hand that I doubt many will run out. I plan on meandering over to our local Borders or Barnes & Nobel on either Saturday or Sunday and picking up a copy.

I just got an e-mail from Amazon that my copy is on the way. But I am thousands of miles away from home right now, so I will also walk to a bookstore on Saturday (late morning, likely) and buy another copy which I will then give to another person before I leave.

It's amazing how far the publishers are willing to go even prevent people from reading it. Scans of every page have already been released in torrent form, and I've heard that there's a massive effort going on to transcribe all of it into text.

I've got a copy scheduled to arrive at my apartment on Saturday, but I'll be on vacation in Oregon by then. I debated whether I should buy a copy out there so I can read it immediately (as Bora's doing), or wait an extra week til I return home. I decided I'd wait, since the point of going to Oregon is to see friends, and reading Harry Potter isn't really a social activity ... but I'll have to see if I have the self-control to stick to that plan.

SPOILER ALERT:

Harry joins the 2nd Paras, and gets killed by an IED in Basra.

HTH :)