Pensieve > Would You Like Fries With That Order of Phoenix?

The book we've all been waiting for comes out this Saturday. We've been waiting with baited breath ever since the announcement sometime this past winter of the publication date.

So why am I not all that excited?

Yeah, I want to read the next book, find out what happens, who dies, who the ruddy DADA professor is this time around. But it's barely on my radar screen right now.

Okay, so maybe I've been busy with other things, or have I just become overly cynical about everything? 'It's just a book,' I found myself telling a friend yesterday. Well, it is just a book, but that's not the point. When I first heard that the fifth book, which I'd only been waiting for about a year, was going to get released, I was really excited. But time wore on, the rumors got more preposterous, and everything got blown way out of proportion.

That must be it. The melodramatics over what's in the book, and all the commercializing of the deal is annoying me just enough for me to push this all aside and concentrate on other things.

First, some sod paid some ridiculous amount of money for the handful of words from the highly-anticipated 5th book. I can understand that. Rich people do stupid things with their money since they've got nothing better to do and don't want to use their money to, oh I don't know, cure cancer or something useful. Fine.

Then there was the *huge* countdown signs in bookstores. You can have a countdown to a big book, yes, but not when it's about 3 months away. When you see a sign that reads, "Only 78 days left!", you have to worry about the sanity of commercial enterprise. And that just doesn't help the small children that want the next book. It's like giving them false hope.

Finally, there's a copy of the book found in the middle of a field. The middle of a bloody field. You have got to be kidding me. I don't remember whatever came of that, but of all the things in the world to steal, you think they would go after something a bit more valuable. Yes, there are insane fans out there that would pay millions for a copy of OotP a week early, but that doesn't mean it's not completely absurd.

Did I pre-order a copy of the book?

Yes.

Will I start reading it the minute it arrives and I open the package?

Probably.

Will I get up at the crack of dawn and start checking for the UPS truck?

Not likely.

So this is starting to sound like I'm not excited at all, which is hardly the case. I really do want to read the book. I've read all the books I own-which is a considerable number-way too many times to count, so anything new is always welcome. And the Harry Potter books are always enjoyable, though I still don't like CoS all that much, but that's my personal taste. Every so often, I'll hear something about the book release or see something on TV, and that's when I think, 'Oh yeah! The book's coming out this week! Alright!'.

So, the point of this rant?

Getting excited that one of your favorite authors is finally getting around to putting out the next book of a series you love: Good

Getting excited to the point of hysteria: Bad

Marketing your product to the general public: Good

Marketing it with a countdown that starts *months* before the release: Bad

Reading: Very good

Stealing: Bad, and pretty stupid if you ask me

Reading your very own copy on the train back to DC: priceless ;)