Harry Potter Spoiler Alert!

If you love HP, then don't read any further. The spoiler is that HP is trash. Junk. Crap. It's not just bad, the way Dan Brown books are bad; fluffy, empty, ultimately disapointing. It's bad for your brain. Does the hero solve his problems? No. It's magic. And time travel. Deus ex machina. Terrible stuff to teach kids. A gateway drug to a disapointing life.

"But at least it gets kids to read," one hears. That's like saying at least burglary gets people out of the house and exercising climbing up your fire escape and carrying off your TV set. Or that at least the Hitler got people together on issues. Or that hitting your hand with a hammer is good for you because at least it feels good when you stop.

And true to type, these are the people who didn't plan ahead, didn't reserve a copy, and expect to get the first one on sale. We had several lined up at 6 am just to get a paper braclet for a place in line at midnight tonight. Nevermind the phone calls, the last minute wishful thinking types who want to reserve a copy.

"Try magic," I'm tempted to say. Truth is we have more copies than we need. It looks like a small turnout for our boutique book box. The mall management has been playing good cop/bad cop with us about what we can and can not do for our Grand Ball.

MAS asked me if I thought he died in the end of this one. I said I hope he dies at the beginning. Or better yet, suffers a long painful death all the way through.

Today I did get to help several people looking for good books. I helped a man find books for his wife who liked Time Travelers Wife and My Life as a Geisha. I found some good books for him. He's a lucky man.