The 6th Harry Potter is coming out! I am wildly excited. 

I have a vivid memory of reading HP the first time around. I was an intern at Norton and kept sneaking off for long lunches to read as much as was possible. But I saved the last 60-odd pages to read without interruption, and I went to this tiny edge of Bryant Park at the front of the New York Public Library. I think it's one of those charmed spots where few people go, with these small green seats under ferny trees. I read about Sirius' death and Harry's rage, Dumbledore's confession and the unmasked prophecy. I felt like my own life was crashing (I've never been good at detaching from books) and I later went through what I labeled as "Post-Potter Depression" until my sister told me to get over it. I don't know what draws me to the HP series and no one has adequately explained just why Rowling is so successful at what she does. Maybe I'll figure it out one day.

If you're already reading the book, I hope it's wonderful! I'm shortly about to push my little Adithi dinghy off shore to join legions of other readers. At moments like this, when there's such solidarity, I start to think the world we live in is OK. HP, the antidote to human evil. :)