I went to a big Harry Potter party on Friday night, then traipsed over to my favorite Borders to wait in line for my copy. Got home at 1:00am, read two chapters, then went to bed because I had a very busy day on Saturday.

Which meant that I didn't get a chance to pick it up again until 11pm that night (after wresting it from my 9 year old's hands after he finally fell asleep) (I think the only thing that kept him from staying up all night to read it was because he'd just returned from camping and was overtired). 

Got home today after church and was blissfully left alone for hours (miraculous, really) to curl up and finish it.

I loved it.

I was satisfied with all of it, and although it wasn't the same kind of feel or adventure as the other books…it fit. It worked. There were lots of things that had to happen and be worked out. I took my time reading it, refusing to let myself race through to see what was going to happen, particularly in those scenes where one really wanted to race through.

But now that it's over, I'm grieving.

So, a few questions for the house:

1) how long did it take you to read it?

2) did you get it at midnight?

3) did you peek at the epilogue?

4) were you right or wrong about Snape? 

Janet from Fond of Snape shows us, in this fabulous photo story of the travels of the ARC of Rises the Night she won from me last winter. She took it on her trip to Vegas, and it went everywhere with her!

Trés cool!

Yesterday was hot and humid–but 85 degrees here in Michigan in May isn't unusual, nor is the fact that it's only 50 degrees today. Love Michigan weather.

But today…rainy and cloudy and cold (got my socks back on, a sweater, and sweats)…is a perfect day to be curled up reading somewhere. Like bed. (I'm not in bed, I'm sitting in my office. Just FYI. But that doesn't mean I won't find myself there again…soon.) 

I started my re-read of the Harry Potter books last night. As many of you know (as I've mentioned it many times), I haven't read The Half-Blood Prince yet. I chose to wait until Book Seven (Deathly Hallows) was released, and so now I'm re-starting my journey with the students at Hogwarts.

Having read all of the other books only once, and throughout the years, it's fun to go back to The Sorcerer's Stone and meet everyone again. I'm also paying close attention to names and hints and such, because I know Rowling has had everything planned out from the beginning (unlike some other authors I know who write series and who shall remain nameless *cough*me*cough*), and so she's got to have hints and clues sprinkled throughout.

I'm really enjoying it, moreso than the first time, because of course, I know what's going to happen…so I'm reading for all the details that I might have missed before.

I also just finished reading the first two books in a new trilogy (third one is out in two weeks and I can't wait for it) by Robyn Carr. It's the Virgin River trilogy, and the first one is called Virgin River. Not only do the books have fantastic covers (which is why I picked them up in the first place), but they're really wonderful reads.

I devoured the first one, went back to Amazon to hunt up some of Carr's backlist while I was waiting for Shelter Mountain, and then glommed them quickly as I could. (Better hurry…they're starting to get pricey, those backlist books.) 

Anyway, if you want a great story about a small town in northern California, revolving around a midwife who comes from the big city, and a nice solid love story–plus a lot of interesting characters…check out Virgin River. It's wonderful.

So…what is everyone else reading on this Dreary Wednesday? 

There are very few authors who are on my auto-buy list. They've had to produce consistently great books for me to place them there.

When I say auto-buy, I mean that: you see the book in the store, or you know it's coming, and you pre-order it or otherwise buy it without hesitation.

You don't look at the back cover copy, you don't read an excerpt, etc., you don't read or wait for reviews…You automatically buy the book.

I've got a few auto-buy authors. JD Robb, Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie (when she's writing solo), Liz Carlyle, JK Rowling, to name a few.

These are the writers that I'm really excited about their new books, and I'm at the bookstore the day the book is released.

What about you? Who are yours?

I expected something much better than this for the last Potter cover. Really. Ugh.

I mean, I realize they could pretty much do anything for the cover and it would sell like mad, but this? I personally preferred the mockup black and white cover they have had everywhere since the book's release was announced.

What about you? Thumbs up or thumbs down?