Half-blood Prince:

That's right, I was one of those poor american consumers who stood outside of Borders at the stoke of midnight last week to pick up my reserved copy of the new Harry Potter book. As I read it, I wondered whether it was worth the 45 minutes in line and 17.99 that I paid for it. really, waiting in line was a great experience: the full, orange moon was low on the horizon, and the girl in line next to me was interested in philosophy and religion, so we had a good talk. She seemed to think it funny that I thought all truth to be unified. But the night I bought it is not the point of this post. What is important is last night, when I finished reading it. I have to admit I had my doubts as I read through it: the romantic subplots were juvenile and barely redeemed themselves even after the book was over; the writing was inconsistant, sometimes with amazing dialogue and sometimes with the most plodding prose I've experienced. But Rowling is not good at beginnings or middles of her books (though she's getting better at exposition). Rowling is known for stingers at the end, and she delivered better than she ever has on this one. Im still a bit stunned at the end, and it's been almost 12 hours since i put it down. Read it. Rowling just may have outdone herself, and set us up for a truly great 7th book.