I thought it was definitely longer than it needed to be, too. I’m not sure if it was entirely worth finishing – I’ve already forgotten a lot, and one of the main things I’d been thinking of as being a plus is that I’ll now be prepared for the sixth book. Which is a pretty lame reason to read a book that long.

But altogether I think I’d do it again – I can’t remember it, but I have a vague impression of it having been fun, more or less. I guess that’s enough!

I just finished the fifth Harry Potter last week, and, yes, I agree the first half dragged on quite a bit. However, I stuck with it up to the final third of the book and then I couldn’t put it down, and it ends with a real bang. Although the book is probably unecessarily long, I still enjoyed seeing how the characters and the story have matured through the series.

Reading that you switch from Harry Potter to the AACRII to stop yourself from going to sleep shocks me. Just thinking about opening the AACRII makes me yawn. (Watch. See?)

It’s nice to know, though, that I’m not the only one shocked by the length of the latest Harry Potter. Are we sure the doctor was writing tongue-in-cheek? I can totally understand how kids would be stressed out by reading a book that large. I started reading it on a trip home this weekend and am a little more than 1/2 way through it after about 8 hours of reading. I have to take a break to read for the Mystery Book Group meeting Wednesday. It certainly hasn’t sucked me in like the others did. I remember not wanting to put The Goblet of Fire down. Big books without pictures intimidate me. And now that I’m not commuting by subway, I’ve lost a chunk of time I used to use to ready everyday. I feel a lot of stress because I would like to finish the book, but I don’t feel like I have the time right now to read a book that big–even if I do find it to be a fast and light read.