...and Harry

Mere minutes ago I mentioned how difficult it was to pick a new book to read. Right now I have a whole bouquet that I'm reading from:

• "Birds of America: Stories" by Lorrie Moore - My first book of short stories in some years


• "Harry Potter and the (fill in the latest here)" by JK Rowling - Never finished the series from when I started it in 2003


• "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert - For probably the 80th time, but it's comforting at some points in one's life


• "Out of Africa" by Isak Dinesen - See the note on Gilbert, above

Harry is sort of a re-run and sort of not. When I started the study of Harry in 2003 I think there were only four or five of the books at the time, and I grew tired of waiting to read about a character in installments. I can't even remember which book I left off at--between the movies and the talk since then the line has been worn blurry to the point where I can't find it anymore. I do know that when I read the collection as it stood in 2003, I read the collection in a month, August to be precise, and I remember sobbing like a schoolgirl at the later and darker passages. But that time was a lot closer to the loss of my own parent and so far the first installment has been uneventful, albeit entertaining. Rowling isn't the world's greatest writer, but she is a fantastic storyteller, which in some circles of those of us who are desperate to be entertained without wasting in front of the television, more important.

Tell me more, Harry.