Harry Potter release experience

Disclaimer: Don't worry, there will be ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS at all in this blog entry, because I have suffered enuf at the hands of 'friends' who have offered (threatened) to tell me the ending... I shall not even say anything at all abt what i think of the book or the ending (even though i have so much to say i can write a thesis on it). Cos i remember last yr, when somebody finished reading the 6th book, said person called me immediately and wailed loudly into my ear abt how upset and depressed she was, such that halfway thru reading the book, i kinda figured out who died.


Anyway, my HP final book experience started as u all know, prematurely. But I was still 1% doubtful regarding its authenticity, the writing style and attention to details is distinctive but all the spelling mistakes (and perhaps my guilty conscience) threw me off.
Err but i'm sorry to say that i'm not that fanatical to queue up at Borders at 5am on Saturday morning (P, were u there by any chance? I thought I saw you on the news!) I was dragged to go to my jc class gathering at 12, but it was really nice to see everyone, esp the guys, whom no one expected to turn up. So anyway, when my fren, who was one hr late from collecting her HP book, arrived, I immediately grabbed the book and flipped thru the first few pages, and indeed! The leak is real!

Somehow, I was the only die-hard reader in the class, and when my fren 'offered' to tell me who died, I immediately dug my own grave by announcing very loudly that I will disown anybody who told me the ending. That of course, caused everyone to take turns flipping to the end of the book, then making 'orh' noises, and one of the guys told me the last sentence of the book, and the fren (who had accidentally saw the death list on the comment page of a book review online) started whispering her info across the table. And of course, yours truly, just slapped her hands over her ears while singing loudly and frantically to herself.

The gathering ended at 3 plus, and I made my way down to Borders with one of my frens (not the leaker thankfully) who needed to kill some time in orchard. Immediately, I rushed to the rapidly dwindling stack of books and grabbed an adult version book in pristine condition, and joined the very very very long queue of people already reading the book. I also immediately listened to my ipod (brought along becos of my morbid fear that someone in the bookshop will just shout out the ending) and keep my eye peeled out for anyone with suspicious behaviour. My fren, very cutely, joined me in the queue cos she needed to buy ONE postcard.
I faced a moment of internal struggle, when I found out that I can't use my Borders voucher for the adult version, only for the uglier, fatter and thicker US version which cost S$62.95 (madness!). I looked with longing at the nice black book I was holding, then looked longingly at the many pple already reading the book and then thought of Wk who is probably 3/4 way into the book and very unlikely to lend me the book again. And my heart was screaming out at the thought of waiting another day before I can borrow the book from anyone, so my brain thought, hack it lar! Just buy lor...

After that, I accompanied my fren for some shopping, but she sent me off after an hour cos she said my heart wasn't in it, and I keep having this faraway look on my face.

And that was how I only started reading at 7pm. And finished by 1.30am.

And now, I'm dying to talk abt the book. Please, please tell me when it's safe for me to do so.........