jcfiala

Well, I had a grand time picking up the new Harry Potter book on Friday night. Last book I'd gotten it from Barnes & Nobles, and the disorganization of it all caused me to be up until 2-3 am. (Which wasn't all bad, because it let me deliver a copy to Trixii as she got off of work.)

At the Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek, I'd gotten a certificate earlier that week for the book - I paid then, got a nice piece of cardboard, and was told to bring it by later. Friday night Tammy and I relaxed at our favority coffee bar, 'The Monkey Bean', which I should advertise more. Around 10pm we took off from there to the Tattered Cover.

The Tattered Cover is one of the best independant bookstores, and just about the best for new books (other than specialized bookstores). They've got this nice (although cramped) parking garage out back, and Tammy and I were happy to find a space there. Escaping inside, we found the place packed. Lines had been taped on the floor on all the levels for people to wait on to get their books, and having a certificate meant that I could pretty much choose any line we wanted. Tammy wandered off to look at craft books while I wandered about in general, taking in the atmosphere. It was like a mini fantasy convention - people were dressed up as characters from the books (there was a very good Hagrid there), they had little HP-themed puzzle games you could do... and I think they had drinks and snacks outside. I wandered by the computer book section and picked up a couple of books I was interested in browsing.

We met up again and went down to the first floor, where the coffee area is, but it was jammed. Tammy was disappointed - she'd brought some of her beading equipment in, and wanted to sit down at a table. We ended up in the basement, and there was a spot on the line down there where we could sit down and wait. Tammy was able to use a part of a small stage they have there for readings as a table, and I read and watched people. Getting close to time they had us all stand up and scrinch together, which is when Tammy decided it was getting too crowded and we agreed to meet outside. While I waited for time, Rose showed up from Mile High Con, and we briefly chatted about it - turns out the guest this year is Alan Dean Foster, which is very cool.

We all shouted out the last few seconds before midnight, and then books were handed out in exchange for certificates. This went very quickly - people sped up, got their books, and took off to read. Once I had mine I went outside, and met up with Tammy. It was obvious to me that the cramped parking garage was going to be jammed for a long time, and after a bit I was able to convince Tammy of that. So - we went off to the Village Inn - just a few blocks away, and had a snack while we waited for everyone else to go. We weren't the only people arriving with the book - I'd say HP-carrying groups easily outnumbered the others.

Isn't it nice to be able to attend a mainstream book celebration? I buy 'em full price just to enjoy the celebration.

I rather liked the book - but I'll go more into that in another post.