Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: progress report

[If you don't want to be spoiled for a romantic sub-plot everybody's figured out already anyway, skip this post]

You know, someday, when I'm independently wealthy, living in my beautifully restored Georgian home, I'm going to have a gorgeous library. Something along the lines of the Beast's library in the Disney movie. Floor to ceiling bookcases; rich, luxurious rugs; window seats; a handsome fireplace; cozy chairs and sofas. Tastefully arranged flowers on the end-tables, I think. Leather bound volumes on the shelves.

The one thing this library will absolutely NOT contain is a telephone.

Because every time--every single time--I'm reading a Harry Potter book, I'm interrupted at crucial moments by the goddamn phone. It's jinxed, I swear to god. The universe does not want me to finish this book. I'm sitting there, blissfully enjoying chapter 24, Harry's just got out of detention with Snape (who I think is acting as a double agent for the Order of the Phoenix), Gryffindor's just won the Quidditch cup, here comes Ginny and just as they're about to finally, finally kiss--the phone rings.

But wait, it gets better: there's no one there on the line.

The first time I get to read their first kiss. Ruined forever. And for no. good. reason! It's not even a telemarketer!! The baby Jesus weeps in heaven, I tell you! It's criminal!


::sigh:: There. I feel better. I think Half-Blood Prince is fantastic; better than Order of the Phoenix, which could have used an editor, I noticed that on my reread. This one's tighter, more streamlined. It's going too fast and too slow at the same time; in other words, I must-find-out-what-happens-absolutely-immediately-right-now, but I don't want it to be over yet, I want to draw it out and savor it. I hate it when books do that. But I hate it even more when they don't, cause then they're just wasting my time.

(Seriously, how can you expect me to write about Barbara Kingsolver when Ron and Hermione haven't gotten together yet and I haven't even found out the identity of the Half-Blood Prince?)