Phenomenal!

July 21, 2007.

If there's a specific Saturday I'm sure to remember for as long as I live, this would be it. Simply because this day is phenomenal for those who love to read.

Reading, I believe, has become least of a habit when it used to be the 'in' thing, ages ago. In the coming of radio, television, movies, the internet, and other forms of media, the exercise of reading has gone deeply into the doldrums. Rare do I see children hook up on reading books, magazines, newspapers or even comics, but most probably one can find them addicted to computers, or game consoles.

Even when I was still studying, reading was such a dreaded exercise for most of the students across the university.

That's why my hats are off to JK Rowling for genuinely creating Harry Potter and his wizarding world. She has done the unimaginable and brought back people both the young and old all over the world, to exercising their eyes and reading books again.

Her books have been sold in over 93 countries with a record of 325 million copies. This number is of course expected to rise when book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hit the bookstores last weekend.

Rowling has resurrected the excitement that was lost back from the ashes, just like a phoenix.

In the US alone, 8.3 million of the total 12 million copies flew off the shelf in just about 24 hours.

It even defied religious traditions. In Israel, business establishments and stores alike are supposed to be closed on Saturdays, in honor of the sabbath. But last weekend, Harry Potter made an exemption.

In our country, Filipinos are quite silent about the mania over Harry Potter. I was expecting National Bookstore to throw some gimmicks for its thousands of patrons but I got disappointed.

For several months now, my girl has been eagerly awaiting for this day to come. She can't wait to put her hands on the last novel of Harry Potter and she's already finished with the book even before I ended this post.

With three version covers, I have yet to read the Order of the Phoenix, and Half Blood Prince before finally savoring the last Rowling serving.

US and Elsewhere Version

UK Child Version

UK Adult Version

And in every story, there is always the good and evil. JK Rowling's version of You-Know-Who are spoilers who tried to mar the release of the final episode. They came in different sizes and versions.

Whenever you're about to watch a very good movie, and somebody told you the gist of the story, the fun is already destroyed. Spoilers are just like that. They are quite similar to those who make and sell pirated material, or maybe even worse.

Spoilers are losers. They tend to bring down the excitement of knowing the story's ending at the most proper manner and time.

Prior the official release, reviews came out from newspapers disrespecting those who would wanted to know the essence of the Harry Potter by reading the book. There were even photographs of the full 700+ page circulating the internet.

But the good triumphs over the evil. Even these spoilers weren't able to suppress the force behind Harry Potter. It's simply, phenomenal.

However still, I need to finish the book 5 and 6 before I can get my hands on this last book.

So let me just disapparate...