Speaking of hype that doesn't affect me...

I've never read a Harry Potter book and when I tried to watch one of the movies I thought it was perhaps the most boring thing I had ever seen and I didn't finish it. On the one hand, as a bibliophile I love to see people so excited about a book to the point where every single town in America big enough for a bookstore freaks out and stays open past midnight on a Friday just so people can buy it. Americans don't generally read to much nowadays, and I'd be happy to see a general enjoyment of reading creep back in on the back of Pottermania.

On the other hand, I've never quite understood why these books hit just right to become so freakishly popular. I don't much like fantasy books as a rule and I'm not particularly interested in British schoolyard class politics. I'm not detracting from all the people who enjoy it, but I have no particular interest in partaking. As part of the living room renovations we have more room for books, and I've been loading up the shelves with stuff from my office. I must have 100 books in here now that I haven't yet read and that I would read before a Harry Potter. That's just this room. There are other rooms.