My wife and I were out and about here in Lubbock, TX and dropped by the nearest Barnes & Noble bookstore. While browsing the shelves I found a poster advertising the latest in the Harry Potter series -- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Book 6 in the wildly popular book series goes on sale on July 16th, 2005.

This is where I confirm my place among the pajama-wearing crowd. Ever since I picked up Book 1 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) I have been hooked. For those of you who are coming in late, yes, I am 36 years old. But that doesn't make these books any less captivating. Once I started reading, I was hooked. I couldn't stop reading. And now I'm eagerly awaiting the tale of Harry's sixth year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am complete Potter-ophile. I can name characters, describe situations, recount spells -- I'm a nut. But, in my defense, these books are extremely well written. Each of the books shows Harry's development as a character and reinforces character traits (such as honor, courage, conviction, and freedom and responsibility) that Harry displays throughout each book. Test me. Send me your questions. Especially Christians who have problems with Harry's use of magic. That subject alone is worthy of a quite lengthy blog post.

Now, I must say that asking people to pre-order any book 7 months in advance is a little crazy. It's not like they will not have enough copies on the shelves come mid-July. While I understand this practice helps the publisher to forecast demand and set the quantity of the initial printing, it still seems a little crazy. Regardless, I will be getting my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as near the release date as I can.