you're so lucky...can you post what you thinnk about the book at midnight on the 21st though? i just can't wait any longer!

How did you get that job? I would love doing something like that! :eek:

Well...I asked. And just when you thought it was this long, complicated answer :)

To be a little more helpful, though, they want people who have education and/or experience in a literary profession critiquing books and book reviews. I'm a librarian, so I read about five review journals a month (one of which I write for), and learned how to properly write book reviews in grad school. I found AOL BookReporter's teen site first (my specialty is young adult literature) and wrote to their editorial assistant asking if they needed reviewers. They did, and I've been reviewing for them for a year and a half. There's no money involved, but I do get free books, often before they're published, and it looks really good on my resume.

We have officially less than a week left till the release!

If you want something to tide you over till the weekend, go to www.the-leaky-cauldron.org. Scroll down, and they have a link to an excerpt from the audio book that will have you wondering and waiting on pins and needles. (The heading is OotP clip to return to AOL and is on Amazon.)

Got my copy yesterday, and while I'm now under a gag order from Scholastic, I will say that the book does not disappoint. It was well worth the wait. So hold on, everyone. You're going to love it.

Are you finished with it already?

seee that is why I have to work in publishing. It is too fun to have access to books first, lol.

I will so be at the bookstore at midnight to get my copy! Estimate that I will be unable to do anything until I finish the book.

You are such a snot!

No wonder you haven't been on AIM.

i just reread books 3 and 4 for about the millionth time and i really should have....i don't think i can wait until saturday!

I am. Just finished about an hour ago.

OMG! I can't believe I am just finding this thread now!!

Less than a week, woohoo!!!

so, yesterday I called my friend and sister, Marilyn, and asked her:
"you know what next saturday is??"
"um, Yvette's anniversary?"
"no, something u and I share"
after a few more guesses, I finally told her, the dingbat!!

I preordered books for both of us (she bought me the DVD) so we're both going to wait around for our books then meet up later on.

We're gonna make it a HP night. read the first couple chapters to each other, play the trivia boardgame I have, watch the movies, play playstation game, etc...

i also have some Bertie Botts every flavour beans that i've been holding onto (although Mar claims she will never try them again!)

I think i might even bring my wand to show her...and maybe dress up in a cape too (i still have costumes from when I was into medieval re-creation)

I've only read each book 2x and the second time I read them in French.....I'm sooo excited!!

AFAIK there are no release parties going on here in my town, otherwise I would've been there!

WILL FRIDAY HURRY UP AND COME ALREADY! </outburst>

You know what's fun? Feeding Bertie Botts to unsuspecting innocents. *very evil grin*

Days until the book comes out....5!

I preorder my copy on Amazon.com :)

I can't wait!

Thousands of Potter books stolen
Tuesday, June 17, 2003 Posted: 8:06 AM EDT (1206 GMT)


LONDON, England (CNN) -- The appetite for all things related to Harry Potter shows no sign of abating as police said thousands of copies of the eagerly awaited new book had been stolen.

The 7,680 copies of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix -- worth an estimated £1 million ($1.7 million) -- were taken from a trading estate in Merseyside, north-west England at the weekend, officers said on Tuesday.

The books, each weighing two pounds (900 grammes), were stolen from a trailer, which was later found abandoned.

Police warned anyone tempted to handle copies of the book before its official publication on Saturday they could face criminal charges.

"If anyone is offered the book prior to Saturday, or after Saturday at a reduced price they should immediately contact us," said a police spokeswoman.

The thefts are the latest crimes connected to Harry Potter. Last month four people were arrested last month in Suffolk, eastern England, in connection with the discovery of two copies of the latest book.

The first four books about the teenage wizard have sold almost 200 million copies in 55 languages in 200 countries.

Two films have been made out of the first two books, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" ("Sorcerer's Stone" in the U.S.) and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."

The first movie brought in almost $1 billion worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing movie of all time after "Titanic." The second film has made almost $800 million.

J.K. Rowling, who wrote the first book as a penniless single mother in an Edinburgh cafe, is now richer than the UK's Queen Elizabeth II with a personal fortune estimated at $450 million.

By the release of the fourth book, "Goblet of Fire," in July 2000, interest had risen to such levels that book stores around the world were offering midnight parties to welcome customers.

The combined first printing in north America and the United Kingdom of the book exceeded 4.5 million copies which remains a publishing record.

Filming is now under way for the third film in the Harry Potter series to be released later this year.

--CNN's Eden Pontz contributed to this report.


http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe...ter/index.html

I just want a copy of the book before I head to Aruba. I'm worried I won't be able to find a copy before then :(. I didn't pre-order it or anything, but I think I'll stop by B&N tonight and do so and tell them I don't have a hard-on for it, I just need it by 7/3...