Note: Don’t worry, if you are reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and have not finished it, this post has been put through the plot check detector and is guaranteed 100% spoiler free.

What a weekend! I thought my Bookman and I were going to have to take turns with the Harry Potter book, but, bless him, he bought two so we each had one! I had my volunteer shift at the library Saturday morning (more about that later) and got home around 12:30. Had some lunch and then my Bookman and I settled down together and dove in. He reads faster than I do so he would start laughing or crying and I’d look up and tell him to stop because I wasn’t there yet. We read all afternoon, took a break for dinner, then read until about 9 that night.

My Bookman had to work Sunday so I had a chance to catch up and pass him. I got up at 6 a.m., read while eating breakfast, would have read in the shower too if I knew a waterproofing charm, read while having lunch and read all afternoon. Somehow in all that reading I managed to get the laundry done, feed and play with the kittens and the dog, and do a few other things. My Bookman got home around 3 and he started reading. We took a break for dinner and then walked the dog before we dove back into the book. He finished about 10 minutes before I did (did I say he reads really fast?) and by 8 last night we were both done.

I had planned before I had the book in my hands to read it in a leisurely manner, savor it to the fullest. But after I had finished the first chapter all thoughts of savoring it had flown from my head. I was worried that J.K. Rowling would somehow let us down, that the ending would be anti-climactic, that there was no way she could end it that wouldn’t be somehow disappointing. My worries were unfounded. She did an amazing job and I am pleased as punch. At the same time I am a little sad too because there will be no more Harry Potter books. I will be quite interested to see what Rowling does now that they are all done. Will she keep writing? And what will she write? Or is writing anything else impossible at this point because how could she possibly top Harry Potter? Still, she is a good writer and I hope she tries something new.

So there you have it, a Harry Potter post that tells you absolutely nothing about the book other than it was loads of fun. I’ve added my name to the hold list for the audio book from my library. I am 126th in line. Maybe I will get to listen to it sometime around Christmas if I am lucky. What is guaranteed is that I will forget about it and my turn will come up at the most inconvenient time. But isn’t that the way of things?

Speaking of the library. Saturday’s shift at the welcome desk was one of the more interesting ones. It began pretty early after the doors opened and a woman walked in and defensively and loudly declared to security guard Dave that this was a public library and she had every right to be there. Well, you don’t do something like that unless you know your right to be there is in question. Sure enough, it turns out she had been trespassed for a year not that long ago. I’ve seen her there before, she’d a regular, but apparently she begins her time at the library quietly and then starts yelling and screaming at other patrons or for no discernible reason. The woman obviously has mental health issues. But she is not allowed on the premises and of course she yelled all about it as she was escorted out. Once left outside she began verbally abusing a lightpost and when she was done with the lightpost she began verbally abusing a tree. Patrons entering the library were a bit concerned and giving her a wide berth. So a security guard went out and asked her to move along which she did. But, she no doubt had something to say about it.

Just when we thought things might calm down there was an incident at the computers on the first floor which are just a stone’s throw from the welcome desk. I was, thankfully, busy helping someone fill in the online library card application and had no clue about what was going on. This is what I missed. A man sitting at one of the computers had an accident. Not any kind of accident. It’s pretty gross so stop reading if you are eating or have a weak stomach. The man’s bowels opened up and, for lack of another way to say it, exploded. All over himself, the chair, the carpet. He got up and hurried to the bathroom leaving a foul trail behind him. Once in the bathroom his bowels exploded again all over the floor, the walls and the poor man. It was all over him and everything else.

The cleaning crew were down in a jiffy and valiantly cleaned the carpet and the surrounds. Security closed the bathroom, brought the man plastic garbage bags to cover his clothes, made him wash his hair in the bathroom sink, and escorted him outside to talk with him. He wanted to go back in the library to get some books! The man was not well in body or mind and kept changing his story with every sentence. And now he is trespassed for a year too. What is it with books and excrement? The cleaning crew was just finishing up with the bathroom when I left to go home and lose myself in Harry Potter. Not a dull moment the entire weekend!