Just in time for his birthday, right? (I think. I can't remember real people's birthdays, much less fictitious characters'.)
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Is this more solid than many of Amazon's release dates?
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
Is this the one where one of the main characters dies?
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
So I hear.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I'm still on record as anticipating some weird prior body-switcheroo thing between Harry's father and Snape. I expect this to be revealed in Book 7, though.
Posted by reader (Member # 3888) on :
Yes, it's solid, and the release date has been known for quite some time now. (Since December.) Rowling now has a website of her own, and she releases all news of that sort on her site.
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
CT, MuggleNet thinks the switch was between James Potter and Remus Lupin, and the Lupin is the one who died. Considering how much Lupin softens at the thought of Lily and has to restrain himself from being affectionate towards Harry, it may be a possibility.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Ahhhhh ... okay, I could go with that. I just didn't buy that James' father went from beastly to saintly on his own. I still think a Snape/James switch would make sense of why Snape is so down on Harry for any hint of pridefulness (having been there -- as James -- himself).
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
Body switch? Huh?
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote: CT, MuggleNet thinks the switch was between James Potter and Remus Lupin, and the Lupin is the one who died.
I strongly dislike this theory. A lot of people at the Lexicon Forums think Lupin is Lupin, end of story. I want Lupin to be Lupin, I don't want it to be James.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I agree, and there is also the questionable Ron is really Dumbledore theory too.
Gah, July cannot get here fast enough.
Posted by digging_holes (Member # 6237) on :
*epic battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort using different-coloured wand-sabers*
*voldemort chops off Harry's hand*
*Harry screams in pain, clinging to a tree at the edge of a precipice*
"Harry... I am your father!"
"Noooooooo!"
*Harry jumps off edge of cliff*
*Ker-splat*
To be continued in Volume 7 where Ron's little sister becomes a warrior princess to avenge her beloved Harry's death.
[ March 21, 2005, 07:24 PM: Message edited by: digging_holes ]
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Reminder: if you can, support your local independent book store, and order your copy through them! Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
On a side note, why?
I have nothing against them, but why are they the default noble choice?
Like in You've Got Mail - I can certainly see why the store owner would want to keep the small one going, but Fox Books did sell them for cheaper. Cheaper books = more books I can afford = that's good. My local Barnes and Noble had a huge party for Harry Potter #5, including a magician, candy, story hour, a public reading starting at midnight, face painting, general revelry.
What makes one place of business more virtuous than another? I am thinking of a story of buggy-whip makers here.
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
for plaid EDIT to Kat : because the big stores don't need your money to survive. The local book shop do. As a matter of fact, my favourite one died a few months ago, killed by the concurrence of the two big book sellers in town, who sell everything with no style, no advice, not anything to make you feel welcome and well. RE-EDIT : besides, here we have a legal price for books, so they sell them at the same price.
[ March 22, 2005, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: Anna ]
Posted by prolixshore (Member # 4496) on :
For the sake of being difficult, big book stores need money too. If everyone goes to local stores, there will be no more barnes and noble.
Besides that, my local booksellers have horrible stocks, smell musty, and charge more for books.
Maybe people consider that character, I just consider it bad business. ::shrug::
--ApostleRadio
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
You're right, too - but honestly, I met more great local book shops and crappy big book shops than the reverse.
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
Especially when there is a difference on price, why do I need to spend more to support one business than another?
My family owns a small business, and they get hammered by bigger companies that outsource to China, so I do understand the concept of supporting small businesses. However, my family makes up for the more expensive price necessitated by higher wages in the US by providing better customer service, more specialized products, and the advantages of working with someone local.
If a big store has a better price and just as good or better service, why should I be obligated to take things elsewhere? Shouldn't I reward the company that figured how to do business better?
Posted by AntiCool (Member # 7386) on :
The only customer support that I need from a bookstore is to tell me where the book I'm looking for is.
Amazon.com gives me as good service of any other store.
Posted by prolixshore (Member # 4496) on :
Yeah, the best way for small businesses to go in those situations is to provide something the bigger company doesn't, in order to make up for the price difference.
This is the way I have seen most small coffeeshops react to a starbucks across the street and survive. In fact, I have lived in three different towns at the time a starbucks moved in, and witnessed all three debates about how bad it would be for the local coffeeshops. So far, in every town, the local coffeeshops are still standing, despite the evil influence of starbucks. They do this because the offer a different atmosphere, a different choice in coffee, and a different type of service. It can be done.
I just wish my local booksellers would understand this concept.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Harry Potter thread.
--ApostleRadio
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
*fangirl tone* Snape ! Snape ! Gooooooo Snape !
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
I've been dreaming about being friends with JKR again. This worries me sometimes.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
You two had a falling out?
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
Why does this worry you ?
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
My subconcious seems quite convinced that we are friends. I don't have the heart to tell it otherwise.
[ March 22, 2005, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Lady Jane ]
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
Your post indicates that you're hallucinating again, Noemon.
[ March 22, 2005, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Lady Jane ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Why, whatever are you referring to? Now you're not only dreaming about being friends with public figures, you're also imagining posts?
::tsk::
Maybe you should think about seeing someone about this kat.
[ March 22, 2005, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
J.K.Rowling said it was perfectly normal.
[ March 22, 2005, 11:38 AM: Message edited by: Lady Jane ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
[humoring]Sure, sure I'm sure she said just that! Yep, no doubt about it.[/humoring]
:: backs away slowly, all the while making soothing noises ::
[ March 22, 2005, 11:42 AM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
It isn't fair to respond to what you wish I had said. </wild-eyed>
[ March 22, 2005, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: Lady Jane ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
It's...it's almost like we're having two different conversations here. Please, kat, I'm begging you, get help!
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
*sniffsniff* Noemon? That's you, right? Is it you? Are you the one who keeps telling Malfoy to talk to me? I'm trying to be nice, Noemon. It's so quiet...
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Don't worry kat, I've got some experience with helping people through this kind of thing. Now, you lucked out--the hit you took was only slightly tainted. I want you to lie back, and take slow, deep breaths. Good. Now, would you like the lights on, or off? You're in charge here.
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
ooo...pretty lights...pretty...
lalala...If I die Noemon, you can have my stuff. I like you. Send the history books to Taalcon. The treasure is *yawn*...the treasure is...yumyumhemmmm...under the...*soft, snoozy breathing* Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
*sends in the men with white coats*
Posted by AntiCool (Member # 7386) on :
*listens to kat's dying confession, and attempts to beat the plucky hero to the treasure*
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
The treasue is mine, and has been for some years.
Why do you think kat went crazy?
Posted by Myr (Member # 5956) on :
You guys are hilarious Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
[ March 22, 2005, 12:30 PM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
O.O
Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
Wouldn't it be great if in 6th year, knowing full well all the other dangers the previous years have brought, Potter eschews the school, takes his broom to South America and hires himself bilingual Wizard tutors? I mean, really.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
The reason I like to support small booksellers is that they don't cater to the bestsellers. Barnes & Noble has a rotten selection of foreign-language books and Borders, though better, typically only has the American bestsellers translated into other languages.
Small independent bookstores carry more foreign-language books, they sell used and out-of-print books, and they tend to have a lot better selection of independent and hard-to-find books. Sure, they sell bestsellers, but they don't have a ridiculous pile of copies of The DaVinci Code in a huge display with a "you might also enjoy" shelf next to it. I don't want to be pandered to with the latest marketing strategies. I don't want to be sold something statistically proven to get me to fork over more cash. I like my local independent bookstores because they give me real-person advice and treat me like an intelligent creatures. They, too, are intelligent creatures, which helps.
If I shop at the big store in the name of saving money, I run the risk of losing those smaller shops that are better suited to my town and my market. And truthfully, by offering a lot of used books, the little stores are often a better deal. I don't need a brand-new, reprint copy of Cat's Cradle because I want to start reading Kurt Vonnegut - a $3.00 paperback from the 80s will do just fine. And I'm willing to spend the occassional $45.00 on a brand-new hardback when I can, as a vote of confidence in a store that wants me as a customer and not just me as a demographic.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote: I don't need a brand-new, reprint copy of Cat's Cradle because I want to start reading Kurt Vonnegut - a $3.00 paperback from the 80s will do just fine.
You're lucky Kurt Vonnegut doesn't post here anymore. Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I still want Harry Potter in Japanese.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Kurt would agree with me! As would Bokonon - I'm pretty sure he buys only used books.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I love used books.
It's not how much you spend (and the cost of books is crippling!) its how much you love the books .
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, I've been known to buy more than my bodyweight in books at library book sales.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I did that this spring. I bought loads of books. Only the fact that I had to leave (grumble) prevented me from just buying literally hundreds. (It was late in the day and every book was 25 cents!)
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
Ah. I find most used books stores too unorganized for me. I live just down the street from an acre-sized Half-Price Books, and I love it because of the poetry readings and amateur art shows they host. Also, fabulous deals on audio books. If I am looking for something in particular though, I hate it because they don't have a definitive inventory. Serendipity HAS to be good, because that's the only way you'll find anything.
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
*wipes tears* this thread is priceless. Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote: Serendipity HAS to be good, because that's the only way you'll find anything.
At this book sale I was one of the few people combing the science fiction section. What I came away with was a fabulous collection of some of my favourite books.
The Classics and children's sections were the same. I just went through and amassed book after book after book.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The other day I was figuring out the dollar value of my book collection for insurance purposes. It comes to about 15K. Some of that value is attributable to first editions of various books, but mostly it's due to sheer volume. I've got far more books than I have shelf space (and have thought about turning my spare bedroom into a library, complete with stacks, so as to actually have room for all of them.
Anyway, a decade or so ago one of my friends had his CD collection stolen, and the insurance company cut him a check, but insisted on seeing receipts to prove that he'd spent the money on CDs. That seems odd to me--why would they do that? Why not just cut him the check and let him do what he wanted with it? I figured I was misremembering, actually, but I asked him about it last time we talked, and he confirmed that that was how it had been.
Which leads me to the point of this post. If all of my books were destroyed, and my insurance company gave me the 15K, but stipulated that I had to spend it on books, I would take a buying vacation, travelling from library book sale to library book sale, picking up book after book for a quarter each. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I'd have doing that.
Posted by Audeo (Member # 5130) on :
When my library has a sale they sell books for $3.00 per paper grocery sack. With careful packing and choosing you can easily get over a dozen books in a bag. Of course they also sell them individually depending on the book from ten cents up to a dollar. The only odd thing is that at the sale there are only two categories the books are separated into, paperback and hardback, which means that you have to do a bit of sifting to get to the good stuff, but its worth it.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
My library does the paper bag thing, but only for the final couple of days of the sale. They gradually decrease their prices as the sale wears on, and then finally have the bag sale. The SF is all pretty picked over by the time they get the bags out though, (and I expect that everything else it too, but SF is what I tend to focus on) so there isn't all that much point in buying by the bag. You're liable to end up with sacks full of broken backed copies of Piers Anthony, L. Ron Hubbard, and Alan Dean Foster books.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Mmmm... library sales... I just went to one this weekend, yum...
Anyway, I like small stores because I can chat with the staff and talk about books and get recommendations. The only time a staff person at Barnes & Noble ever talks to me is to ask if I have a membership card (and would I like one) (No! I hate getting on stupid mailing lists, and I don't want my buying patterns analyzed for how to sell me more stuff!!)
I go to Barnes & Noble sometimes; I like the wide selection... but small bookstores often have a more *interesting* selection of books I've never heard of. And the stores are just more... comfortable. B&N stores feel too big and sterile to me. I wouldn't want to work in a B&N store, so why give them my money?
Anyway, politically/economically speaking, I don't like large organizations. Power corrupts and all that; if it's a choice between giving my money to a small business or a big business, I'll go with the small business.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
quote: If all of my books were destroyed, and my insurance company gave me the 15K, but stipulated that I had to spend it on books, I would take a buying vacation, travelling from library book sale to library book sale, picking up book after book for a quarter each. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I'd have doing that.
Crap. You know, now, that we're going to have to testify at your arson trial.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, but I figure I could buy everybody off with free books, and get a heap of character witnesses saying that I'd never do such a thing.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I know I'm risking attack here, but I really like Amazon.
I can find things quickly. I can read reviews, and a little research tells me which reviewers match my tastes. I can grade books I've bought (and books I already own) and get some fairly accurate recommendations on the page and in my e-mail. I can usually get good prices. I can buy used books (from smaller booksellers) if I wish.
One of my favorite used bookshops now gets most of their income from ebay, abebooks, and Amazon sales. Every time i stop by -- and I do still hit the local shops regularly, since Amazon hasn't yet provided a virtual alternative to bookcovers catching your eye from a shelf away or slightly off-center booksellers who will sit and talk for hours -- I don't see where Amazon is hurting them at all.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Wait, a body switch for James doesn't make any sense at all -- I mean, I thought it didn't make sense before, but then I was thinking about how James's ghost/echo/whatever shows up at the end of book 4 -- he's definitely got to be dead, dead, dead.
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
Actually I heard that at mugglnet.com too. That he has to be dead, I mean. And I believe so.
Posted by Myr (Member # 5956) on :
I like amazon too I love being able to see what other people have bought who bought something I like, and i love reading people's recommendations, and I love reading reviews and listening to music clips to learn about bands. It's like my encyclopedia for books and other media.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Hail]](graemlins/hail.gif)
for plaid![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
*wipes tears* this thread is priceless.