Wow. What a weekend. Despite leaks, some near-suicidal discounting and questions about whether previous unveilings in the series could be topped, Harry Potter Day was even better than many people expected--and led to book-centered joy and goodwill that many hope can be sustained beyond Harry. "The excitement, anticipation, and just plain hysteria that came over the entire country this weekend was a bit like the Beatles' first visit to the U.S.," Lisa Holton, president of Scholastic's trade and book fairs division, aptly said in a statement. (For a taste of one bookstore's evening, read Robert Gray's report below.)

Quickly some statistics:

Scholastic estimated that 8.3 million copies of the 12 million first printing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold in the U.S. on Saturday. By contrast, in 2005, some 6.9 million copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold on the first day.

The New York Times estimated that if the average price per book was $20, "Americans spent nearly $170 million for the book in one day." The AP (via the Seattle Times) calculated that sales of the book averaged more than 300,000 copies per hour or more than 5,000 a minute.

At its stores around the world, Borders sold 1.2 million copies of the book on Saturday, the highest single-day sales of any title in Borders history--and 350,000 more than the 850,000 copies it sold on the first day of sales for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Borders also estimated that some 800,000 people attended the Friday-night celebrations in its stores.

Amazon said it had delivered almost 1.3 million copies of the book in the U.S. on Saturday and that worldwide it had received more than 2.2 million advance orders as of Friday, compared to 1.5 million for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

At Wal-Mart stores in the U.S., the last Harry Potter book sold twice as fast as its predecessor, a spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Today's Wall Street Journal explores whether Harry Potter's ripple effect is magical. Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio told the paper the company expects to see a brief bump in sales of other bestsellers and the rest of the Potter series.

Anecdotal evidence indicated customers were indeed buying a range of other books. Among the paper's examples: on Saturday one reader at Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C., spent some $200 on all seven Potter titles as well as two other books.

Incidentally the Journal has a nice roundup of Harry Potter coverage here.

---

A range of independent booksellers reported delightful events.

At the Book Basket, Wetumpka, Ala., some 70 people crowded into the 1,200-sq.-ft. store for its Harry Potter pajama party, according to owner Tammy R. Lynn. Longtime customer Caleb Graham, 19, helped set up the party and shortly after midnight--after receiving his copy of the book--called a friend who was still waiting on line at a large store in Montgomery. "See, I told you to come get your book here," Graham said. "I'm going home to read."

Booklovers Bookstore, Aiken, S.C., had its biggest day ever on Saturday and held its party from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The store served Potter-themed food; children made wands and played Potter trivia and other games; a chemistry teacher did magic. The local paper gave the store plenty of coverage--and co-sponsored a writing contest with Booklovers. "The best part," owner Fran Bush said, was that Harry Potter books accounted for only half of sales "and we gained 37 new customers."

At Osondu Booksellers, Waynesville, N.C., more than 200 people crowded into the store for a party that the bookstore created with a toy shop, Fun Things Etc., that included a broom maker with a replica of the nimbus 2000, a wood turner who created wands for the children and two owls who posed for photos with fans. Owner Maraget Osondu called it "an excellent Potter Pandemonium party."

In a roundup of parties in New York City on ObsoleteVernacular.com, Paul Jackson called the McNally Robinson bookstore adult-only event a "classy party, with an around-the-block line . . . The midnight unveiling of the books was superb, even though books were sold out by 11 p.m."

Elisabeth Grant-Gibson, co-owner of Windows a bookshop, Monroe, La., said that the store sold all but one of its 100 ordered copies through Saturday morning and went to Books-A-Million for replenishment. In the past Windows had ordered 100 and sold out over the course of several weeks. Her best news: the store did not discount the book. She wrote: "I swear I think we're reaching the tipping point where people are really starting to value the independents and make a little extra effort to support them. Those people coming in today aren't buying here just because we have the best party (which we do--oh my god, it was fab), but because they are willing to pay and extra $15+ for the book (and the extra tax) to buy with us."

--- 

One happy lad reads the final Harry Potter book and recreates a scene from two summers ago (Shelf Awareness, July 18, 2005):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before Friday, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows seemed to be a numbers game--12 million first printing, loss leader discounting, pre-orders in the millions, 1,200 copies mailed too early.

On Friday, however, I took refuge from statistics by working on the sales floor at the Northshire Bookstore, Manchester, Vt. As a bookseller/Muggle hybrid, I had a front-row seat (well, cash register) to watch Harry Potter night evolve from afternoon quiet to the frenzied midnight release.

The bookstore had been fully transformed to "whoa!" status, with child after child (and many adults) expressing amazement at the awe-inspiring atmospherics.

According to Bellatrix Lestrange (also known as Jessica Wood, Northshire children's department manager), "During the planning stages, it was at times hard to remain enthusiastic in the midst of the price wars, the 'party police' and the general frustration felt by most independents. But that night, the event belonged to the kids and fans of all ages; the excitement, the anticipation, the thrill of it all was palpable. Not only did the crowd have a great time, the staff, including our Spiral Press Cafe crew--who were turned into the Leaky Cauldron--had fun."

Wood added that the "entire bookstore staff was affected by the event in some way for weeks in advance, and rally they all did. From working the event in costume, to shepherding the pre-orders, fielding phone calls, running Hogwarts classes and turning the entire store into Hogwarts, to humoring me as I delved into the world of Harry in my endeavor to make the magic come to life."

Local artist Tom Lichtman donated time and materials to create an impressive Hogwarts arch, as well as a ten foot-wide, eight foot-high Sorting Hat and the Forbidden Forest spider, Aragog, with a 25-foot radius. "I consider the big pieces to be more like installations," said Wood. "The larger than life aspect of these things lent much to the atmosphere." 

On the sales floor, the crowd--which, by consensus, was estimated to be about 700 people at the height of activities--began to gather in force at 9 p.m., when Hogwarts festivities officially started. For three hours, with noise levels steadily increasing, Pottermaniacs had flying lessons; picked up messages at Owl Post; took classes in herbology, potions, charms and divination; and participated in a Horcrux scavenger hunt and a Hogwarts school dress code inspection (otherwise known as best costume award).

As midnight approached, hundreds of people melded into a single, queue-like organism, and applauded wildly as the first ceremonial cartons of HP7 were carried through them to pick-up stations. Shortly after this, "30 seconds" was announced over the public address system. The crowd screamed. Then a loud countdown from 10 began, culminating in deafening cheers as midnight struck.

By 12:45 a.m., the bookstore was nearly empty. The quiet seemed unnatural in the wake of such high-volume excitement. 

"Everyone had a grand time--including the staff," said Dumbledore (Erik Barnum, Northshire's floor manager). "While I'd like to attribute this to our efforts, I think it also had a lot to do with the, dare I say it, the magic of Harry Potter. As if it broke some natural law to be cynical at the event, the most cynical man I know had a pair of Potter glasses perched upon his head."

That reformed cynic, I confess, was me.

When I finally left around 1 a.m., the last thing I noticed was Jessica Wood's son, Samuel Littlefield, and Rachel Caruso, his girlfriend, sitting together on a sofa in the children's department, reading their copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

What page are you on?

Nine.

One book. Nine pages. Good, simple, human numbers at last.--Robert Gray

Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Aurelia Scott, author of Otherwise Normal People: Inside the Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening (Algonquin, $22.95, 9781565124646/1565124642).

---

Today on NPR's Fresh Air: Frank Owen, author of No Speed Limit: The Highs and Lows of Meth (St. Martin's, $24.95, 9780312356163/0312356161).

Also on Fresh Air: Mohammed Hafez, author of Suicide Bombers in Iraq: The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom (United States Institute of Peace Press, $17.50, 9781601270047/1601270046).

---

Tonight on the Colbert Report: Simon Schama, author of The Power of Art (Ecco, $50, 9780061176104/0061176109), which is the basis for an eight-segment series that is currently running on PBS.

From last week's Book Sense bestseller lists, available at BookSense.com, here are the recommended titles, which are also Book Sense Picks:

Hardcover

Be Near Me: A Novel by Andrew O'Hagan (Harcourt, $24, 9780151013036/0151013039). "In O'Hagan's novel, the complex friendships a middle-aged Catholic priest in a small Scottish parish develops with his housekeeper and a pair of teenagers--and the consequences of those relationships--keep the reader hanging in exquisite agony in this tale of love and prejudice, loneliness and grace."--Betsy Burton, The King's English, Salt Lake City, Utah

Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup (Little, Brown, $23.99, 9780316066303/0316066303). "God may have a sense of humor, but calling Kate Braestrup into service was no joke. While traversing her own wilderness of loss and faith, a newly single mother of four takes on the spiritually treacherous work of chaplain to Maine's toughest rescuers. Giving of herself with great humor and heart, Kate's story emanates hope and inspires a belief in miracles." --Stacie Williams, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop, Milwaukee, Wis.

Paperback

The Island: A Novel by Victoria Hislop (Harper, $14.95, 9780061340321/0061340324). "The island of the title is Spinalonga, where lepers from all over Greece were sent to live out their lives. The stories of four generations of the Petrakis family are interwoven with the story of the community on Spinalonga and the eventual discovery of a cure for leprosy in this very satisfying first novel. The unspoken is filled in, old pain is eased, and the right decisions are made."--Julie Leonard, Troubadour Books, Boulder, Colo.

For Ages 10 & Up

The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization by Daniel Pinkwater (Houghton, $16.99, 9780618594443/0618594442). "This wacky adventure includes swashbuckling actors, alien cops, a phantom bellboy, and a shape-shifting shaman. It follows young Neddie on a journey from Chicago to L.A., a journey that becomes more than he bargained for when he is entrusted with a sacred turtle. The story is humorous, engaging and heartfelt."--Debra Horan, Booklovers' Gourmet, Webster, Mass.

[Many thanks to Book Sense and the ABA!]

Rest assured, there are no spoilers in this review. It is hard to imagine a book more highly anticipated than this one, and yet it meets--and even surpasses--all expectations. As Rowling's final episode opens, Harry is about to turn 17, at which point his mother's "protective charm . . . will break," just as Voldemort and the Death Eaters begin to dominate the Ministry. In a trajectory that began with Order of the Phoenix, the hero's internal journey takes precedence over the external journey--though there is plenty of action in these nearly 800 pages.

Like Harry before him, Dumbledore here becomes the subject of a smear campaign, and the young hero must tease out the truth. He entertains the notion that crosses most students' minds: "Never once had he imagined Dumbledore's childhood or youth; it was as though he had sprung into being as Harry had known him, venerable and silver-haired and old." Because readers progressed along with the maturing Harry, they gained the knowledge required for his quest right along with him, and not a moment before it was needed. Here, as Harry makes a pilgrimage to many of the sites of greatest importance throughout the series, he learns some difficult truths about himself. Characters from as far back as Griphook, the goblin at Gringotts, and Tom, the bartender at the Leaky Cauldron, plus house-elves Kreacher and Dobby choose up sides, as all roads lead to the inevitable showdown between Harry and You-Know-Who.

Their contest turns out to be intricately connected with the legend of the Deathly Hallows, a tale of three brothers who try to outsmart death. Here the gray area between good and evil becomes even more nuanced. Several key events that Harry witnessed in earlier books take on greater importance as he re-examines them in light of new information. Building on a theme she introduced in earlier books, Rowling brilliantly demonstrates that the decisions one makes when one is young shape the person he or she later becomes. The author lets young readers know that their own actions matter, even now. But she also clearly reassures them that it is never too late to make up for one's misdeeds. Rowling has always conveyed a respect for her readers, but never more so than in this last volume, with its profound exploration of the inextricable link between love and sacrifice, and the value of life that mortality places upon it.--Jennifer M. Brown