absolutely No Spoilers contained here
Yesterday I bought "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
I didn't queue up in the million people long queue at Borders, I just went to my favourite Department Store (David Jones for aussies) and picked up their third last copy from a display stand in the ladies lingerie section! I did pass by Borders out of curiosity and soaked up the atmosphere of wizards in long flowing robes serving at the cash registers, Snape looking all servere, and Hermione coming to my aid in finding a book I wanted which was not HP and which I was able to purchase in a non-HP queue thank god (she was very pretty and very smart).
I've resisted HP for years - show me a craze and I run the other way. And I would have happily stayed HP-free except that I was somehow drawn to Daniel Radcliffe when he took on the role in Equus, and I was very tempted to start watching the HP movies to see his development over the years and films from the sweet gentle kid in the round glasses, to the courage of taking on a role of such depth.
But when brilliant QAF ladies love the books, I can't help but feel I should be reading JK Rowling first and seeing the development of Harry through her words and vision.
It's going to take a while to go through the books/films, and it's going to be interesting to see if I'm drawn into the fantasy - let's see if JKR and Harry and Daniel can take me there. I have no fear of being spoiled along the way - after all, I've lasted years being oblivious to everything except the charming concept of Station 9 3/4, and the excitement of the quidditch broomstick competition.