Just as I managed to avoid the whole Star Wars thing—well, okay, except that one time I stumbled into some “Top Secret” Mister Sinus screening and that happened to be the flick they were showing—I also neatly stepped around the Harry Potter Doorstop Extravaganza. Oh, people kept telling me how great the books were. But two things prompted me to not go there. One—call me the snotty English major I can sometimes be, but if it has Oprah Approved! or NYT Bestseller on the cover, unless it’s a David Sedaris book, I’m going to exhibit extreme caution around even thinking about reading it. Two—and this is related—I got burned with the whole Celestine Prophecy bullshit. I should’ve realized when two different people told me, “I never read books but I loved this one… you HAVE TO READ IT!!!,” that taking book buying advice from non-readers is akin to seeking marriage counseling from a priest. more ›