Well this is definitely a red-letter month if you’re a Harry Potter fan. Not only did the release of the new film (Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix) enter theatres last Wednesday, but the latest, greatest, and final book of the famed Harry Potter series will be in book stores and mailboxes everywhere on the 21st.

In case you couldn’t tell, I am a fan…and I’d venture to say that almost everyone I know is as well. Sadly I was a late comer to the Harry Potter fanship. Mainly due to my personal rule to not pay much attention to the things that get (in my opinion) an abnormal amount media hype. In general, I’ve found that the books that make it big in the mainstream are usually not ones I find I enjoy or identify with as much as the lesser-knowns I stumble across or are recommended by friends.

I was living in the UK when Harry Potter mania was really taking hold. In fact, the casting call for the boy-who-would-be-Harry for the movie versions of the books took place while I was there. I can remember watching BBC when they reported that Daniel Radcliffe had made the cut and thinking that yes, despite the little I knew about the book, he did indeed look like what I would have pictured Harry Potter to be.

I changed my tune due to Jo mainly. Although my best friend had been pushing Harry on me for years, it was during a trip to Atlanta that my sister finally talked me into giving Harry a try. “If you don’t love it by the end of the first book, I promise I’ll never force you to do anything again,” she had said.

So I bought Book 1. I had all but finished it on the trip back to New York and could hardly wait to get my hands on the next 5 volumes. Not only did I love it, but I have since purchased all of the books in hardcover (I used paperback copies to read on the subway).

Now I sit and wait not-so-very patiently for the 21st to roll around… Truth be told, I even have a Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows countdown gadget on my iGoogle homepage. In the meantime, I’ll at least get to kill some time going to see Order of the Phoenix in IMAX 3D this weekend. That should help take the edge off.