too funny

I don't know why I missed this one when it was posted, but Maureen Johnson has the best HP ending story I've read. Really, never mind Michiko Kakutani's almost-spoiler-ish review, just read this. And then read this, her follow-up. I promise, no real spoilers in the Maureen Johnson stuff, just good fun.

In the meantime I'm hoping I finish China Mieville's Un Lun Dun today so I can clear the decks for HP VII tomorrow. I think I first heard about it on Big A, Little A, though I also read the Salon review by Laura Miller. As so often happens, I had forgotten what I'd read about it by the time I picked it up, so the Phantom Tollbooth resonances came as a surprise (despite the fact that Laura Miller notes them as well). It's a fabulous read, a more than worthy pre-read to the upcoming adverb-fest (ssh, I do love the HP books, but you've got to have noticed the prose getting flatter and flatter...).