I’m away on vacation. In my absence I leave you some random posts. Today’s offers you Three Beautiful Things about Harry Potter:

1. I pull the sixth book out of my bag while waiting for the train late one evening and settle in to read. A man in his twenties approaches. “Excuse me. You don’t know me, but are you rereading all the books before the seventh one comes out on Friday? … You are? Me too! I’m so glad I’m not the only one. … And this isn’t just the second time you’ve read them right? … Aren’t they great?”

2. Saturday afternoon, we head outside to read at the local Starbucks (they have an expansive area of outdoor seating). Two guys are reading the books, as is a girl nearby and another girl at the restaurant next door. We see several copies walk by. Blog posts from around the world talk about the book. Almost all of my friends are reading the book. Was this what they meant at Conn when they talked about the global community? Maybe if we had more books like these, there would be fewer wars…

3. A teen sits outside a café, sleeping, his head cushioned on his closed copy of The Deathly Hallows.