etf@mcimail.com Subject: Re: "It didn't seem to drone on and on," she said. "There was a lot of stuff in the fourth book that could have been cut out, and the fifth book was really long. In the sixth book, everything fit in.""I loved the book. I hated the ending," said 39-year-old Shelly Blackmore of Centerville, Ohio. "There is a death. I sobbed. It was horrible." "There is a huge amount of security around the book right up to the moment the clock strikes midnight," Richard Cristofoli, an executive at British bookseller WH Smith, told Reuters. Scholastic probably won't have to worry about many returns, however. "Phoenix" sold more than 12 million copies, and "Half-Blood Prince" has been No. 1 on Amazon.com's sales list since the book was announced several months ago. "She (Rowling) manages to make some jokes," she said. Indeed, a couple characters were knocked off in previous books, and ugly politics hung heavy over "Order of the Phoenix." "I thought the writing style was different. It was darker and more depressing. I liked it better," Coppolo said. "The previous books were more uplifting." l of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "It didn't seem to drone on and on," she said. "There was a lot of stuff in the fourth book that could have been cut out, and the fifth book was really long. In the sixth book, everything fit in." Those lucky to be at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland are being treated to a reading by Rowling. Fire dancers are expected to perform in the Changing Hands parking lot in Tempe, Arizona, and a New Orleans, Louisiana, bookstore is co-sponsoring a neighborhood Potter adventure, The Associated Press rep But here are a few things you can bank on: Harry is another year older, his life gets more complicated, Voldemort draws closer and the tale is a little darker.