Pottermaniac

J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Bloomsbury; 636 pages) would have sold millions of copies had its publishers simply dumped them in bookstores, unannounced, and then got out of the way as word of mouth spread among stampeding Pottermaniacs.

The launch of the fifth book, for instance, involved only one personal appearance, when JKR read extracts to 4,000 carefully selected Pottermaniacs in the Albert Hall.

If you are a Pottermaniac, this is the month for you. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" opens today, and on July 21 the seventh and final Potter tome lands with a thud at your local bookstore.