The Harry Potter phenomenon

Well, I'm not inoculated.

In fact, I both found myself at a local Harry Potter release party [photographic proof 1], and found myself the owner of a copy The Deathly Hallows today as a friend approvingly looked on[photographic proof 2].

I'm on page 120 right now, and I'll post my thoughts once I've finished the book.

Elsewhere around St. Blogs', Jimmy Akin, who isn't a fan, mentions some reasons why, and includes a critique of the "magic economics" of the series.

Fr. Z had a copy of the final volume reserved months ago, mostly because he knew he would be asked questions about them. He has some non-spoiler thoughts on the series, and includes a wonderful exposition of the book's (somewhat enigmatic) opening quotation from, of all things, Aeschylus' The Libation Bearers.

Meanwhile, MOJ links to this Christianity Today review that shows "the ways in which the book presents (almost always symbolically) themes that are deeply Christian, most notably the power of sacrificial love."

Finally, Amy has a good post and the comments thread is ground-zero for the user discussion on this topic. I refrained from reading too closely because I'm horrified at the possibility of spoilers.

As related, I'll refrain from further comments until I know how the series ends.