Central Ohio literature lovers lined up at book stores and libraries in Central Ohio to be among the first to grab Harper Lee's novel, 'Go Set A Watchman.'
At the Barnes and Noble Bookstore at Lennox, customers were waiting at the door when the store opened two hours early on Tuesday. Manager Jonathan Bauer was ready for them.
"We do expect it to be one of the best selling titles of the year," says Bauer.
Author Harper Lee now resides in an assisted-living facility. She wrote 'Watchman' before the Pulitzer Prize winning 'To Kill A Mockingbird.' Mockingbird was published in 1960 and is still taught in High School English literature classes.
The Columbus Metropolitan Library ordered nearly 700 print copies and several hundred e-books. They were all checked out or reserved within the first three hours the library opened on Tuesday. Chrissie Harris is a CML librarian.
"Well there's a lot of controversy around the provenance of the book. That's really drawing people in," says Harris. "There's some issues of whether it's in Harper Lee's best interest, so people aren't sure whether if the book is going to be good. So there's kind of that maybe there's a train wreck aspect and that always draws people in."
Anders Miller just graduated from college. He starts his first job as a high school English teacher this fall. He calls the demand for 'Watchman' interesting.
"Because while we don't find it that much in books today, we still have like high demand for stories with like TV shows and with like new TV shows like 'Game of Thrones' where people are watching the show and then they go and read the books and there is that big upswing of the reading the books there. I think it's fantastic," says Miller.
Miller says he'll purchase a copy of the book.
College student Christy Sharrer is not so sure about buying 'Watchman' even though she read "To Kill a Mockingbird" in both middle school and high school.
"Yeah, I might check out the reviews on line first and then purchase it afterward and see whether it's worth it. I mean I am a college student so I don't want to go out and buy a book and not enjoy it," says Sharrer.
Columbus librarian Harris compares the 'Watchman' release to the debuts of Harry Potter Novels. If you did not get a copy from the library, the wait time for a reserve is up to three weeks. But the library may order additional copies.