I am a newby to Minimins, but had to put in my bit on this thread.
I queued up at Asda's from 10pm on the night, picked up my copy at midnight, read 'til 3am, got up at 6am and continued and finished by Sunday night.
My CD version turned up on Monday, so I started listening to the lovely Stephen Fry from book 1 to book 7. I was really lost when I finished.
I am now starting on the films - number 1 last night.