Give Thanks For Good Books: Harry Potter

Beth Revis, the lovely author of Across the Universe, is hosting a contest in which we are to tell her one book we are grateful for.

The book that I'm most grateful for, of course, is Harry Potter. Without it my childhood would have been a mundane one; lacking in magic, cool broom-flying wizards, a certain lightening-scarred boy, a certain genius, a certain red-head, and a lack of much needed release of escaping into the Wizarding World.

So to sum it up:

  

Give Thanks For Good Books: Harry Potter

Pottermore (Harry Potter fans!)

I just got my Pottermore account today (MidnightHallow126)! I figured out the answer to the clue quickly so all I really had to do was the math. I wanted to do the clue from yesterday, Day 3, but I fell asleep before I could because the clue was released around 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning) I’m so happy I made it today though! I jumped around a couple of times and got a few odd looks from my little brother. For today (Day 4) they changed the timeframe to reveal the clue from 9am- 1pm so I was happy I didn’t have to set my alarm clock at 4am.


For any of you diehard Harry Potter fans who aren't able to make a Pottermore account because you're working during the time that the clues are revealed, and you really really want to an early account you could email me and I can try to get you one during one of the remaining days if they keep the current timeframe (a.k.a when I'm awake).

Pottermore (Harry Potter fans!)

Harry Potter - Blast From the Past!

So today I FINALY got to see the last Harry Potter movie. It was EPIC in every sense of the word. I watched the movie in 3-D which made the experience even more surreal. Watching a Harry Potter movie always makes me feel nostalgic. I keep on imagining my younger self huddled under the blankets with a flashlight in hand. I’d read away until two in the morning and sleep with the book underneath my face.

The first time I picked up an HP book my 3rd grade teacher said to me "Are you SURE you want to read this? It’ll be way too challenging for you." I felt challenged. He all but told me "put that book down, you're too young to read it. And being young = lack of understanding." I really didn't like it when people made assumptions about my abilities. Plus, I always wondered why people would read books that were SO large. What was the point when you could just watch the movies?

I agreed repeatedly that I would read it until he gave me the book. Within three days I was finished with it. When my teacher asked me what I did when I 'didn't understand something' I replied, "Well, I understood everything that happened. But if you're asking what I did when I didn't understand a word, I just looked it up in the dictionary." He was impressed, and I was really proud of myself for reading a book so large so fast. At that time I didn't like reading. It was something I did when it was required for me to do for school. Harry Potter made me realize how much fun reading can be, which eventually led to my love for writing. I’m so glad I hadn’t let my teacher dissuade me from reading it that day because from that day on reading has been my escape and my all-time favorite hobby.

SO…back to the movie. :)

Did anyone realize that part when Snape told Harry that his eyes were just like his mother's, but then in the memory his mother’s eyes were a completely different color?

Harry Potter - Blast From the Past!

YA Books Turning Into Movies (Part 2) + Exciting News!

The producing team behind the hit CW series Gossip Girl is taking on another best-selling young adult novel -- and this one is bound for the big screen.

Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage of the Paramount-based Fake Empire shingle and Alloy Entertainment’s Leslie Morgenstein and Bob Levy have set up The Luxe at Paramount and have tapped Bess Wohl to pen the screenplay.

A sort of The Age of Innocence meets Gossip Girl, Luxe tracks four teens set in 19th century New York and features conflicts between old money and new money, the upper class and lower class, and star-crossed lovers. Four of the Alloy Entertainment books by Anna Godbersen have been published, all hitting the New York Times best-seller list. (Cited from Hollywoodreporter.com)

In other movie news are any of you going to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 this weekend? I can't believe it's going to be the last movie. I'm never going to stop obsessing over the magical world of Hogwarts and the boy with the lightening scar on his forehead. I'll probably keep reading the books over and over again until I've read it so many times that I've got it memorized. But at least we have Pottermore to keep our Harry Potter fandom alive.

And also this little bit of exciting news:

Start all the clocks and plug the telephone back in: JK Rowling has provided a shred of comfort to the millions of mourners lamenting the release of the final Harry Potter movie with the revelation that she has written "quite a lot" of new material and has plans to publish it.

Speaking at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two, Rowling told MTV News that "I'm writing, and I've done quite a lot since finishing Harry Potter". She expanded further to BBC News, saying "I think I always felt I didn't want to publish again until the last film was out because Potter has been such a huge thing in my life. I've been writing hard ever since I finished writing Hallows, so I've got a lot of stuff and I suppose it's a question of deciding which one comes out first. But I will publish again. In a sense it's a beginning for me as well as an end."

The author has previously said that she is working on a political fairytale for slightly younger children, revealing in 2009 that "I think that will probably be the next thing that I finish".

Rowling has also spoken of writing an encyclopedia of the Potter universe, although it seems likely that her new venture, Pottermore, which will feature over 18,000 words of new Potter content penned by the author, will be the location for any further Potter-related material. And the author has mentioned plans for a book aimed at adults, saying in 2007 that "I'm sort of writing two things at the moment – one is for children and the other is not for children", adding that it was unlikely her new venture would be another fantasy series. "I think I've done my fantasy. To go and create another fantasy universe would feel wrong, and I don't know if I'm capable of it."

Working on something new felt like a fresh start, Rowling told MTV at the premiere. "I also felt I wanted the last film out of the way before I made any moves on the publishing front. Harry is so huge and I suppose my involvement with the world has still been quite intense," she said. "This feels like a new beginning to me."

(Cited from guardian.co.uk)

To see "YA Books Turning Into Movie (Part 1)" post click here.

YA Books Turning Into Movies (Part 2) + Exciting News!

For Fans of Harry Potter!

I’ve been hearing a lot about J K Rowling’s new site, Pottermore.com, which will be launched in October. And as any other huge Harry Potter fan I’m really excited to see what it’s going to look like.

There’s a video on the website now where Rowling talks a bit about what’s going to be on the site. It looks fantastic so far! A select few will get to go on the site early (to find out how check back on the site on July 31st). Also, if you want to be notified when the site is officially up and running you can add your email on the Pottermore site.

On another note today is the last day to enter my 200th follower Giveaway! Enter for a chance to win any YA novel of your choice!

For Fans of Harry Potter!