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I've Got Harry Potter Fever!

I remember standing in line in a strip mall bookstore outside of a beach town, holding my baby boy in my arms, waiting for the final book in the Harry Potter series. I think I spent that entire weekend encouraging him to nap so that I could keep reading. And I'm pretty sure that I was a horrible house guest that weekend as well. I can't believe we're nearing the end of the film franchise, and I don't yet have a concrete plan for seeing the movie yet!

Almost as amazing as the film opening is the release of Harry Potter Film Wizardry--the behind-the-scenes book that includes tons of production sketches, photos, and stories from the cast and crew, It’s a treasure trove for any Harry Potter fan. When the books arrived in the office I grabbed the first one I could and dove in -- it really is incredible. Look at some amazing interior pages here and watch the book trailer below to see what I mean.

To celebrate the book and the film , you can also enter to win a Harry Potter prize pack that includes a copy of the book Harry Potter Film Wizardry, IMAX passes, and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 movie poster.  Enter by Thursday Nov. 18^th, 1pm EST.

New Harry Potter Trailer Released!

Check out the newest trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, opening nationwide on July 17, 2009. This is going to be a long time to wait!!!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer is Up!

The movies look to be following the ever darkening arc of the books, if this first trailer of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is any indication. Great casting of young Voldemort, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end while watching it.

Harry Potter Prequel is Now Online!

The handwritten Harry Potter prequel, that J.K. Rowling recently wrote and that is set three years before Harry's birth, was sold last night for 25,000 pounds at an auction to benefit the charities English PEN and Dyslexia Action. You can now read it online here as obviously that tiny little picture to the left is not going to work for anyone, be they Muggle or Wizard.

Harry Potter's Deathly Hollows to be Split into Two Movies

This just in regarding the film adaptations (yes, that's plural!) of the final book. I think it makes a lot of sense given the scope of the book. I'm excited.

Harry Potter Update

Well clearly my gaydar is off as I confess I never really considered the question of Dumbledore's sexuality. But now that it has been revealed, by Rowling herself, I guess I can see it. I love that the news was greeted with applause as well as gasps.

My Book Club Met Last Night to Discuss Suite Francaise

It was my turn to host book group last night and thankfully the heat held off a bit (we don't have central air) so while it was a bit warm, no one was melting. I served chilled white wine and prosecco -- my favorite summer drink along with cheese (always gruyere) and crackers. To keep things light and cool, dessert was pound cake and two-bite brownies from Whole Foods served with strawberries, cherries, blueberries and grapes with freshly whipped cream to top it all off. The best thing is that there is a bit of everything left over for tonight!

We met to discuss Suite Francaise, though some of us (ok, me, due to marathon reading of Harry Potter this past weekend) hadn't finished it , but it was a really great discussion. Everyone really enjoyed the book, and was especially interested in learning more about Nemirovsky's life and loved the extra material and letters in the back of the book.

We found ourselves discussing how various countries responded to the Nazis and either did or didn't rise up against them. I remembered, from reading Beth Gutcheon's Leeway Cottage, how the people of Denmark amazingly saved 7,000 Jews from extinction.

We voted for our next book, and yes, I did stack the deck. Here were the five candidates:
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
The Island by Victoria Hislop
The Maytrees by Annie Dillard

After our two rounds of voting (you get two votes in the first round and then we vote in the next round for the top two vote getters), it came down to The Space Between Us and The Island. The Island won, I think because I kept comparing it to the experience of reading The Thorn Birds, a great sweeping family epic, perfect for the beach.

You can win a copy of The Island and get reading group resources here.

Finished!

Happy Happy Harry Day!

The day has finally arrived! I can't believe that in 24 hours time, less really, I will be holding number 7 in my hands. It will take a mighty will to not turn to that last page. My sister vows to read the book with the right-hand page covered while reading the left, to keep her eyes from drifting ahead.

There are just so many questions. Will Harry really not return to Hogwarts? Will Ron, and more shockingly, Hermione, join him on his quest? How on earth will he find the remaining Horcruxes in the span of one book when they could be virtually anywhere and in anything? Is Snape good or bad? Who is R.A.B.? I'm giddy with anticipation.

And let me just say, that no matter what happens and how it all ends: thank you J.K. Rowling, for providing me with one of the most thrilling reading experiences of my life. For an experience that went beyond the books and brought millions of us together. To create this community of people around the world, who are all waiting so eagerly and excitedly, well, I know it's been said before, but it is truly amazing. Thank you for reminding us of the power of the book.

Harry Potter Poll Results are In!

I hope you'll forgive the Harry nature of BCG these days, and that you'll understand. The biggest book to be published in well, I'm not sure how long, but quite some time--a book that demands spoiler alerts and already has kids standing in line somewhere--seems to merit numerous entries.

Book Club Girl hereby promises as well, that I will reveal nothing about what happens in the Deathly Hallows.

In any case, the results are in for the Harry Potter poll conducted by BookReporter.com, previously announced here. 10,000 readers weighed in and with 1 (!) day to go, the top three vote getters for who will die in the final book break down across the age barriers like thus:

Adults: 30% Voldemort, 17% Severus Snape, 9% Draco Malfoy
Teens: 32% Voldemort, 17% Harry Potter, 12% Severus Snape
Children: 34% Voldemort, 16% Severus Snape, 14% Harry Potter

which just goes to show you, children are a lot darker than we give them credit for.

There's still time to make your vote count!

We Have a Winner--Falls Church, VA is Officially the Harry-Est Town!

Congratulations Falls Church, VA, for pre-ordering more copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows from Amazon than any other town! Falls Church is the winner of a $5,000 gift certificate which will be given to The Mary Riley Styles Public Library Foundation Trust of Falls Church, which looks like a lovely library. On the first Thursday of each month, they hold a book group discussion, next up on August 2nd, if you live in the area, is a discussion of Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants.

When announcing the winner, Amazon also revealed the Harry-est States, and I'm proud to see my home state of NH made the top ten.

FOUR DAYS TO GO......

Thumbs Up for Order of the Phoenix

Well, that was a lot of fun. Just back from seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I have to give it a thumbs up. Mind you, it is a digest version of the book in a big way, but they did do a pretty admirable job of shrinking all those pages down to still make sense and not leave out too much. Much of the plot is delivered through a clever use of Daily Prophet headlines and Dolores Umbridge's decrees.Though there were things that I missed seeing: Aunt Petunia receiving the Howler at the beginning of the book whose full meaning we still don't know and Harry's dreams and his subsequent occlumency lessons with Snape, which are given pretty short shrift. But on the whole, I think it was quite good, especially given the basic challenges of dramatic structure the filmmakers face given that we're still in the middle of the story. Imagine if instead of just one spectacular Empire Strikes Back, Lucas had had to produce 5 of them with equally impressive plot and pacing?

I have to give particular shout outs to Imelda Staunton for her unbelievably sadistic Dolores Umbridge, Alan Rickman for his increasingly complex Snape (who was really starting to sound like Hans from Die Hard, but I didn't mind) and most of all, to Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood -- she was fantastically spacey. My daughter has been talking like her ever since we got home. 

Harry Potter Movie and Book News

The Harry news is coming fast and furious as we lead up to tomorrow's movie release of course next Friday night, and these are all from just one paper. In today's New York Times, the movie gets a mostly favorable review, especially praising all the British actors. Also in today's Times is news of the hint of the possibility that Rowling could one day return to the world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And lastly, in Sunday's Times, Larry Doyle (I Love You, Beth Cooper), Meg Cabot (Queen of Babble), Damon Lindelhof (The Lost) and Polly Horvath (The Canning Season) weigh in on how they think the series should end. (you may have to give up a little information to get free access to read these).

We have the sitter booked for tomorrow night!

The Last Word is Still Rowling's

J.K. Rowling has revealed that she changed the final word in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows at the last minute. For a long time it had been "scar." She's not telling what it is now, so there's yet another thing to keep us racing to the end. Stephen King's eulogy to the series in this week's Entertainment Weekly pretty much perfectly expresses my own feelings of anticipation mixed with trepidation at facing the end.

One thing that is not in doubt is that Falls Church, VA will walk away with the big prize next week when Amazon awards it the Harry-est Town in America. Making a valiant effort to break into the top 100 this week are Gettysburg, PA, and Lake Villa, IL.

Take the Harry Potter Poll

OK, I just finished the Half-Blood Prince a few hours ago and I am so glad I re-read it in time. I had completely forgotten that the Horcrux that Harry and Dumbledore recover turns out to be a fake and I had totally spaced the mysterious note that is inside the locket from R.A.B. -- my sister thinks this is from Sirius's brother, Regulus -- which could mean that the real Horcrux he took is in Sirius's, now Harry's, house. Want to cast your vote as to who will die in the final book? Vote here.
In terms of Harry-est Towns -- new to the top 100 this week are Estes Park, CO; Charlottesville, VA; Leander, TX and Westlake Village, CA.

Report from ALA

I spent yesterday at one of the most effective and worthwhile conferences I've attended in quite a while -- the annual convention of the American Library Association.

We had some great authors in attendance and I was struck by how thoughtful all the attending librarians were, and how eager they were to meet and connect with our authors, including Jennifer McMahon, author of Promise Not to Tell, a gripping murder mystery set in Vermont (here's the reading group guide); and Heather McElhatton, who has reinvented the choose-your-own-adventure books of our youth into a modern, definitely for grownups, "Do-Over Novel" entitled Pretty Little Mistakes. You graduate from high school on the first page and decide whether to go to college or go off with your boyfriend and it takes off from there, with 150 different possible endings.  They were both fantastic and charmed everyone they met.

The day before we were joined by Shireen Dodson, author of the newly revised Mother-Daughter Book Club (we want to hear from you here soon Shireen!). Hers is a fantastic compendium of books for girls of all ages and their mothers and celebrates and encourages the formation of mother-daughter book clubs. I missed Shireen on Sunday but got to spend some time with her daughter the following day (helping her troll the Penguin booth for multiples of the coveted Harry Potter bag, oops, now they know, that was me, each time).

I have to give a big shout out to our academic and library marketing group. They are incredible. Pickles and Sarah Jane, you do Virginia and Diane proud.

Harry-est Town Update

Sorry for the delay this week, if you've been reading you know I was in DC for ALA. More on that in a moment. Well, I took advantage of my train ride south to begin re-reading Half-Blood Prince and I'm really glad that I did as I had forgotten quite a lot. Now I feel like when I see the movie of Phoenix, one week before the big day, I'll be able to place everything in order. God I really am getting old that I'm so concerned about remembering the chronology. Something tells me that the 10 year-olds out there are not as concerned about remembering what happened when, they just know it.

OK, onto the Harry-est Town Update -- and may I just comment for a moment on the Dementor-like grip that VA has on the top of the list? I mean, I love Amazon too, but are there no bookstores holding midnight parties in Virginia? New to the top 100 this week are Ojai, CA (isn't that where the oddly compelling Brothers and Sisters is set?); Estes Park, CO; Olympia, WA; Monroe, NY and Chardon, OH.