Mar
25
Can you believe its been 15 years since Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone was bought to the page? Neither can I. To commemorate this monumental anniversary, Bloomsbury, the publishing company of the Harry Potter books in the UK, has launched a contest to find the biggest Harry Potter fans. Bloomsbury is using the help of booksellers and librarians to help them find the fans.
Here’s what you can do to enter:
Much of Harry Potter’s early success was due to the support from brilliant booksellers and librarians, and Bloomsbury would love to call on that fantastic support once more. Bloomsbury is inviting fans to write a letter explaining why they love Harry Potter. The only way to enter the competition is to post these letters in specially provided Harry Potter post boxes in their local bookshop or library. The competition will run from Tuesday 26th June until Tuesday 31st July 2012, after which we will select the winning entry and name the UK and Ireland’s biggest Harry Potter fan.
Unfortunately, this contest is only open to residents of the UK and Ireland, so if you live there you can visit Bloomsbury’s website to find the participating libraries and bookstores. One of the prizes will include a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando! Believe me when I say it is well worth it to enter. Good luck to all who enter and if it’s someone who visits this site let us know!
Mar
05
March is Women’s History Month and what better way to start off the celebration then with a “Top Ten” list. Flavorwire, the cultural news and critique website, has compiled a list of the Top 10 Most Powerful Female Characters in Literature and our own Hermione Granger has been ranked as #2 right behind Jane Eyre from the novel written by Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre. Here is what the article said about Hermione:
In the Harry Potter books, Hermione starts as an insufferable know-it-all, blossoms into a whip-smart beauty who doesn’t suffer fools (except Ron), and ends up as the glue that holds the whole operation together. Hermione’s steadfastness and sheer intelligence (plus the fact that she’s the only one who has ever read Hogwarts: A History) save her two best friends time and time again, and she’s the only one of the three never to wholly break down in a crisis. Intelligence often translates into strength, but only when wielded by a steady hand — and Hermione just happens to have both, and compassion to boot. That’s our kind of girl.
Congrats goes out to Jo Rowling for writing such an inspiring and intelligent character who girls of all ages, yours truly included, can be proud to look up to. You can view the list of winners below.
- Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre
- Hermione Granger, The Harry Potter series
- The Wife of Bath, The Canterbury Tales
- Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games trilogy
- Hester Prynne, The Scarlet Letter
- Eowyn, The Lord of the Rings
- Lyra Silvertongue, His Dark Materials trilogy
- Janie Crawford, Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Hua Mulan, The Ballad of Mulan
- Lisbeth Salander, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series
Feb
24
The UK publishers of the Harry Potter series, Bloomsbury, has announced the release of an illustrated version of the seven book set. It is unknown whether it will be similar to the US edition of the books where Mary Grandpre’s drawings start each chapter. Bloomsbury had this to say of the new book set.
We are pleased to announce that as part of our long term strategy for Harry Potter we intend to publish illustrated editions of all seven Harry Potter books in a rolling program from 2013 onward in addition to our partnership on e-books with the Pottermore website.
Unfortunately, there is no update on when the BETA testing for Pottermore will cease and no time frame for when the e-books will be released. We will keep you informed of any new information when it becomes available. Thanks to Snitchseeker for the breaking news!
