Chamber of Secrets Forum- In Memoriam

This week has been a sad week for Harry Potter fandom. First, Richard Griffiths (who played Uncle Vernon in the Potter films) dies, and then I find out that the wonderful Chamber of Secrets Forum is to close.

I joined Chamber of Secrets forum almost 9 years ago. It was after the Bloomsbury Harry Potter forum closed down and when I was still insisting that Sirius was not actually dead (and yes there is still a part of me that believes that).

I’ve spoken before of how Harry Potter was my introduction to the online life, and this was mainly through The Chamber of Secrets Forum (CoS)

I enjoyed discussing various theories there and found that Harry Potter was more than just an imaginative and engaging book. There is so much behind it that once I did not see but soon learnt to discover for myself. Many an evening was spent talking about the various details of each of the books and what they meant. I didn’t even need the books to help my theorising, I lived them enough to know even small details off by heart.

But CoS was more than just a Harry Potter forum for me. I spent more time in general discussion threads than I did in the Potter threads most of the time. I made my first online friends, some of whom I met later during the release of Deathly Hallows.

I used the spend lunchtime at school on CoS, I stayed up late on CoS at weekends, when I started at 6th form I often spent free periods there, and even when I started uni and didn’t expect to be able to visit so much anymore I still managed to find a way to chat to my friends.

After the release of Deathly Hallows we all knew things were bound to change. With nothing new to discuss things could only go so far. The owner and moderators opened some new areas for more varied discussion but whilst they were used they never became as popular as the actual Potter areas were, and of course people don’t join Harry Potter forums to talk about other things.

I stuck around for quite a while after Deathly Hallows. At first there were Harry Potter things to discuss. I had my friends to talk to, and I started to explore other areas of the site. However things did start to drop of. Threads seemed to go round and round in circles, less people were visiting, you could wait days sometimes for a thread to be updated. Gradually I started visiting less and less. I still haven;t completely abandoned the forum but I visit less than monthly, and don’t always comment on things when I do visit.

I will be sad to see CoS go. There are so many happy memories there for me. But all good things must come to an end, and this day has been coming for a long time.

—

The Chamber of Secrets Forum will officially close in July

 

Bookish Bits

Newspapers yellow (Photo credit: NS Newsflash)

Over the last week(ish) I’ve shared a fair bit over twitter and facebook which I’ve found around the internet. It occurred to me that it might actually be good to share it here too.

A sort of homage to Chrisbookarama’s Friday Bookish Buzz.

PanMacmillan are running a competition to have your handwriting turned into a font. Something strangely personal yet eternal about that idea.

Netgalley is looking for a UK based Community Manager. This sounds like an awesome job for a lot of bloggers, except that you have to live in London.

The Guardian looked at the effect being Booker nominee has on sales. Life of Pi has been the most popular in the data studied.

And on a less serious note they challenged authors to write a ‘twitter novel’ using no more than 140 characters. My favourite is Ian Rankin’s kind of funny.

I tweeted my way through the first half of Philip Pullman’s Grimm Fairy Tales. Seriously I think I have something to say about every story. My favourite so far has been The Mouse, The Bird and The Sausage, simply for the absurdity of the situation.

And (hot off the presses) Hilary Mantel has won the 2012 Booker Prize for Bringing up the Bodies. Guess I should really move Wolf Hall up my TBR list now

Children’s hour notice

I have decided not to post a Children’s hour this week I did have one prepared but WordPress ate it. I have an interview tomorrow and lots of preparation to do so don’t really have time to write it again. I promise I will get something up on the blog over the weekend though.

Literary Giveaway Blog Hop back again

Judith is again running the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop on her blog Leeswammes’ Blog. This time it will take part from the 23rd to the 27th June.

The Literary Blog Hop is different because bloggers only give away books with ‘literary merit’. No romance, no Y.A and no urban fantasy. I like this because often I find giveaways fall into these genres, and they aren’t the genres I tend to read. I guess you can say it’s a breath of fresh air.

I think it’s been a while since I last did a giveaway too so I’m looking forward to this one.

If you want to join in sign-ups are open until 20th June here at Leeswammes’ Blog

J.K. Rowling new book details.

Image from Little Brown

So today the details of J.K. Rowling’s new book, to be called The Casual Vacancy have been released. How can I as a self-confessed Potter-geek not comment?! So what’s it all about? Synopsis comes from Little Brown

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

I must admit to me that sounds kind of interesting. War in a village. Vaguely political, I can imagine that being quite funny in a sort of Yes, Minister way but smaller scale. All about people thinking they’re fantastic and wanting to do anything for power- which is just made silly by it just being a parish council. Yeah I can see black comedy there.

Of course it’s very different from Harry, but at least it can’t be compared (although I am sure someone will try). A good move by J.K. I think, she really needs to get away from Harry if she wants to be seen as an author who is more than a one-trick-pony if you will. To keep going with Harry it may seem a bit like she’s in it just for the money (and God how I hate when things go past their best and people still keep trying to go with it.)

I probably will read it, although a part of me does wonder if I’m more interested in reading it because it’s J.K. rather than because it sounds like a good read.

You can already pre-order The Casual Vacancy on Amazon

Related Articles:

From The Guardian

So, J.K Rowling is writing again.

Image from The Telegraph

JK Rowling announces new novel – for adults | Books | guardian.co.uk.

Not much to tell really…barely makes an article. J.K will be releasing a new book which is aimed at adults and “very different” from Harry Potter. She is going with a new publishers, supposedly to separate her new novel from from her Harry Potter novels.

In the past I remember her talking about the possibility of writing a crime novel after Harry Potter (although I can’t seem to find the interview so I could be wrong), which isn’t actually a genre that far from Harry Potter, what with the solving of mysteries that tend to happen especially in earlier Harry Potter books- Chamber of Secrets leaps to mind. However in the past Rowling has said that she would want to write crime under another name- maybe she has abandoned this plan, or has been persuaded to- I am sure her name adds a lot to the prospects of a book selling, at least her first novel for adults anyway. Or maybe she already has done this and now that no new Harry Potter books are coming out she has decided to start using her names to sell things.

I don’t really care about her motives for choosing to use her name- or not as the case will be, I am however intrigued to see what she has come up with away from Harry, and it she can pull off writing for adults. Personally I’ve always thought that her writing style had more to it than you would initially see. This I suppose is from years of dissecting Harry Potter on The Chamber of Secrets Forum.

The real question I suppose is will I read it? And that, well, to be honest I really do not know.

There is a part of me that really wants to. The part of my that wants to see what a different novel by J.K. is like. The part of me that wants to read it just because it could be just as good as Harry- and that doesn’t want to miss out on that possibility.

Then there is the bit of me that says, but what if you don’t like it? Won’t that be a great disappointment? The part of my that says I should just judge it as a book rather than a book by the author of Harry Potter.

The thing is can I judge it just as any other book? Even if I try to do into it open minded won’t there still be the bit of my that’s squeeing to have a new book by J.K. Rowling…because I always wanted more Harry, and well isn’t this the next best thing? Will I ever be able to get past comparing it to Harry Potter, when he has been in my life for so many years, and been a big part of my life for some of that?

I would love to walk in to a bookshop, maybe see a book I like the look of, read the synopsis and like the sound of it and not know right till the end that t was by J.K. that way I would have no preconceived ideas. But that’s not going to happen is it?

Related Links:

J.K. Rowling’s New Book: Clues Suggest a Turn to Crime Fiction (Guardian online)

Chamber of Secrets Forums

J.K Rowling’s Site

Accio-Quote (Quotes from interviews)

UK Riots

So despite this being a blog about books I do not think I can be a blogger from Birmingham (or even just a blogger from the UK in general) without at least mentioning what has been going on over here during the past week. So it comes down to writing a post that is not about books, the first time I have done such a thing on this blog. Those of you who follow me on twitter may have noticed that my tweets recently have been going off my normal book topic too in order to talk about the riots.

In fact it was Twitter that first showed me what was going on in Birmingham. With pictures of police and smashed up shops appearing at least an hour before anything was mentioned on the news.

You can imagine the shock of seeing such images of your own city, added tot the fact that just half an hour before I had been in the city centre and everythings had been ‘normal’. Even today (when there has been no trouble for a few days) there are police all over the place, and so many boarded up shops it’s sad to see something like this. Some of the choices of shops seem so illogical too. I mean why smash up a betting shop? Or a newsagents? Why smash up a sandwich shop, whatever are you hoping to find. One of the most powerful videos was that of Cyber Candy being smashed up, another seemingly pointless place to smash up. Other places make more sense in that you could actually get something from them, clothes shops, phones shops, electrical shops mainly. Walking through town though I was surprised of the places that had been hit and I didn’t know about. Hat Man (a local business) was talked about a lot because it comes down much more to one person’s livelihood, but The Oasis is independent too, so why wasn’t that talked about?

There were certain advantages and disadvantages to following what was happening on Twitter. It was certainly getting news through quicker than the actual news but it wasn’t very accurate. It did seem pretty genuine at first but then the photos decreases and the rumours started, the Bull had been decapitated (not true, but there was a fake picture), Primark was on fire (again, not true), the children’s hospital had been attacked (not true, again, although rioters did go for the police station opposite). Generally was the worst night, there was a police station burnt down (luckily with no police inside) but nothing too serious. Birmingham though was where 3 men were run down who had been defending their community. Things seem to have been quieter after that, maybe people thought it had just gone too far by then.

So what sparked it? Yes, there was the factor of an innocent man being shot by police. I think that helped, along with the probably well known knowledge that the police are racist, but that suggests all the trouble was with ‘minorities’ but really it wasn’t. It is very easy to say that they were all greedy criminals, stupid, unemployed, poor, but really it wasn’t that. Plenty of unemployed yes, plenty poor. Buts lots of educated people too, and lots of employed people. I really think it wasn’t just about that one guy, I don’t think really it was just about racism. I don’t think it was about greed, or about lack of respect. I think a lot of people are angry at the government right now (and I’m count myself among them). Pensions are getting cut, services are getting cut, job’s aren’t secure, student fees have been raised. The economy could be much better, and people really don’t like the way the government are dealing with things.  Something was bound to happen, most people won’t react like this but it’s difficult when your peaceful protects aren’t being noticed, how else can you make your voice heard? I’m not saying rioting is the answer. Far from it but I can see what people might be thinking.

 

Related articles

• UK riots: The last 24 hours in pictures (mirror.co.uk)
• UK Riots: fear in the air in Birmingham as mobs roam streets (telegraph.co.uk)
• UK riots: Staring into ‘the abyss of anarchy’ (cnn.com)

eeek excitement POTTERMORE!

 

Wow this is much much excitement! See I can’t even use words properly!

From the video I am most excited about the extra snippets J.K talks about, anything new always drives me crazy and I still want to know MORE!

It sounds kind of like an online community too, I love forums so am happy in that respect but wonder how much it will actually give us that a ‘normal’ forum doesn’t? And how awesome would it be to be one of the people to be let in early?

There is more information on The Leaky Cauldron

• You will be like another character, getting sorted and even getting a wand from one of 33,000 combinations!
• There will be lots of information on McGonnagal’s backstory (which could well be interesting)
• You will get exclusive information about your house (unless you are sorted into Gryffindor)
• Will not included the encyclopaedia, this will be a paper book, if it ever happens (WHAT it might not happen…I was hoping for it for so long though!)

Can’t wait for 31st July to try and get in early!

 

Pottermore

So I did find out about Pottermore not long after it had been released that Pottermore is the answer to the clues but I thought here I am self confessed Potter addict and I haven’t even mentioned Pottermore on my blog!

Of course there is little really to say, I mean it’s just “Coming Soon” currently which really shows very little about what it will actually be. J.k. has said it’s not a new book but I am still hoping for the encyclopedia (or The Scottish Book).

Still something new that actually comes from J.K. Rowling…very very very exciting! And it means my final Harry Potter straw will not have to be the last Harry Potter film, this make me very happy as I don’t even really like the films.

E-book Sales Outstripping Paper Books

Image via Wikipedia

Amazon and Waterstones report downloads eclipsing printed book sales | Books | The Guardian.

I have heard whispers about this for a while but yesterday my friend Kim posted an article on facebook about the subject and it got me thinking about writing a post on it.

I must admit (possibly unusually for The Guardian) that the headline of this article makes things sound more serious (or hopeful I suppose if you are not a fan of the paper book) than they actually are. Well amazon are saying that sales of e-books in the US outstrip sales of real books (with 105 e-books being sold for every 100 ‘real’ books), Waterstones say that only sales of hardbacks are being outstripped by e-books.

Now I really cannot say I am a fan of the Kindle as an idea. I can see why it’s a good idea, I really can, but while my brain has all sorts of arguments for a Kindle my heart just says ‘but it’s not a book’. I love the way books feel in my hands, I love the smell of the paper and ink- it’s something really satisfying for me (having said that I wouldn’t go as far as buying a perfume that smells like books, it’s not something I would want to smell like. Although I suppose I could buy a Kindle and use it to make it smell right!). Plus I really cannot imagine snuggling us with a computer in bed or on the sofa, no matter how small it is (and from reading occasionally on my i-pod I can tell you there is as much problem from something being too small as from something being too big). Yes despite not liking the idea I do have a couple of books on my i-pod, both were free and since February I have read about 16 pages of one. Partly because I don’t like reading from my i-pod, it’s too small and I have to turn pages much more frequently (I’m just glad I don’t have to scroll as with websites), and partly because it’s more uncomfortable to hold. I think the holding it partly bad design, it’s too curved to get a proper grip on, but it’s also because to get the right level for my eyes I have to carry it about chest height. Try it out, imagine holding something that fits in one hand and is easy to drop at chest level, not comfortable is it? Of course a Kindle is larder so may be more comfortable, I can’t tell.

Hmm I feel I am ranting a little.

Yes anyway my brain can see the logic. E-books are generally cheaper so I could buy more. I would be able to carry as many books as I wanted around with me with no trouble, it would pretty much always fit in my bag and I wouldn’t get that annoying point where you realise your book won’t last you until you get home. Sometimes when I’m reading a big book and trying to cram a million things in one bag I do almost wish I could have a Kindle to make things easier, but I could never abandon my real books, I love them.

I can’t see real books going, at least not yet. There is something about a real book that I think will take a long time to really shake. I would be incredibly sad to see them go if t happened, but, so long as there were still good stories being written, and people reading them I think I could cope with digital books- if with a little sadness.

Do you have any experiences with Kindles? What are your thoughts on Kindles verses real books?

Kathryn Stockett sued.

Family Maid Files Suit Against Author of ‘The Help’ – NYTimes.com.

This is a difficult one. I must admit that from reading it, and especially from reading the author’s note I got the impression that The Help is based quite a bit on Stockett’s life. As for the maid suing I’m not so sure I agree with her view point. I mean Aiblene is the most lovely character, and I am sure that Stockett identified more with Skeeter and maybe the children, I can only see it as a compliment that she would immortalise her family maid in this way. Having said that if she was going to base a character on a real person shouldn’t that person have a say?

Thanks to chrisbookarama for the link.

My review of The Help.

Dick King-Smith

BBC News – Babe creator Dick King-Smith dies aged 88.

This happened a few days ago but I only just found out about it. 88 is quite a good age I suppose but it’s still sad.

I used to really like his books when I was little. I particularaly liked the Sophie stories (Sophie’s Snail, Sophie’s Tom ect.). I really liked Sophie, she was quite a strong female character I suppose looking back. I remember thinking it would be cool to have  a Shetland Pony myself!

Oh and of course YThe Queen’s Nose, I really wanted to find that coin! The TV show of that was pretty good too, although it got dragged on far too long,

The film Babe (I still prefer the name The Sheep-Pig) was a film I really enjoyed when I was little too, although even then I had a sense that the book was better.

He may not quite have been up to the level of Roald Dahl for me but a firm favourite.

R.I.P

 

Related Articles

• You: Babe creator Dick King-Smith dies (guardian.co.uk)
• Dick King-Smith: Late-blossoming children’s author whose tales of the countryside sold in their millions (independent.co.uk)