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Books Into Movies News: Lisbeth Salander, Alex Cross, Harry Potter, and More

Rooney Mara has landed the coveted role of badass computer hacker Lisbeth Salander in the movie based on Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She’s a relative unknown who most recently starred in the 2010 remake of Nightmare on Elm Street. She beat out higher profile actresses like Natalie Portman, Kristen Stewart, Scarlett Johansson, and Emma Watson. (Daemon’s Movies) Idris Elba has been cast as Alex Cross in the upcoming movie Cross, based on James Patterson’s book of the same name. Morgan Freeman, who previously played Alex Cross in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, has been deemed too old for the part. In the book, Alex Cross hunts down a serial rapist who may be tied to the murder of his wife 14 years earlier. Elba has been on HBO’s The Wire and NBC’s The Office. (Deadline Hollywood) As you may recall, Harry Potter and [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Aug 20

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: News

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Harry Potter Fans Join Real-Life Dumbledore’s Army

Although J. K. Rowling has written the final book in the Harry Potter series, there is still a very active community of fans online. Andrew Slack decided to tap into that community and form the HP Alliance, a non-profit group that is “dedicated to using the examples of Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore to spread love and fight the Dark Arts in the real world.” Basically, the HP Alliance is a real-life version of Dumbledore’s Army, but, instead of Voldemort and Death Eaters, the group fights poverty, illiteracy, and genocide all over the world. Earlier this month, the HP Alliance won the Chase Community Giving challenge on Facebook and $250,000 in prize money. According to a video on their Facebook page, the HP Alliance will use the money to increase their book donations, fight for LBGT equality, and raise awareness on global warming and human rights issues. The HP Alliance [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Jul 23

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: News

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Kristen’s Favorite Audiobooks

The month of June is National Audiobook Month and Jen at Devourer of Books is hosting daily discussions of audiobooks all this week. I’m a huge audiobook addict and you might have noticed that many of the book reviews Jose and I do are of audiobooks. We started listening to them a few years ago to make our respective commutes to work go by faster. Since then, I’ve also started listening to them on the treadmill or while doing chores. I love them because they allow you to do two things at once and they make boring tasks a lot more fun. In honor of Audiobook Week, I thought I’d share some of my all-time favorites: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris I consider David Sedaris’ audiobooks to be some of the best out there, and I think they are a great starting point for a [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Jun 25

2010

COMMENTS: 4

CATEGORY: Book Chat

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HARRY POTTER Book Covers Around the World

Recently, I linked to an interesting article in The Observer about international book covers (More Reasons Not to Judge a Book by Its Cover). What I didn’t bring up before was that the author casually mentions something about the Harry Potter books that I didn’t know. He wonders, “what prompted Italian book designers to give junior wizard Harry Potter a hat shaped like a mouse…” Wait, WHAT? Naturally I had to see this craziness for myself, so I found an image of the Italian book cover, which you can see above. I know it’s silly, but I find this cover so freaking hilarious that I can’t stop laughing. Please tell me that is a faux mouse head Harry is wearing, not a real one. And what’s up with the giant mouse next to him? Is that supposed to be Scabbers? I’m dying to know the reasoning behind the mouse hat, [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Jun 4

2010

COMMENTS: 5

CATEGORY: Book Chat

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Harry Potter Script Leaked

Well we all know the Brits like to drink and be merry, but according to news reports, 1 particular pub patron celebrated a little too hard Thursday night and left behind his copy of the script of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. FAIL. Some of the HP crew, who had just finished filming the Deathly Hallows headed to the pub for a drink. After they left, a patron found the script and could not believe their eyes. Although nobody is really talking about the contents of the script we have received a minor spoiler that the script contains major plot changes from the books. That is also a FAIL in my opinion. The Deathly Hallows was one of my favorite endings to a series. I hope this rumor isn’t true!

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AUTHOR: Amie

POSTED ON:

Apr 5

2010

COMMENTS: 3

CATEGORY: News

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Is Stephenie Meyer the Author of the Decade?

Read Street, the book blog of the Baltimore Sun, has declared 2000-2009 the decade of Stephenie Meyer. Their reasoning for this bold declaration is that: Meyer’s novel “Twilight,” released in October of 2005, hit the top of the bestseller lists and has hardly budged since — while being joined by others in the series. In the comment section the author clarifies: I’m not saying she’s the best author if the decade, but her emergence is one of the biggest trends since 2000. There’s no doubt about that. It’s true, vampire books have been a huge trend in the past few years and Stephenie Meyer’s success has spread to other authors like L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris. On the other hand, while recent years have been all about vampires, I would argue that J. K. Rowling dominated most of the decade. The first Harry Potter book was published in the [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Dec 22

2009

COMMENTS: 4

CATEGORY: Book Chat

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Friday News Roundup, November 13, 2009

Palin’s book bashes Couric and McCain camp (ABC) Journalist and North Korea jailbird, Euna Lee has a book deal. It will be released through Broadway Books and will be about her experiences after she was arrested (NY Times) NPR released an interesting interview and feature on the book “Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words” by John Bemelmans Marciano. Marciano delves deep into the world of “eponyms” which are words they are named after people. For example the word “Leotard” originated from a French gymnast who designed himself a 1 piece work out suit to show off his fit body. (NPR) The latest on the Harry Potter theme park (Mugglenet) Check out this fun article from CNN featuring “4 Comic Book Legends” (CNN) I just learned that Food Network’s: Ace Of Cakes released a book last month. You can order it on Amazon. Top 5 Hardcover Fiction (New York Times) [...]

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AUTHOR: Amie

POSTED ON:

Nov 13

2009

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: News

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Check Out Universal’s New Theme Park “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”

Universal unveiled new details last week about a Harry Potter themed attraction that will open at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida in the spring of 2010. Until now, few details were known about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but Universal revealed that it will recreate many of the locations in J. K. Rowling’s books. The main attraction will be a huge of Hogwarts castle. According to the Daily Mail: Pottermaniacs will enter the ‘Wizarding World’ through a station archway named after Hogsmeade, the magical village near Hogwarts. A plume of steam and a train whistle will sound the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. Other rides include the ‘Dragon Challenge,’ a twin high-speed roller coaster themed after the ‘Triwizard Tournament’. There will also be a family roller coaster called ‘Flight of the Hippogriff,’ named after a creature with an eagle’s head and a horse’s body. Every shop and [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Sep 22

2009

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: News

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Percy Jackson & The Olympians – A Harry Potter Rewrite?

One series that helped me get over my Post-Potter depression was Percy Jackson & The Olympians. It’s a fun series of books that chronicles the tales of a young demigod named Percy as he fights off monsters and evil lords all while trying to have a somewhat normal adolesant life. If you are an uber Potter-geek like me, you’ll notice quite a few similarities between the story of Percy and our favorite boy wizard. Here are a few that I noticed. Feel free to leave a comment and share your own! Both books start with an 11 year old boy when they find out they are more than what they seem (1 is a wizard and 1 is a demigod) Both books have 3 main characters 2 boys and a girl Book 4 in each series features a labyrinth Both stories revolve around a prophecy that involves the main character [...]

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AUTHOR: Amie

POSTED ON:

Aug 6

2009

COMMENTS: 23

CATEGORY: Book Chat, Featured

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HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Book Review

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by JK Rowling The movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens this week so if you haven’t read the book yet, now is the time. Most fans of the series read the book a few years ago, so read on for a quick refresher. If you recall, the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ended with the wizarding world finally becoming aware that Lord Voldemort had returned. The sixth book begins with the magical world at war and a new minister of magic taking office, now that the bumbling Cornelius Fudge has been relieved of duty. As the story of his battle with Voldemort spreads, Harry is once again everyone’s hero, the chosen one who will defeat Voldemort forever. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens with Harry spending his summer at the Dursley’s, until Dumbledore arrives and asks [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Jul 15

2009

COMMENTS: 3

CATEGORY: Featured, Reviews

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