Butterbeers Are On Me

"Tasted like cream soda. It was somewhat thick, and it was really sweet, and then it got salty as you swallowed it, like butterscotch."

- Sabrina Sampson, age 11, describing butterbeer at the Harry Potter Theme Park

A Few Things I'm Excited About

1. I know I've mentioned it before but I can not WAIT for The Night Bookmobile to be published in book form. It was a serialized graphic novel that was in the Guardian, but as of September 1st I'll be able to read the whole thing in a book. Did I mention it's by the one-and-only Audrey Niffenegger?

2. NPR Books Podcasts: This week I discovered that you can subscribe to the NPR book reviews and author interviews - All Things Considered - and upload them to your iPod. I've always kind of turned on NPR and hoped I would stumble across it, which didn't always work so well. Subcription? Yes please!


3. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. I've read a couple of reviews here and there and it sounds like this book has the potential to be amazing. I've got to track it down soon!

4. Eclipse on June 30th. I'm sorry I had to say it.

5. The Harry Potter Theme Park that opens this Friday, June 18th. Not that I'm planning to be in Orlando anytime soon, but at least I know I've got the option!

If I Hear You On NPR I'll Read Your Book

I mean not really but this morning on my way to work I was listening to NPR which featured author Sebastian Faulks and his book sounded very interesting.

"Sebastian Faulks A Week in December is a seven-day tour of London written in Dickensain style. Charles Dickens' rich cast of characters dealt with class conflict, wealth, poverty and true love. Faulk's modern-day characters deal with terrorism, greed, the internet and - because some things never change - true love".

They discussed what had inspired Faulks' novel and he went on to read this passage in his impossibly handsome voice - English accent and all - which basically sold me the book:

'And what about reading?' said Gabriel, as they move off again. 'You like reading, don't you?'

'Yeah, I do.'

'Why?'

'Dunno. I s'pose it's an escape from the real world.'

'But surely it's just the opposite,' said Gabriel. 'Books explain the real world'. They bring you close to it in a way you could never manage in the course of the day.'

'How do you mean?'

'People never explain to you exactly what they think and feel and how their thoughts and feelings work, do they? It's as though your daily life is a film in a cinema. It can be fun, looking at those pictures. but if you want to know what lies behind the flat screen, you have to read a book. That explains it all.'

'Even if the people in the book are invented?'

'Sure. Because they're based on what's real, but with the boring bits stripped out. In good books anyway. Of my total understanding of human beings, which is perhaps not very great...I'd say half of it is from just guessing that other people must feel much the same as I would in their place. But of the other half, ninety per cent of it has come from reading books. Less than ten percent from reality - from watching and talking and listening - from living.'

I've always had the school of thought that books are an escape from the real world - as they are - especially those that offer a different world like the Harry Potter series or A Handmaid's Tale. But I also think Faulks explains very well that even if you are taken to a different world via your book, it also inevitably and simultaneously explains something about your own world.

Listen to the NPR interview here and read a review of the book and tell me you don't want to read it too.

Does Anyone Want to Go to Orlando With Me This Spring?

An illustration of Hogwarts Castle in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter via the NYTimes.

I've secretly been fantasizing about the Harry Potter theme park that is to open this Spring. Harry Potter-themed rides, restaurants and shopping; how can you go wrong? It looks like the park is broken into sections including Hogsmeade and Hogwarts.

Rides like "Dragon Challenge" where one can ride a dragon as it duals another is actually two separate roller coasters intertwined. Another ride is rumored to feature the whomping willow tree and giant spiders.

Shopping will include Dervish and Banges (for your magical repairs), Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods, Honeyduke's (a shop known for it's magical treats!), Olivanders, where you can purchase your own wand, the Owl Post and Zonko's joke shop.

And let's not forget the Three Broomsticks. Butterbeers are on me!

In all seriousness, this park has the potential to be completely awesome. From the NYTimes; "'We've tried to include something from every book,' Allan Gilmore, an art director for the films who is helping to oversee the parks designs, said in an interview. 'We had free range to be as grand and excessive as we could be,' he added. 'It's only money that holds us back in the end.'"

Because the park is built in Universal Studios it's obviously going to be geared toward children and families. I'm just hoping it isn't too juvenile so adults can enjoy it just as much as the kiddies.

To Read or Not To Read

Everyone and their sister (including mine) has read the Twilight series. While I don't have anything against YA novels, I do look down on mainstream literature, if you even want to call it that. (Unless of course, I find it before it becomes mainstream - i.e. The Time Traveler's Wife and Harry Potter.) So, I've been avoiding the Twilight series at all costs.

Err - actually just the books. I'm kind of in love with the movies. It's the 13-year-old girl in me. I've seen Twilight about six times and went to see New Moon on opening night. I should also confess I think about Edward Cullen multiple times a day. Is is possible to be completely infatuated with a fictional character? Yes. Do I wish Edward Cullen was a real person so I could do unspeakable things to him and make him fall in love with me? Yes!

Now that I'm embracing my inner teenage girl, heartthrob crush and all, I secretly want to borrow the series from my sister and jump in. Should I stick to my standards and shun Stephanie Meyer like I shunned Dan Brown after finished The DaVinci Code? Or should I give in to that teenage girl inside me and embrace Twilight like 17 million people have?

I'm thinking since I fantasize about Edward on a regular basis I already have given in to the Twilight phenomenon so my reading the books won't make any difference. That makes perfect sense, right?