Books and Movies and Things.

- I received my invitation to join Pottermore a couple days ago. Believe me when I say that it is everything a Harry Potter fan could ask for. They took such great care when they created this site. It is exquisitely detailed and bursting with so much new content and information that it is a Potter fanatic's (me) dream. You start your journey with Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone. As you go through each chapter, you discover new content and backstories (like how Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia met and fell in love) and you can collect items to put into your trunk. When Harry meets Hagrid and takes him shopping in Diagon Alley, you get to go shopping as well, but not before you visit Gringott's and stock up on some Galleons. You get to go to Ollivander's and purchase a wand (the core of mine is a Pheonix Feather, which is extremely rare) and once you arrive at Hogwarts, you are sorted into one of the houses (I am in Ravenclaw). You can earn house points by collecting Galleons and books as you go through the chapters, as well as by concocting potions correctly and challenging your friends to duels. Simply put: it's brilliant. Check it out... but only if you have a few hours to spare. It's insanely addicting and very time consuming... and I am perfectly fine with that. Oh, my screenname for the site is MagicWing21495 . Look me up and add me and we shall duel and fight the Dark Lord together!

Speaking of J.K. Rowling and her brilliance... I'm sure you have all heard that she has a new book coming out, The Casual Vacancy (geared toward adults), set to be released on September 27, 2012. She is also currently working on a Harry Potter encyclopedia. I imagine it will hold some of the new content found on Pottermore plus other stuff as well. All the proceeds from this book will be donated to charity. You know I'll let you know when I find out the release date for it!

- Jeff and I finally watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo over the weekend. I liked it better than the Swedish version, if only because they seemed to pay close attention to the details of the book. I love when that happens. Even though they changed the ending a bit, I was OK with it... which is weird (I know) but it didn't ruin the story in any way, it just kind of simplified it, so I am alright with that. Daniel Craig did a great job as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara kicked ass as Lisbeth Salander. As I have said before, the books are real hard to get through but the story is worth it in the end. The movie does a good job of taking the most important bits of the book and putting them front and center, while weeding out the mundane stuff like shopping lists and what they put on their toast (I'm not kidding when I tell you that there are pages and pages of shopping lists in the book).  Anyway, if you are interested or are a fan of the books, check the movie out. It's good.

- We also watched The Muppets with C (finally). I loved it. I loved seeing all the nods to the original show and the previous hosts. Jason Segel did a fantastic job with the storyline and the songs were wonderful. This part made me get all sorts of choked up:


- While at the library a couple weeks ago (Sidenote: I love the library so much. You should visit your local library ASAP. They have so much more than just books that you can check out. You can get DVD's and CD's as well. For free. Free! Libraries are awesome.) I stumbled upon a book by Katie Fforde. I had never heard of her before, but the name of her book Love Letters caught my eye. It was after I had read Lucky by Alice Sebold and was desperate for a happy story. After reading the summary (to make sure it wasn't a sad book disguised as a happy book) I was sold. It's about a 26yr old girl named Laura, who is in charge of running a Literary Festival in England. She is tasked with the job of going to Ireland to track down her favorite author, Dermot Flynn, to convince him to headline the festival. I know it doesn't sound like much, but give me a book about a girl who loves books and an Irish boy and I am hopelessly hooked. I love this book. Absolutely loved it. I am now going to try to work my way through Katie Fforde's other books. That should keep me busy for a little while at least.

- Speaking of books... Laurel Park Place's Bookstock begins this Sunday, April 22nd and runs through April 29th. My sister and I are really, really, really excited for it. We have been looking forward to it since last years ended. It is one great big, giant, used book sale. Compared to other used book sales, the books are kind of on the high end ($4 for a hardcover) but the selection is huge and it is so much fun to walk through a mall and see tables upon tables of books. Books, books everywhere! Check it out!

- Jeff and I are kind of over Bones at the moment. The last couple of episodes have gone beyond my tolerance for television believability (if that makes any sense). Normally my tolerance level is pretty high. I can buy a polar bear on a tropical island, no problem, but there is just something off about seeing a "genius" 9 month pregnant woman, running through a dining hall full of fighting prisoners (not to mention giving birth in a stable with no medical help whatsoever and going straight home afterwards)  that makes me put my hand up and say NO.

- I won't go on and on about Matt Bomer's guest appearance on Glee anymore (it was magnificent) because I gushed about it enough (it was SO good) when it aired last week, but if you enjoyed him on there or at least enjoyed looking at him, I encourage you to check out the first 3 seasons of White Collar. Season 4 doesn't start up until July 10th, so you have plenty of time to get caught up before then. I promise, it's a great show. You won't be disappointed.

- I don't care that Brad and Angelina got engaged. Do. Not. Care.

- I cannot stand/detest/loathe/am repulsed by Jaleel White. I look forward to his elimination on Dancing With the Stars. He makes me cringe.

- Oh! and Jessica Simpson IS STILL PREGNANT!