Jim Dale Calling...

Hello, this is Jim Dale calling... or at least his voice message, which is being sent to many readers who had pre-ordered Half-Blood Prince at Borders book stores. The voice of the man who narrators the US audio Harry Potter books says in his message:

"Hello,your reserved Harry Potter for 40% off at Borders Express. Hello,Continued...

RetroVision Releases Chronicle of HP

The next edition of RetroVision Magazine will feature a Harry Potter News Diary, chronicling in 35,000 words a month-by-month, year-by-year timeline of the Harry Potter phenomenon. It covers "everything from the first announcement that J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher'sContinued...

McCrum: HP for Kids and Their Minders

We've got another entry to the A.S. Byatt/Harold Bloom/William Safire school of HP-haters: Robert McCrum, who says:

"The great children's books were written by emotionally backward men and women who were writing principally for themselves....When all is said and done, JK Rowling is for children,Continued...

Let's Play Quidditch!

Today's Poll is up in our Lounge asking the question " Who will be the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain?". Hmm.. there are some good choices; cant wait to see if Harry and the Quidditch team will be back in action in Book Six ( and goooo Hufflepuff :) )
The poll to yesterday's question about who owns thatContinued...

Barnes and Noble: One Million Books Ordered; to Broadcast Edinburgh Reading on Web Site

More than a million HBPs have been ordered at BN.com, making it "the bestselling pre-order book of all time." Also, BN.com will be showing a taped broadcast of the J.K. Rowling reading from Edinburgh Castle; it will also be shown at the Union Square,Continued...

New Book No Kid Stuff, says Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star today says:

"Who can say whether Harry Potter would be as successful without those fans old enough to order a martini?

Sarah Blair can.

"Absolutely not!" says the 26-year-old Potter fan from Gladstone. "All the fans I know are adults."

Video of JKR Signing Half-Blood Prince Now Online

As noted in our earlier report this morning, Bloomsbury is releasing footage of JKR signing a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This video and more is now online. After clicking at this link, click on where it says "Electronic Press Kit- Video and Footage". Quicktime andContinued...

The Mirror: Trio Grows Up

UK newspaper The Mirror is running a week-long series all about the world of Harry Potter, and today they focused on the films, in particular the trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. In an article that has focuses on how they have grown and changed through the years,the actors talk about things thatContinued...

Bloomsbury Updates: Signed Copy of HBP to go to National Library of Scotland, Jacket Art Illustrator Jason Cockcroft

Bloomsbury.com has posted that they are releasing an EPK (that's a press kit) with footage of Jo Rowling signing the first copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (which, fans might want to note, will be released THISContinued...

...Guarding that "aha" moment - "when you read something and it literally takes your breath away," is honorable...

The Christian Science Monitor has a piece about the security measures surrounding HBP. They interview various booksellers and librarians about Scholastic's secrecy policies, and booksellers like Russ Lawrence, of Chapter OneContinued...

MSNBC deems HBP a "Can't Miss" event

MSNBC gets a little snarky about the release of HBP:

A friend told me recently about an aspiring author named J.K. Rowling who has a series of books out with a recurring character named Harry Potter. I always do what I can in this space to give new scribes a little push out the door. But the wholeContinued...

More Pre-Screening Reviews of GoF

We're taking another break from book news to showcase a few more reviews of Goblet of Fire; you can now find three on Aint It Cool News. The reviews, like the one we reported on yesterday contain spoilers for GoF as a film, so don't click if you're trying to avoid all spoilers for the film. Non-spoileryContinued...

"Ultimate Fan" Winner Looks Forward to HBP Release

The Guardian has reported that 14 year old Owen Jones won last night's "Quest for the Ultimate Harry Potter Fan" competition. He plans to ask JKR about her expectations for when she finishes writing the HP books.

Live, from Australia, it's The Half-Blood Prince

Wizard News reported today that as soon as Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince goes on sale, Australian radio station, 97.3FM will read J.K. Rowling's sixth book in its entirety.
UPDATE: A Leaky reader from Australia called the station for more details. The reading will be outside of a bookstoreContinued...

Harry Potter: The Times They Are A-Changin'

Joel Garreau of The Washington Post (free registration required) offers up an interesting look at the impact of Harry on today's generation:

So I found myself looking for the muse of my daughter's generation, for its Bob Dylan -- the seer who would announce to this new generation that "theContinued...