Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Fan Website!

Check out the new and improved Scholastic Harry Potter fan website: www.scholastic.com/harrypotter

It's got magnified cover art (look for clues!), printable posters, and a special challenge: review each Harry Potter book in exactly seven words!

Preorders!

The Big Blue Marble is now taking preorders for the seventh and final book in the series, due out July 21. The book will be sold at a 25% discount. Reserve yours today!

Release day events!

Thursday and Friday, July 19 and 20:
Ongoing reading of Book 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Want to take a turn? Just stop in and offer!

Friday, July 20, 7:07pm:
Starting at 7 minutes after 7, anyone in costume will be eligible for our homemade costume contest!

Midnight, July 21, 12:00am:
The Midnight Release Party! Books will be released from their cages, and we will have games, prizes, and refreshments. Starting at 12:01, there will be a reading of Chapter 1 (and Chapter 1 only) of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Saturday, July 21, 10:00am:
Readings of The Deathly Hallows will continue during our regular store hours.

Quote: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Hi! Greetings from your new(ish) friendly neighborhood webmaven.

As I've been getting more familiar with the website, I have noted that our blog has been sadly neglected for some time. I'd like to rejuvenate the blog by posting quotations from books that we have in the store. I'll aim for weekly posts; we'll see how that goes.

For my first offering, a quote from a surprising source: It turns out that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., who died this month at the age of 84, wrote the Afterword for the book Free to Be...You and Me (Running Press, 1974). I was surprised, at least, and I grew up with the record album!

"I've often thought there ought to be a manual to hand to little kids, telling them what kind of planet they're on, why they don't fall off it, how much time they've probably got here, how to avoid poison ivy, and so on. I tried to write one once. It was called Welcome to Earth. But I got stuck on explaining why we don't fall off the planet. Gravity is just a word. It doesn't explain anything. If I could get past gravity, I'd tell them how we reproduce, how long we've been here, apparently, and a little bit about evolution. And one thing I would really like to tell them about is cultural relativity. I didn't learn until I was in college about all the other cultures, and I should have learned that in the first grade. A first grader should understand that his or her culture isn't a rational invention; that there are thousands of other cultures and they all work pretty well; that all cultures function on faith rather than truth; that there are lots of alternatives to our own society. Cultural relativity is defensible and attractive. It's also a source of hope. It means we don't have to continue this way if we don't like it."

- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007)

Nif's Recent Reads

I read really fast, so I thought it would be fun to keep a log of the books I read each week.

NIF’S RECENT READS

Young Adult

Getting It by Alex Sanchez, published by Simon and Schuster, $16.95 hardcover

Carlos is 15 and has never had a girlfriend or a hookup or anything. When he notices that Sal, who is gay, is comfortable talking with girls, he decides to ask Sal for some “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” type help. Sal agrees, but only if Carlos will help him start a gay-straight alliance at their school.

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I just discovered Adrian Fogelin, who writes moving, humorous stories about interracial friendship and young teens learning to be true to themselves. I read these two and am eager to read more.

Crossing Jordan, by Adrian Fogelin, published by Peachtree Press, $6.95 paperback
Cass’s dad builds a fence when he finds out that the new neighbors are black. But Cass and Jemmie both love to run, and they forge a friendship stronger than their parents’ disapproval.

The Big Nothing, by Adrian Fogelin, published by Peachtree Press, $6.95 paperback
Justin’s dad left home, his mom is depressed, and his brother is about to be shipped to Iraq. Learning to play the piano brings much needed solace, but also awakens a crush on a girl more popular than him.

Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction

Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchett, published by Avon Tempest, $16.99 hardcover

I may have mentioned that I intend to read everything Terry Pratchett writes. This third book about Tiffany Aching is pure fun. If you’ve read Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith is a must-read. If you haven’t read any of them, what are you waiting for?

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At WisCon this year I was pleased to meet Scott Westerfield and his wife Justine Larbalestier. Both are writing fresh, exciting young adult SF&F from down under, and I was really excited to see these sequels come out.

Specials by Scott Westerfield, published by Simon Pulse, $15.95 hardcover

This is the conclusion of the trilogy that started with Uglies and Pretties. In Tally’s world, everyone gets cosmetic surgery when they turn 16…whether they want it or not. Tally and her friends are now Special, their rebellious natures subverted to make them part of the controlling elite of their society.

Magic Lessons by Justine Larbalestier, published by Razorbill, $16.99 hardcover

Only a few short weeks ago, fifteen-year-old Reason thought that magic didn’t exist. Now she knows that has to use magic, or else she’ll go crazy, but if she uses too much magic, she will die. Family and friends with similar powers are faced with the same hard choices. Reason is caught between two powerful grandparents with suspicious motives, pulled between Sydney and New York, and chased by a mysterious figure with magical powers unlike that of anyone else she knows. Who will help her? Who can she trust? The second book of the trilogy that began with Magic or Madness.

More to come...

radical storytellin'

What would "radical" storytellin' entail? I am going to start a story time hour at the bookstore, and have already started a monthly story time at LAVA(Lancaster Avenue Autonomous Space, 4134 Lancaster Ave.), but I really want to make it interesting, unique, and conscious. Definitely multicultural, with tales spanning the globe, and definitely really great stories in general. But what would make a story time radical? Let me know if you have any ideas. My future goal is to learn as many folk tales and legends from the Pacific Islands in general, and other eclectic stories from indigenous backgrounds, especially creation stories and birthin'/mama stories, and be able to recite them with ease and grace.

NPR Alert!

Juliet Eilperin will discuss her book Fight Club Politics on Fresh Air May 23rd. She'll be visiting Big Blue Marble in August.

Alison Bechdel at Big Blue Marble!

Save the date, everyone: Alison Bechdel of Dykes to Watch Out For fame will be at the bookstore on June 22 at 3 p.m. to sign copies of her new graphic memoir, Fun Home. This is a fabulous chance to get your copy of Fun Home and to meet the author. That evening, she'll be reading at the Free Library at 7 p.m.

Poetry Aloud and Alive

Just a little note to tell everyone that our monthly poetry reading, Poetry Aloud and Alive, will be held on May 19, Friday, at 7:30pm. That's the third Friday of the month. Usually it is held on fourth Fridays but this month Michael Kleiner will be giving a reading from his new memoir Beyond the Cold that night. Hope to see you all there- this poetry night is always inspiring.

Mt. Airy Day!

Yay! It's May!
-and that means it is time for Mt. Airy Day, on May 6, the first Saturday of this lovely month. Once again there will be plenty of neighborhood vendors selling crafts, food, art, and other miscellaneous items. Plant sale! Yummy treats! And Big Blue Marble Bookstore will be tabling our bestselling and most interesting books, picked out by all of us at the store. 11am-5pm. Cliveden and Germantown Ave. Don't miss it.

Welcome

Welcome to the Big Blue Marble Blog! We hope our bookstore community will use this space to share thoughts and ideas about the store, Mt. Airy, and life in general.