J.K. Rowling

What I Read in December

December 31, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 4 Comments

Decembers are busy months, filled with parties and lists and shopping trips. They’re not often filled with books. I wrote this year about how I was not excited for Christmas, and I think part of the reason is that I hadn’t been reading. My heart gets a little grumpy when I haven’t been reading often enough.

This year, my December was also filled with a semi-secret new project I am working on with a friend. While it’s been super fun and energizing, it has also been time- and emotion-consuming. It won’t launch until February, so I really can’t talk about it (yet!), so instead I’ll talk about the books I did manage to squeeze into the month of much.

Here’s what I read in December:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K Rowling

This short book is a fabulous companion to the Harry Potter series, and you’re absolutely going to need to read it before the movie comes out in November 2016.

Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blase

This collection of readings for Advent was a settling place for my soul this year, and inspired reflection on Christmas Eve.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

This book was a well-woven mystery. You don’t see the end coming until the very, very moment that it happens. Moriarty is just vague enough throughout the whole book that you know something is about to happen and when it does – WHAM! – you are shocked and thrilled. And the ending is very satisfying, so that’s a plus, too. If you like a little mystery, layered characters and a spider web of a plot, read this.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum from Big Little Lies, Jojo Moyes Me Before You is a love story through-and-through. It’s not very apparent at the start, but you can soon see what is coming and how you think it will end – and then it ends completely differently than you expect and you are left crying in the backseat of the car while your husband drives and your dad navigates on the way home from Christmas at Grandma’s four states away. True story.

Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling

I added this to my Amazon cart in December after needing just $4 more to get free shipping. It sounds silly, but I’ll pay $3 extra for a book but I’m not willing to pay $5 for shipping. #BookAddictProblems.

Just as with Fantastic Beasts, this short novel was vintage Rowling. Short, punchy, and full of tiny little details that capture the imagination and tie the magical world and muggle world together. If you like Harry Potter, read this, of course.

What did you read in December to wrap up the year? I hope it was something great!

Story in Review: Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

December 17, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs Leave a Comment

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K Rowling is a book you should probably read sometime between now and November. Maybe even a few times, really. As if anyone expected less of the Queen of Fantasy, the short volume is filled with just the sort of turn of phrase that Rowling has become famous for. She masterfully writes the most ridiculous sentences in so matter-a-fact of tone that you cannot help but take notice – just as throughout the entire Harry Potter series.

Interspersed throughout the book are scribblings from Harry and Ron (and even Hermione!), “correcting” the information found within. There are small sketches of the various creatures, ever as comical as the first imaginings of them were in the original books.

Favorite Quotes:

“I would like to take this opportunity to reassure Muggle purchasers that the amusing creatures described hereafter are fictional and cannot hurt you.” – p. iix

“As we see, the mere possession of two legs was no guarantee that a magical creature could or would take an interest in the affairs of wizard government.” – p. xi

“The International Confederation of Wizards has had to fine certain nations repeatedly for contravening Clase 73. Tibet and Scotland are two of the most persistent offenders… the world’s largest kelpie continues to evade capture in Loch Ness and appears to have developed a positive thirst for publicity.” – p. xvii

“Muggles were once fully aware of the existence of the Diricawl, though they knew it by the name “dodo.” Unaware that the bird could vanish at will, Muggles now believe they have hunted the species to existence.” – p. 9

“The Hippocampus has the head and forequarters of a horse, and the tail and hindquarters of a giant fish… [it] lays large, semi-transparent eggs through which the Tadfoal may be seen.” – p. 21

“…an overdose may cause unsightly pure ear hair.” – p. 30

Have you read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K Rowling? If so, will you be going to see the film when it release in November?

Story in Review: Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling

August 25, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 1 Comment

Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling is a little book created from a big speech: Rowling’s 2008 commencement speech at Harvard University (you can read the speech on Harvard’s site here, and watch the video of the speech here).

As with all things written by J.K. Rowling, the speech is full of nuggets of wisdom and altogether lovely sentences. And in the book, these words of wisdom are set into sophisticated moments of design.

If you at all like a well-designed book, do pick this one up. And if you at all like Harry Potter, these words from the famous author are on-par with the ones that live inside the magical world of Hogwarts, full of nuggets of truth and encouragement along the way for anyone who might need a pep talk at any point in life, be it graduation, the loss of a job, or a decision to turn in a new direction.

In Rowling’s own words:

Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

Have you read Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling? If so, what did you think? And are you as big of a Harry Pottery fan as I?