Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

This Is What 5,000 Books Looks Like

Excerpt from: The Harry Potter Alliance (click for full article)

 

Our Harry Potter Alliance chapter in Edmonton seems to have a solid grasp on the accio books spell because check this out: they have already collected over 5,000 books as part of our Accio Books! campaign! Major props to Edmonton Potterwatch!

There's still time for you to share your love of literature by contributing to Accio Books!

Accio Books! is the Harry Potter Alliance's annual book drive. Since 2009, Harry Potter fans around the world have donated more than 86,000 books to underprivileged or underserved readers. This year, we're working with our partners in the International Quidditch Association and NaNoWriMo to help raise books in support of Read Indeed.

Read Indeed is a non-profit literacy organization and the vision of Maria Keller, a book-loving 7th grader who wants to collect and distribute 1 million books to needy kids by the time she's 18. Maria is a huge Harry Potter fan and she has already donated over 800,000 books. We are very excited to assist her in reaching her goal of 1 million books.

ACCIO BOOKS! runs until May 31st.

JK Rowling's home sells for more than £2.25 million

Excerpt from: The Telegraph (click for full article)

 

The detached house in the upmarket Merchiston area of Edinburgh is understood to have sold for significantly more than the asking price of offers over £2.25 million.

Rowling had lived at the property since 1999, making a number of alterations to transform it into the eight-bedroomed house which she later shared with family. Her study in the property was where she wrote many of the later Harry Potter novels.

In 2009 the family moved out of the property to the outskirts of Edinburgh but the author only recently decided to sell her former home.

"The fact we secured a buyer so quickly demonstrates that even in the most challenging of economic environments, we are well-placed to service the needs of our clients at the higher end of the market.

"Further to this it also illustrates there is a shortage of quality supply in Edinburgh and that when any property is correctly priced, in a prime location, it will attract significant interest and, in most cases, a buyer."

'Harry Potter' tops NPR list of 100 favorite teen novels

From Los Angeles Times: (click for full article)

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series tops NPR's list of 100 favorite teen novels: That's the entire set of seven books, from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." NPR announced the list Tuesday, voted on by listeners and readers.

HP & The Goblet of Fire First Edition (Signed) Worth £500

Excerpt from Harry Potter's Page: (click for entire article)

Although the Harry Potter series ended with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows nearly five years ago in 2007, first editions of the books in the series (particularly ones signed by the author herself, J.K. Rowling) are still highly valued which was a pleasant surprise to the Save The Children branch in Harrogate in the UK, according to a report posted by itv News.

The shop leader Margaret Cullen was asked if there were any Harry Potter books in stock.  When she looked through the donations, Ms. Cullen found a signed, first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  After getting the signature authenticated and the book valued at £500, the shop will have a silent auction to sell the book so the funds will be used to assist children in the UK and abroad.

From Young Adult Book Fans to Wizards of Change

Excerpt from The Opinion Pages: (click for entire article)

This week, Suzanne Collins’s “The Hunger Games” hits the big screen. As the latest wildly popular young adult (Y.A.) novel becomes a film franchise, it’s not just box office dollars that will be captured, but potentially nascent citizens.  At least that’s the goal of the social campaign called “Hunger Is Not a Game” which aims to connect fans to the global food justice movement.

“The Hunger Games” devotees have long congregated on sites like Mockingjay.net, Down with the Capitol, and the “Hunger Games” Fireside Chat podcast. Now Oxfam, with its long history focused on famine relief, has joined forces with a small, fan-focused group called Imagine Better to encourage the mostly young people who gather on these sites to sign Oxfam’s GROW pledge. Representatives will also circulate at midnight theatrical release parties on March 23 to ask people to sign, and encouraging them to tweet with the hashtag #notagame, in order to build a sense of global community.

Food prices in recent years have hit record highs, leading to riots worldwide. Oxfam’s pledge calls for simple reforms: create policies that encourage crops for food, not fuel, reform food aid procedures and support small farmers.

J.K. Rowling is no longer a billionaire

Excerpt from EW.com: (click for entire article)

The billionaires club has hit J.K. Rowling with a banishing spell. According to the newly updated Forbes Rich List, the Harry Potter author has gone from billionaire to millionaire (several hundred times over, of course). She apparently broke a few rules of how to stay rich by giving away a lot of her fortune — reportedly $160 million of it — to charity and by paying her top-rung British taxes.

There’s no way that the socially minded Rowling, who once lived on welfare, gives two Quaffles about her standing on the list, and no one should shed a tear over a stratospherically rich woman becoming slightly less so. But I always liked knowing that an author of imaginative, timeless, honest-to-goodness books became a billionaire.

Audio: Alan Rickman on Snape and More!

Excerpt from Harry Potter's Page: (click for entire article)

Alan Rickman was interviewed today on National Public Radio’s (NPR) Talk of the Nation about his current project, Seminar, which is currently on Broadway.  He also had quite a bit to say about Snape, playing villains, typecasting, and acting in general.

Jim Chen: Legal Education and the Heir of Slytherin

Patti's Comments: I love this in sooooo many ways!

Excerpt from TaxProf Blog: (click for entire article)

Jim Chen (Dean, Louisville), Legal Education and the Heir of Slytherin:

    There is no value in prestige or credentials. There is only performance, and those who have the wisdom to prize it.

    I still believe what John Steinbeck said in East of Eden: There is one story in the world, and only one. ...  The narrative is one of epic, ceaseless competition between elites and outsiders. ...

    All of this prepares me to open one of the darkest chambers of secrets in law and legal education. Law schools and the country's largest law firms have long occupied — and jealously guarded — the most coveted corners in the American legal profession. Indeed, these institutions perpetuate each other's lock on power and prestige. Every city has its collection of "BigLaw" firms — highly leveraged partnerships performing a wide range of legal services on behalf of the corporate and institutional clients that control our society's greatest concentrations of wealth. BigLaw draws its talent from the most highly credentialed students emerging from our law schools. Without elite grades, no student stands a chance of scoring a BigLaw interview, let alone a BigLaw job.

Quidditch World Cup 2011

Patti's Comments:  And you guys think I am a nerd??  Check this out.  (Actually, if I lived closer I would most likely attend this event.)  I love the motto they use: The Weapon We Use is LOVE.

Excerpt from Brown Paper Tickets: (click for entire article)

A real-life Quidditch tournament extravaganza, on November 12-13 at Randall's Island, best described by Fox news as "a cross between the superbowl and a medieval festival."

Please note: We are currently using paypal to accept tickets, and you DO NOT need an account or even need to log-in to use it. Our ticket interface will take you to the paypal site where you will make the purchase, with or without an account.

J.K. Rowling Receives Benefactor’s Award

Excerpt from Harry Potter's Page: (click for entire article)

According to an online report, J.K. Rowling received a benefactor’s award for her “remarkable act of philanthropy” at a ceremony held at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  The award was presented to the Harry Potter author by Princess Anne.  The occasion was due to the £10 million donation Ms. Rowling made to the university last year to establish a new multiple sclerosis (MS) research clinic as well as to formally install Her Royal Highness Princess Anne as the university’s new chancellor:

    Professor Sir John Savill, head of the college of medicine and veterinary medicine, said the money will have a “major impact” on the university and has already given hope to thousands of people with incurable diseases.