Learn about it here, a Table of Contents is posted after the jump! (H/T to Dave)

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Two quick notes and a question for y’all about Entertainment Weekly’s report on the sales of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: (H/T Arabella!)

(1) “The new novella currently tops USA Today’s best-seller list and Little, Brown estimates they have already sold 700,000 copies in the United States. Deadline reports that that the British bookstore chain Waterstones expects to sell more copies of Bree Tanner than of any other book this year.”

EW then all but says that this is due to Twilight addicts needing a “fix” rather than anything inherently valuable or challenging in the story. Here’s hoping that more thoughtful readers will want to explore what it is about Stephenie Meyer’s books that cause such an addiction!

(2) EW expresses surprise that sales have been this brisk because the novella is available free online at BreeTanner.com until July 5th. “Little, Brown estimates that only 75,000 people have read the book in its entirety on the website.” Here’s my question: [Read more…]

Those of us who have not been living in Australia with modified memories to protect our children from Death Eaters are already probably well aware of the latest development in Harry Potter entertainment experiences, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida, which officially opens June 18. You can watch the opening festivities live here.  While many of us who will be at Infinitus next month may be planning a visit to the Wizarding World (I’m not; I’m generally opposed to amusement parks in Florida in July unless the kindly uncle sets us up with free Disney admission. The only thing worse than sweltering in line for hours is paying out the nose to do it, so I’ll wait until the cooler weather and the hubbub die-down.) For those who are not planning to go in person, the official website has some nice images and information to give you a feel for the place.

The excitement surrounding the opening of the WW, with rides ranging from a virtual reality experience inside Hogwarts Castle to a family-friendly Hippogriff coaster to racing dragon coasters, has been considerable, and the ambiance, including a snowy (!) Hogsmeade with familiar shops like Honeydukes, shows loving attention to detail that is intended to immerse visitors in the world we love visiting in books (and movies, since that’s the vision we get here).

 While it might be easy to dismiss this as yet another way to prise Galleons from the pockets of faithful Potter-philes by playing on their love for all things Harry and slapping a Bernie Botts label on bags of Jelly Belly Beans, there may also be something in this development that harks back to what we’ve discussed here before: the power of a truly immersive text. Yes, people will go just to ride the dragon coasters or just because they think some movie actor was cute, but others will go to experience, in three dimensions, the world we’ve pictured in our minds with the books in our hands. We want to peer into Dumbledore’s office or shop at Ollivander’s because these place already seem real to us. We may feel a thrill of delight as the steam issues from the Hogwarts Express, promising us a journey that we have all taken in our minds.

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Read about it in today’s LA Times’ ‘Muggles Take to Their Broomsticks.’

Talk about ‘Shared Text’ …. H/T to Bryan in California for this link!

America’s largest Harry Potter Meet-Up group, The Group That Shall Not Be Named (TGTSNBN), has invited me to give a talk on 14 June at the Jefferson Market Public Library, 145 Avenue of the Americas, NYC. It promises to be a blast and I hope if you are in the neighborhood that you will stop by — and if you are not, that you will fly in!

Read more about it and reserve your spot here.