J.K. Rowling casts her spell again

Hi there. Here’s another installation from our series of ‘What TNW is reading‘. We’re really committed to reading more, and sharing what we like is a way to keep us on track.

Last week we talked about barbarians and the Roman Empire with a very history-centric post featuring Sam – Rome didn’t fall in a day, it didn’t fall at all. 

Brittany Emery (or Britt to friends) is our lovely California girl. But more than that, she’s our LA star. Born and raised in the Golden State, she gave up sunshine for the chance of having more than a week of vacation. The theme she chose is more than just a topic, it’s a whole world – the magical world of J.K. Rowling.

If loving Harry Potter is wrong, then I don’t want to be right! J.K. Rowling brought my imagination (amongst millions of others) to life with her magical Harry Potter book series. When the books ended it was bittersweet for so many of us potterheads, while Harry finally had his happy ending, it was also the end of a beautiful place our minds had wandered to.

You might not realize, but the last book of the HP series was released in 2008 (a supplement actually, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”). Yes, for eight years we’ve been hoping for more stories and J.K. Rowling finally put an end to our misery. The wizard world you still long to read about is back! Here are Britt’s magical suggestions:

J.K. Rowling is using her blog Pottermore to publish not only character bios and stories on the familiar Hogwarts Potter world, but completely new short (sometimes very short) stories about an in depth understanding of magic, Wizarding communities, and International Wizarding Schools in places such as Western Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, South America, Africa, and the majority of new detailed stories being about North America, obviously in preparation for the upcoming November release of The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them.

The bigger reads give the backstory on how the magical world in North America has developed. It turns out even wizards flee to America looking for the American dream. However, as expected the puritan society, who founded the US we No-Maj’s (American term for Muggles) know today, were not exactly welcoming to mysteries of any kind, creating a more secretive magical society and history unparallel to the British one we are all so familiar with.

As a Californian, she was:

Clicking through the pages with a childlike gust I had not felt in a long while. Finally, a house us non-Brits could actually be sorted in (Horned Serpent house here I come) and new characters we will learn to love and despise. It’s a small taste for the addiction we were forced to quit.

Unless, of course you’re in London, then you could also grab a ticket for the stage play of the 8th book of the Harry Potter Series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

So without ruining the stories, prepare for new magical cultures, deadly creatures, a heroine fleeing oppression, unlikely friendships, witch hunts, new rules for magic, International Schools of witchcraft and wizardry, and of course love conquering all.