The Down Side of Harry Potter?

With less than a month to go before the new Harry Potter meets the world, bookish blogs could go all-Potter, all the time—if they wanted to. Hop over to MobyLives for the latest commentary, via a Boston Globe piece.

Although it has become standard to look upon the release of a new Harry Potter book as a good thing for the book industry, a time that reinvigorates traffic to bookstores and, more importantly, generates a lot of sales, there is a dark side to the now–institutionalized mega–phenomenon, observes Alex Beam [of the Boston Globe]...


Overheard in a Bookstore

“Jeffrey, come here! I found a book for you,” a woman bellows across the children’s section at a suburban B & N.

“No!” from somewhere in Teens.

“You’ll like this. You like science fiction.” The mom is still yelling.

Jeffrey appears. He’s about 11. “I won’t even look at it.” He turns his back.

“H.G. Wells. The War of the Worlds. I know you’ll enjoy it.” Mom holds up B & N cheapie edition.

“I said I’m not looking at it.”

Sigh. “What is it you want then?”

“I don’t know. It’s here somewhere.” Jeffrey walks away.

Thirty seconds later. “This is it!” Jeffrey emerges from stacks and carries off Brian Jacques’s Martin the Warrior like a trophy, with a smile across his face.


Networking with Junie B. Jones

Here's a neat  little profile of a twenty-eight-year-old children's bookseller by the name of  Erin Taylor. Her store, Wonderland Books & Toys, in Rockford, Illinois, will be  honored at BookExpo America, which starts today in New York. From the article in the Rockford Register Star:

Q: What's the most fun thing about your job?
A: Seeing joy and excitement on children's faces when we have concerts or author visits. We just had book character Junie B. Jones here as part of a national tour. Some fans were so in awe, they couldn't even speak. Knowing that a memory of that moment will be with these children forever is beyond rewarding.