This might make me a nerd

I'm not really sure how we're defining nerd these days, but you might say I am one.

The first week of August I spent my mornings searching for a clue that would let me in to the online world of Harry Potter - Pottermore. I finally got my clue on August 4th and joined right away...then realized it would be weeks before I would actually gain access as they slowly released invites to the Beta version of Pottermore.

My email came on Friday afternoon and I immediately logged in and got lost (for hours, oops) exploring the site.

 Having read JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis as well as countless other fantasy books growing up, I already knew I was a fan of the genre. But after a second reading through the Harry Potter series this year, I have to say that it is the only story that made me want to live in an author-created world (as much as I like hobbits and fauns).

Pottermore is a neat experience because even though its an online computer game-meets-social network of nerds, JK Rowling has written and released a ton of new information on the series that you discover as you go through the site. It turns out that she wrote an enormous back story and details for the wizarding world that she never included in the books. The detail and consistency in the new features is amazing.

The site works through the outline of the books (only book 1 is released in the beta version), you get sorted into your own house based on your answers to a series of questions, and get assigned your own wand as Harry does in the stories. I had no idea how they come up with this, but I got sorted into Ravenclaw, which is where I think I'd have likely ended up if I could have attended Hogwarts in real life. :-)

I've never been into fantasy games or online communities before (and I don't think I'll explore anything else), but I'm not ashamed to say I'm a Potterfan. Are you? 

ps. All usernames on Pottermore are anonymous. If you're on and want to add me, my username is ElmSilver186.

Guest post: Janssen's Travel Book Recommendations

Today's guest post is from Janssen at Everyday Reading. I found her blog through Jenna last summer, when she was still pregnant with her adorable daughter Ella. She has great style and great taste! Janssen, as a former elementary school librarian and avid reader, has some great choice in books (and has read SO much!), so I asked her to share some of her favorite books to read while traveling!

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One of my favorite things about traveling is choosing a big stack of books to take along with me (one of my least favorite things about traveling, coincidentally, is hauling around massive stacks of books). The books I read on vacation become indelibly connected to the place I read them, a lifelong association to a certain trip, which I love (and which also makes me want to choose carefully).

I reread 1984 by George Orwell when I was on study-abroad in London in 2006. It was surreal to read it while being in the same city it's set in, and then to walk by George Orwell's house on Portobello Road. I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo while flying back to Boston from Florida. I remember nothing about the flight except being completely sucked into that book's frightening, addicting world. My mom and I finished reading The Scarlet Letter together in the Atlanta Airport on a layover between New Orleans and Las Vegas (yes, I realize that Atlanta is not between those two places. The airlines did not appear to understand this). I finished Fire two years ago when I flew to Boston to search for an apartment; I was incredibly nervous about this trip, but letting myself be consumed by that book helped me not to dwell on the logistics of the trip itself.

If you're looking for a book to take along on your next vacation, here are some of my favorites:

• The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. This is, almost certainly, my favorite book of all time. It follows Holling Hoodhood, a seventh grader, during the Vietnam War. This book can't even really be summed up easily. I have never met one person who didn't LOVE this book. Even if you think you don't like books written for young adults or middle grade students, this one is worth your time. I promise.
• These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. This frontier romance is kind of like Little House on the Prairie for adults. The first 30 pages are a bit slow, so I was glad I was stuck on an airplane with nothing else to read or I might have missed this ridiculously wonderful book.
• Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr., and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. One of my dad's favorite books, this true story about a family with twelve children is so funny and sweet, you'll find yourself crying and laughing. My dad asked my mom to read it before they were married and I had my husband read it before our wedding too.
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart is witty and wonderful young adult fiction. Frankie discovers a secret all-boys society at her boarding school and is determined to find a way in.
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I don't really LOVE science fiction, but I adore this book. I read it a second time during college and it reawakened my love of pleasure reading.
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Brilliant and engaging non-fiction that is as readable as any novel.

What books would you take on vacation?

Neither here nor there

Is it just me or does it feel like Friday? Just wishful thinking.

It's a brain dump sort of day.

First, you must check out this song released last week by Willow Smith, Will and Jada Pinkett's daughter.

She's incredibly talented and adorable and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't whipping my hair back and forth all day.

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I have a new favorite internet game. I rarely play games, but my previous two favorites were Bejeweled Blitz and Scramble.

http://apps.facebook.com/travelpod-challenge/

It's a geography game that lists cities and famous places and you have to click on the map where it is located. The faster you click and the closer you are to the target, the more points you get.

I justify playing this by telling myself it's educational. (Just like Scramble improved my vocabulary and Bejeweled Blitz my strategy and spacial abilities)

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Have you read The Help? I just finished it and really enjoyed it--honest, poignant, and personal. A friend of mine out here is from Jackson, MS and we are getting together on Monday to chat about the book and her experience in Jackson 30-50 years after the book was set.

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I saw this story on Cup of Jo's weekend round up and gasped. It's one of those stories that someone would fantasize could happen--what if I stepped back in time and everything was just like it was 70 years ago?

And here it is, come true--in Paris, no less!

Makes me wonder what kept the owner from ever coming back?

Hope you're having a happy Thursday!

The Evolution of a Book Club

I always loved the idea of a book club, but my limited reading during my undergraduate career (after I changed my major from English to Business) made me feel like I wasn't well-read enough to be an asset to any book discussion.

With E so busy studying, I decided to pick up reading again and just grabbed something that looked interesting off his bookshelf: The Age of Innocence. So I brought it to work to read on my lunch break.



Barb, a co-worker joined me in the lunch room a few minutes later and commented that she had just began reading the same book, so we started chatting about it.
Then another co-worker joined us, and was curious about our book discussion. It turns out he is extremely well-read, and had read Age of Innocence several times.

We started discussing our progress in the book regularly at lunches, and when we finished the first book, I mentioned that I thought it was time I finally started reading Harry Potter (since it is one of my husband's favorite book series).


We all agreed to read the together--although Dan(the 2nd co-
worker) had already read them several times. After discussing the books gradually at lunches, we decided to have an official meeting to discuss the whole series.

And that is how our book club began!
Each of us takes a turn picking out a book and leads the discussion. We usually hold our meetings at each other's houses.
I've been really enjoying the varietyof books that have been chosen.

Since we started last July, we added another member--the wife of another co-worker who is also an avid reader.

Here are some of the other books we've gone through so far: (if you're reading in Google Reader you'll have to click through the blog post to see the images)



































It has been a really great opportunity for me to be involved in this--I'm reading more than I have in a long time, and I'm stretching myself by reading books i would have never picked up if they hadn't been assigned. It's also a challenge to lead the discussion--we try to research the author as well as bring up some observations and discussion questions. For the first time, I'm taking notes of books while I read them.

We have a fun, little group, even if it is somewhat unconventional and eclectic (middle-aged man married with no kids, a 30-something single woman, a young married woman with no kids[me], and a 30-something mom of 2!)
But I'm looking forward to many more book discussions this year!

Are you an avid reader or belong to a book club? Do you have an book recommendations for me?