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Book Review: The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
tales-of-beedle-the-bard-jk-rowling The Tales of Beedle the Bard has been written and illustrated by J.K. Rowling. It contains five classic children’s stories, aimed at young wizards and witches: The Wizard and The Hopping Pot, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, The Warlock’s Hairy Heart, Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump and The Tale of The Three Brothers.

After each story are notes from Albus Dumbledore from the Hogwarts Archives. The introduction explains that Dumbledore wrote these notes about eighteen months before the events that took place at the top of Hogwarts’ Astronomy Tower.

Each of the tales in The Tales of Beedle the Bard are superb, magical and thought-provoking. They carry moral messages about: kindness, perseverance, vulnerability, tolerance and wisdom. Dumbledore in his notes discusses the stories messages, reveals more about his history and life at Hogwarts.

My only criticism of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is that it was too short (at 109 pages). I absolutely loved reading the stories and Albus Dumbledore’s thoughts about them. So J.K. Rowling, just so you know, if you do a More Tales of Beedle the Bard, you’ve got a guaranteed sale from a fan here.

Each copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that’s sold leads to a donation of £1.61 to Lumos, a charity working to change the lives of disadvantaged children. Lumos was founded by J.K. Rowling after she read about the terrible poverty some children live in.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Saturday 6 December 2014

Good Omens will be on BBC Radio 4 from 22nd December!

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Music & RadioNo Comments
good-omens-pratchett-gaiman-book-cover We’re in for a great treat this festive period; as Good Omens the book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman comes to Radio 4.

I read about it on Radio Times website. It reads:

The radio adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s comic apocalypse novel Good Omens will air at 11pm from the 22nd to the 27th of December, with the last episode a bumper hour-long special.

…Once you’ve marked that date on your advent calendar, feast your eyes on a string of new cast images released by the BBC today and including Merlin’s Colin Morgan, Fresh Meat star Charlotte Ritchie, Mark Heap (Green Wing), Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy), Paterson Joseph (Peep Show), Sherlock’s Louise Brealey and many more…

Good Omens follows the attempts of an angel and a demon (Heap and Serafinowicz) to save the world from the antichrist, but all is not as it seems thanks to a bureaucratic mix-up. Soon, the fate of humanity is left to a gang of young children, a trainee witchfinder (Morgan) and a collection of garbled flashcards.

It was written by Gaiman and Pratchett in 1990, and became a bestseller that remains popular to this day. Now, the two writers have joined up with the team behind the 2013 smash-hit radio adaptation of Gaiman’s book and TV series Neverwhere which starred Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, Christopher Lee and Natalie Dormer.

Gaiman… has assisted returning Neverwhere director and adaptor Dirk Maggs with the scripts, and both he and Pratchett will make cameo appearances alongside the main cast.

RadioTimes.com caught up with the drama’s star Colin Morgan who explained, despite appearances, you won’t find a better listen for the festive season…

“It’s about the antichrist, at Christmas – nothing more festive that that!” said the Merlin and The Fall actor.

“But it’s got heart and the soul. It’s the escapism, the fantasy element of it, the charm and magic that surrounds Christmas, I think. And it’s pure escapism.

He added: “I think everybody can get something from it. I think fans of Terry and Neil will be extremely pleased.”

Good Omens will begin on Radio 4 on Monday 22nd of December at 11.00pm.

(From: Radio Times, Last accessed: 28th November 2014.)

You can read my book review here: Book Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman.

Can’t wait to hear this fantastic and funny story aloud.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Friday 5 December 2014

Book Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
good-omens-pratchett-gaiman-book-cover In Good Omens the world is going to end next Saturday, well at least according to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter. Both heaven and hell are to wage war on earth, but can it be prevented? If it can’t who will win? And what about the ineffable plan?

In Good Omens two of the best writers around – Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman present a host of ingenious and eccentric characters including: Aziraphale – Heaven’s Angel, Crowley – A Fallen Angel working for Hell, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Witchfinders Newton Pulsifer & Shadwell, Anathema a descendant of Agnes Nutter and new age spiritualist, Adam with dog and the Them.

The war on Earth will all start in Lower Tadfield, a sleepy village in the English countryside. The plot is creative, eventful and expertly shown by Pratchett and Gaiman. Good Omens is humorous, captivating and hilarious.

Humour litters every page of this book. From the things that characters say and do to the fantastically funny footnotes.

Good Omens was first published in 1990 and it’s no surprise that a book this absorbing and addictive is still being printed today. So if you like humorous books, apocalyptic stories, novels about heaven, hell and all manor of angels and supernatural beings you’ll love this book.

Good Omens is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Wednesday 3 December 2014

London Trip, Part 2: The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour

By Adventures, Books & Authors, Happiness & JoyNo Comments

Last Sunday mum and I went to The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour. We were lucky as it was all Hogwarts in the Snow ready for Christmas. It’s a place that’s better shown than described, so here’s ample photos:

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Left to Right: Entrance outside; Entrance Inside with Christmas Tree; Gift shop; Collection of Wands in Gift shop; J.K. Rowling Quote; Cupboard Under The Stairs.
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Left to Right: The Great Hall Entrance; Inside The Great Hall; Gryffindor uniforms; costumes for Hagrid and Flich; costumes for Mcgonagall, Dumbledoor and Snape; Sedway, Moody and Trelawny.
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Left to Right: Cloke of Invisibility; Yule Ball costumes; Ron’s Yule Ball costume; More costumes; Harry Potter’s costumes; a flaming Christmas pudding.
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Left to Right: Gryffindor door common room (top two); Gryffindor dormitories (bottom two).
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Left to Right: clock; Wizard’s Chest piece; Wall of Decrees and long ladder; Various magical props; stairwell; Mirror of Erised.
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Snape’s (and Later Slughorn’s) Potion class set.
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Left: Portraits. Right: Animal Actors.
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Dumbledoor’s Office.
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Various Doors.
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Left to Right: Quidditch display; Horcrux display; Room of Requirement Deatheater prop; Moody’s chest; Remus Suitcase.
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Showing how the special effects were made.
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Top: The Burrow (two photos). Bottom: Malfoy Manor and Umbridge’s Office.
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Top: Might is Magic Statue and Ministry Entrance. Bottom: Ministry interior and Prophecy ball props.
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Left to Right (Outside): Me in a Waterproof poncho; Potters’ Cottage; Hogwarts Bridge; The Night Bus.
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Left to Right: Various Goblin heads; Fawkes the Phoenix (two photos); Greyback’s face; Werewolve; various props (including Dobby’s head).
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Various Magical Creatures.
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To scale Actor/Actress Models.
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Diagon Alley 1.
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Diagon Alley 2: The Weasley’s.
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The level of detail for the films was incredible. Design sketches, paper models, product design – everything designed from scratch based on the books.
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The Finale – Hogwarts Castle with Snow and a Quote from J.K. Rowling.

We had a great time with The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour exceeding expectations. If you’re a fan of the films, I recommended you go. It shows you how the films were made, but somehow doesn’t mean that they loose their magic.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Sunday 30 November 2014
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