We book-lovers at Bookstr have to give other authors credit for paying homage to "The Boy Who Lived" who, among many other literary icons, gave their profession a great name.
Tag: jk rowling
J.K. Rowling’s Tweets and Harry Potter’s Legacy
Although the final book in the Harry Potter series was published over a decade ago, the Harry Potter universe has continued to expand dramatically. This is not only thanks to the film series, the amusement parks, or the Fantastic Beasts series. One of the most fascinating, if not infamous, sources of information into the wizarding world comes from J.K. Rowling’s twitter account.
Image via wikipedia
It started back in 2007 when Rowling disclosed that our beloved headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was gay. This took the fanbase by storm, and the revelations kept on pouring in over the years: Hermione might be black, there are Jewish students at Hogwarts, many quidditch players suffer from CTE’s, there’s no tuition fee at Hogwarts, etc.
One of the more recent bombshells came when J.K. Rowling revealed through the Pottermore twitter account that “Hogwarts didn’t always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence.”
Some believe that Rowling is just milking the cow for everything it’s worth. There is a trending meme format going around where people insert absurd Harry Potter facts into a fake J.K. Rowling twitter account.
Image via twitter
Whether or not we’re left scratching our heads at some of the additions, the Harry Potter fanbase eats it up like candy. We’re so invested in this world that every little drop of information is precious. As Harry Potter’s birthday roles around this July 31st—the same day as Rowling’s—we are left to wonder at the legacy this series left behind. However, no matter how many arbitrary details are added on after the fact, fans will always admire the wizards they’ve come to know and love. No tweet can ever change that.
Featured Image Via: cheatsheet.com
The Woman Behind the American Covers of Harry Potter
As far as iconic book jackets in America go, the Harry Potter series has touted some of the most memorable covers we’ve ever seen. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published in America three years before the movie was released and the cover gave readers their first image of the scraggly haired, four-eyed wizard we’ve come to know and love. These covers held a consistent theme throughout the entirety of the American Harry Potter series, and they were all made by one woman: Mary GrandPré.
Image via ao5 gallery
Although she initially declined Scholastic’s offer to illustrate the covers, GrandPré changed her mind and never looked back. In an interview with Sarasota, she said, “By the time I was working on Book 3, we knew we were dealing with something very special.”
image via the nostalgia blog
GrandPré was granted early access to the books before they were released and crafted her illustrations after reading. She received feedback from the editors, but never from JK Rowling herself.
In addition to the covers, GrandPré also illustrated all of the chapter headers that appear throughout the books.
image via playbuzz
Mary GrandPré’s illustrations have overrun the psyches of America’s young adult readership for the past two decades, and her depictions of the wizarding world have gone down as some of the most influential book covers in all of literary history.
Featured Image Via: Insider
The Face App Results on Your 7 Favorite Authors Are Hilarious
Here at Bookstr, we’re fans of scientific research. Today our constant quest for knowledge has led us to discovering what our favorite authors look like aged, gender-swapped, young, bald, or moustachioed using Face App.
Among my favorites are J. K. Rowling’s very Jeremy Corbyn-esque male self, Stephen King’s can-I-speak-to-the-manager female self, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s Zack-and-or-Cody child self.
Enjoy!
J. K. Rowling
Stephen King
Haruki Murakami
John Green
Virginia Woolf
George R. R. Martin
Ursula K. Le Guin
All Images Via Face App
Here’s Why JK Rowling Almost Killed Ron Weasley
While it’s true that the beloved trio of Harry Potter protagonists suffers pretty significantly in every instalment, an actual death would have been too much for fans to take. It was bad enough when Hedwig died—worse still when fans had to suffer through every agonizing second of Dobby’s seriously unfortunate demise. Fortunately, nothing permanently bad ever happened to any of them (besides, of course, the dead parents, the forcing your parents to forget you’re alive, the extremely dead brother). But we came pretty close to what would have been the most horrifying book of the series: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Children’s Tears.
JK Rowling initially planned for none among the trio to die—it was the least she could do, given all the characters she didn’t spare. (Fred? Dumbledore?? Sirius???) But as she struggled emotionally during the course of her writing, the story began to take a darker turn. She revealed:
Midway through, which I think is a reflection of the fact that I wasn’t in a very happy place, I started thinking I might polish one of them off. Out of sheer spite. But I think in my absolute heart of heart of hearts, although I did seriously consider killing Ron, [I wouldn’t have done it].
Gifs Via Tenor
Though this is one of the darker details that didn’t make it into the final version of the series, it’s not the only one—just the worst! Since the series’ release, Rowling has revealed many more details that fans would have loved to see in the series. (An actually gay Dumbledore, anyone? You still have your chance, JK.) One such revelation was more amusing than many of the others: that Rowling always considered Ron Weasley “a boy who would definitely swear.” Unfortunately, her editors considered him a boy who definitely didn’t—at least, not in front of the series’ young, impressionable readers.
We’re lucky that Ron didn’t die, but we all also wish we could have seen (or heard!) him follow the f*cking spiders.
Featured Image Via Women.com
