So, I ended up staying in pretty much all day long yesterday … even tho both Darion and Jordan invited me out to hang with them last night I kinda crashed out on the couch and slept most of the evening/night away. Unfortch, tho, I woke up at around 10 and had a hard time falling asleep at bedtime. I was very happy when the UPS man delivered my copy of the deluxe version of JK Rowling’s new Harry Potter book Tales of Beedle the Bard. Because the deluxe version of the book is so opulent and pretty, I purchased both the standard version (to read) and the deluxe version (to put on my shelf and look at) and immediately read the whole thing (standard edition) in one sitting:

The book is a very quick read, it’s a nice little Harry Potter snack. JK has an uncanny ability to craft amazing stories and this book of Magickal fairy tales was a very fun read. It’s an absolute must-read for any Harry Potter fan. The deluxe version of the book is just insane … it looks very much like the handcrafted original version of the book that sold for $3.9 million at auction last year. Since Amazon.com bought the book, they were able to partner with JK to recreate the handcrafted original for sale to fans.

I also happened to stumble upon the (old) news that one of my favorite singers Leona Naess released her new album Thirteens a couple of months ago! How I missed this, I’ll never know:

I immediately downloaded the album from iTunes (which comes with a bonus track where she duets with ex-boyfriend Ryan Adams). I also found out that Leona is giving away 13 more songs online FOR FREE — one a week — so that fans can enjoy an entirely new “bootleg” album of music. FindThe13.com has been up and running for at least 4 weeks now … so to catch up, you can download the songs On My Toes (HERE), Hiccups (HERE), All Is Fair (HERE) and On MY Mind (HERE). I just love this girl … these new songs are amazing. I understand the album has been in the works FOR-EVER so it’s great that we’re finally able to hear them — I just wish I knew sooner.

Incidentally, Ryan Adams (Leona’s ex-lover & semi-current duet partner and just named contributing writer for BlackBook magazine) has released a demo version of his new songs Dear Impossible (HERE) and Sunflowers and Rain (HERE). His blog is amazing … fans should deffo be checking in every 10 mins. as he updates all the time. My copy of his new book of poetry Infinity Blues just arrived today … so I have a lot of stuff to read and listen to. Wee, the weekend!!

Today is Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s birthday and in celebration it has been announced that her previously unavailable handwritten tome of short fairytales (written by Rowling after she penned the 7th and final Harry Potter book) will be published for sale to regular folk like us. The original handwritten copies of the book were given away to personal friends of Rowling and the 7th was sold at auction for almost $4 million bucks to Amazon.com … and now, the book will be published in a special edition version (for $100) and a standard paperback edition (for $8) — the Collector’s Edition will be sold exclusively on Amazon.com:

Wizard news, Harry Potter fans: A book of fairy tales written and illustrated by J.K. Rowling is to be published for charity. A British charity said Thursday it hopes to raise $8 million through sales of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.” Rowling co-founded The Children’s High Level Group charity, which supports institutionalized children. She has signed over her royalties. The book is a collection of five wizarding tales referred to in Rowling’s Potter saga. It was initially produced in an edition of seven handwritten copies. Six were given away by Rowling as gifts, and one was bought by retailer Amazon at an auction in December for almost $4 million. Rowling said the new edition would include her illustrations and introduction, the stories themselves and commentaries ostensibly by Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, “which appear by generous permission of the Hogwarts Headmasters’ Archive.” The book will be published Dec. 4 by Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in the United States. Amazon also plans a leather-bound collectors’ edition priced at $100 … She has described “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” as a distillation of the themes found in the Harry Potter books, calling it her goodbye to a world she lived in for 17 years.

Hot damn! This is great news! I was hoping that Tales of Beedle the Bard would be published one day despite the fact that we were told that the book would never be published (henceforth making the sole auctioned copy of the book so valuable). It makes sense that Amazon will be the exclusive seller of the Collector’s Edition since they ponied up the $4 million bucks for the auctioned copy of the book. I already placed my pre-order for both the Collector’s Edition (which you can pre-order HERE) and the standard edition (which you can pre-order HERE). This is absolutely amazing news for Potter fans. It may be JK’s birthday but I feel like we all have cause to celebrate today :)

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