Exploring the Magic World of Harry Potter by Karen Farrington & Lewis Constable + Giveaway!

Published October 1, 2010.

Author websites.

In this little book fans will find a surprisingly large variety of random thoughts, about Harry's magic universe, about the woman who created him, the books, the movies, and the actors in the films. (goodreads.com)

I can tell you right now this is going to be a short review. I mean, how does one review what's really nothing more than a pile of tidbits about the first five books of the HARRY POTTER series?

At the end of the day it is nothing more than a disorganized smattering of "facts" about HARRY POTTER; the characters, the world, the actors, pretty much everything. Even real world events that parallel the HARRY POTTER world. There's a small glossary in the back defining some of the terms in the series, characters, creatures, places. Its compilings only go up to the fifth book so it is short on a couple of stories and I definitely wouldn't call it comprehensive but it is a neat little coffee table book of random HARRY POTTER knowledge.

I did notice at least one factual error while reading: there was mention of Jensen Ackles being one of the stars of Smallville. Negative. He's one of the stars of Supernatural. While he was on one season of Smallville, on a show that ran for 10 years I wouldn't exactly call that starring in. Being in every episode of a show that's currently in its seventh season, star. So yeah, in a fact book where some of the facts aren't checked, it does leave me to doubt, however little bit, what I'm reading. Call it a nit pick or whatever. But it did make me perk up my ears.

But from quotes from the actors to the whole slew of random information that can be found in EXPLORING THE MAGIC WORLD OF HARRY POTTER it's definitely something a Potter nut would want to add to their collection simply because it's HARRY POTTER. It's not comprehensive and it does read like someone on the outside looking in but it's neat. I'll give the authors credit for being able to compile all of that information into one little book and for the real world historical aspects that matched the magical world. That was probably my favorite out of it all.

Ban Factor: High - Simply for the HARRY POTTER connection. Inside it could be crayon-drawn pictures of the sun but the cover says HARRY POTTER. We all know how the banners feel about that magical boy.

Giveaway time!

Want my copy? Then just fill out the form below for your chance to win it!

• Open to US residents 13 years of age and older only.
• One entry per person per email address.
• Duplicate entries will be deleted.
• Entrants must be a follower of Bites via at least one of the following mediums: RSS, GFC, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter.
• Giveaway ends April 1st at midnight, EST.

101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic . . . But Didn't! by Tim Maltin

Published November 29, 2011.

Ever since that night, fact has merged with fiction about what really happened. Now, for the first time, Titanic expert and author Tim Maltin gathers together all the key elements surrounding the disaster and presents a fascinating, compulsive and accurate account of what really happened. Taking as his lead one hundred and one oft-quoted theories about the fateful night, Maltin uses eyewitness testimony to rigorously examine each one in chronological order, and in so doing tells the true story of the Titanic and the night she sank with the loss of 1,500 lives. (netgalley.com)

The sinking of the Titanic was one of the worst tragedies in modern history, evidenced by the fact that, as a whole, we're still salivating over it 100 years later. We're still eager for information about it, we want to know the people, we still want to learn things we didn't know, and for some god awful reason, we want 1996's Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet released in 3D. Apparently there isn't a god.

But that's besides the point. As a crazy Titanic enthusiast myself, having been reading about the ship since I was roughly eight, thus coming across new information is a pretty big rarity, it was refreshing reading 101 THINGS because it did shake some rumors and clear up some cloudy moments about the Titanic for me. Of course, and I say this not patting myself on the back but just as someone that's done a shit-ton of Titanic reading, I already knew a lot of the stuff presented in this book. But that's okay because I still got a kick out of it.

Really it's all in the presentation. Maltin pulled right from the source, relying heavily on the transcripts from the hearings after the Carpathia docked in New York, and also from the hearings in London. It's astounding to read words spoken by Lightoller about how sure he was that the Titanic didn't break in half before sinking. I mean, he was SO sure. Of course, we now know that to not be the truth. And one of the pieces of information I didn't know was that the Brits tried to whitewash the whole thing. Bad, Brits. Bad. Another piece of information I didn't know: even if there were enough lifeboats to fit everyone on board, there weren't enough able seamen to man them, thus rendering the boats useless. How's that for a paradox. Really, those people were screwed anyway.

So there's really something for all levels of Titanic interest in 101 THINGS. If I can find new information within these pages, then anyone can. And it's told in a manner like you'd hear a good teacher talking about it. It's not just information regurgitated back at you simply to get it out. It's evident in the tone of the information that Maltin has a great interest in the Titanic and he's enthusiastic about it. You can't fake that so when you're reading you, in turn, get enthusiastic about the information you're given. You won't be able to help it. It's infectious.

101 THINGS would be especially wonderful for those just coming across the Titanic and wanting to know more about it. It's the Cliff Notes version of what you can find scattered throughout the referential material floating out there. Definitely a good place to start. And it's a good book to have to round out your Titanic knowledge. I can almost guarantee that there'll be something in there that even the most interested Titanic aficionado might not know. So give it a whirl. You'll be able to envision it all as you read. In this case, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's vivid. That's for sure.

Ban Factor: Low - It's a book of Titanic facts. What's there to ban? Knowledge?

Lily Renee, Escape Artist by Trina Robbins

Published November 1, 2011.

In 1938, Lily Renée Wilheim is a 14-year-old Jewish girl living in Vienna. Her days are filled with art and ballet. Then the Nazis march into Austria, and Lily's life is shattered overnight. Suddenly, her own country is no longer safe for her or her family. To survive, Lily leaves her parents behind and travels alone to England. Escaping the Nazis is only the start of Lily's journey. She must escape many more times—from servitude, hardship, and danger. Will she find a way to have her own sort of revenge on the Nazis? Follow the story of a brave girl who becomes an artist of heroes and a true pioneer in comic books. (netgalley.com)

I'm always amazed by the survival stories that come out of occupied Europe, and Lily Renee's is no different. For such a young girl to have to leave home alone, travel to a foreign country where she barely knows the language and try to ride out the war, it's amazing adults were able to do it, let alone a girl that was barely a teenager. But she did it and it really puts the trials in one's life into perspective. Escaping from the Nazis, then from prejudiced English, traveling to America and then fighting adversity to become a pioneering name in comics kind of makes the daily grind of one's life pale in comparison.

But she did it without a thought about it. It was survival mode and Lily did what she had to do to make it. The story is a simple one, told in simple language but it doesn't need to be dressed up. The story itself is already grand. Flowery prose need not apply. Plus the illustrations to go along with it make it stand out all the more. As if you couldn't picture Lily's story in your head just from the words, the images were there to help. Rich and colorful and sometimes frightening, Robbins didn't hold the story back and Timmons and Oh were relentless with the illustrations. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Whereas something like MAUS, while amazing, is probably too graphic for a younger audience, LILY RENEE tells a realistic story without being gruesome so it makes it a little more easily digestible for a younger reader that might not be able to handle the images in like comics. It'll make them see without making them see too much and it does it without sugarcoating. I'd like to see LILY RENEE, ESCAPE ARTIST in all classrooms as a teaching tool, it's just that good. It's just one of many stories coming out of that time and I'm glad it did. It shows a fight of will and of character and I think everyone should be reading stories like this, just to see what real survival is.

Ban Factor: Low - It's a vanilla historical graphic novel free of swears and anything lewd. Unless banners are offended by the troubles of a young girl escaping Nazi-occupied Europe, they're going to keep their grubby hands off of this one.

Stupid Christmas by Leland Gregory

Published October 5, 2010.

From absurd 911 calls to presidential philosophizing and foolish felons, Leland Gregory generates the best laughs by exposing the worst of human nature. Following up his New York Times best-selling Stupid American History, Gregory sets his sights on the holidays as he exposes mind-numbing mistletoe maladies in Stupid Christmas: Idiots under the Mistletoe.

Perhaps it's the spiked eggnog or the multiple family members gathered around crazy-colored, twinkly lights, but the holidays are rife with idiocy by the daft and the dumb. Inside this latest collection, Gregory offers more than 200 accounts of holiday-induced stupidity, including:

* While smoke billowed out of the store, firefighters had to physically restrain enthusiastic shoppers from entering a Great Lakes Mall store during an electrical fire.

* In 1995, officials debated over whom to invite to the city's Christmas tree ceremony: President Bill Clinton or the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

* As a joke, Andrew Jackson sent formal invitations to his Christmas ball to a well-known mother-and-daughter prostitute team in Salisbury, North Carolina. (goodreads.com)

Overall it was a cute read. It got some chuckles out of me. No plot to speak of, of course, but I wouldn't necessarily call someone that just rehashes dumb stories pulled from other sources an author. I'm not trying to say that to be mean or anything. I'm just saying Gregory, in my eyes, is more of an editor than an actual author. Sure he retold these stories to the reader but I didn't feel the voice was all that amazing or anything. Cute, but that's about it.

STUPID CHRISTMAS works well as a stocking stuffer for that hard-to-buy-for person with the quirky sense of humor. There are outright funny stories in these pages, along with some that are slightly horrifying. But they're all interesting to read. And it's a quick read at that. Something that you zoom through, get your fill of human stupidity and set it aside. Maybe hand it off to someone else or else pull it out each holiday season and use it as coffee table fodder next to your dancing Santa Claus.

My favorite blurb, though, was all so poignant to us book lovers -

A public library in Oberlin, Ohio, unveiled a holiday display by conceptual artist Keith McGuckin that featured a legless Santa Claus in a wheelchair being pushed down the stairs by an evil Christmas tree. A narrative that accompanied the image explained that Santa had lost his legs when they got entangled in power lines during an alcoholic binge and that the sadistic tree is planning on stealing the money in a Salvation Army kettle and visiting a strip club. A December 4, 2008, article from United Press International quoted library director Darren McDonough as saying that the display would remain in place during the holiday season and to "Remember the old library saying - 'If we don't having something to offend you, we're not going our job.'"

Loved it. This one really tickled me so. This is also a good example of the length and style of the writing. Not bad, but not really indicative of any kind of stand out voice, in my opinion. I'm just getting retold some silly stuff. It's like of like giving Bob Sagat credit for the videos that's he simply replaying on America's Funniest Home Videos. You get the cute little asides but, at the end of the day, it's really someone else that provides the entertainment.

Like I said, STUPID CHRISTMAS is cute and works great as a stocking stuffer. I learned some mind-numbing stuff about my area as it's so featured in this snarky book. I just don't see anyone needing to read this one more than once, though. I wouldn't be surprised with its regifting potential. Hey, at least it's better than a singing fish.

Ban Factor: Medium - While free of swearing and lewdness, it is poking fun at anything and everything it can get its hands on, including religion. But then banners would need to READ it to see that. That may be asking too much.

Distracted by Maggie Jackson

First published in 2008.

We have oceans of information at our disposal, yet we increasingly seek knowledge in online headlines glimpsed on the run. We are networked as never before, but we connect with friends and family via e-mail and fleeting face-to-face moments that are rescheduled and interrupted a dozen times. Despite our wondrous technologies and scientific advances, we are nurturing a culture of diffusion, fragmentation, and detachment.

In this new world, something crucial is missing: attention - the key to recapturing our ability to connect, reflect, and relax; the secret to coping with a mobile, multitasking, virtual world. (book flap blurb)

You know, there are books that are really interesting, you want to read them and see what they have to say, but at the end of the day you just can't bring yourself to actually finish reading it, for whatever reason. Whether it's you're just not in the right frame of mind or you have other things to do or whatever. That's what this book was for me.

I appreciated the message the author was trying to send. I get it. We are one hell of a distracted people because of the technology that we use. That same technology is robbing us of the ability to think and connect deeply because our brain has learned to process information rapidly and move on, not allowing it to sink in at all. I do get it. And I totally agree. But the point that was being made, I don't think, rendered an entire book.

I got I'd say a little less than halfway through it before I just retired the thing. I just felt it really dragged on and belabored the point a little too much. Am I a product of technology in not wanting to delve deeply into what the book had to say? Or what I just plain not interested enough? I'd like to say the latter. It was interesting, just redundant. If you keep firing the same point at me laid out in different sentences, I'm going to start to zone out because I got it the first six times it was said. Let's move it along. I can think on it. Really. I don't need it talked at me over and over and over again.

While I do agree that technology will ultimately destroy us (optimistic, I know), I don't think it's fair to lump a person's disinterest in something as ultimately a product of their inability to think outside of technology. I don't need anyone making excuses for me. While I'm distracted by shiny things, sometimes I'm just not interested because I'm bored by the material. It's allowed and has been happening for eons outside of technology.

So this book doesn't get a rating because I didn't finish it. If you're looking for a good, in-depth view of the effects technology has on society, you'll find it in this book. But it is wordy, it is heavy-handed and it is redundant so beware. Not like I didn't know I would be getting something akin to an essay in this book. I just didn't think it'd be so derivative of itself.

Field Guide to the Little People by Nancy Arrowsmith

First published in 1977, reprinted by Llewellyn in 2009.

In high summer meadows, nestled in the moors, near old castles, or behind the kitchen stove - these are the places where the Little People may be found.

Make the acquaintance of White Ladies and Red Caps, Church Grims and Hobgolbins, English Fairies, Leprechauns, Sirens, Hey-Hey Men, and all of their strange and mythical kin. Become wise in the ways of these magical creatures, some beautiful and benevolent, others cunning, menacing, or morose.

For many years, this field guide has been as elusive as a Will-o'-the-Wisp. This is the first opportunity for fans to once again own an English-language edition of one of the most revered introductions to elf folk ever written. (book back blurb)

A little about this book: it was originally released in the 70s and then went out of print. Thankfully for it, it developed a huge cult following which then led to its most recent reprinting. Apparently this book was highly sought after for years and those with copies held onto them for dear life (I have a few books like that). After reading it, it's painfully clear why.

There are many, many different types of Little People in this book and while the descriptions are not overly wrought or extensive, they give you just enough information to tantalize you and make you want to dig deeper into some of these creatures.

The amount of research Arrowsmith put into this book is amazing. The stories and information she gathered are all "true" accounts she gathered from traveling all over Europe. They're not stories based on other stories from people but documented from texts she spent years scouring.

The introductions take a little bit to wade through. There are a few, both old from the original book and new to make light of a few things, including how it hasn't been updated (like many YA books are now especially). References to the USSR and Czechoslovakia are made throughout. It's not like people wouldn't know what they were when reading (I mean, it's not rocket science) but is it really worth changing? I think it just gives the book that much more life.

What's also pretty neat is that if you're big into reading about faeries (Stiefvater, Marr, etc.), you read about the ones they write about in this book and it gives you a better understanding of just what they are. They don't have dramatized stories around them. You just get bare-bones "facts" about what they are. You can color in the rest of the picture for yourself.

The drawings are stunning and I've even marked off a couple of the Little People for potential stories later on down the road. Some of them are just so enticing I can't help but write about them. But maybe that's their plan . . .

So if you're looking for a somewhat short and to the point research book about the Little People (not just faeries) or are just generally interested in Them, then be sure to pick up this book. It's one of the most comprehensive and unbiased compendiums of Little People information out there. You don't want to miss is.

Strange But True America: Weird Tales from All 50 States by John Hafnor + Contest!

Pub date - August, 2009

US president skinny-dips in the Potomac - every day!

America's real headless horseman

Oops - Student cuts down world's oldest tree

Mosquito bite secures statehood for Florida

US presidents killed by their own physicians

What a quirky and awesome book. This is one of those books you gift to people for birthdays or holidays and it'll be a sure bet that they'll like it, the stories are that entertaining.

They're edited in AP format so as to mimic a newspaper article, as if blood-letting is breaking news! The stories are short, sweet and to the point and you're sure to rocket right through this book with certain tales that just won't leave your head.

One of them for me is how the Democratic party got the mule/donkey as a mascot. And it has nothing to do with it being a "working" animal! Another one that made me laugh out loud was a Vermont story and Ethan Allen visiting some post-Revolutionary war British friends who had hung a picture of George Washington in the bathroom, presumably as an insult to him. Allen then retorted, "It is most appropriately hung. There is nothing that will make an Englishman shit so quick as the sight of General Washington." That's freakin' hilarious!

I can't help but wonder how deep Hafnor had to dig to find some of these stories. This is an excellent bit of eccentric history-telling, right here and it's told in short bursts and accompanied by wonderful illustrations from Dale Crawford. I mean, how often does anyone over the age of six get to guiltlessly enjoy books with pictures in it?

If you want to know something quirky about your state, or any state, definitely pick up this book. You know, I didn't know Connecticut, my home state and current residence, was home to the real first president of the Unites States! How awesome is that! And while Sleepy Hollow, New York might have the famous headless horseman, Texas has a true version. Dun dun dun!

Definitely an awesome read!

Contest Time!

You want a copy? You got it. I'll make it simple this time. Just post a comment with your email address to win an ARC of this awesome book. I only have one for grabs so you all are going to have to fight for it!

UPDATE!

John Hafnor was awesome enough to offer up another book for my contest so now there'll be two winners! Yay!

Open to US residents only and the contest will end on July 28th.