Staff Review: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by Rowling, Thorne and Tiffany

Where do I begin? To review something that you have undying affection for is harder than you might think. I suspect I need to delve a bit deeper than: I ♥ Harry Potter ♥ always.

As most of you know, the Harry Potter stories were published in seven books and through these
books, we see the whole story arc of wizard Harry's teen years (the glorious triumphs and far too many tragedies) and the ultimate fight of good versus evil, love versus hate. The last book came out in July 2007. Nine years ago! For those of us who are super-fans, that is eons. My love for Harry Potter knows no bounds and I was beyond thrilled when I realized that there was to be "the eighth Harry Potter story" coming out.

What surprised so many people was that this eighth story is a written as a play. It is being performed this summer in London. So many of us will never get the chance to see this play across the pond, but we do get the script for it.

I knew it was going to be a play script. I knew it would be different. But what I didn't expect was how quickly the story jumps right into the action. But that makes sense, I realized, because a play is all dialogue. All the words need to count and they need to propel the action forward.

I can only hope that someday the play will come to Iowa. I'd even be happy with a DVD of the stage production in London. I think that there must be so much visual storytelling here that we miss a lot of the drama of the words in the script: all the meaningful looks, pregnant pauses, no-doubt gorgeous and magical set pieces. I miss J.K.'s ability to bring you into the story by her fantastic descriptions of magical locations, also the peeks into the minds of the characters and how they are feeling. All of these things are burned in my memory, but for someone who hasn't read these books *cough* so many times, they might not get it at all.

...Angie, may I hijack your review for a moment? This is Amy.  I'm also a huge Harry Potter fan, but nowhere near as obsessed as Angie.  Though I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I feel cheated.  I feel cheated because J.K. Rowling is a masterful story teller and I really want to return to the world of Harry Potter and see Hogwarts as it is now.  With Harry, Hermione, Ron and yes, even Malfoy's children attending school, learning spells, getting into shenanigans and forging their own path in the world.  But alas I don't think that will ever happen. So curse you J.K. Rowling for dangling this carrot and then just taking it away.  Okay, selfish rant over.  You may return to Angie's review now...

Thanks, Amy, for that insight. I will say that I always hold out hope that there will be more written about the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling. This seems to be the case on her website "Pottermore" After the heaviness of what happened in the last few books, however, I don't think we will be able to get our innocence back. Sigh. That doesn't mean I won't keep reading them however. These books are like family to us super-fans.

Update: Rumors are flying that some film producers want to make this play into one, or some say even three movies. Who knows if this is true, but we can always dream.

~Angie (and Amy), Adult Services

Staff Review: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by Rowling, Thorne and Tiffany

Where do I begin? To review something that you have undying affection for is harder than you might think. I suspect I need to delve a bit deeper than: I ♥ Harry Potter ♥ always.

As most of you know, the Harry Potter stories were published in seven books and through these
books, we see the whole story arc of wizard Harry's teen years (the glorious triumphs and far too many tragedies) and the ultimate fight of good versus evil, love versus hate. The last book came out in July 2007. Nine years ago! For those of us who are super-fans, that is eons. My love for Harry Potter knows no bounds and I was beyond thrilled when I realized that there was to be "the eighth Harry Potter story" coming out.

What surprised so many people was that this eighth story is a written as a play. It is being performed this summer in London. So many of us will never get the chance to see this play across the pond, but we do get the script for it.

I knew it was going to be a play script. I knew it would be different. But what I didn't expect was how quickly the story jumps right into the action. But that makes sense, I realized, because a play is all dialogue. All the words need to count and they need to propel the action forward.

I can only hope that someday the play will come to Iowa. I'd even be happy with a DVD of the stage production in London. I think that there must be so much visual storytelling here that we miss a lot of the drama of the words in the script: all the meaningful looks, pregnant pauses, no-doubt gorgeous and magical set pieces. I miss J.K.'s ability to bring you into the story by her fantastic descriptions of magical locations, also the peeks into the minds of the characters and how they are feeling. All of these things are burned in my memory, but for someone who hasn't read these books *cough* so many times, they might not get it at all.

...Angie, may I hijack your review for a moment? This is Amy.  I'm also a huge Harry Potter fan, but nowhere near as obsessed as Angie.  Though I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I feel cheated.  I feel cheated because J.K. Rowling is a masterful story teller and I really want to return to the world of Harry Potter and see Hogwarts as it is now.  With Harry, Hermione, Ron and yes, even Malfoy's children attending school, learning spells, getting into shenanigans and forging their own path in the world.  But alas I don't think that will ever happen. So curse you J.K. Rowling for dangling this carrot and then just taking it away.  Okay, selfish rant over.  You may return to Angie's review now...

Thanks, Amy, for that insight. I will say that I always hold out hope that there will be more written about the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling. This seems to be the case on her website "Pottermore" After the heaviness of what happened in the last few books, however, I don't think we will be able to get our innocence back. Sigh. That doesn't mean I won't keep reading them however. These books are like family to us super-fans.

Update: Rumors are flying that some film producers want to make this play into one, or some say even three movies. Who knows if this is true, but we can always dream.

~Angie (and Amy), Adult Services

Staff Review: Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart

What fun this book was! We had a lovely and animated discussion of Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart for August's Book Club.

I chose this book in particular because it was a mystery and very much outside of my normal reading habits. I do like to stretch my reading boundaries and it also happens to fulfill the "Read a Mystery" challenge for the Great Reading Challenge! The premise seemed intriguing too: The year is 1915, the location: New Jersey, USA. There are three sisters living on a farm and taking care of themselves just fine, thank you very much. The story begins as the sisters are out shopping. Along comes a newfangled automobile which quite suddenly and rather rudely smashes into the ladies' horse-drawn buggy.

What starts as a simple quest to recoup the cost of a demolished buggy turns into an all-out war with the corrupt factory owner (and errant automobile driver) who refuses to pay and in fact, insists on harassing and taunting these ladies with threats and bullets until they feel they are trapped in their home and under siege. But even as we can feel their fear and worry, and the unfairness of the general treatment of women at this time, we also see their strength and fortitude.

Constance, Norma and Fleurette Kopp just wanted to go about their own business, but as they are thrust into an unwanted struggle, they grow to meet the challenge and then some. All three end up being a hero in their own way in this story. As we watch them take on the corrupt boss and his henchmen (as well as some of the gender norms expected during this era), we get to savor some sweet justice. The best part of the whole story, to me, is the fact that it is based on a true story. The Kopp sisters were real and they were actually involved in a story much like this one! It is great that this tale of three incredible women is finally being told.

This mystery isn't a whodunit, not really. But it does keep us on the edge of our seat wondering how all the pieces fit and how things happened the way they did. I recommend this for anyone who can appreciate sharp and capable main characters who are up against a society that doesn't really respect them, but who do what needs to be done regardless. There are some great one-liners in this book and a general sense of playfulness, even as there are some more serious and thoughtful elements that pin the story together. A great read overall! And it's a series too - Book 2 will be out in September and it is called Lady Cop Makes Trouble.

~Angie, Adult Services