Pottermore

Any Potter fan would expect the answers to two questions before any further discussion of this site: Where were you sorted? And… What wand did you get?

So let's get these out of the way. The wand first (you need a wand before you can be sorted, after all):

My wand is blackthorn and unicorn hair, 10 inches, unyielding. And yes, this means something— there's a test to determine this result, and explanations of wand woods, cores, lengths, and descriptions that can be unlocked. Which brings me to… no, I promised. Questions first; then discussion.

So for the second question— yes, the rumors are true: I was sorted into Slytherin. There's actually quite a long introduction to the common room, which leads me to my first concern: Is it a good idea to have unique content only available to a quarter of the users? Especially if there isn't an equal amount available for each house— and there doesn't seem to be. Steph was sorted into Gryffindor, and her common room intro was short, basic, and gave no information not available in the books. I was sorted into Slytherin, and my intro was long, fascinating, and gave little details  not available in the books. I don't know Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw's intros. Are they as long as Slytherin's, and Gryffindor is just short because readers are already familiar with it? Or do they vary in length?

Another comment on houses: Slytherin has won the first house cup. That's actually part of why I held this review so long, to see how the cup was handled.
Points are awarded for unlocking information, collecting things, winning duels, and successfully brewing potions. Unlocking information and collecting are once-offs; once it's done, it's done. The only way to lose points is to mess up a potion.
Normally, the hourglasses recording house points can be viewed in the great hall at any time— but in the last few days before the cup was awarded, they were hidden.
The reward for winning? Slytherin will be allowed into book 2 early. Yes, I may be gloating a little bit.

Over all, I think it worked pretty well. Hiding the point count was a surprise, but now that I think about it, probably a good idea. Instead of people obsessing over exactly how the other houses were doing, they could simply focus on earning as many points as possible in the remaining time. I haven't dueled anyone, so I couldn't tell you how that works (though spell casting is more difficult than it looks), but I did contribute to the effort with a few potions. At first glance, they appear time-consuming, but they're not really. Spend a couple minutes on one screen, wait half an hour to an hour, then spend a couple minutes on another screen. The countdown can run in the background well you're doing other things, and therefore can actually make a good timer ("I'm allowing myself to goof off for one hour— so I'll start this potion, and then may read a book until I need to finish it, after which I'll go back to work.")

I do have a second concern here, though: collectibles don't regenerate. Neither does the money, and it can't be earned, either. I see the logic behind this: Pottermore is about expanding the book experience, not power-gaming. But what about ten years from now? I have this account, and I'll want to go back to it occasionally, maybe even every time I read the books. So what happens in the long run? What am I supposed to do with the site when I've found every collectible, unlocked all the information, and spent all the money? I can reread the new pieces, sure. But if the site does nothing else, it could be come nothing more than a tedious way of accessing a free encyclopedia. I couldn't even brew potions— not after running out of money to buy ingredients.
Still, who knows? Maybe this will be fixed somewhere down the line. Maybe in later books, I will be able to sell the potions or earn money some other way. Maybe after completing book 7, the whole journey can be reset. We'll have to wait and see.

Now back to what I was going to say about the wand, and could say equally about the sorting: these tests are impressive. They are involved enough that I believe they actually are judging something, but not so obvious that you can equate answers directly with the possible result and cheat. They are multiple choice, but the number of possible answers ranges from 2 to at least 7. There are many questions. And they are not the same questions from one person to the next— again, making it hard to figure out the system and cheat.

Now for the overall: What is Pottermore? Was it a good idea? And is it the start of something new?

What is it?
Well… it's Pottermore. It's certainly unique; it's easier to say what it is not. It is not a social site. It is not an online game. It is not an online book. Pottermore is a framework, a part of something. It is incomplete without the books, but combined with them, it is a fun experience. It's like reading the books with matching ambiance, while the author peaks over your shoulder and occasionally explains details or reminisces about bits that were cut.

Was it a good idea?
Yes. But…
Is it the start of something new?
Probably not. This works because of sheer volume. There are so many books in this created world, so many fans of them, so much that the author wrote and created outside of just what was in the books, so much that was kept secret before the site's opening. It's a perfect storm. So I'm not so sure it's as big for the publishing world as I had hoped it would be.

Still, it's pretty fascinating. I'm a total Potter fan, I admit it.


******

Unfortunately, this does affect publishing.

Goodnight Moon

...does not actually contain the phrase "goodnight moon"

Ender's Game

OH WOW WHY HAVE I NEVER READ THIS BEFORE?

I may say something more coherent later... or maybe this is sufficient...

Oogy

No offense - it's about a good cause and all - but I was really surprised this made it to bestseller.  The advance copy I saw wasn't very good; though admittedly I didn't finish it.  It was just... I read the first few pages, skimmed the next chapter or so, and decided that it just wasn't interesting.  It had too much of the "and then I ate dinner, and it was steak, and then I opened a window..." feel.

Although I suppose this doesn't count as a real review, since I didn't finish it.

Naked Heat

Heat partners "Malcolm and Reynolds"... I love Castle's ghostwriter.

I wonder... was editor "Mitchell Perkins" intentional as well? Maybe not, but I was happy.

Queen Jillian

So unfortunately, I did not save the fish picture. Here's a new one though, that's not quite as cool-looking but took a lot more time. I figure this is the American equivalent of looking at the king and sitting on his throne. Which Jilly would so do.

Friday I went ahead & used the store credit & personal shopping day on top of my employee discount... which worked exactly as I am sure was intended; that is, it tempted me into buying stuff I didn't need, but made me very happy. Then I met a friend at the library, for a homework party - but we were distracted by the books I had just bought, and then by the food in the cafe, and then by the library closing. So we had our homework party at the graduate student lounge (and were proud of ourselves for finding it). I got a lot done, and it was fun too :-)

Reading: I haven't read any bestsellers recently, because I've been distracted by shiny things. Specifically, an anthology of dragon stories which included one by Tamora Pierce, the newest Castle book, and a new Valdemar novel from Mercedes Lackey... book reviews will resume in a bit.

Lots of Rambling

So, it's definitely been a while. I don't even know where to start...

Classes. Yeah.
Classes have started and I am really, really excited. I'm taking Applications for Print Publishing - we're working with InDesign at the moment - and Book Publishing Overview, which is really, really cool (yeah, I know, I'm in writing/publishing and should be able to express myself better than "really, really cool" but I'm TOO EXCITED... oops, sorry, carried away. Anyway, it's a similar effect to my reaction to the news that ALEX AND WALTER ARE ENGAGED! ...okay, carried away again). To get back on topic, today's class is going to be about the editorial department, which I'm really looking forward to. The homework was to research a publisher and be ready to present on it - perhaps I'll do a post on that too. After classes, we generally all head over to the Tam to hang out & talk.

Work.
Not too much news - work is still fun, with great benefits like cheap/free books and being able to borrow bestsellers. We have even more ereader options to memorize. I'm loving working in the kids' section. Oh, and I got to do the kids' story time once!

Books.
The system for borrowing is being re-worked, so reading the bestseller list is on hold for a while. The last book I checked out was actually the first 3 Guardians of G'Hoole, so I figure now I'm allowed to see the movie. I'm more excited about the Harry Potter movie, though. I've started listening to Mugglecast again (love their chapter-by-chapter).

Boston in general
The weather's cooled down. I've scheduled an appointment to become a lector at church. I still want to go to the beach and the aquarium.

Apartment
I love my roommates. I also love how adult the apartment's furnishings feel. I'm even taking care of a plant! I remembered to water it! This is an achievement for me! One annoyance, though: as I write this blog, I am waiting for Comcast's repair people because we still don't have working cable. Oh well.

Writing
Some progress. Most of it in figuring out just what's been going wrong in a couple stories... which may not have resulted in visible progress (yet), but is definitely a big help. Also, I now have all my Tamora Pierce books, so I might go back to the parody I was writing...

Eat, Pray, Love

I started with a nonfiction book more because it was the most readily available than anything else. I wasn't sure that I'd like it at first - not because I don't like nonfiction, because I do, but because I'm not generally impressed by my-life's-journey stories, nor do I trust "popular" to be the same as "good."

But this book was so good.

It's divided into 3 parts - Italy, where the narrator learns to enjoy life, India, where the narrator learns to appreciate life, and Indonesia, where the narrator learns to live her life. Her philosophy is interesting and convincing - and, I'll admit, I really enjoyed the short section in which she describes a weekend in Florence. Every other line, I was thinking "I did that! And I did that!"
But really, the whole book had a similar feel. Even though I haven't physically been anywhere else she went, the narration of her emotional/spiritual journey is so well done that it's hard not to identify. Eat, Pray, Love is an exploration of... if you'll excuse the reference... the answer (or perhaps the question) to life, the universe, and everything.

The ending caught me by surprise. I want to say it was abrupt, but I'm not sure I can. Just as I was thinking "wait, that's it?" I was also thinking, "of course that's it; there's nothing more to say." I like that there's no where-do-I-go-from-here summary. The whole book was about finding balance so that she doesn't need to know or worry about that, so it's fitting to just stop there, with thanks to the people who helped her along the way.

Bestsellers

My reading list, generated by the NY Times Bestseller list:
1-3. Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy
4. Nora Roberts' The Search
5. Chris Cleave's Little Bee
6. Linda Lael Miller's Austin
7. James Patterson and Maxine Paetro's Private
8. Justin Halpern's Sh*t My Dad Says
9. Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw
10. Drew Brees' Coming Back Stronger
11. Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love
12. Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin's Three Cups of Tea
13. Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life
14. Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton's The Very Fairy Princess
15. Simon Beecroft's Lego Star Wars
16. Jane O'Connor's Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day

Yes, the last three are kids' books. No, I will not be reading the best selling advice books, mainly because at least one of them is about being pregnant, and that would just be odd. I wasn't sure about the advice books to begin with, and with that added incentive not to read them... well, my list's long enough, right?

So. I'm starting with Eat, Pray, Love, which I've borrowed from Borders. It's due back in 2 weeks, but I'll probably have it done long before that.

Books! Books! And... no books?

I started at Borders today - I was so excited, I was an hour early getting off the T, but I hung out at the library a little.

Then I headed towards Borders - still early - and realized the farmer's market was there! So I went around the square and checked out all the stands, and the peaches looked good but the plums looked really good so when I passed them again on my way home I bought some.

Then Borders - it's going to be a really cool job. It sounds like so much fun! And books! Books everywhere, all day... and air conditioning too. Their ereader program is really good. They even have a book lending policy for employees... and an employee discount... So many books, so little time.

After Borders, and the plums, I stopped at the library again - intending to start on my goal of reading the entire NY Times bestseller list. Sadly, none of the books on the list were available. BPL, you disappoint me.


snicker