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ellipsiscool's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful book. I loved revisiting all my favorite moments in Pottermania with Melissa. I wish so much I could experience each book in the Harry Potter series for the first time all over again. It was so magical.
I'm back on the Leaky Cauldron and listening to Harry and the Potters again. I didn't even know about Draco and Malfoys. Reading Melissa's take on her interviews with Jo was lovely. I'm so jealous!
This is not one of these books that picks apart the series and tells the reader how to feel or how to interpret it.Essentially, this book is one woman's love story with a book series and her Harry Potter life. I am glad she has shared it. It's a story I can relate to.
I'm back on the Leaky Cauldron and listening to Harry and the Potters again. I didn't even know about Draco and Malfoys. Reading Melissa's take on her interviews with Jo was lovely. I'm so jealous!
This is not one of these books that picks apart the series and tells the reader how to feel or how to interpret it.Essentially, this book is one woman's love story with a book series and her Harry Potter life. I am glad she has shared it. It's a story I can relate to.
daumari's review against another edition
4.0
You could boil it down to "HP Fandom: The Book" as told by one of the witnesses to the phenomenon, and for that, I love it. I started reading them when I was roughly the same age as the characters, so I missed on some of the earlier nuances when they happened (the PotterWar and H/Hr vs H/R), but as someone who dives straight into fandom whenever I find a piece of media that I like, it's oh so relatable.
It's also kind of weird, because PotterCast was the very first podcast I started listening to, back in early 2008.
It's also kind of weird, because PotterCast was the very first podcast I started listening to, back in early 2008.
book_concierge's review against another edition
2.0
This tells the story of Pottermania and Anelli’s role as webmaster of The Leaky Cauldron – the # 1 website for fans of Harry. I like the Harry Potter books. I enjoy Rowling’s writing, and I’ve enjoyed a couple of the movies. But I’m not obsessed with the phenomenon. By Anelli’s own account, she first heard of Potter when she was buying her college text books. Her mother suggested “something light” to provide some entertainment and escape from all the heavy college texts. Anelli was hooked from the beginning. She quickly was spending virtually every spare moment reading, thinking, talking Harry Potter. In fairness, the book does go beyond Harry Potter to explore the world of children’s-book publishing. And she also talks about how the web-friends joined together to support and inform each other in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. She nearly lost me entirely in the section devoted to Harry and the Potters and other bands that formed using various themes / characters from the books. Boring. But that was enjoyable compared to the section concerning those who would ban the books because “they teach witchcraft to children.” The most interesting part is the way in which Harry Potter changed the publishing world, the marketing world, the sale of intellectual property to the movies, etc. The best testament to the “power of Potter” is that this book debuted at #18 on the New York Times Bestseller list.
Audio book narrated by Renee Raudman, whose reading of this work is perfectly fine. She sounds appropriately young and enthused when describing the phenomenon, distressed and frantic as she reacts to the Sept 11 attacks, and doesn’t completely put us to sleep when reciting statistics or history.
Audio book narrated by Renee Raudman, whose reading of this work is perfectly fine. She sounds appropriately young and enthused when describing the phenomenon, distressed and frantic as she reacts to the Sept 11 attacks, and doesn’t completely put us to sleep when reciting statistics or history.
labunnywtf's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, I have to reiterate. Joss Whedon fans could kick Harry Potter fans' asses. I belong to both fandoms, I know this for fact.
I started this book extremely excited. Then I got annoyed, and expected to hate the book. It picked back up, though. As someone with a strong fandom family, I just didn't feel hers was as strong. Maybe it's an us vs them sort of thing.
This was really a fun read. I was not deep enough into HP fandom to know half of what happened. I remember the H/H vs H/R war, but I learned about it after the fact, really. I remember reading the JK interviews, but didn't pay much attention to who was doing them and the significance. I probably read them well after the fact.
I didn't like the recurrence of SHAME, though. I've never been ashamed of my fandoms. Once I started reading Harry Potter, I read it in public, private, talked about it, screamed it from the rooftops how great it was. Hell, the only reason I removed the dust jacket from books 5-7 (the only ones I read as hardback originally) while reading was to keep it in pristine condition. But she was so ashamed of being a fan, and of running this website that the fans loved. Even when discussing fanfiction and 'shipping and her own personal belief in H/R, she backed away as quickly as she walked toward it. I just can't relate to being ashamed of fandom love.
Despite any little annoyances, this is a real treat for HP fans and HP fandom. Just a lot of fun.
I started this book extremely excited. Then I got annoyed, and expected to hate the book. It picked back up, though. As someone with a strong fandom family, I just didn't feel hers was as strong. Maybe it's an us vs them sort of thing.
This was really a fun read. I was not deep enough into HP fandom to know half of what happened. I remember the H/H vs H/R war, but I learned about it after the fact, really. I remember reading the JK interviews, but didn't pay much attention to who was doing them and the significance. I probably read them well after the fact.
I didn't like the recurrence of SHAME, though. I've never been ashamed of my fandoms. Once I started reading Harry Potter, I read it in public, private, talked about it, screamed it from the rooftops how great it was. Hell, the only reason I removed the dust jacket from books 5-7 (the only ones I read as hardback originally) while reading was to keep it in pristine condition. But she was so ashamed of being a fan, and of running this website that the fans loved. Even when discussing fanfiction and 'shipping and her own personal belief in H/R, she backed away as quickly as she walked toward it. I just can't relate to being ashamed of fandom love.
Despite any little annoyances, this is a real treat for HP fans and HP fandom. Just a lot of fun.
lindseyembry33's review against another edition
3.0
I read this because I found it intersting. This shows just how much a book (or series of books) can change lives.This series in particular seems to have profound effects on people, I enjoed reading about those specific incidents.
kimberly88's review against another edition
5.0
Great read if you want to learn more about the wonderful HP fandom inspired by the books.
jessmgrant's review against another edition
4.0
I checked this out of the library and at first I was flipping through it but then I actually started reading it and then an hour later I was done...
mlaufer's review against another edition
5.0
It’s like getting to experience the joy and excitement of the books for the first time all over again. Didn’t want this book to end!
missbookiverse's review against another edition
2.0
Was gibt es neben dem erneuten Lesen der Reihe besseres für Harry Potter Vernarrte als ein Buch über Harry Potter? Genau das hat den Reiz dieses Sachbuches, verfasst von der Betreiberin einer der größten HP Fansites, für mich ausgemacht. Theorien über nie enthüllte Hogwarts-Geheimnisse und kleine Insiderhäppchen über Charaktere habe ich erwartet. Stattdessen gibt es trockene Fakten über den Buchmarkt (teils interessant), überflüssige Definitionen zu den Sims oder Spoilern, verwirrende Zeitsprünge (jetzt erscheint bald Buch 7, dann wieder die Coverenthüllung von Buch 5) und viel zu viele private Infos über die Autorin. Klar, geht es darum wie sie als Fan das Ganze miterlebt hat, aber dazu muss ich nichts über ihren verhassten Job oder ihr 9/11-Erlebnis erfahren. Einiges hatte nur entfernt mit Harry Potter zu tun, und war zudem übertrieben dramatisch erzählt. Klar, ist es schön, wenn einen eine Reihe so begleitet und ein Mitternachtsevent etwas ganz besonderes ist oder sich eine Fancommunity plötzlich wie eine zweite Familie anfühlt, aber das muss man auch “echt” formulieren, sonst klingt es wie gestelzter Blödsinn. Außerdem kam mir Melissa oft arrogant vor. Die Hörbuchsprecherin mag ihren Teil dazu beigetragen haben, aber ich fand es einfach unsympatisch wie verurteilend Melissa über einen ausländischen Kioskbesitzer oder den verpeilten Teenager, der eine andere berühmte Fanseite betreibt, schreibt. Dann doch lieber die Reihe um Harry und co. noch mal lesen.