A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (read by Jim Dale)

Reviewed by Christy

            In 2007, the tv show Pushing Daisies premiered on ABC. It was a whimsical take on the popular crime procedural genre. Ned, a pie maker, has a very special gift. With his touch he can wake the dead but touch them again, and they’ll remain dead forever. When a private investigator stumbles onto Ned’s gift, they team up to solve crimes together. Though it was only on for a short period of time, its pop of colors, eye-catching costumes, and fairy tale-like quality made a lasting impression. It even had a narrator. The narration of Jim Dale brought all the elements together, and this is where he first caught my attention.

            Though he has a long storied career as a singer and actor in the UK, in America he is known as the voice of “Harry Potter” because he narrates all seven audiobooks and the video games. (He also holds a Guinness World Record for creating 146 voices for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). He has narrated several other audiobooks as well including The Night Circus and A Christmas Carol.

            Though we probably all know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge by heart, I had never read the actual book. When I saw that Jim Dale narrated the audiobook, I put it on hold on READS and was excited when it finally popped up in my loans.  He does an absolutely wonderful job. His character voices are distinct, and his voice has a relaxed but dignified grandpa quality that is very cozy to listen to. There’s not much to say about the text itself since it’s so iconic but I enjoyed the story including the darker elements (I still think Disney’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey is one of the best adaptations. It can be quite dark for an animated movie – truly a Christmas ghost story). If you’re someone having trouble getting into the holiday spirit, I think listening to this book, a comfy blanket, and some steaming hot cocoa could work wonders.

If you like Dickens but aren’t interested in A Christmas Carol, he wrote several other short Christmas stories. We have a collection available at Main and another collection available on audiobook through READS.

NOTE: for those of you who prefer CDs to downloads, we also have the Jim Dale A Christmas Carol on CD.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling

Reviewed by Meygan

Hear ye, Hear ye! Attention all wizards, mudbloods, and muggles! There will be a movie adaptation for J.K. Rowling’s companion book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! All Harry Potter fans should be jumping with joy and planning what Harry Potter attire to wear on the opening night. For those of you who have not read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, well, what are you waiting for? Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a collection of creatures recorded by Newt  Scamander. This book takes place seventy years before Harry Potter and the gang attended Hogwarts, so I am sorry to say that Harry or any of the other characters, to my knowledge, will not be making an appearance in the movie. 

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, readers will learn about various strange and rare creatures such as dragons, pixies, lobalugs, and more merpeople. For example, did you know that the Diricawl is a plump, fluffy, flightless bird that is capable of disappearing? We muggles knew it as the “Dodo bird”. Little did we know that the Dodo bird isn’t extinct after all! But don’t tell this to too many people—the International Confederation of Wizards want muggles to believe we drove this bird into extinction so everyone will understand why we shouldn’t slay our fellow creatures. True Harry Potter fans will recognize many of these creatures and beings from the series. At least one term in the book should stand out to fans: Kneazle. What is a Kneazle you ask? Hint: Crookshanks was one. If you are stumped, then you’ll have to read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to find out!

This book is a short, easy read. It is less than 50 pages but is still stimulating because of the fascinating descriptions of the creatures and beasts. Note: This is not a story. This book is meant to be more of an encyclopedia of the magical creatures and beings mentioned throughout Harry Potter. So why write a book about these creatures and beasts? Well, to quote Newt Scamander, “The answer if, of course: to ensure that future generations of witches and wizards enjoy their strange beauty and powers as we have privileged to do!” 

According to Harry Potter Wiki, the movie will be a trilogy and the first film will be released on November 18, 2016. Yes, we have to wait just a little over two years, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that the movie will be worth the wait. J.K. Rowling will be involved in the movie as serving as a screen writer.