LISNews: Librarian News

The Age, in AU has an interesting Story HERE on Harry Potter.

The on-line bookshop Amazon.com publishes an ongoing bestseller list of the books most in demand by its readers at any given moment. It makes fascinating reading, listing as it does hundreds of thousands of books in order of their popularity. At present, number one on the list, narrowly beating Delia Smith and Frank McCourt, is one of J.K. Rowling\'s Harry Potter books. It is the fourth volume in the series. There\'s only one thing about this that might cause the eyebrows to raise a little. The fourth volume of Harry Potter hasn\'t been published yet, and won\'t be until July. Amazon\'s bestseller, in short, is a book that doesn\'t exist.

But the world of these books is thin and unsatisfactory, their imagery is derivative, their characterisation automatic, and their structure deeply flawed. -- Read More

OregonLive has a story HERE on the infamous Harry Potter.

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Complaining that Harry Potter\'s popular books for children will lead readers to \"hatred and rebellion,\" a couple in this central Oregon town is asking schools to ban them.

It\'s the latest in a controversy that pits parents who object to the adventure stories about witchcraft against parents who say the popular tales encourage children to read.