Beedle the Bard has a new role of late, that of vampire slayer...well of sorts. The USA Today is reporting that The Tales of Beedle the Bard have taken over the number one spot on their Best-Selling book list from the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. The popular series about the life and loves of the vampire family the Cullens do remain on the list, as "Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn — will be Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 on Thursday."
The article notes:
Rowling's last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,
was published last year. Her books have not been on the best-seller
list since February but have spent 70 weeks at No. 1 on the list since
1999..."It's probably safe to say that they are drawing
people into stores," says Meg Smith of the American Booksellers
Association, the trade group for independent booksellers, who have had
success with Meyer's and Rowling's books.
"It helps the whole publishing industry if any
publisher has a big hit," Tingley says. "It was great for us when Harry
Potter was out there. We hope (Meyer's success) will be good for
everybody, too."
On a related note, TLC Reader Roonwit writes that the Collector's Editions of Beedle have sold out both in the UK, and Canada. Quotage from Amazon UK: "Sold Out! Thanks to the incredible enthusiasm of Harry Potter fans, we
have sold out of all copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard,
Collector's Edition available in the United Kingdom. To ensure that we
have enough replacement copies (for example, for books damaged during
shipping), we will be holding a limited number of copies in reserve. If
you missed out on ordering your copy of the Collector's Edition, it is
possible that a small number of copies will become available."
I actually cheered when I read this article. It’s great to see Jo taking the top spot again—and, in a way, it’s especially nice that she did it with, "Beedle"; it’s not even an "offical" part of the series (as in, one of the origenal seven books) and it still got such a turn-out. So much for those predictions of her "demise" in the publishing world (I recently read this in another article on Leaky. Apparently, someone thought that after DH, Jo’s work would dissappear from the literary stage. That kind of amused me, actually. Whoever that was obviously doesn’t know this fandom very well….
Although there are things I like about the "Twilight" series (no one shoot, please) I am a much bigger HP fan. Case in point: I am not on a Twilight fancite discussing the movie right now. :) I feel that Jo’s work certianly has much more depth. Harry Potter deals with intense themes and boasts rather in-depth, complex characterization. I don’t think something like, "Twilight," is meant to have that kind of depth. In fact, when Meyer’s publisher asked her what the "moral," of Twilight was, the author responded, amused, that there was no "moral"; the moral of "Twilight" was, quote, "did you enjoy the ride?" un-quote. Having read both books, I would call HP superior, even though I do enjoy parts of the "Twilight ride." That said, I agree with Mom Weasely—one of the things I dislike about "Twilight" is the lack of character development and depth in the narrator…
Sorry—I don’t mean to get off-topic…I also agree with Mollywobble—let’s talk about Beedle! This is great news, and I’m sure that we are all happy for Jo; but no, Mollywobble, I haven’t heard yet how many copies have been sold in the U.S. (but I saw a couple of stacks of them in the store yesterday and just had to smile; I’m sure that Christmas shopping will continue to help sales in the U.S….)
I have two views on this. I hate the rivalry between twilight and hp, but i really can’t help being kind of ecstatic about this.
f**k yes!!
Posted by ibelieveinnargles on December 10, 2008, 11:32 AM
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You know, I’m proud of Jo for being able to this at all. I’m proud of us fans that always come through. Welcome back, dear Jo. We missed you.
But this Twilight hate bothers me a bit, partly because I do know people that don’t like Harry Potter or don’t even bother to read it, and then go about doing the same thing some people in our fandom does to Twilight. And I REALLY get mad.
If you don’t like it, awesome. There’s no need to get nasty.
It only brings that whole back-and-forward fighting that I’ve seen and hate it over these past months. Respect everyone’s taste. Some people enjoy Twilight for what it is. The fact that I found HP more enriching and substantial doesn’t mean that everyone else needs to think that way to. =/ Come on, we are better than that. The weapon we have is love.
Good for Jo!!! I am so excited that Beedle the Bard is doing so well! Alake, I read that review of Twilight you suggested and laughed so hard I thought I was going to choke on my coffee! Thanks for that!
Posted by elven*princess221 on December 10, 2008, 11:38 AM
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I’m not a young fan, and can look at this with a bit of a different view. However I will never forget what Jo said through Dumbledore: "Age is foolish when it underestimates youth" as well as what Stephanie says through Quil, "She tough, she runs with Vampires" well "I’m smart, I run with teenagers"
Let’s remember the support Jo gives to all creativity and writers. She encourages others by providing links on her own website to publishers. The Twilight Saga is a young adult series whereas Harry Potter was written as a childrens series to start with. I don’t feel Twilight is written poorly, I find it quite entertaining, however my first and true love is and will always be HP, and I’m truly excitied to have my copy of Beedle to complete my collection. Now I’m just hoping for the Encyclopedia.
I personally enjoy both series of books. I can’t understand all of the negativity either. I enjoy other fantasy books as well….lord of the rings, chronicles of narnia, etc. I enjoy fantasy and sci fi movies as well (Star Wars, etc.) If a particular series is not your cup of tea, fine. But I see no reason for constantly bashing other books/movies of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. It seems like we who enjoy sci-fi/fantasy should be standing together rather than bashing.
@ lily_luna: I wasn’t specifically speaking about you -hopefully no offense, or even just specifically to this article and comments. I was more speaking in generally in the many articles and thousands of comments I have read, that the negativity towards other authors and in effect to other fans was just getting a little old. Like you I do like Harry Potter better, but I enjoy twilight as well.
I think Jill said everything that I wanted to. I absolutely love HP! JKR is a wonderful author, and my favorite but, I really like Twilight. In the famous words of Rodney King "Why can’t we all just get along?" : ) On another note: BD I too am a Sci-fi fan! Go Darth Vader!
Beedle beats Twilight? could that be because Twilight is a book existing already some time and Beedle is just new?
Or because Waterstone sold it at half price?
If that not had been the case I never would have picked it up.
And that about $ 9,- is just enough for it, because it is a highly moralistic and belearning piece of text. It certainly doesn’t come close to the novels.
@Jill: What I expect from others opinions mainly is for them to be biased in personal knowledge. I have read the four twilight books recently. And it was a kind of guilty reading;I explain: you know your reading crap but you enjoy it. It`s like eating chocolate. you know your eating far too much than what’s good for you, but you can’t stop. While HP is a four dish gourmet dinner, you enjoy it so much you’re willing to give yourself a treat once in a while. So I maintain my opinion: Twilight series suck, and I would never reread them becouse the little they have to offer is already given. My point being Hp and Tw are in a different league.
geez, from the way some people write on these things, you’d think ‘twilight’ was written specifically to de-throne harry potter. come on! (anyway, harry’s arrogant; he could use a little de-throning!)
but seriously. this ‘fan warring’ is stupid and pointless, and paints everyone involved in a very poor light. like what you like, and dislike what you dislike, but do so in a respectful fashion!
While the Twilight movie was pretty good, the books are NOT that great…Harry Potter will always be better in every way, no contest!!! Congrats to JKR for her spot on top!!!
"How long have you been 'Big D' then?" said Harry.[br] "Shut it," snarled Dudley, turning away again.[br] "Cool name," said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside his cousin. "But you'll always be Ickle Diddykins to me."
I actually cheered when I read this article. It’s great to see Jo taking the top spot again—and, in a way, it’s especially nice that she did it with, "Beedle"; it’s not even an "offical" part of the series (as in, one of the origenal seven books) and it still got such a turn-out. So much for those predictions of her "demise" in the publishing world (I recently read this in another article on Leaky. Apparently, someone thought that after DH, Jo’s work would dissappear from the literary stage. That kind of amused me, actually. Whoever that was obviously doesn’t know this fandom very well….
Although there are things I like about the "Twilight" series (no one shoot, please) I am a much bigger HP fan. Case in point: I am not on a Twilight fancite discussing the movie right now. :) I feel that Jo’s work certianly has much more depth. Harry Potter deals with intense themes and boasts rather in-depth, complex characterization. I don’t think something like, "Twilight," is meant to have that kind of depth. In fact, when Meyer’s publisher asked her what the "moral," of Twilight was, the author responded, amused, that there was no "moral"; the moral of "Twilight" was, quote, "did you enjoy the ride?" un-quote. Having read both books, I would call HP superior, even though I do enjoy parts of the "Twilight ride." That said, I agree with Mom Weasely—one of the things I dislike about "Twilight" is the lack of character development and depth in the narrator…
Sorry—I don’t mean to get off-topic…I also agree with Mollywobble—let’s talk about Beedle! This is great news, and I’m sure that we are all happy for Jo; but no, Mollywobble, I haven’t heard yet how many copies have been sold in the U.S. (but I saw a couple of stacks of them in the store yesterday and just had to smile; I’m sure that Christmas shopping will continue to help sales in the U.S….)