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Harry Potter Scrabble Accepts Wizarding Words Like Hogwarts and Dobby
The words used in the Harry Potter books and movies are playable in a new version of Scrabble—and they can even earn you bonus points.
BOOKS
J.K. Rowling Has Some Regrets About Ron and Hermione's Relationship in Harry Potter
"I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment," the author said, before admitting that Harry and Hermione made more sense as a couple.
5-Year-Old Logan Brinson Couldn't Find a Library Near Him—So He Opened One Himself
Five-year-old Logan Brinson opened Logan's Little Library—the first library in his village—on his front lawn last year. He plans to open a second location in May.
More Than 80 Percent of the Most Popular Novels Are Written by Men
Think of your top 10 favorite books. How many were written by women? According to one survey by Ranker, men named one book by a female author in their top 10. Women chose two.
McDonald’s Happy Meals Now Come With Roald Dahl Books Instead of Toys in New Zealand
Shortened versions of Matilda, the BFG, and Willy Wonka are a few of the stories now being handed out in the Happy Meal Readers program.
10 Nice and Accurate Facts About Good Omens
Amazon's recent series starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen isn't the first time Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 'Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch' has been adapted. Or attempted.
10 Facts About William S. Burroughs
He once went an entire year without taking a bath.
20 Inspiring Quotes from Langston Hughes
“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go,” is just one of Langston Hughes's most memorable quotes.
George R.R. Martin's Wife Will Leave Him if He Kills Her Favorite Game of Thrones Characters
'Til death do us part.
Dolores Umbridge From Harry Potter Was Based on a Real Person
Yes, one of the Wizarding World's most evil characters is all real.
Game of Thrones Almost Featured a Love Triangle Between Arya Stark, Jon Snow, and Tyrion Lannister
According to George R.R. Martin's original outline, the two men's "passion" for Arya would ultimately "lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow."
9 Handy Facts About the History of Handwriting
Even handwriting scholars can't read all scripts.
Two Harry Potter Books Worth Nearly $4000 Showed Up on Antiques Roadshow
First-edition Harry Potter books are extremely valuable—even more so if their pages contain a handwritten note from JK Rowling herself.
J.K. Rowling Almost Killed Off Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter Series
Her reason? "Sheer spite."
Can You Tell an Author’s Identity By Looking at Punctuation Alone? A Study Just Found Out.
For decades, linguists have been able to use the quirks of written texts to pinpoint the author. The process, called stylometric analysis or stylometry, has dozens of legal and academic applications.
5 Facts About Edgar Allan Poe
You can quote 'The Raven.' But how well do you know Edgar Allan Poe's quirky sense of humor and code-cracking abilities?
10 Fascinating Facts About the Thesaurus for National Thesaurus Day
Writers often turn to a thesaurus to diversify their vocabulary and add nuance to their prose. But looking up synonyms and antonyms in a thesaurus can help anyone—writer or not—find the most vivid, incisive words to communicate thoughts and ideas.
Book Sales Are Soaring—And Not Just the Digital Kind
According to Publishers Weekly, print sales rose by almost 2 percent in 2017, and continued to rise in 2018, mostly due to the strength of adult nonfiction sales.
The Real Reason Harry Potter Named His Son After Severus Snape
Saving a person's life carries some serious weight. Even in the Wizarding World.
Why is Winnie the Pooh Called a Pooh?
Winnie is a bear. So why do we call him a Pooh?
Stephen King Just Stopped a Maine Newspaper From Cutting Its Freelance Book Reviews
And he helped local writers at the same time.
A New Theory Has Emerged About Why Harry Potter's Scar is Shaped Like a Lightning Bolt
More than 20 years after the first book published, Wizarding World fans are still finding new things to discover.
7 Surprising Facts About The Giving Tree
There are various interpretations of the relationship at the center of the Shel Silverstein classic—not all of them positive.
Fact-Checking Pottermore's Claim That Witches and Wizards Used Spells to 'Vanish' Their Waste Before Modern Plumbing
It's gross, but does it reflect the reality of the 18th century? We investigate.