Updates at Shell Cottage

Some of you who are regulars here at the Cafe have told me that you have finished Deathly Hallows. Especially you, ElfGirl - who had to have her copy hand delivered to her Undisclosed Location!

Still, we know there are a few out there who haven't finished and we so we continue to post over at Shell Cottage and keep the Cafe as spoiler-free as possible. I've joined an online study of the book and will be publishing some of my answers to the weekly questions asked at the study over at Shell Cottage. I've posted some other things of interest I've found - the artists in particular have been busy expressing their own commentary through art. In fact, there are lots of ways people share their thoughts and ideas about the Harry Potter series. I prefer the creative essays, but some write fiction and some make videos and some draw some of the most amazing art. My favorite places to read commentary are at SugarQuill where they are going through the book chapter by chapter, Leaky Cauldron's "Leaky Lounge" where they are also discussing the book, and New Clues, where you must stick to the canon (which is the books written by J.K. Rowling), Sword of Gryffindor, HP Progs, and of course John Granger's great blog at Hogwarts Professor.

The Leaky Cauldron, MuggleNet, Sword of Gryffindor, and HP Progs and I recommend them. They are all available at also have great podcastsiTunes. One of the best things about the Leaky Caludron's "Pottercast" (beside the trio-hosts there) is guest Steve Vander Ark, the Master of the HP Lexicon who joins the podcast for the weekly feature "Canon Conundrums." Those of us who have been fans of Star Trek will recognize Steve's name, but Steve also hosts one of the most extraordinary places anywhere to go to learn about the Harry Potter universe, the Lexicon. Even J.K. Rowling goes there when she has to remember something. But please remember, it's also "spoiler-central" so be careful before you go.