The Book Report: There’s a Harry Potter Documentary (& Two New Books!) Coming in October

Welcome back to the Book Report, where I scour the Internet for book-related news so you don’t have to! This week we’ll take a look at the ever-present conveyer belt of new Harry Potter lore, John Green’s first book in five years, and what is essentially the original Kindle—all the way from the 1600s.

9/13/17: We’re Getting a Metric Buttload of New Harry Potter Content

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the British Library is opening up a brand-new Harry Potter exhibition complete with original notes, manuscripts, and lore from J.K. Rowling herself, all about the various different subjects at Hogwarts. But if you (like me) live nowhere near the British Library and don’t want to wait a year for the exhibition to come to the U.S. because that’s a year longer than you’ve ever waited for anything in your life, you’re in luck. The BBC is putting out a documentary in October called Harry Potter: A History of Magic that will make the exhibition accessible to everyone.

ALSO: Bloomsbury announced in July that they’re releasing two companion books (!!!).

9/6/17: You Can Read the First Two Chapters of John Green’s Upcoming Novel

Can you believe it’s been five whole years since we all read The Fault in Our Stars, took to our beds, and sobbed for hours? His much-anticipated new novel, Turtles All the Way Down, will be released on October 10th. I pre-ordered it roughly two seconds after the option became available to me, but if you’re not sold yet, you can read the first two chapters here.

In related news: Hank Green—musician, entrepreneur, science advocate, and John’s brother—will be publishing his debut novel next year! It’s called An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and it’s about inexplicable robots and Internet fame, which honestly just feels right.

9/20/17: Some 17th-Century Nerd Had a Mini Portable Library Made for His Friends

This would’ve been me in the 17th century. The context: some rich Jacobean dude named William Hakewell decided books were too big and cumbersome. To fix this, he commissioned a mini portable library to be made for one of his friends. This was done by creating a bunch of really tiny books and fitting them into a suitcase that was crafted to look like a regular-sized leather-bound folio book. The gift was such a hit that he had three more made within five years.

50 BOOKS TOTAL COULD FIT INSIDE THIS THING. FOUR PEOPLE IN THE 17th CENTURY WERE JUST WALKING AROUND WITH AN ENTIRE LIBRARY IN THEIR HANDBAGS. The original article ran back in 2014, and it has a lot of delightful pictures of these IMPOSSIBLY TINY BOOKS, which gives me feelings not unlike when I see tiny dogs in sweaters.

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