It is not the kind of job that leaves time for hobbies.     But in the summer of 2010, Rusbridger determined to learn, in the course of a year, Chopin’s Ballade No.1 in G minor, one of the most beautiful and challenging pieces of music ever composed. With passages that demand feats of memory, dexterity, and power, even concert pianists are intimidated by its pyrotechnical requirements.     Rusbridger’s timing could have been better. The next twelve months witnessed the Arab Spring and the Japanese tsunami and were bookended by The Guardian breaking two major news stories: WikiLeaks and the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. It was a defining year for The Guardian and its editor.     In Play It Again, Rusbridger recounts trying to carve out twenty minutes a day to practice, find the right teacher, the right piano, the right fingering—even if it meant practicing in a Libyan hotel in the midst of a revolution. He sought advice from legendary pianists, from historians and neuroscientists, and even occasionally from secretaries of state. But was he able to conquer the piece?     A book about distraction, absorption, discipline, and desire, Play It Again resonates far beyond the realm of music, for anyone with an instinct to “wall off a small part of . . . life for creative expression.”

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is a 2001 fantasy/adventure film based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by Chris Columbus, it is the first in the popular Harry Potter films series. The story follows Harry Potter, a boy who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard, and is sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his magical education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The adult cast features Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and Ian Hart. Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999. Production began in 2000, with Columbus being chosen from a short list of directors to create the film. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British or Irish, in keeping with the cultural integrity of the book and the film. Rowling also approved the screenplay, written by Steve Kloves.

    Jost studied the music (not the lives) of a selection of musicians-black jazz artists who pioneered a new form of African American music-to arrive at the most in-depth look so far at the phenomenon of free jazz. Free jazz is not absolutely free, as Jost is at pains to point out. As each convention of the old music was abrogated, new conventions arose, whether they were rhythmic, melodic, tonal, or compositional, Coltrane's move into modal music was governed by different principles than Coleman's melodic excursions; Sun Ra's attention to texture and rhythm created an entirely different big bang sound then had Mingus's attention to form.In Free Jazz, Jost paints a group of ten "style portraits"-musical images of the styles and techniques of John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, the Chicago-based AACM (which included Richard Abrams, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Anthony Braxton, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago), and Sun Ra and his Arkestra. As a composite picture of some of the most compelling music of the 1960s and '70s, Free Jazz is unequalled for the depth and clarity of its analysis and its even handed approach.

    It is a side story that takes place during the Christmas holidays of the book called “James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper”, which is sequel to “James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing”. If you have not yet read those books, this tale will contain a rather large and important “spoiler”, and furthermore, may not make as much sense as you’d hope. Therefore, may I be so bold as to suggest you take a look at the aforementioned stories before reading any further? If you enjoyed Ms. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories (and why would you be here if you had not?) then there is a fair chance you will like these stories as well. Then, do come back and view “Petra’s Getaway”. It will make a lot more sense, and you’ll feel quite proud of yourself for heeding this advice.If, on the other hand, you have already read the aforementioned stories and know Petra’s tale thus far, then I do hope you enjoy this extra glimpse into her life.

     The pianist Leon  Fleisher—whose student–teacher lineage linked him to Beethoven by way of his instructor, Artur Schnabel—displayed an exceptional gift from his earliest years. And then, like the hero of a Greek tragedy, he was struck down in his prime: at thirty-six years old, he suddenly and mysteri­ously became unable to use two fingers of his right hand. It is not just Fleisher’s thirty-year search for a cure that drives this remarkable memoir. With his coauthor, celebrated music critic Anne Midgette, the pianist explores the depression that engulfed him as his condition worsened and, perhaps most powerfully of all, the sheer love of music that rescued him from complete self-destruction. Miraculously, at the age of sixty-six, Fleisher was diagnosed with focal dystonia, and cured by experimental Botox injections. In 2003, he returned to Carnegie Hall to give his first two-handed recital in over three decades, bringing down the house. Sad, reflective, but ultimately triumphant, My Nine Lives com­bines the glamour, pathos, and courage of Fleisher’s life with real musical and intellectual substance. Fleisher embodies the resilience of the human spirit, and his memoir proves that true passion always finds a way.

    How long would this religion take to spread across the globe and even be perceived as a threat to Christianity, Judaism and Islam? In the age of the Internet, certainly less than 2000 years.Set in 1970s London and present-day Marrakech, Etc Etc Amen is a conspiracy thriller and a murder mystery in which people make gods out of men and gods out of thin air, and the destructive power of both religious faith and obsessive love has fatal consequences.'It's a wonderful book! I am even more awestruck the second time around.. Very few novelists get it right when they use Rock as the context for a novel. Howard Male got it right.' Tony Visconti, record producer (David Bowie, Morrissey, U2)'A highly original, artfully constructed and deliciously ironic tale.' Mick Brown (author of 'The Spiritual Tourist' and 'The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector') 'A finely crafted novel that seems destined to become a cult book about a cult.' Peter Culshaw (author of Clandestino: In Search of Manu Chao)'I really enjoyed Etc Etc Amen. At last a novel about a musician that didn't make me want to punch the author.' Jim Bob (Carter USM and author of Storage Stories)

    In this book, the experts at MuggleNet.com present a wide range of hard facts and bold predictions about the most popular storylines, favorite characters, and final outcome of the Harry Potter saga. Drawing on their intimate knowledge of the previous six books as well as tips and suggestions made by millions of MuggleNet.com fans (not to mention a personal interview with J.K. Rowling), the authors offer answers to the burning questions of Harry Potter readers everywhere: Will Hogwarts School be open for Harry’s final year, and will Harry even be in attendance? Will Harry’s quest for the remaining Horcruxes be rewarded? Where do Severus Snape’s true loyalties lie? And, most importantly, will Harry survive the final battle with Lord Voldemort?

    Piano duet arrangements of eight beautiful favorites from Les Mis: Bring Him Home * Castle on a Cloud * Do You Hear the People Sing? * A Heart Full of Love * I Dreamed a Dream * In My Life * On My Own * Stars.

    The name conjures up J.K. Rowling's wondrous world of magic that has captured the imaginations of millions on both the printed page and the silver screen with bestselling novels and blockbuster films. The true magic found in this children's fantasy series lies not only in its appeal to people of all ages but in its connection to the greater world of classic literature. Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures explores the literary landscape of themes and genres J.K. Rowling artfully wove throughout her novels-and the influential authors and stories that inspired her. From Jane Austen's Emma and Charles Dickens's class struggles, through the gothic romances of Dracula and Frankenstein and the detective mysteries of Dorothy L. Sayers, to the dramatic alchemy of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and William Shakespeare, Rowling cast a powerful spell with the great books of English literature that transformed the story of a young wizard into a worldwide pop culture phenomenon.

    It can be enjoyed without having read the Wayfair Witches series. A holiday heist, a powerful child, and a parolee Melissa can't stand the sight of? It sounds like a recipe for a very Merry Solstice. The Nemo Foundation's kids are planning some Solstice shenanigans, but Melissa has no idea what their hijinks might entail. She's far too busy figuring out why an emaciated wizard was drained by a harpy, and trying to keep a young weredog out of jail. Plus, the Queen of the Faeries has promised three miracles this holiday season - and in order for those three miracles to pass, Melissa must learn to trust someone she hates ...

    K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels--revised and updated with information relating to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an indispensable introduction to the magical beasts of the Wizarding World. Scamander's years of travel and research have created a tome of unparalleled importance. Some of the beasts will be familiar to readers of the Harry Potter books - the Hippogriff, the Basilisk, the Hungarian Horntail ... Others will surprise even the most ardent amateur Magizoologist. This is an essential companion to the Harry Potter stories, and includes a new foreword from J.K. Rowling (writing as Newt Scamander) and six new beasts!

    This book features spectacular pop-up re-creations of key locations inside and outside Hogwarts castle, and it opens flat to form a pop-up map of the castle and its grounds—including the Quidditch pitch, the Forbidden Forest, and beyond. In addition to large pops on each spread, numerous mini-pops bring to life beloved elements from the Harry Potter films, such as the Marauder's Map and the Flying Ford Anglia. Each pop includes insightful text about Hogwarts as seen in the films, making for a must-have collectible for fans of the wizarding world. NOTE: Before unfolding the Hogwarts map, unhook the two manila tabs on each spread by gently pushing them out from underneath. There are eight tabs in total to release.

    K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is explained, expanded, and celebrated in a literary guidebook which also includes information on the historical roots of the symbolism and mythology used in the series. Original.

    The blood of innocents is plentiful and easily attained—it is his other passion that torments him. Many years ago he owned and lost a violin that sang with the voice of the angels. Now this unearthly monster will do anything to press the instrument once more against his neck.As it summons a hellish creature of the nightMaggie O’Hara was a talented if unremarkable violinist—until the day her grandfather gives her a violin he had brought home from World War II. For fifty years the magnificent instrument sat untouched in an attic, but from the moment Maggie hits the first note, her playing is transformed. With this remarkable violin in her possession, all of her dreams are eerily becoming reality. But she has no way of knowing that a nightwalker is tracking her down—and that he has every intention of taking back, through bloodlust and terror, what is rightfully his. . . . THE VAMPIRE’S VIOLIN