By J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company | 512 pages
Release Date: September 27, 2012

Summary:
Today, rabid fans can finally get their hands on The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling’s eagerly awaited adult novel. The story begins with the unexpected death of good-natured parish council member Barry Fairbrother, which throws the small village of Pagford into upheaval. The surface of Pagford may be story-book perfect, but underneath roils a a toxic combination of anger, lust, racism and pretentiousness. Some of the less ethical members of the council, lead by businessman Howard Mollison, angle to fill Fairbrother’s empty seat with one of their own, in a ploy to foist responsibility of their undesirable council estate (British version of the Projects) onto a neighboring village. With their hands washed of what is perceived as a blight on their community, the residents of Pagford will no longer be obliged to educate the children of the poor and downtrodden in their local schools. Rowling paints a sociological portrait of Pagford, revealing various states of the human condition, warts and all. Though this story is decidedly directed at more mature audiences, there are themes in The Casual Vacancy that run parallel to the Potter series. “I think there is a through-line,” Rowling explains in an interview with The New Yorker. “Mortality, morality, the two things that I obsess about.” Read more…

Daniel Radcliffe poses for ALA's series of Harry Potter Celebrity READ posters.

In honor of the Harry Potter books and the contributions author J.K. Rowling has made in encouraging literacy and inspiring young readers, the stars of the film franchise recently posed for the American Library Association’s Celebrity READ posters. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Alan Rickman are featured in a series of four posters holding books of their own choosing. Radcliffe, the film embodiment of the boy wizard, spoke with American Libraries about the book he selected and how working in the Harry Potter films has turned him into a book lover. The young actor posed with The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. “I’ve been obsessed with the novel ever since I read it about a year ago. I’ve always been a huge fan of Magical Realism. It’s an inspiring genre in which writers can just let their imaginations go wild and wonderful…I’ve read it twice now, and I just received an English first edition (Collins and Harvill, 1967) with a beautiful cover as a birthday present. That’s the one that appears on the READ poster.” Read more…