J.K. Rowling, who is Joanne Murray in real life, has swept the world with her seven Harry Potter books.  These bestselling books have sold more than 400 million copies and have been successful in encouraging young people to enjoy reading.  Her book has also been made as basis for the series of Harry Potter movies.  Today, Harry Potter is considered a global brand that is worth around $15 billion.  In Odense, Denmark, a Harry Potter Festival takes place each year with the City Hall turned into a Hogwarts School.  The event is organized with the cooperation of the public library basically to get children to read books and love it.  https://denmark.net/hans-christian-andersen/ 

60 Best Historical Fiction Novels of All Time  List goes from #1, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant to #60, The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende.  https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/best-historical-fiction

Typically, historical fiction books are written at least 30–50 years after the event or time period has taken place.  While some of it may be remembered from a lived experience, a lot of a historical fiction novel’s conception comes from research.  List goes from #1, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles to #50, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.  Nikki Van Ry  https://bookriot.com/best-historical-fiction-books/

Christopher Lee (1922-2015)  His films have made more money than any other actor's in history.  As of May 2006, five of his films (the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the two Star Wars films in which he played Count Dooku) had total grosses in excess of $4.4 billion.  Even without considering Lee's other appearances dating back to 1948, his totals considerably surpass the figures of #3 billion and #3.8 billion claimed by Harrison Ford and Samuel L. Jackson, respectively.  *  As a veritable J.R.R. Tolkien expert and the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien himself, he often visited the Production department on the sets of the various Lord of the Rings movies to give advice and tips on the various attributes of the films.  *  According to his official website:  He speaks French, German, Italian and Spanish and can "get along" in Greek, Russian and Swedish.  *  One of his favorite bands is the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody, and he has also appeared on one of their album (listen to the speech in the intro on the song "Unholy Warcry" on the album "The Dark Secret").  Lee also appears on the Rhapsody single "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream", where he does a duet with Rhapsody vocalist Fabio Leoni in English, German, Italian and French versions of the song.  *  At 6 feet 5 inches, he is entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as "The Tallest Leading Actor".  *  He appears on the cover of Paul McCartney's 1973 album "Band on the Run".  *  He played three characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories:  Sherlock himself, his brother Mycroft, and Sir Henry Baskerville.  *  On the self-titled debut album by Hollywood Vampires, a supergroup consisting of Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, and Joe Perry, Lee is featured as a narrator in the track "The Last Vampire".  Being recorded shortly before his death, this marks Lee's final appearance on a musical record.  *  He appeared in The Wicker Man (1973) for free.  He named it as his favourite film of his own.  *  In his autobiography, he relates his first meeting with Peter Cushing during production of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), in which he played the monster.  Lee stormed into a dressing room where Cushing was sitting and angrily shouted "I haven't got any lines!".  Cushing replied, "You're lucky; I've read the script."  *  He and his best friend Peter Cushing were huge fans of the Looney Tunes cartoons.  They would often imitate the voices of characters to one another and they were once asked to leave a theater showing a Sylvester and Tweety cartoon, because they were laughing hysterically.  *  Christopher Lee quote:  “I would rather have been an opera singer than anything else.”  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000489/bio   

TikTok-Inspired Baked Feta Pasta  Yield:  4 to 6 servings   Finnish food blogger Jenni Hayrinen first created the dish back in 2019 (creating the hashtag #uunifetapasta), but it’s easy to see why this recipe has achieved viral fame:  Cherry tomatoes and a whole block of feta are baked until bursting and softened, then tossed with garlic, basil and tender pasta for a beautifully cheesy dish. 

https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/how-to-tiktok-baked-feta-pasta-recipe-developer-tips  See also Baked feta pasta (original #uunifetapasta recipe translated into English) for 4 persons at  https://liemessa.fi/2020/09/baked-feta-pasta-original-recipe/

spaghettification (uncountable)  noun  (astrophysics)  The gravitational stretching of objects into long, thin shapes, usually near a black hole. [from late 20th c.] quotations ▼ Synonym:  noodle effect  (rare) The act of turning something into long, thin strands like spaghetti. quotations ▼ Derived terms  spaghettified (adjective)  spaghettify  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spaghettification#English 

There is a saying among some farmers in the Carolina Sandhills:  “A man would have to be a fool to cut down a longleaf pine.”  It’s not because the gangly-limbed tree is particularly beautiful.  The pine doesn’t have a magnolia’s flowers or an oak’s shade.  And it has nothing to do with the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker that calls the tree home.  The longleaf pine’s most obvious attribute is its strong, straight timber—perfect for utility poles.  The dropped needles are in such demand that a lucrative business has grown up around raking, baling and selling them to landscapers and homeowners as mulch.  Three varieties of pine needles are farmed, but the discarded debris of a longleaf pine is the most sought-after—and fetches the best price—because of its unusual length and high resin content, making it an attractive, water-retaining ground cover for gardens.  Some even call it “brown gold.”  And like anything valuable left just lying on the ground, theft is a problem.  That’s why North Carolina made it a felony to steal pine needles.  Todd C. Frankel   https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/31/pine-needle-mulch-north-carolina/   

Florida Lawsuit Alleges LexisNexis Invoice Program Helped Law Firm Defraud Client by Dan Roe  A countersuit by a Florida window screen company against Squire Patton Boggs alleges the legal research giant helped Squire concoct inflated legal research fees.  https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2021/03/31/florida-lawsuit-alleges-lexisnexis-invoice-program-helped-law-firm-defraud-client/?slreturn=20210301113431  Thank you, Muse reader!  Read about Lexis-Nexis in a ten-page document at http://www.lexisnexis.com/anniversary/30th_timeline_fulltxt.pdf 

Easter Grain Pie  This fruity ricotta and wheat pie is dense and moist and very good.  A real Italian treat for Easter.  by Pamster2  16 servings https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17432/easter-grain-pie/

Pastiera Napoletana is a buttery tart with a creamy filling that’s not overly sweet. This Italian grain pie mixes the flavors of smooth ricotta and pastry cream, candied citrus, cinnamon, and vanilla.  The filling is cheesecake-like, but not quite.  by Lora  10 servings  https://www.savoringitaly.com/pastiera-napoletana-neapolitan-easter/   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2347  April 5, 2021