Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander (JK Rowling)
(Audio)

I have read this companion book to the Harry Potter series many times since it was first published as a fundraiser for Comic Relief. I find it a useful reference when writing fanfiction, a great help when planning games for my Harry Potter meetup group, and a fun addition to the canon that makes the wizarding world feel larger and richer.

When I heard that a new audiobook version was out, narrated by Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beast movies) I hopped on it at once. Hearing Newt's book in Newt's own voice was such a treat, as was all of the bonus content. The book is updated to include information from the first Fantastic Beasts movie and Pottermore as well (such as the workings and culture surrounding MACUSA and Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry). It also includes more of Newt's thoughts in a new introduction where he hints at things that might be touched upon in future Fantastic Beast movies (like Albus Dumbledore). These additions made this book come alive for me all over again and made the book a great bridge between the wizarding world I knew from Harry Potter and the larger, international one I know now.

I also loved the sound effects and the way footnotes were represented (not always easy to do well in audiobooks). This is definitely worth an earread, even if you're quite familiar with the original version, as I was.