Thursday, July 30, 2015

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (93)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
Which books would you recommend to Draco?

I had a bit of a hard time with this week's topic, especially knowing how particular Draco is about . . . everything, lol. After much consideration, here's what I came up with:

  1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: Because I feel that Draco could really benefit from reading this, lol.
  2. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens: So Draco, who's had an extremely privileged upbringing, gets a glimpse of how difficult life can be for the much less fortunate.
  3. Macbeth by William Shakespeare: A cautionary tale about excessive ambition that I would hope teaches Draco a valuable lesson.
  4. Persuasion by Jane Austen: This is my all-time favorite novel, therefore I think Draco should read it. XD

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Book Loot (17)

I finally used one of the Amazon gift cards I received for my birthday last month, and I think I put it to good use. I've been dying to get my hands on V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic, so that was a must-buy for me. I also picked up Ellie Marney's Every Breath, which I've had my eye on for a while but which my library has not yet acquired a copy of, so I went ahead and got my own.

Bought:

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

eBooks Bought:

Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Monday, July 27, 2015

Harry Potter Month: The Forest Again

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

If ever there was a book that made me cry really, really hard, it would be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And it's all because of Chapter 34: "The Forest Again."

While there were plenty of other sob-inducing moments in DH that forced me to run for the nearest box of Kleenex, "The Forest Again" absolutely destroyed me. Along with Harry, we've finally arrived here:

"He pressed the golden metal to his lips and whispered,
'I am about to die.'"

GAHHHHH!!! NOOOOOOO!!!! I was barely holding it together after Harry finished visiting Snape's memories in the Pensieve and realized the truth of what he needed to do, but the quote above broke the crying floodgates. And then THAT was followed by:

"They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see that. They resembled most closely the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made nearly solid. Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved toward him, and on each face, there was the same loving smile."

Lily. James. Remus. SIRIUS. All there with Harry as he's about to face death. I don't think I've read a more beautifully written scene in a book. EVER. And I might never read another scene in a book that equals this one in brilliance and genuine emotion. After everything Harry has been through, he now has to do this, but he's not alone; he's surrounded by absolute, unconditional love. There's a depth to this scene that, even eight years after first reading it, I still can't quite wrap my head around because it's so profound.

When I went to see the second Deathly Hallows film, I knew I wasn't going to make it through the forest scene without turning into a blubbering mess. And I wasn't wrong. I did try to keep my sniffling to a minimum so that I didn't draw too much attention to myself in the theater, lol.

There's a line that Sirius says to Harry in the film that I'll never forget. When Harry asks if Voldemort can see anyone besides Harry, his godfather tells him no, we're here—and he points to Harry's heart. (Sirius's reply in the book echoes a similar sentiment: "We are part of you," said Sirius. "Invisible to anyone else.") And that is an image that I've carried with me ever since. On the days when I'm especially missing my mom and dad, I think of the forest scene, both in the book and in the movie, and remember that they'll always be in my heart. So if I had to choose the single, most important thing I've taken away from Harry Potter, it's this. ❤

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Fandom Mashups (12)

Fandom Mashups is a feature hosted by Lunar Rainbows Reviews. There's a different scenario each week, and you choose a "dream team" of five characters from five different fandoms whom you think are best suited for the situation.

This week's topic is:
Some villain's out there wrecking havoc and in need of a serious beat-down. Who do you bring with to kick some ass?

  1. Janco (Maria V. Snyder's Study series): Janco is a really skilled fighter, plus he likes to fight while delivering one witty remark after another, so there would be plenty of humor in this battle!
  2. The Hulk: Because Hulk. SMASH!
  3. Darth Vader: You just don't mess around with Vader. Or he'll do that thing where he uses the Force to cut off your air supply from like 100 feet away.
  4. Brienne of Tarth (A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones): Book Brienne is one badass lady, and TV Brienne has not disappointed on that front. For GoT viewers who saw her epic fight with the Hound, you know what we mean.
  5. Celaena Sardothien (Throne of Glass): Celaena could probably take care of this baddie all by herself, but seeing her team up with Brienne? That would be AMAZING.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (92)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
Favorite James Potter Moment

Ever since I first read about the Marauders, I’ve loved them. Sirius is my favorite but I adore the others too—yes, you included, Peter Pettigrew! James Potter has always been a special character to me. Prongs has had such a tremendous effect on so many of the characters in the series without actually having a lot of actual book time. The only actual James Potter book moment that I remember from the HP series is when he and the rest of the Marauders bullied Snape, but I’m not particularly fond of that moment; I honestly really dislike it. So I’m going to go with more of a favorite thing about James. I loved James Potter’s relationship with his friends. He supported them all through everything. Prongs helped Sirius with his family issues, supported Remus with his werewolf issue, and took care of Peter throughout his time at Hogwarts. When it comes down to it, James Potter was a really good guy and I think he would’ve made a wonderful father to Harry.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Harry Potter Month: Slytherin Stereotype

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

Okay, I have a confession to make—I haven’t always been proud to be a Slytherin. Like most children first introduced to the Harry Potter series and movies, I admired Harry and the bravery that came with being a Gryffindor. I always associated myself with Gryffindor and looked down on the other houses. Ravenclaw was all right, but Hufflepuff and Slytherin were bad houses. And when Pottermore came out with the real Sorting Hat quiz, I just knew that I was going to be in Gryffindor! Imagine my surprise and distress when I took the official Sorting Hat quiz and ended up in . . . Slytherin. I must have taken the quiz three different times but I always ended up with the same result.

Eventually, after reading the little blurb about Slytherin in Pottermore and learning that Merlin was a Slytherin, I embraced my house. Obviously, now that I’ve matured a little and learned more about the different houses, I’ve come to appreciate Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin as much as I appreciated Gryffindor. But now my favorite house is, hands-down, Slytherin! I’m extremely proud of my house and I like the “Slytherin” qualities that I have, such as being ambitious and cunning.

The Slytherin stereotype that is unintentionally displayed in the series now annoys me. Just because you’re in Slytherin doesn’t mean you are evil. Harry Potter was almost placed in Slytherin and some of our notable alumni include Regulus, who turned out to be a hero, Snape, who was an awesome asset to Dumbledore’s Army, and like I mentioned before, Merlin! I wouldn’t want to be in any other house now, even though they are all awesome. I’m a Slytherin through and through.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Harry Potter Month: Harry Potter and Kids' College

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

During the summer between my sophomore and junior year in high school, I volunteered with an organization called Kids' College. Kids' College is basically an educational yet fun summer program for young children. There are tons of different “classes’ that the children can choose to sign up for, such as dance class, sewing class, and Harry Potter class. I obviously jumped at the opportunity to volunteer for the general Harry Potter class and the Harry Potter trivia class.

The general Harry Potter class was designed to be like Hogwarts. There were four houses and the teacher of the class was the headmaster. There were eight high school volunteers for the class, and the Headmaster allowed us to be the “prefects” for the four houses. I was a Slytherin prefect and I absolutely loved it. It was so funny because the kids who were designated to each house kind of fit the qualities of their respective houses. My Slytherin kids were a snarky, competitive bunch, and I adored them. I know that we had to compete for a House Cup but I honestly can’t remember who won. That’s probably because Slytherin lost and I blocked it from my memory lol!

There were different challenges that the kids and prefects had to go through to gain points for their houses. For example, we played a Quidditch tournament which was so awesome and intense. It got to the point where the teacher of the class had to make all the kids sit out because the volunteers for the class were getting so aggressive. I was a Seeker superstar and I caught the Snitch multiple times!

The Harry Potter trivia class was much more laid back. The kids were broken down into teams but they weren’t sorted into any specific houses. The other volunteers and I were equally distributed to the teams, to give the kids some additional help. We just played different types of Harry Potter themed games, such as HP Jeopardy, and whichever team gained the most points by the end of the week was the winner. Again, I believe my team lost, haha. This class was kind of embarrassing because a lot of the little kids were hardcore fans and knew every little detail from the books and movies. It was actually pretty hard competing with the kids and they would get so mad at the volunteers on their team if the volunteers got any question wrong. So, yeah, I had a lot of little kid enemies in that class, lol.

Overall, my experience at Kids' College was a lot of fun. It was so awesome to see how much these little kids loved Harry Potter, and I enjoyed being a part of those classes. I definitely wish I would’ve had a summer program like that when I was little.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Leviathan (Leviathan #1)
By Scott Westerfeld
Publisher:
Simon Pulse
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Prince Aleksandar, the only child of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, is left orphaned and fleeing for his life as war is about to break out across Europe. Meanwhile, Deryn Sharp is attempting to join the British Air Service—disguised as a boy. Deryn eventually winds up on board the Leviathan, a gigantic, living airship that comes under German attack and puts her directly in Alek’s path as he and his companions try to make their way to a safer place where Alek won’t be recognized.

Review: Not too long ago, I heaped a lot of love on Scott Westerfeld’s Afterworlds. After enjoying that book so much, obviously I needed to read more Westerfeld. So this seemed like the perfect time to finally check out Leviathan.

Leviathan presents an alternate version of World War I in which not only nations battle against each other, but there’s also a clash of the minds, so to speak, between the Clankers and their machinery and the Darwinists and their genetically engineered beasties. The titular Leviathan is a beastie, a massive airship that resembles a whale but is actually powered by all sorts of creatures that work together in a self-contained ecosystem. While I found all of this technology, Clanker and Darwinist alike, fascinating, I also struggled somewhat to get through the thoroughly detailed descriptions. There’s no doubt that Westerfeld excels at vividly bringing this world to life, and the accompanying illustrations by Keith Thompson perfectly supplement the prose. But, I don’t know, I just wasn’t into the scientific stuff as much as I felt I should have been.

Although Leviathan is written entirely in the third person, we view the story from its two main characters, Deryn and Alek. I absolutely loved Deryn—she’s a real firecracker, that one, and it’s a good thing because she’s trying to pass for a boy so she can enlist in the British Air Service. Young Deryn, or Dylan, as she calls herself, succeeds in joining up, and she and her gigantic secret are soon aboard the Leviathan. Deryn’s spirit is infectious and her determination inspiring; oh, and she’s also really, really funny!

Alek took a little time to warm up to, but his character develops very nicely, especially after he meets a certain Mr. Sharp. Even though Alek is not allowed to inherit the Austro-Hungarian throne because of his mother’s commoner blood, he was still raised a prince, and it’s a harsh adjustment to a life on the run from enemies who want him dead. In addition, he’s coping with the sudden loss of his parents. Alek isn’t the self-pitying type, though, and like Deryn, once he sets his mind to something, he doesn’t give up.

Now having read two Scott Westerfeld novels that each juggled two POVs in their own way, I can say that he’s a genius at giving each character a distinct, engaging voice. He’s also a brilliant storyteller who paces his novels with expert precision. While Leviathan wasn’t quite the page turner that Afterworlds was for me, I still very much enjoyed it thanks to Westerfeld’s simply amazing writing.

All in All: The more I thought about this book after I’d finished reading it, the more I realized how much I’d enjoyed it. Recommended if you like your historical fiction mixed in with some steampunk.

• Ally's Review of Leviathan

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Fandom Mashups (11)

Fandom Mashups is a feature hosted by Lunar Rainbows Reviews. There's a different scenario each week, and you choose a "dream team" of five characters from five different fandoms whom you think are best suited for the situation.

This week's topic is:
You're going on a shopping spree. Win! Who do you want to go splurging with?

  1. Alice Cullen (Twilight): A fashion expert like Alice is absolutely necessary in this situation.
  2. Tony Stark (Iron Man): If we're going shopping for hi-tech toys, then Tony's incomparable knowledge in this area would be invaluable.
  3. Alfred Pennyworth (Batman): We're hoping to hire Alfred for the day to chauffeur us and all of our purchases around.
  4. Adrian Ivashkov (Vampire Academy/Bloodlines): Adrian lives a pretty affluent lifestyle himself and would be a lot of fun to have tag along on this adventure.
  5. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games): Katniss developed some solid haggling skills trading at The Hob, so those might come in handy here.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Harry Potter Month: Fandom in the Family

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

For those of you who may not know already, Ally and Melissa, my fellow contributors here at the blog, are my cousins. We're currently also sort of rivals for the Harry Potter Month House Cup—Ally is in Slytherin, while Melissa and I are in Ravenclaw. So a little family competition has broken out, with all three of us upping our blogging game a notch because we are a family of very, very dedicated Harry Potter fans.

A family memory that I'll always treasure is being able to watch Ally and Melissa grow up into the awesome young adults they are today. As avid readers and all-around nerds, we have quite a few shared HP-related moments together. The other day, Ally wrote about how she and her younger brother got in trouble with their parents for yelling, "Bloody hell, Harry!" in public when they were little. I vividly remember that incident because I was there. In fact, Ally and Denis were having a contest to see who could imitate Ron saying, "Bloody hell, Harry" the best, and I was designated the judge until the aforementioned parents shut the contest down.

My cousins and I have also spent immeasurable hours playing the Lego Harry Potter video games. While we had a ton of fun just because the games are so amazingly designed, we got so, so many laughs from our pitiful teamwork. No matter how we paired off, there was always some kind of infighting, whether it was over who was going to get to play as Sirius and Lupin (probably the biggest point of contention) or who was going to get to drive the Flying Car. There was constant usage of wands against each other, too, which often brought progress in whatever level we were playing to a screeching halt. But this was all in the spirit of good fun, and, somehow, we managed to complete both games to 100%, lol!

The HP family fandom moment that's closest to my heart took place on the day that Ally, Melissa, and the rest of their family left New York to drive down to their new home in Florida. I wanted to give them a going away present, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had just released. I hurried to the new neighborhood bookstore that had recently opened and was very fortunate to snag their one remaining copy of DH. We all reunited when I moved to FL the following year, and we've continued fangirling over HP together ever since.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Harry Potter Month: Harry Potter and the Adventures in Band Class

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

Back in the day, when I was a freshman in high school, I abandoned the flute for a short while to play clarinet for a season. It was one of my biggest mistakes as a newbie in high school (because I sucked at clarinet and desperately missed my flute) but it was also one of the most fun times in my life.

I had switched to clarinet with one of my best friends and we were the biggest slackers when it came to learning how to play, or more accurately fake play. When we weren’t skipping band class under the guise of learning the new instrument, we were doodling all over the music. And of course, being the nerdy teenagers that we were, we doodled Harry Potter characters and inside jokes from the series all over the music.

I remember us taking turns drawing something and then laughing hysterically over it. We would try our best to stifle our laughter because we were in class and our band director was trying to teach, but we were incredibly loud. I look back now and cringe, thinking about how obnoxious we must have been. If I was a senior in that band class, I would’ve most definitely hated us lol.

My friend and I used to be threatened all the time to be separated because we were so “disruptive” but did that stop us? No! Towards the end of the year, I believe it was actually during the senior graduation, the music librarians were walking around collecting music and my friend and I were freaking out because our music was completely WRECKED with Harry Potter doodles. The librarian took one look at our music and stormed off with a disgusted look on her face. My friend has kept the music to this day.

Harry Potter made my freshman year in band amazing, and it also introduced me to one of my best friends. Thanks, JKR!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (91)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
If I Went to Hogwarts, Who Would My Boyfriend/Girlfriend Be?

Who would my boyfriend or girlfriend be if I went to Hogwarts? Well, duh—it'd be Sirius Black! I'm not sure how it would work with me being in Slytherin and him being in Gryffindor but we would definitely be an item. Maybe we would meet through Quidditch or possibly Regulus could introduce us, haha. We have a similar sense of humor, so I think we'd get along quite well. Also, I'd be on great terms with all of his friends!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Harry Potter Month: Harry Potter Childhood Games

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

The incredible world of Harry Potter had a great impact on my imagination as a child. Some of my fondest memories with my siblings are when we played Harry Potter related games together. I remember spending a great deal of time in our small backyard in Brooklyn gathering dirt from the floor. After we had gathered enough, we would deem the dirt to be Floo powder. We would then enthusiastically throw the Floo powder to the ground and scream, “Diagon Alley!” Although we never managed to Floo ourselves to the wizarding world, we would tirelessly gather and throw Floo powder over and over again.

Another game we used to play together merely consisted of us pretending to be Harry, Hermione, and Ron. I would always call dibs on Harry, Melissa would be Ron, and Denis, being the youngest and last to pick, would be Hermione. We would use the crawl space underneath our parents’ bed as the “Chamber of Secrets” and pretend to see Voldemort’s face in the windows. Needless to say, Harry Potter made my childhood a lot of fun.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Harry Potter Month: Embarrassing Harry Potter Related Moments

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

My life is just a string of one embarrassing moment after another. Usually I can forget and move past these moments, but two Harry Potter influenced ones are regrettably well-remembered.

One of the first moments took place shortly after viewing the first Harry Potter movie; I was in the first grade. My dad had rented a copy from Blockbuster (RIP), and I loved it but was so confused by the British accents. I went to school telling everyone about the “foreign film” I had seen and I was shocked to learn that Harry Potter was actually quite popular. I felt like such a fool for thinking that I had been so special to come across such a great “foreign film.”

The other moment occurred not too long after the foreign film incident. My brother and I had made a hobby out of mimicking Ron’s British accent, specifically the phrase “Bloody hell, Harry.” We would prance around our house saying that phrase over and over again, clueless to the fact that it was actually a curse word. It was only after screaming “Bloody hell, Harry” in a public setting that our parents cued us in on the true meaning. Even at the young age that I was, I knew to be embarrassed by our unintentional sailor mouths.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Review: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist #1)
By Rick Yancey
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Young Will Henry follows in his father’s footsteps as Dr. Warthrop’s assistant. After a fire leaves him orphaned, the distant and eccentric doctor takes him in. He drags Will into a world of nightmares and horror: the study of monstrumology. One night, a grave robber seeks the expertise of Dr. Warthrop, and the events that follow will be more dangerous than the doctor has ever encountered before.

Review: This is exactly my kind of book! From the Gothic setting to the philosophical depth to the amazing amounts of gore, this book is awesome! Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop are complex characters who share a complicated relationship. Thrown together by tragedy, they are everything to each other, but even though they acknowledge this, I think they still struggle with what this means. Will is very loyal and constantly seeks the praise of Dr. Warthrop, but he also has no trouble outwardly admitting what he hates about the doctor. Although Warthrop seems to be cold and demanding, as the story progresses, it is easy to see that he really does care about the boy. The dynamic between these characters is interesting and realistic. The relationship is so well developed that the reader is able to learn more about each character based on how they treat each other.

As a disclaimer, this book is quite gory, so steer clear if that stuff makes you uncomfortable. It does not bother me in the least; in fact, my philosophy is: the gorier, the better! I think the grossness reveals a kind of sincerity in that our darkest nightmares are not pleasant and by definition, make us squeamish. In a way, I think it makes the story more realistic. That being said, the story is also not unnecessarily grotesque. It is so cleverly written that I was engrossed and appalled at the same time, which I consider a plus.

Additionally, this novel has the sort of depth I really enjoy in a book. Throughout the story, various ethical dilemmas are exposed. Even though the characters choose to do one thing or think a certain way, other characters also present a different perspective on the situation. This really forces the reader to think about what his/her view is on the subject and if he/she would have acted as the characters in the story did. Of course most stories have a sense of right and wrong, but I feel like a lot of this story is in more of a gray area. I felt like I was prompted to look more thoroughly into the characters than in quite a few other books I have read.

All in All: I have not read a book that I have become so attached to in such a long time. I loved this book, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest in the series. I highly suggest that you check this one out. If you have read it, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I have to buy this series!

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Fandoms Mashups (10)

Fandom Mashups is a feature hosted by Lunar Rainbows Reviews. There's a different scenario each week, and you choose a "dream team" of five characters from five different fandoms whom you think are best suited for the situation.

This week's topic is:
VAMPIRES! They've taken over your hometown. Who do you want to help kick some sparkly ass with?

  1. Dimitri Belikov (Vampire Academy): Dimitri has all that dhampir training, plus the dude is like almost 7 feet tall. And he's a total badass. If you're a vampire with evil intentions, you are running in the opposite direction of this guy.
  2. Van Helsing: He's a vampire hunter and is good with a crossbow. Plus Ally's always had a crush on him. ❤
  3. Klaus's father (The Originals): He was a seriously scary vampire hunter.
  4. Sam or Dean Winchester (Supernatural): Either one of the brothers (couldn't choose between them!) is more than capable of taking care of any vampire problems.
  5. Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender): A little (or a lot) of fire should clear those vampires out!

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Harry Potter Month: HP Stuff Around the House

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

If I bought every HP item that I ever saw and wanted, I would be BROKE. Somehow, I've managed to show some restraint over the years, and I thought I'd share some of my HP stuff that I haven't posted about before (at least according to my sometimes shaky memory) with you today.

I love collecting bookmarks in general, so owning Harry Potter bookmarks was an absolute MUST. And actually, I'm a little surprised that I didn't buy up more when I saw them. Note to self: buy more Harry Potter bookmarks!

If you're a Potterhead and a knitter, then Charmed Knits is the book for you! The projects are really cute and range from simple scarves to more challenging patterns. I originally bought the book to knit a hat in the Gryffindor colors for a Christmas gift. The cool thing is, several of the patterns, like the hats, scarves, and socks, can be customized in the colors of your favorite House!

Everyone knows how much I love Sirius Black, and I was overjoyed to receive a Sirius action figure a few Christmases ago from my family. They kept teasing me with hints that I was going to especially loooooove one of my gifts. And they were right!!!

I bought the HP lunchbox over 10 years ago, and of course I've never actually used it to hold my lunch, lol. It's too awesome for that! XD

Some of you know how obsessed I am with the HP Lego video games, so naturally I HAD to have an HP minifigure. Or two. These two currently stand guard on my desk.

I got this CoS movie poster from AOL of all places, around the time of the movie's release, and it came in a set with a poster of Dobby. Oddly, it's the only HP poster I own, which is really surprising because I love showing support for my favorite fandoms by putting posters on the walls, lol.

Do you have any favorite HP-related items?

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (90)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
Favorite Lupin Moment

My favorite Lupin moment was his DADA class on boggarts. Not only was it a practical lesson in defense, but he showed his students how to face their biggest fears. Lupin gave them a safe place to face the dangers of the wizarding world, and I think that it made a huge difference to Harry as well as the other students. It was the first time they were able to see what DADA was really about. Go Lupin! XD

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Harry Potter Month: A Class on Harry Potter

Harry Potter Month is hosted by Faith at Geeky Zoo Girl and Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews. This awesome event runs all through July, and you can find more information about it here.

This past semester, I thought it would be a great idea to take a class centered around the Harry Potter series. I was extremely surprised that such an awesome class was being offered, and I knew I had to take it. I read the syllabus a few weeks before class began and I saw that the class was going to be divided into different Hogwarts Houses and that we would be competing for the House Cup. I was never so excited for Winter Break to be over! XD I knew I was gonna been placed in Ravenclaw and I knew that Cup would be mine! Mwahahaha! Or so I thought . . . .

The first day of class finally arrived, and I could not wait to see what the Sorting ceremony would be like and who my fellow Ravenclaws would be. Our professor had assumed the identity of Professor Snape and pulled out his own Sorting Hat. To my dismay, he pulled our names out of the Hat already pre-assigned to Houses. To my extreme outrage, I was assigned to Hufflepuff. Before I continue ranting, I would like to say that I have nothing against Hufflepuff, but I am most certainly a Ravenclaw girl. How the heck could this guy sort us into Houses before even seeing which face goes to which name?! I was pissed. And to top it off, my best friend, who is also a Ravenclaw at heart, got into the right House! WTF?! I never really got over that.

Next came the creative project, which I totally beasted. I knocked that shit out of the park. I created a potions kit in addition to a portable potions ingredients book. I spent a whole lot of time and money on it, but it was worth it! I was that one kid who goes totally overboard with the project and makes everyone else's look terrible. I even did a mini demonstration with colored vinegar and baking soda. This project is one of my greatest achievements; I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Next came the group presentation. A total fucking nightmare. Of course, my fellow housemates were the slackers of the class. I was forced to take lead of the project (which is way out of my comfort zone). Despite my constant nagging, the project was not completed until a few minutes before we presented. My part of the presentation was on point . . . . There was only so much I could fix on theirs. It was passable, but not where I wanted it to be. -.- I loathe group projects.

Needless to say, we did not win the House Cup. That class had its ups and downs, but I really feel like I've gained a whole new kind of appreciation for the Harry Potter series. Overall, I feel like it was a pretty good experience.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Review: Half Wild by Sally Green

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous book, Half Bad.

Half Wild by Sally Green
Half Wild (Half Life Trilogy #2)
By Sally Green
Publisher:
Viking
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Nathan may be on the run from the Hunters who want to kill him, but there’s a life that he values more than his own. He’ll do anything, even risk death at the hands of the hated, merciless Hunters, to wake Annalise, one of the few people to touch his heart, from the deep sleep that only another witch with highly dubious motives can release her from. Nathan himself must warily join forces with some rather suspect “allies” in order to even have a chance of saving Annalise, and their assistance comes in exchange for playing a key role in furthering an agenda that will impact all witches, both Black and White, across Europe.

Review: Half Bad turned out to be a neat surprise when I read it last year. At first the narrative style, which often has a stream of consciousness feel to it, made me a little hesitant, but my doubts were quickly squashed by the utterly compelling story of Nathan, a witch persecuted for most of his life by the Council of White Witches for being a Half Code, the son of a White Witch and England’s most dangerous Black Witch. Half Wild finds Nathan now in possession of his Gift, the special ability that every witch has and which varies from witch to witch. Nathan’s Gift, which is the same as that of his notorious father, Marcus, is powerful and a struggle for him to control; he has zero memory of turning into an animal, and a predatory one at that because sometimes he wakes up covered in blood.

Quite a bit of blood gets spilled in Half Wild, as the Council of White Witches steps up its efforts to eradicate Black Witches as well as punish any of its own who are not 100% loyal to the Council. The developing resistance movement recruits Nathan to join against an organization that he’d love to pulverize, but it’s an uneasy allegiance, with mistrust lingering on both sides. I’m not always into the political aspects of a novel, but this particular plotline, coupled with a ton of action, is potent.

I think my favorite thing about this series so far is the complexity of Nathan’s character. He knows he’s far from being a hero, and he’s not trying to be one, either. And that’s what I find truly appealing about his character—that there’s so much gray to it. I love that his narration consists of his unfiltered thoughts and that he often doesn’t have a filter when interacting with other characters. Nathan’s slightly unconventional narrative voice may not hit the right note with everyone, but for me, it’s made both books in this series extremely difficult to put down. I wasn’t sure if Half Wild would match the excellent pacing of Half Bad, but it absolutely does.

I loved Nathan’s friend Gabriel in Half Bad, and I love him even more after reading Half Wild. His devotion to Nathan is completely unwavering; even when Nathan fails to appreciate this fact, Gabriel is still there, still ready to do anything to help him. Of the new characters introduced in Half Wild, I took an immediate liking to Nesbitt, a witch whose snark rivals Nathan’s. Nesbitt takes great joy in winding Nathan up, and their verbal volleys provide some welcome comic relief.

Overall, Half Wild delivers all of the progression a reader could ask for from a sequel. I even about almost started crying at one point because a particular scene was so perfectly written. I’m glad that Ally urged me to pick this up because I hadn’t realized how much I missed the series until I stepped inside Nathan’s world once again.

All in All: No sequel disappointment here—at. All. This is an awesome series if the narrative style is a fit for you. It was for me in Half Bad and continues to be very much so in Half Wild.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Fandom Mashups (9)

Fandom Mashups is a feature hosted by Lunar Rainbows Reviews. There's a different scenario each week, and you choose a "dream team" of five characters from five different fandoms whom you think are best suited for the situation.

This week's topic is:
Yer a wizard Harry! You've just found out that you're magical (THE dream) Who do you want on your team to mentor you?

  1. Rumplestiltskin (Once Upon a Time): He seems to be good at training people.
  2. Magnus Bane (The Mortal Instruments/The Infernal Devices): Magnus is a powerful warlock, and when it's time for a study break, he's sure to throw an awesome party.
  3. Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter): Dumbledore is extremely encouraging and hey, if you decide to further your magical education at Hogwarts, who better to be buddies with than its Headmaster?!
  4. Gandalf (Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit): Another awesome wizard, and it would be a dream to have him AND Dumbledore on the same team!
  5. Merlin: Who wouldn't want one of the most famous wizards ever for a mentor?!