August Snapshots

1 & 2. Books and coffee, always.

3. My latest haul from Novelly Yours. I got some candles inspired by the Hogwarts houses, and I got a candles inspired by Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda that was featured in a past candle box. - Jessica

Litjoy Magical Crate: Year 4

Earlier this month, I received my Litjoy Magical Crate, which is a special one time box that focuses on a different Harry Potter book. This is the fourth crate in the series and the items in the crate are all inspired by the fourth book. When I first read the series, the fourth book was my favorite (now a days, I can't pick a favorite), and it is the book I've read the most in the series, so I was extremely looking forward to seeing what this box would include. I've shared the previous three crates already, and as soon as I received this one, I couldn't wait to share it's contents. This crate was jam packed with 14 items, and here are some of my favorites...

The gillyweed inspired candle from Whiskey Diamond Company smells exactly like how I imagined gillyweed to smell in the books. I also loved how the dark mark tattoo and the Potter Stinks button tied directly into the book. 

The coin was another item directly inspired by the books. Each box included a mystery coin in a pouch, much like the pouch that contained the four types of dragons for the fourth task. I received the Hungarian Horntail, with artwork by Maggie Rose. The S.P.E.W. enamel pin was one of my all time favorites in this box. 

Litjoy does a fantastic job of featuring amazing artists for their boxes. Gabriella Bujdoso designed the artwork for the trading cards and I think she perfectly captured the characters. And I like how NerdyGrlDesigns brought her own style on the bookmarks.

These socks inspired by Dobby are my favorite item in this box. I'm one of those people who likes wearing crazy socks, and these are just my style. And those are some of the contents of the box, and now I can't wait for the fifth installment. - Jessica

Harry Potter Studio Tours

It is finally time to share the last of my Europe pictures. While in London, I had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Warner Brother's Studio Tours. It has been a dream of mine to visit the place where they filmed all the Harry Potter films. It's a place that I've seen so much content from, both the films and tourist photos from the tour, but nothing could compare to seeing the scale model of Hogwarts in real life, with "Harry in Winter" playing on the overhead speakers. It was truly a magical experience, and it is definitely a place that I would love to revisit in the future. Here are some of my favorite shots from the tour...

I absolutely love the level of detail that went into putting everything together. The tour really highlighted how much work went into the making of each movie. - Jessica 

Books I Read In July

I read 8 books in the month of July. This was definitely been my worst reading month this year, since I struggled with finding the motivation to pick up a book this month. So here are the books I read and some of my thoughts and opinions on them...

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young - This is a Viking inspired novel that follows Eelyn, after she discovers that her brother alive, who she watched die five years before. I really enjoyed this book, I liked the cast of characters and the social questions this book raised. I also liked Young's execution of slow burn development, in terms of the story and the romance.

The Ascendence Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen - This book follows Sage, after he is enlisted in a game to employ a false prince to his kingdom's throne. I found the first two books in this series interesting enough, but as the series continued on, I became disappointed in the lack of character development in the main character. This is a series that's been on my radar for years now, and it's one of those books that I think I would have enjoyed more, if I read it at a younger age.

Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro - This is a coming of age story centered around police brutality and racism. I was blown away by this book, it tackles so many hard subjects, such as; underdeveloped communities, lack of funding in schools, and undocumented citizenship. Because of these issues, the book almost had a dystopian undertone, except all of these issues are unfortunately true. I also absolutely loved the different levels of representation this book has, and I think that so many people can relate to some of these characters on some level. I did find this book a little hard to grasp at times because there is so many issues that the main characters face, that I think some of the messages about these topics was diluted. Overall, I think this a fantastic must-read, but there is a lot of explicit violence, which may not be for everyone.

Skin and Earth (Vol. 1) by Lights - This is the first volume in a graphic novel, dystopian series. I have talked a lot about Light's latest album and the tie-in-comic that she wrote and drew. When the bind up of the series was released, I knew that I would be rereading the story (disclaimer: I had previously reread each issue at least 3 times when they came out, which I think speaks volumes about how much I love this project). So as soon as my hardcover arrived, I again devoured the whole series again. I absolutely can't wait to see the direction Light's has planned for this series.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - This was another reread of the month, I initially planned to reread the whole series, since I picked up the new US paperback covers, but I barely squeezed by the first book. I do plan to continue rereading the series slowly over the next couple of months.

Heart of Mist by Helen Scheuerer - This is the first installment in a high-fantasy trilogy, where magic is forbidden, and the heroine is captured by the king for her skill. I really liked this book, mostly I found that it sets up for the next two books, so I'm interested to see how this story continues.

And those are the books I read in July. I'm hoping that August will be a better reading month, because there are a lot of new releases that I've been anticipation and that I've been itching to get to. - Jessica