Sorry!

Sorry guys that I have missed my Thursday's post! I have had two kids sick back to back and then I have been sick this entire week. I will be back next week!

Let's talk about: The Case of Beasts

Last year I was there on opening night to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 

I loved it so it is no surprise that for Christmas two of my gifts were Fantastic Beasts related. 

One of them is The Case of Beasts, Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them written by Mark Salisbury and designed by Mina Lima.

I love the look of this book. It is quite big and heavy and the outside is made to look like his suitcase. 

You open up the side. It is magnetic so that it flaps down on the front of the book and holds. 

When you open it up it is like a lot of the movie tie ins I have with pictures, information, and fun design bits and bobs. 

There is a section of the different characters. 

 

We also have sections for Macusa, New York City, The other characters, visual effects, and the Beasts themselves. 

There are so many fun pull out items. 

 

The design is beautiful and so fun to flip through. 

 

I read through the entire thing in the days after Christmas and really enjoyed the background information and pictures. 

It would make a great coffee table book however I have it on my Harry Potter shelf with my other books!

If you are a huge Harry Potter fan that now also loves Fantastic Beasts and you also like to get behind the scenes information you will love this book. 

Let's talk about: Mr. Holmes

Last week I watched Mr. Holmes starring Ian McKellen. 

Mr. Holmes is the story of an older Sherlock Holmes. He is suffering from worsening dementia and has retired to his cottage with his housekeeper and her son. He is trying to remember the details of his last case, one that haunts him as he is sure that he did something wrong because of it being his last... but he can't remember what it was.

Along the way he befriends the his housekeepers son, Roger, and shares his struggles to remember the case with him and teaches him to take care of his beloved bees. 

I really enjoyed this film. 

It is superbly acted, as you would expect from Ian McKellen and Laura Linney (she plays the housekeeper). Milo Parker plays her son and he is so adorable and wonderful in this role. 

There were a few times when I thought I wasn't going to like it anymore as it had a few really sad parts and one part that seemed like it was going to be... but thankfully got better. 

I loved the idea of seeing Sherlock Holmes in a way that we haven't seen him before. 

I highly recommend it. 

Here is the trailer: 

2017: Moving Forward

This year has slipped away from me when it came to blogging. 

I have found that both of my blogs have been neglected, but especially this one. 

Which is crazy since I love this one so much and have had so much fun with it. 

So, I realized I need to set a goal for this blog in order to make sure that I keep up with it in 2017. 

I used to have a daily theme but after a few months it was really hard to keep going 5 days a week. 

Then I said I would just post as I felt like it. Obviously that didn't work either. 

So going forward I plan on posting every week. 

On Thursday. 

Each week will have a theme. 

First week of the month: Movies

Second week of the month: Books

Third week of the month: Celebrity whether that be actor, actress, singer, author, YouTube, etc. 

Fourth week of the month: Misc. 

On the occasion of a fifth week I will post another misc. type post that could be anything. 

I hope to, and might, post more than just the once a week post but I figure that if I commit to this I have a goal to work towards to keep me focused but not overwhelmed. 

Let me know, as always, if you have any suggestions for posts or anything you are really interested in me posting about!

I hope you have had a wonderful 2016 and an even better 2017!

Cheers!

Let's Talk About: The Cursed Child, a new play by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany, and J.K. Rowling

I was so excited when I heard this play was coming out with the script in book form. 

I got it at Target the Monday after it came out. 

I started reading it as soon as I got home and I finished it within a few hours. 

I had heard mixed reviews so I went into it with low expectations and I was blown away. 

Was it without flaws? No. But it is a script of a play meant to be seen on stage. So I think it is a little unfair to expect it to feel exactly the same as a Harry Potter novel. 

But I wanted to base my opinion on this book on how I felt while I was reading it. 

And I felt happy. 

I think it was a really fun read and I LOVED seeing all of our old friends and a few new ones. 

Scorpius Malfoy was my favorite and I loved that. 

I plan on reading it again very soon and I gave it 5 stars.

I didn't want it to be rated the exact same as the original books but I also liked it enough that I rounded up the 4.5 stars to 5. 

If you have heard bad things and read bad reviews... still read it. 

You may love it. Don't let others influence how you feel about it whether that is to love it or to hate it. It is okay to love things that aren't perfect and that entertain you.

I will never get enough Harry Potter!

Celebrating Beatrix Potter video

Let's talk about: Towers in the Mist by Elizabeth Goudge

"Christ Church, Oxford is the location of this tale of the Leigh family, set in the days of Queen Elizabeth I.

In her notes about the origin of the book Elizabeth Goudge writes: "It is impossible to live in an old city and not ask oneself continually, what was it like in ages gone by? Who were the men, women and children who lived in my home centuries ago, and what were their thoughts and actions as they lived out their lives day by day in the place where I now live mine?" (Goodreads)

I picked up this book at the beginning of the year after hearing about it on YouTube.

I planned on reading it before our trip as I knew that it contained history of Oxford.

But I never got the chance to read it before we went. I took advantage of the read-a-thon week to spend a couple of days devouring it.

And I did devour it.

I LOVED this book.

 "The first gray of dawn stole mysteriously into a dark world, so gradually that it did not seem as though day banished night, it seemed rather that night itself was slowly transfigured into something fresh and new. 

So shall I be changed, whispered a dirty, ragged boy who lay on a pile of dried bracken, two books beneath his head for a pillow, within a gypsy tent, and he sat up and grinned broadly at the queer gray twilight that stood like a friend in the narrow doorway." (first paragraph of the book)

This is the first book I have ever read by Elizabeth Goudge and I am now going to search my library for anything and everything by her. She writes beautifully and weaves the history of Oxford into the life of one particular family and those that surround them so well.

I love the characters although I feel like Oxford is the main character... if that makes sense.

We basically get a look through a window to the past of Oxford and how it came to be, how those who lived there in the 1500's lived, and how they interacted.

She also includes real life figures into the story such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Philip Sidney, and Queen Elizabeth the first.

There were times in this book when I had to re-read a sentence because I loved it so much... like when she was describing the ugly cuteness of one of the characters:

" The Creator, when He thought good to take Faithful out of eternity and cast him upon the earth, had taken him out of the same box as the baby donkeys and the penguins..."

While this book was the longest of the read-a-thon I loved every minute of it and almost wished it was longer.

I think my love of Oxford also helped to nurture my feelings for the book as it was set at Christ Church which was one of the places we explored. As it talked about the history there and about the buildings I could picture it and knew exactly what she was talking about. I loved that. I also loved learning things about Oxford that I didn't know before reading it.

I really can't say enough about this book.

I loved it.

"It is the dreams that are died for that live."

I highly recommend this book to anyone.