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My Journey with Harry #PotterheadJuly

Jul 12, 2016

If you have followed me for a couple of years, you probably know that I love Harry Potter. I’ve made many posts before that have included my love of this wonderful series including; Butterbeer cupcakes.

So when Aentee from Read at Midnight created #PotterheadJuly, I knew that I had to join. On my stop of this feature I am talking all about my journey with Harry.

My journey with Harry starts before I could even read. When Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published, I wasn’t even one, but my mum’s work colleagues were reading it to their kids, so my mum read it to me.

I don’t remember much of the earlier years of Harry Potter, my memories are really faint, but one of my earliest memories was going to see Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone at the drive-in.

My parents, younger sister and I were on holiday and we decided to go see it. I remember sitting in the front seat of the car, eating my popcorn and listening to it through the car radio.

There are two scenes that I am can remember so clearly. The first is when Harry first arrives at Hogwarts, the scene where we first see the castle. Even though I was only 6, I felt like I was home. It was magic and beautiful.

The other scene that I remember is the one that scared the crap out of me. It’s when we first see Voldemort. You know the scene where Voldemort goes to kill the Potters, where he puts his hand on the gate – yes that scene. That scene haunted me for years.

I have watched my Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s video so many times, it now skips…opps.

The years that followed my mum continued to read the books to me, until I was able to read them myself. I also watched all the movies and well, loved them.

The next stop on my journey is when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out. The librarian at my primary school, created this event where we were sorted into houses, had quizzes and it was just so much fun.

When Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out, my dad went and bought it for me. But what was so special about this was that he bought me this pack too, which had a case, stickers, pencils – I loved it and still have some of the stuff.

Another step in my journey is when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out. I remember I woke up early in the morning and headed to where they were selling it, I was one of the first people to pick it up – I came home and started to read it.

During all this time I have learnt so much from these books. I learnt that family doesn’t always have to be from blood. It was amazing to see the bond of the Wesley’s and the different dynamics of the families and friendships.

I learnt many things from different characters. From Harry I learnt that you need to try and be strong when times are tough. Hermione taught me not to be shy with my brains, Ron taught me that you can jealous, just don’t let it take over. Ginny taught me that it’s okay to like things that you ‘aren’t’ meant to like. You can be one of the boys and girls can be hella strong too. And Luna taught me something that I live by; don’t pretend to be someone else, because you are even more interesting being who you are.

One of my favourite things about my journey with Harry is going to Sydney for the day to see the Harry Potter Expo. It was such an amazing experience, I got to see the costumes and read interesting things – I hope that one day I can go to the set and see more magic.

There is something else that comes to mind when I think of my Harry Potter journey, A Very Potter Musical – I may or may not know every song by heart. Please tell me I am not the only one.

Another stop on my journey is when I saw both Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as Midnight sessions, it was fabulous. I remember dressing up and waiting up all night to see it. I remember balling my eyes out when Part 2 finished. My journey finally came to an end – well I thought I did.

There was one thing I did since I was about 14 that showed my Harry Potter Pride every single day and that was during the Deathly Hallows symbol on my wrist. Everyone in my classes knew that I loved Harry Potter, and last year I put a permanent mark of my love. I finally got my deathly hallows tattoo; and I love it.

I loved how these books ripped out my heart, put me together. Made me smile and made me laugh. This world brought magic into my life in so many different ways that I cannot comprehend.

I am sorry if this post is all blabber and I really hope that it makes sense. What has your journey with Harry been like? Do we have any similar experiences? Let’s Chat.

June Wrap Up (2016)

Jun 30, 2016

June has been a recuperation month for me. It’s my mid-year break and I was catching up on sleep and trying to get my body ready for the semester ahead.

So I’ve been reading and working on here and it’s been great. I’m both looking forward going back and not at the same time. I have classes 4 days a week and then I have an internship the other day – so I am going to be pretty busy this semester. It’s also my last semester – at the end of the year I’ll be finished this course. However, I am planning to do another course next year; which I am really excited about.

My #LoveOzYA feature is still going and I really hope that you are enjoying it. If there is any Aussie YA authors that you would like to see in an interview – just give me a shout.

I read 11 books this month and I am finally feeling back on track reading wise. There has been a mix of reads this month, but most of the books were contemporary – I’m hoping that next month I can read a little less contemporary. On the other hand there was a mix of ratings this month, some books I loved and some not as much.

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando: 2.5 Stars| The Leaving is a thrilling novel about what happens when people return having no memories of where they have been. I didn’t like most of the characters and the writing style hindered my reading, however, the plot is engrossing and kept me reading | Full Review

Ruined by Amy Tintera: 4.5 Stars | I loved Ruined. The world was fascinating, the characters, both intriguing and entertaining. It was a brilliant, high fantasy and I am ecstatic to read more | Full Review

When Micheal Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah: 4 Stars | A brilliant and an important book about how people perceive others because of how they are taught, especially here in Australia. Full Review to come.

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil: 4 Stars | Ventures friendship, first love, family and what it is like to keep everything bottled in. It shows that sometimes love needs to start off as a friendship and that the bonds of friends are not always broken – even if there is some turbulence on the way | Full Review

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally: 3.5 | I solely blame Nick from Nick and Nereydas Infinite Booklist for her review on Defending Taylor – because I binge read the series. Stealing Parker was a cute yet heartbreaking story that I read in 1 sitting.

Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally: 3.5 Stars | A protagonist that is somewhat blinded by her faith needs to let others into her world.

Breath Annie Breath by Miranda Kenneally: 3.5 Stars | A Heartwarming, heartbreaking and heart lifting story of grief and learning to love again.

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally: 3.5 Stars | Forbidden love with horses

Jesse’s Girl by Miranda Kenneally: 4 Stars | A romance with a celebrity that is heartwarming and heartbreaking + fun.

Breathing Under Water by Sophie Hardcastle: 3.5 Stars | This novel explores how grief changes people in different ways, and just how to survive when you think all you have is gone. Full Review coming soon

This is What Goodbye looks like by Olivia Rivers: 4 Stars | A beautiful story about grief, family, love, forgiveness and doing what is right. Full Review to come.

#LoveOzYA Interview: Megan Jacobson
Book Review: The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Book Review: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
#LoveOzYA Interview: Christopher Currie
If you liked this book you will like this one – #LoveOZYA Edition
Most Anticipated Books from the Rest of 2016
#LoveOzYA Interview: Steph Bowe
Book Review: Ruined by Amy Tintera
Favourite Books of 2016…So Far
Discussion: Fanfiction?
#LoveOZYA Interview: Tim Sinclair
Book Review: Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

Do you know that I have an Etsy Store? I sell bookish totes, book bags, fabric bookmarks and more. I’ve added some more fabric bookmarks and I love them.

I love posting photos of my books on Instagram. I may not be a fantastic photographer but it’s fun to take these photos. Here are some that I posted in May. You can follow me at angelreads.

How was your June? What did you read? What did you love? What did you posts? Let’s Chat.

Discussion: Fanfiction?

Jun 23, 2016

I have wanted to write this discussion for quite some time now, however, when every time I sit down I don’t know what to say, I decided that it is time to just write it. Fanfiction is a controversial discussion around the book word; some people love it, some people hate it. Is it right to do? Is it wrong? Why do people write it? Questions like these are asked all the time.

I have been reading Fanfiction since I was twelve years old. I loved it then and I love it now. The main reason I read fanfiction is, that I love a book so much that I don’t want to leave it, the world of the book captures me and all I want to do is delve more into it.

Firstly, what is fanfiction?

Fanfiction is where someone uses characters, the world or other attributes of an already published novel to write a story.

What do I read?

I don’t read a range of fanfiction, at the moment I mostly only read Harry Potter and if you know me well you will know why. Harry has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and I want to be with him forever. I love reading anything to do with James and Lily and Harry and Ginny.

I love how people can create and build characters’, I love seeing how people perceive characters, relationships the world. I may not agree with some of the changes that they have done, and that is totally fine.

When I first started to read fanfiction I did read some Twilight stories, because at that aged I loved it. However, I never read any Bella and Edward fanfiction – I don’t even know why, I always seemed to get bored with them, so I read Bella and different members of the pack – yes I’m weird.

I have also read some Vampire Academy, Percy Jackson and The Mortal Instruments. Vampire Academy is probably higher on my reading list than the others.

There is one rule that I have when reading fanfiction, I only read stories where a book/series have finished. I don’t want to get confused with how other people see the characters and how the author has shown them.

Is it okay?

The main question that is asked about fanfiction; is it okay to write? It’s hard to have a solid answer for this, for me, if the person who has written the story isn’t gaining money from it and has acknowledged that they have not created the world, characters etc. – then I’m okay with it.

However, if the person is receiving money or has published the book then now, they shouldn’t do that and I won’t read it.

There are some authors that don’t like when their books have inspired fanfictions and that is totally okay – they can feel that way, they can think that way.

I feel that fanfictions is an amazing exercise for people that want to be authors. They are able to write with established characters they can work with that, they are able to create dialogue, write in a world that has already been built. It’s a way of just working on the authors writing rather than world building.

Bad side

One of the things that I dislike about reading fanfiction is the response from others, it’s not a thing that I think about all the time, nevertheless when people ask if you read it – I don’t like to say yes – because they look down on me.

It’s mostly since I have been at university that I’ve noticed this and maybe it’s because they are older and most fanfiction is to do with young adult novels, and teens and people that read young adult can connect with it more – I don’t know.

Another bad side is that there is some umm…quite horrible pairings in fanfiction. Some that even thinking about makes me cringe, it’s like a big no-no. From time to time you stumble on it without realising and you can get a little shock.

Also, the writing of some stories are not up to a certain standard that I like to read and it’s easy to close the tab and start another.

Where can you read it?

Most of the fanfiction that I do read is on fanfiction.net – I like how it works, how I can be specific about what I want to read. It’s easy to navigate and there is quite a lot on there.

Wattpad also has fanfiction, however, that has a lot more to do with celebrities rather than books. A couple of moths ago I wrote a post about reading on Wattpad and what it means to me.

Overall fanfiction is not for everyone; some people love it, some hate it and that is alright. It is fun reading material for those who want to read more in the world of the book or series that they love, hear about characters after the books have finished and it’s a fantastic writing tool for bubbling writers.

Do you read fanfiction? If so, what do you read? What are some of your favourite stories? or Have you read in the past? Or maybe not at all. Let’s Chat!