Novels and Nail Polish 2K Celebration

April 27, 2015 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

Who knew that 2,000 awesome people would want to follow along on my Instagram adventures? Well I’m just so overjoyed, and I can’t thank everyone enough for ALL of the support and encouragement I’ve received. And to show my gratitude, I’m holding an Instagram giveaway!

One lucky bookworm will receive a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card and a bottle of my fav Mint nail polish. All you have to do is head over to my Novels and Nail Polish Instagram account, follow and tag two friends in the comments!

Good luck and Happy Reading!

Just Take My Money {Rainbow Rowell}

April 25, 2015April 25, 2015 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 1 Comment

Like her namesake, Rainbow Rowell lights up my bookshelf with her gorgeous books. I’m not kidding! It isn’t a true book rainbow if it doesn’t have at least one of her novels in the lineup. And the stories she creates aren’t half bad either. So let’s just cut to the chase: new Rowell beauties are coming our way this year!

First up, the Fangirl special edition

PRETTY. Literally the first thing I could think when I heard about the candy-colored special editions hitting the market in May. Do I want them all? HELL YES. Will I get them all? Probably not all, but at least one! My insides get all giddy thinking about the pastel colors, embossed inner covers and fan art tucked inside. Since my birthday is next month, it’ll definitely be a treat to myself!

Next on the list, Carry On.

enhanced-19465-1429806575-15 New Rainbow Rowell? Yes please! Continuing the story of Simon and Baz, Carry On tells readers all about the characters we met in Fangirl. Buzzfeed released the cover this past week, and I’m absolutely itching to make it a mani! But we’ll have to wait to get our hands on it until October of this year. Thankfully we have our pastel pretties up above to tide us over.

Are you excited for new Rainbow Rowell? Happy Reading!

Happy Earth Day

April 22, 2015 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. {The Lorax}

Happy Earth Day, my friends! While today puts how we treat our Earth in the spotlight, it should really be something we thing about everyday. So in honor of this great planet we call home, I’m throwing it back to my Lorax inspired manicure!

Happy Earth Day and Happy Reading!

Just Take My Money {HP Edition}

April 19, 2015April 19, 2015 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

There are certain franchises that can literally take the money out of my pocket without asking. If you’ve been around Novels and Nail Polish at all (especially recently), you can probably tell that Harry Potter is number one on this list for me. Merch, books, movies, you name it. I’ll buy anything and everything HP related, and I ain’t even mad!

Last month, Scholastic and Bloomsbury released the cover for the first fully illustrated Harry Potter book, HP and the Sorcerer’s (or Philosopher’s) Stone. You excited? Because I AM! This illustrated series gives the massive army of bookworms another 7 years of excitement and anticipation, which is something we thrive on. October 6 – start your countdown now.

You better start working on your book nerd game if looking at the cover art below doesn’t get you all hot and bothered!

And if you’ve missed some of the images they’ve released from inside the book, take a look below:

Now that’s what I call magical! Happy Reading!

{Woman Crush Wednesday} Ladies of The Lunar Chronicles Series

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 4 Comments

As you are painfully aware at this point, I’m currently stuck in a rereading cycle. No new book is good enough to pull my attention away from some of my favorite series. It started with Harry Potter, has moved over to The Lunar Chronicles and will most likely continue over to The Grisha Trilogy once I put down Fairest.

One of the details I appreciate most about the series Marissa Meyer has created is the plethora of women characters for girls to read about. Each of her protagonists has characteristics that I find myself identifying with, and that is so important for girls growing up right now.

So in honor of these incredible women characters, the leading ladies of The Lunar Chronicles are my Women Crush Wednesday!

Cinder

What an incredible protagonist to lead a series full of dynamic women. Cinder learns so much about herself and life through each book, and we’re lucky enough to come along with her as she falls in love and finds out how to be a revolutionary. I am just SO EXCITED to see the woman who will be able to save the world in Winter!

Scarlet

Talk about firecracker! I greatly admire Scarlet’s strength, which is something I’m finding myself drawn to more during this reread than before. She’s self-assured in everything she does, from loving a crazed (yet super hot) wolf-man to her unwavering support of her grand-mère. Like her hair, Scarlet definitely has the biggest personality of the group and really knows who she is!

Cress

Cress is a genuine, brilliant gal who truly means well, which is why I love her. She’s quirky and creates these wonderful fantasies, which is something I can definitely relate too. Oh, and the long blonde hair too! Cress checks in as the hopeless romantic, and I don’t mind coming along for her daydream damsel-in-distress ride.

Queen Levana

We all love to hate the evil Lunar dictator, but real talk, she’s a pretty bad ass villain in my opinion. I had a love/hate relationship with Fairest because there’s really no going back from the evil things we saw Levana do over the years. But even through that, I’ve loved getting to know her and can’t wait to see the ultimate battle in the final book. She’s definitely not going to go down without a fight.

Who is your favorite gal in The Lunar Chronicles? Happy Reading!

{Mani Monday} Lillian Eve

April 13, 2015April 13, 2015 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

I’m so happy to introduce a great indie nail polish brand to the blog, Lillian Eve. I shared their anniversary giveaway last week, and today I’m going to talk all about their great polishes!

First, I want to judge the bottles by their cover… because they’re so cute! I love the bottle design, as well as their branding as a whole. They’re an adorable company, and I was so happy when they reached out to me to try their polishes. Even better, all of their polishes are 5-free, vegan, cruelty-free and bottled in the great USA. Talk about piece of mind!

Another thing I really love about Lillian Eve is the selection of colors they offer! They’re so wonderful for every season, and I can’t wait to see the colors they continue to come up with.

Bijoux

Bijoux has that cornflower blue vibe going on, just like the crayon! It’s definitely on point for summer 2015, because of its fresh, fun look. It took three coats to really get opaque, but it didn’t get overly thick or unmanageable.

Haute Night Out

Haute Night Out really satifies my love for a vibrant, fire engine red. It’s a three-coater as well, but has the same great finish. You definitely don’t have to try very hard to get an even finish, which I really appreciate.

If you haven’t entered the Lillian Eve Anniversary giveaway yet, check out my original post about it and enter! It’s an incredible prize package AND they’re picking an additional winner from Novels and Nail Polish to receive a polish.

Happy Reading!

8 Truths I Realized While Rereading Harry Potter {Part 2}

April 4, 2015April 4, 2015 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 6 Comments

My time in the Wizarding World has come to a close once more. I laughed, I cried, I cried some more. Even though I’ve read this series multiple times, I’m in awe of how moved I am every single time I pick it up. There is nothing like it out there and there never will be. But I have faith that long after we’re all gone, this series will continue to touch young readers hearts the way it did mine & countless others, and turn them into the future’s bookworms!

Now enough sap. Let’s talk about some of the (ridiculous) thoughts I had while reading the final three books of the Harry Potter series.

But really guys, what were the first 20 Educational Decrees? I think we missed something here!
I’m pretty sure these History of Magic students have been learning about Giant Wars for the entirety of their magical education.
I’ve always wondered what you look like from the outside while looking into the Pensive. You fall in, but Snape is still able to grab and pull Harry out.
Roonil Wazlib (result of the dying spell-check quill) – the original Adele Dazeem!
Dumbledore is ALWAYS a gentleman, even when Harry is acting like a fool.
I felt real sadness when starting book 7, knowing that the series is going to be all over again!
There is a TON of underage drinking that goes on in this series. Teenagers drinking mead left and right!
Would it be acceptable to just continuously reread the HP series over and over? Because it seems like a completely reasonable thing to me. Who needs new books?

There ya have it friends. Some of the thoughts I had while rereading the Harry Potter series. If you missed the first installment of Thoughts While Rereading HP, check it out!

Have you ever wondered any of these things? Tell me about them! Happy Reading!

Novels and Nail Polish

A pretty, little blog that celebrates well-written books and beautiful nail polish.

Month: April 2015