JK Rowling

{Ranked} Harry Potter Books From Least To Most Magical

~ Taylor Justine ~ 6 Comments

#LongLiveExpelliarmas my friends.

After spending the first part of 2015 rereading the most spell-binding series known to muggles, I believe I’ve solidified my ranking of books 1 to 7, from least to most magical!

Harry Potter Series Ranking // Novels and Nail Polish

7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Is this really a surprise? I’m willing to bet that Chamber of Secrets takes last place in almost 100% of HP fan’s lists. It’s hard to put my finger on why it fails so hard, but it just isn’t my cup of tea.

6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: I want to love Order of the Phoenix, I really do. But there are too many character issues that keep me from ranking it any higher. First off, um Sirius dies. NOT OK. Second, Harry is a little baby brat for the whole book. Pull that stick out of your ass and grow up… my thoughts through all 800 or so pages.

5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: The only reason this guy scores so low on the list is because it’s so short. I think it’s also a true testament to Rowling’s skills that her later books continued to only get better, because so many series fizzle out and let book one outshine the rest!

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: What a way to wrap up the series. It was emotional, exciting and placed the perfect cherry on top. It really is like splitting hairs when it comes to my top four favorites, and Deathly Hallows only shows up here because it gets a little slow in the middle.

3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: I am a sucker for character development & back-story, and Half-Blood Prince covers that base pretty thoroughly. On top of that, I’ll admit that I love when books have the ability to make me cry, and boy did I cry during this book!

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Let’s just list out the events of this book: Quidditch World Cup, Triwizard Tournament, dragons, Voldemort’s return, Cedric’s death. Hi, my name is MOST EXCITING BOOK EVER, nice to meet you!

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Here it is friends. The best of the best, Prisoner of Azkaban! This little book packs a real punch when it comes to twists. Scabbers? Crazy. Lupin? Awesome. Sirius? The coolest. Lupin and Sirius are two of my all-time favorite characters (and both happen to end up dead… funny how that works out). Over the years and multiple rereads, Prisoner of Azkaban has stood the test of time and held its spot up top. Its magic is completely undeniable!

How do you rank the HP books? Happy Reading!

Just Take My Money {HP Edition}

~ 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!

Harry Potter Illustrated Cover

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

enhanced-23058-1427391521-3Now that’s what I call magical! Happy Reading!

{Man Crush Monday} Harry Potter

~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

I think every bookworm can relate to getting the HP reread itch once every year or so. Even when you have huge TBR piles staring you in the face, you can’t help but put everything else aside and pick up your old friends… 7 of them to be exact!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

That’s where I’m at, and I just embarked on the start of one of my favorite adventures, Year 3. And this is why today’s MCM goes out to none other than Harry himself.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsHarry isn’t perfect, he isn’t the smartest or the strongest. But that’s why I think so many people love him. He’s relatable and you want to be his friend. And reading the first couple books over has reminded me how in love with him I was when I first read the series! There is no substitution for the honest-to-goodness warmth and joy that comes with rediscovering the magic of Hogwarts and the wizarding world time and time again.

“Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” – JK Rowling

Happy Reading!

Little Bit of Book Cover Envy

~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

There are so many reasons I am thankful to be a citizen of the United States. As cheesy as it sounds, it really is the land of opportunity. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get a little green with envy at some of the other incredible places around the globe, especially when it come to today’s topic: International Book Editions.

Is it just me or does it seem like cover designers in other countries can be so much more creative sometimes?? Gone are the days of block letter book titles and pretty girls on the cover. While we all would love to say we try not to judge books by their covers, it happens to the best of us (and quite often)!

I’ve scrounged the internet for some of the covers I’ve seen over the years that make me cry tears of joy and jealousy!

The Lunar Chronicles 

These babies are beauties. I adore our American covers, and I didn’t think they could be outdone. Boy, was I wrong. One of the reasons I adore blogging and creating images is because of the visual effect they have on people. The German covers for this series strike a chord in me like no other cover I’ve seen. I must have them, even though I speak ZERO German!

US + Spanish + Italian + Bulgarian Covers
US + Spanish + Italian + Bulgarian Covers
German Lunar Chronicles Book Covers
The Lunar Chronicles: German Covers

The Grisha Trilogy 

When I read this trilogy by the incredible Leigh Bardugo, I fell and fell hard. Thankfully the UK covers aren’t too different, but they do have a brighter, more colorful wash to them.

The Grisha Trilogy Covers
US and UK Editions

Harry Potter

There are so many versions of the Harry Potter series that I can’t pick my favorites, although I am currently in love with my Kazu Kibuishi box set! Each cover holds its own version of magic.

UK + French +US Covers
UK + French + US Covers

My True Love Gave To Me

One book that comes to mind as we leave the holiday season is My True Love Gave To Me. It’s a compilation of adorable holiday stories, and the UK version boasts PINK-edged pages. So much book lust.

My True Love Gave To Me Covers
US and UK Edition

Are there any international covers you wish you had, even if you don’t speak the language? Happy Reading!

Inspired Instas {3}

~ Taylor Justine ~ Leave a comment

This past week was very exciting in my personal life… I got promoted at work! So I definitely spent the week on Cloud 9! Other than that, it was a pretty normal week filled with work, reading and a very special birthday.

Catching Fire Nail Polish: I was so excited to find the whole Cover Girl Catching Fire line of nail polishes at Target a couple of months ago! The entire collection really embodies the Girl On Fire.
Catching Fire Nail Polish

Hogwarts Textbooks: It’s no secret the Harry Potter series is one of my all time favorites! That means I love anything and everything that goes with it, including these companion books. I can NOT wait for the movie to come out in 2016!

Hogwarts Textbooks

Happy Birthday Harry: July 31st marks two very special birthdays, Harry Potter & his lovely creator, JK Rowling! So much of my love for reading and my childhood were shaped by this series, and I can’t thank Ms. Rowling enough.

Happy Birthday Harry

Bows and Books: The Bows and Books tag on Instagram is one of my favorites, so I did another one! Thankfully, I have enough bows to keep doing more!

Books and Bows Narnia

Sneak Peek of Stolen Inspired Mani: I just finished up Stolen by Lucy Christopher, and I am very excited to share my review and cover-inspired manicure of this book! So happy my butterfly jewelry tray matched the book so well!

Sneak Peek Stolen

Summer Sunday: Sunday was such a joy! I relaxed with my sister and best friend in the pool and started Emily Giffin’s new book, The One & Only! Summer is moving way too fast, so we have to savor these gorgeous days while we have ’em.

Summer Sunday

Have a wonderful week! Happy Reading!