Marissa Meyer

{Woman Crush Wednesday} Ladies of The Lunar Chronicles Series

~ 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!

Cress by Marissa Meyer // Novels and Nail Polish

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.

Fairest // Novels and Nail Polish

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!

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 {2}

~ Taylor Justine ~ Leave a comment

Last week, I started a new series here on N&NP called Inspired Instas, where I talk about some of the inspiration behind my Instagram posts of the past week! This week was filled with cyborgs, Grisha and pretty things!

Rose Gold Accessories: I’m obsessed with rose gold, so I was very excited to realize my purse AND my book had rose gold details!

Rose gold accessories

Trilogies I Love: I love Dystopian YA Fiction, and over the years I’ve fallen in love with these trilogies!

Trilogies

Landline Mani: One of my most popular cover-inspired manicures, and the publisher, St. Martins Press, even re-posted my picture! So happy! :)

Landline Inspired Manicure

Glass Slipper: After meeting Marissa Meyer this week, I was in the mood to start re-reading The Lunar Chronicles. And my glass slipper is too perfect next to a book about Cinderella!

Glass Slipper

Have a great week! Happy reading!

What A Week!

~ Taylor Justine ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a crazy exciting week for both books and nail polish! New things were announced, and I attended my first book signing! Take a look below at all the fun things from the past week:

Louboutin Nail Lacquer

Louboutin Nail Lacquer

When Christian Louboutin designed his first pair of beautiful pumps, they weren’t complete until he painted the soles red with his assistant’s nail polish. Now, many years later, he is venturing into the cosmetics world with none other than a line of high-end nail lacquers. The first polish to debut in this collection is the Rouge Louboutin, the exact red featured on his gorgeous shoes.

The lacquer line will consist of three collections: Nudes, Noirs and Pop colors. Each beautiful little bottle will set you back about $50, but I have to admit, the price isn’t completely deterring me!

Read the full post on Vogue.

Essie Color Boutique

Essie Vending Machine

This week, Essie announced the launch of Essie Color Boutiques, vending machines located in airports and malls that will dispense their nail polish! How exciting is that! The first boutiques are appearing in the JetBlue Terminal of JFK and Oakland International Airport. Additional spots to feature these vending machines are rumored to be Dallas-Forth Worth Airport, the Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks and the Shops at Mission Viejo.

The vending machines will feature 48 colors, plus 6 seasonal shades that will change quarterly. My heart AND nails are happy!

Read the full story on Huffington Post.

Fierce Reads Summer Blockbuster at Barnes and Noble

Fierce Reads Event

The Fierce Reads panel and book signing was my first adventure into author events, and it was incredible! I had such a blast with my cousin Mallery! To be honest, I only knew one of the four authors being featured: Marissa Meyer, author of The Lunar Chronicles series. I already owned all of Meyer’s books, so I purchased Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, another one of the featured authors. All four women on the panel were incredibly engaging and funny, and they had the audience in stitches the whole time! I had a great conversation with Leigh while she was signing my book, and she personalized my signed copy a little more than the others based on our convo (beware of hobos!)! She was giving out bottles of red nail polish with the title of her book on them, and I was lucky enough to get one. I can’t wait to do a cover-inspired manicure with it!

Meeting Marissa Meyer was such an honor, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a picture with her. Disney and fairy tales are so close to my heart, so I love the wonderful twist she has put on all of them. They’re some of my favorite books, and I can’t believe we still have a year before the final book, Winter, comes out! Marissa was so sweet, and I probably look like a fool fangirling so hard, but it was totally worth it!

The Lunar Chronicles Nail Art

In honor of this event, I painted my nails to match Meyer’s Lunar Chronicle series. I took inspiration from the three books already published in the series. On my thumb nail, I featured the high heel pump on the cover of Cinder. I painted my pointer finger red in honor of Scarlet, who is based on Little Red Riding Hood. For my last three nails, I painted Cress’ long golden locks stretching across all three. The best part of the day was Marissa Meyer re-tweeting the photo of my nails!

Overall, there were so many exciting moments for both novels and nail polish this week! Happy reading!