New Podcast

 Hi everyone,

We just wanted to come on and make it officially known that this blog has been put on hold indefinitely as we simply don't have the time to dedicate to it. We know that people are still finding their way here and would like to thank you all for your continued interest.

That being said, we do have an announcement:

We simply can't stop talking (literally) about books that we love (or hate) and have therefore started our very own podcast. It's called Reading Materials and 2 episodes have already been uploaded. The first one is about - you guessed it - Harry Potter and the second is about A Court of Thorns and Roses.

We'd love it if you gave it a listen, it's hosted on Anchor and available on Spotify, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Radio Public.

We also have a Goodreads Group and are very active on Instagram as @readingmaterialspod.

Again, thank you to everyone who has stumbled upon our little blog and we hope you'll check out our new project.

All the best,

Corrie and Lucia

The Ghosts of Hogwarts

I have finished my PhD, woohoo! As I am currently looking for a job, I don't have much to occupy my days and so I thought it was high time I return to the blog.

Let's dive straight back in where we left off so long ago!

I'm quite looking forward to this chapter, because it features one of my favourite scenes from the book - the Deathday Party.

We're still here...promise!

So, it's been a full 3 months since we last posted and a lot has happened in that time. First of all, Happy New Year everyone!

Corrie and I originally set out to review the Harry Potter series book by book, hoping to dedicate just one month per volume. This turned out to be not so easy - I honestly completely underestimated just how much time and effort goes into not only reading and analyzing a text, but also writing about it! Plus, I underestimated just how much we still had to say about the books we've read and discussed so many times before.

The seven months came and went and we're not even through Book 2. This is slightly disappointing, I'm not gonna lie, but I don't want it to drag us down. We may have failed in meeting our own deadline, but I think we succeeded in looking at the books critically.

I, for one, hope to continue writing about Harry Potter. I will hold off of making any promises as to how long it will take. Things in both of our lives are pretty busy and up in the air, so I can't guarantee that we will be updating the blog regularly - but we will be updating.

I think it's also probable that not all of the posts will be Harry Potter related. We are reading other books, as well, and hope to analyze those also - just not as in depth as with the Harry Potter series! At least, not yet... For example, I have recently re-discovered Outlander (or Cross Stitch, in the UK) by Diana Gabaldon and am also trying to make my way through War and Peace.

Finally, thank you to any readers who are still following this blog. We hope to have new posts for you soon!

Until next time,

Lucia

Weekly Roundup

I promise we haven't abandoned the blog! I know it may look like it, since we were posting so regularly in November, but we've both been busy the past two weeks.

My Bookshelf, Part 3

I'd like to take a quick detour from Harry Potter and return to My Bookshelf series because, this past weekend we had a slight re-shuffle at home.

That's right, everyone, our IKEA order finally arrived and we spent Sunday doing some DIY.

Weekly Roundup

I'm a bit late with the Weekly Roundup - November has been really gloomy and I've been trying to cheer myself up by meeting up with old friends and new (which has been lovely!), but have not found much time for blogging. This means I'm still behind on my challenge and I'm not sure if I will be able to catch up! Oh well.

What's been happening in the last week?

Return to Quidditch!

I'm so excited about "The Rogue Bludger" because it returns us to Quidditch, which I'm super happy about! As a mad 'hobbies' person, I really love hearing about the extra-curricular stuff that goes on at Hogwarts, and Quidditch is absolutely no exception.

Not to mention that this is one of my favourite chapters because to be quite honest, bad things happen and that's just real life.

Quidditch and Detention

I got all excited, thinking this is the chapter when we meet Moaning Myrtle, but then I realized there is another 'meh' chapter before then.

Let's just get right down to it, shall we...

The Ineptitude of Gilderoy Lockhart

At times like these, when the world just seems like such an cruel and scary place, I like to escape inside a book. I haven't had a chance to do that today, as I had experiments to run during the day, but I'm happy now to flick through Chamber of Secrets and find comfort in the old and familiar.

The Writing on the Wall

Just to follow on slightly from my post yesterday, the events in Paris have been absolutely shocking over the past 24 hours, and my thoughts are with those affected. I was using the hashtag "pray for Paris" on Twitter, and getting some criticism for it, because people have been saying that religion is what has got us into this mess in the first place. I'm not particularly religious myself, and I simply want to say that we could all do with practising a little kindness, tolerance and compassion to everyone - not just Parisians.

On that note, let's move on to something a little more light-hearted - Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the tricks our heroes get up to in this chapter!