Wiley, a book publisher, recently sent me a copy of Harry Potter and History to review for the site. The book gives you “the historical backdrop to Harry Potter’s world, covers topics ranging from how real British boarding schools compare to Hogwarts to how parchment, quills, and scrolls used in the wizarding world were made” AND includes a timeline comparing the history of the wizarding world to Muggle “real” history. If this sounds interesting to you, you can head over to Barnes and Noble to purchase the book, it retails for $17.95 but B&N has it for $12!
I am not normally the type of person to read history books but I do enjoy watching those random history shows on television when they are on an interesting topic so I knew that I would enjoy this book. It was great to learn the history behind some of the themes and objects in the Potter books. This book is a wonderful learning tool because you are learning history but it is also fun because it is being related to the Potter series.
It was very cool to learn the history of bezoars and how they were prized possessions long ago because of their value, they also believed them to have healing powers. Some more interesting things you will read about, if you haven’t researched them already on your own, include the history of Nicholas Flamel, The Malfoys and the class system, the oppression of witches and wizards throughout history, how Voldemort and his Death Eaters are like the Nazis and so much more!
I encourage you to pick up this book and dig a little deeper into the series that we all cherish and love to read over and over. It will give you a whole new understanding of the history of the wizarding world.
Last week The Wand Company sent me one of their Kymera magic wand remotes to review on the site. If you would like your own wand, visit this page to buy one! Before I get to the actual usage of the wand I must say that it is VERY well made and I am in love with the user manual. It is totally in keeping with the Potter world and old timey feel with the parchment background and fun graphics.
The wand starts out in practice mode so you can learn all the different gestures like twisting the wand, flicking up or down, swishing down and more. The wand pulses to let you know you have done the movements correctly, which I found very helpful. Then when you are ready you can go into learning mode to teach your wand what you want each gesture to do, so the wand is very customizable! This part is a little tricky and took me a while to learn, but the good thing is once you teach it you won’t have to do it again (unless you want to change what a gesture does).
I will admit that I got very frustrated when I tried to teach my wand how to do things but then I asked my father to help and it works a lot better when you have two people. That way someone can do the wand movements and can tell the person holding the clicker when to push the buttons. Or perhaps I have lost all my hand eye coordination now that I’m an old fart (even though I’m only 22). Now I feel like a real wizard when I change the channel or turn the volume up or down! It’s pretty darn cool! I tried to take a video to show you all how it works, but I’d rather not subject you to that horribleness…
*I was gifted with the wand for the purpose of reviewing but that in no way affected my review. My thoughts are my own.
I can now post my review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II which I saw in 3D on July 7th! I will post a short snippet below and the rest may be read at this page.
On July 7th I had the opportunity to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in London. Before I go into the regular review I would like to say: I think the movie was totally amazing, I cried for at least half of the movie (I hardly ever cry so that is a big deal). It also may have surpassed the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King as my favorite movie of all time…
The people at Zazzle kindly sent over a Harry Potter iPad and iPhone case for me to test out and use with my brand new iPad (I haven’t gotten my phone…yet) I chose to get the Hogwarts Crest Destroyed iPad and iPhone case so I can match. Since I don’t have my phone yet, I just tested out the iPad case, I even made a little video showing you how easy this thing is to use! So before I get to the review, here’s the video:
This product is extremely easy to use, as you can see in the video. All you have to do is put the back on, and then match the top section to the bottom and snap together. Then do the opposite to take it off. It is far easier to put on and get off than the Apple case (that thing is so hard to get on and off…I’m only using it for when I travel and the screen needs to be extra safe) The texture of the case is really nice, the feels like a painting canvas and the side and front parts are made of a durable silicone. This product is great quality and definitely worth the money. It is only $15 more than the iPad case from Apple (I bought both though)
Recently, Insight Editions sent over a copy of their newly released book, Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book: Based on the Film Phenomenon for me to review for the site. The book retails for $34.95 and was released on November 16th of this year. The book was written by Lucy Kee with the engineering (since this is three dimensional) done by Bruce Foster. Harry Potter Concept Artist Andrew Williamson did the art for the book.
Upon first opening the book, readers are brought into Dumbledore’s Office to see an envelope from the Ministry which contains 3 posters to hang on a wall. There is also a Howler that welcomes you to the book. Next you are on a journey to Dianon Alley to see all the shops. We also see Hogwarts, Hagrid’s Hut, the Dragons enclosure from Goblet of Fire and finally, the Graveyard! Each of the pages has a description of that part of Harry’s world. They also have mini pop-up sections on each page with things like Hedwig in her cage, the chessboard from Sorcerer’s Stone and lots of others.
This book is definitely a fun and interactive book that any fan of the series will love. You are brought into the world and can explore it as if you were really there. The detail of the pop-ups is amazing, you can even look inside windows and you can see what is inside. Readers will need to be careful the first time opening each page, if you go to fast the pop-up parts may rip up. So go slowly and you may need to help the book along with some parts of the pop-up. But once you’ve opened it a few times it should be good to go. The only problem I had was that it was sometimes hard to get the pull out sections to go back into their holders nicely.
They also sent over a fun video trailer for the book that you can watch along with some photos:
On Monday, November 15th I was lucky enough to be able to go to a screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I before the premiere that night. It has been really hard holding my tongue until today, but as per WB’s online embargo I’ve had to hold my review until today, the 19th. So first things first, this review will have major spoilers and these are my own thoughts about the film (they are a bit jumbled and random, so bear with me).
This film is definitely my favorite of all seven Potter movies so far. It is so emotional and the cinematography is perfect! I experienced so many different emotions while watching the film, which in my book is what makes the perfect movie. I laughed, cried, was terrified, angry and so much more.
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