HPMOTW: Best Joke From the Series

Harry Potter moment of the week is a meme hosted over at uncorkedthoughts.

I feel like a lot of people will have the same 'best joke' as me.

In my opinion, the best joke in the entire series has to be the ear related joke between Fred, George and Mrs. Weasley in the seventh book.

'How do you feel, Georgie?' whispered Mrs Weasley.
George's fingers groped for the side of his head.
'Saint-like,' he murmured.
'What's wrong with him?' coraked Fred, looking terrified. 'Is his mind affected?'
'Saint-like,' repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. 'You see... I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?'
Mrs Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Colour flooded Fred's pale face.
'Pathetic,' he told Geroge. 'Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humour before you, you go for holey?' 

The seventh book started so intense. It was Harry you have no more protection, polyjuice potion, slight humour with the transformation, oh no turns out Voldy knew their plan all along!!!, boom Hedwig's dead, Harry feels guilty about the danger he puts everyone in, and then this joke comes along and lightens everyone's' mood. I was crying so hard when Hedwig got hit but at when Geroge started going on about being holey I was laughing and crying at the same time.

So yeah, this is the best joke from the series because the timing was perfect and the humour was well needed not only by the characters but also by me, the reader. Thanks George and JK Rowling.

Is everyone hanging out without me by Mindy Kaling [audiobook] (review)

Title: Is everyone hanging out without me? (and other concerns)
Author: Mindy Kaling
Narrator: Mindy Kaling
Length: 4 hours 37 mins // Num of pages: 222 pages
Publisher: Crown Archetype
My rating: 4/5 stars
*goodreads
*audible





I love Mindy Kaling. I truly truly do! I first heard of Mindy Kaling through The Mindy Project. I highly recommend watching The Mindy Project. Why? 1) it's hilarious and 2) it's hilarious. The show is really really funny!

Anyway, after watching The Mindy Project, I decided I was in love with Mindy Kaling. I needed to watch everything she's ever done. So, during the last winter break, I sat and marathoned all 9 seasons of The Office (US). Honestly, The Office is amazing.

Back to the audiobook. I've actually read this book before! This is my second time reading it. The first time, I read the physical copy. It's great as I've mentioned in this post. I've seen reviews that said the audiobook is great. Since my love for Mindy Kaling is so strong, I decided to try out the audiobook as well.

This is the first audiobook I've ever listened to and 'Is everyone hanging out without me?' is a great start to the audiobook world. It's narrated by Kaling herself. It felt like Mindy (yea, we're on first name basis) is my super cool, older best friend while listening to this book. I've seen people complain that they didn't enjoy Mindy's narration, and that her voice is 'screechy'. Personally, I didn't have a problem with Mindy's voice but give the audio sample a try before buying the audiobook.

The book details Mindy's life, from childhood right to her experience working in television. She sprinkles in advice here and there. Her book is filled with hilarious anecdotes. I should also mention that Mindy Kaling references a lot of things from popular culture. So, if you don't really immerse or consume popular culture, many of these references will be lost on you and as a result, your enjoyment of the book might be affected.

The writing of the book is simple. It reads and listens like a friend talking to you over an extensive catch-up session. It's not poetic writing, nor is it factual writing -it's just casual. This book is an easy, lazy afternoon read.

Again, I highly recommend this book if you are a Mindy Kaling fan, enjoy funny books or are looking into getting into TV comedy. (Is TV Comedy the right phrase???)

My questions for you:

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts on it? Do you have any other audiobook recommendations as I want to get more into audiobooks this year?

HPMOTW: Best spot to chill at Hogwarts

This is a meme hosted over at uncorkedthoughts!

If there was one fictional place that I would just kill to go to -it's Hogwarts! Definitely Hogwarts. No question asked, I don't even need to think about it. I could be doing the dishes and someone come

s up and ask me, 'hey buddy, what fictional place would you most like to go to'. I don't even need to stop scrubbing the dishes or wipe my hands. It's Hogwarts.

Hogwarts has always fascinated me. A castle!! Moving stairs!!! Secret common rooms!!! Anyway, that long as intro is just to tell you guys that I had a hard time picking just one spot for today's moment.

Do I go with the divination classroom, what with it's cozy fireplace, drapes that block the sunlight and air thick with incense and perfumes. It sounds like a nice place to take a nap on a cold winters day.

Or what about the kitchen where the house elves will willingly and happily whip up any dish that I demand. I love eating and that scenario sounds like heaven.

Or what about the Ravenclaw common room! I'm a Ravenclaw. Here just listen to this description from the last book:

"...Ravenclaw common room was wide, circular room, airier than any Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Graceful arched windows punctuated the walls, which were hung with blue and bronze silks: by day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in midnight-blue carpet. There were tables, chairs and bookcases..."

Honestly, how cool does a "ceiling painted with stars" sound like.

Or what about the library! I'm a real book nerd (duh, if not I wouldn't have started a blog about books) and chilling in the library sounds like an awesome idea! A library with a restricted section to boot! Come on, everybody knows that for a library to be a cool library, it needs to have its own restricted section filed with books that give a blood-curling scream when you open it! Other than that, just think about the books that the library holds. Books about dragons, curses and hexes and potions and so much more. I would love to peruse the Hogwart's library for days on end. I just hope that Madam Prince, the librarian, isn't constantly breathing down my neck as she seems to do that a lot to the trio in the books haha.

You see my problem? So many cool spots to chill at Hogwarts. I just can't pick one. It's a feat in itself that I've managed to narrow it down to 4 places. My initial list had like ten spots in it.

What are your favourite spots to chill at Hogwarts?

Top Ten Book-to-Movie Adaptation

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at TheBrokeandBrookish!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie. So I decided to go with top ten, in my opinion, best book-to-movie adaptations. I love books and I love movies. I feel like my list is quite extensive, so I'm going to use bullet points. Shoot me (pun slightly intended).

one

book:

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Date published: 24 May 2012
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
*goodreads

movie: 

Title: Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
Release date: 2014
My rating: 9/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer 

• Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay herself. Of course the adaptation is a faithful one but when I heard the news I was kind of worried because writing books is not the same as writing screenplays. But Flynn totally pulled it off. Warning: obviously there are differences between book and movie but the changes are reasonable to suit the format of a movie. I have no complains.
• David Fincher (the director) is amazing. He has movies such as Black Swan, Fight Club and The Social Network under his belt. 
• Rosamund Pike is amazing as Amy Dunne. Freaking. Amazing. (pun not intended). Ben Affleck is great as well but Pike just steals the show. 
• I prefer the movie over the book. The characters are very unlikable. Reading the book puts you inside the head of these twisted characters and that's not a very enjoyable experience. Watching these crazy characters instead of being in their head is preferable to me. 

two

book:

Title: Submarine
Author: Joe Dunthorne
Date published: 25 March 2008
My rating: 3/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Submarine
Director: Richard Ayoade
Release date: 2010
My rating: 9.5/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• The movie is sooo sooo pretty. Every single frame is just gorgeous. I wish there was a photobook for this movie. This movie is my aesthetic.
• The movie is funny. The book less so because some of the jokes in there fell flat. 
• The soundtrack of the movie is amazing. I mean, what else can it be as Alex Turner was in charge of it.
• Again, I preferred the movie. 

three

book:

Title: The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1)
Author: James Dashner
Date published: 6 October 2009
My rating: 3/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: The Maze Runner
Director: Wess Ball
Release date: 2014
My rating: 7/10 stars
*imdb 
*trailer

• I feel like I should just state this outright, I'm not a fan of The Maze Runner series. 
• The first book is good. It made me want to find out more.
• I'm not a fan of Dashner's writing style. He writes so factually, like a textbook. For example, so and so did this and so and so felt that. 
• But God, the sequels are terrible. It made me want to bang my head against a wall and I'm usually a pacifist. 
• That said, I do prefer the movie over the book but only slightly.
• The movie does miss out on what I thought were key things in the book. The movie still works without these elements, but it left me feeling *shrug shoulders*
• However, the redeeming quality of the movie in my eye are the actors. Each role is cast perfectly. So, ten points to the casting team. 
• I really liked the diversity in both the books and the film. Thank God there wasn't any white washing in the movie.

four

book:

Title: Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicholson #1)
Author: Louise Rennison
Date published: 31 May 2000
My rating: 4/5 stars
*goodreads

Title: On the bright side, I'm not the girlfriend of a Sex God [US title]; It's OK, I'm wearing really big knickers! [UK title] (Confessions of Georgia Nicholson #1)
Author: Louise Rennison
Date published: 10 April 2001
My rating: -
*goodreads






movie

Title: Angus, thongs and perfect snogging
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Release date: 2008
My rating: 8/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I've only read the first book and not the second one. So any comment referring to the book applies only to the first one.
• The book is so funny. It made me laugh out laugh many times, like out loud out loud. As I read it, I kept reminiscing over the dumb things I did as an early teen. Gosh, my emotions at that age were always so extreme! I definitely relate to Georgia quite a bit. 
• However, Georgia does way more embarrassing things than I ever did. I get secondhand embarrassment from just reading/watching about her antics. 
• I really enjoyed the first book which makes me wonder why the hell haven't I read the next one?!?!
• The movie is not an academy award winning movie or anything so don't expect that. It's just a funny and easy movie to watch. 

five

book:

Title: Battle Royale
Author: Koushon Takami, Yuji Oniki (translator)
Date published: 26 February 2003
My rating: 2.5/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Battle Royale
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Release date: 2000
My rating: 8/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• In my opinion, a lot of the essence of the original book is lost in the translation. I can't give any logical argument to back this opinion up but it's just something I feel in my gut.
• The writing/translation is the weakest point of the book. The characters are A+, the action and the plot are also A+.
• Premise of both book and movie: each year a class in Japan is selected to compete in a 'Battle Royale'. A 'Battle Royale' is where the classmates are forced to kill each other to be the only one remaining
• You might be thinking "wow, that sounds a lot like The Hunger Games". I'm here to say that yes, yes it does. There was a debacle on whether Suzanne Collins plagiarised Battle Royale. While, the whole 'only one survive' thing is similar. Battle Royale and The Hunger Games are completely separate books. Both authors took the same concept in different directions.
• But Battle Royale is definitely more brutal and gruesome than The Hunger Games.
• The movie adaptation is great. It cut out the thing I disliked the most about the book -the writing/translation
• The cinematography of the movie is also *hearts eye emoji*
• 10/10 would recommend both book (if the writing/translation doesn't bother you) and movie.

six

book:

Title: Scott Pilgrim 1-6
Author: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Date published: 2004 - 2010
My rating: -
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Director: Edgar Wright
Release date: 2010
My rating: 8.5/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• the movie is a great adaptation.
• they really translate the whole comic/graphic novel experience into a movie. 

Just look at how the characters get a little box with their info in it, it's just like the books!

Not to mention, the sounds effects. 

Also, look at the fight scene!!!! 

• my favourite scott pilgrim book is the 3rd and the 5th one! the comic/graphic novel is super easy to read and are a breeze to go through

seven

book:

Title: Stardust
Author: Neil Gaiman
Date published: 29 August 2006
My rating: 4/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Stardust
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Release date: 2007
My rating: 8/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• The book is awesome
• The movie is awesome
• The book is not as child friendly as the movie. I mean, I would still recommend the book to my 7-year-old cousin but it deals with slightly more mature themes than the movie
• The movie has a faster pace than the book. 
• I really do love the movie. For a few good months, it was the only movie I watched over and over again.

eight

book:

Title: Howl's Moving Castle
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Date published: 5 March 2009
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Howl's Moving Castle
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release date: 2004
My rating: 10/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I'm a huge Studio Ghibli fan. I own the boxset and have watched every single thing they've made. 
• Do yourself a favour and watch everything that they have made! All their movies are so good. Even if some have weak plotlines, the animation more than makes up for it.
• I should mention that I prefer watching it in the original Japanese audio with subtitles instead of the dubs. I can't take it when the words don't sync with the mouth movements. 
• Howl's moving castle is no exception! The background for each scene is always so beautifully animated and detailed even though most viewers don't pay that much attention to them. For example, just look at this frame of Howl's bedroom from the movie:

source

• The movie is very different from the book. Both have the same characters but the plots of each vastly differs. Miyazaki added a 'war' aspect to his books while Jones focused more on Sophie and Howl. They are both very good despite their differences. I wouldn't worry about spoiling yourself if you've read the book or watched the movie first before trying the other.

nine

book:

Title: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Date published: 1925
My rating: 4/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: The Great Gatsby
Director: Bax Luhrmann
Release date: 2013
My rating: 9/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I haven't watched the older movie adaptation, the one with Paul Rudd 
• I really enjoy the 2013 adaptation. I like Leonardo DiCaprio, he plays a great Gatsby (ha!ha!ha! i am so funny).
• I think Carey Mulligan really shines as Daisy. Everybody in the same shot as Mulligan pales in comparison, even my beloved Leo. 
• The soundtrack is also bomb. I think it might be a problem for some to be hearing modern music when the movie is set in the 1920s but I feel like it provides a nice contrast and a point for modern viewers to relate to as well.
• Do I even need to talk about the book here? I feel like everybody and their mother knows about it. 

ten

book:

Title: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Date published: 1 January 2009
My rating: 2.5/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Release date: 2013
My rating: 7/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I'm just going to say this: I'm not a fan of The Hunger Games series. These books were so hyped about and I went into them with high expectations and was sorely disappointed. They are good books, but just don't expect them to be earth shattering and super de duper amazing.
• The second movie in the franchise is a great adaptation as far as adaptation goes. It stayed true to the book. While the first movie was extremely and unnecessarily shaky (as in the camera work), the second movie is beautifully shot.
• I especially love framing of the last scene with Katniss's face filling up most of the screen, allowing us to see Jennifer Lawrence's top notch acting abilities.
• Honestly, the Catching Fire adaptation is great argument as to why movie adaptations shouldn't stray too far from the book.

Honorable mention:

The dreamwork adaptation of Cressida Crowell's How To Train Your Dragon series. I love both HTTYD 1 and 2! Such good movies!!!! The animation (screams!), the characters (screams!!), the storyline (screams!!!), the music (screams!!!!)...just everything about both movies.

This is an honorable mention because I didn't feel that it was fair to put this on the list as I've not read the actual books. I own them but they are just sitting on my shelves gathering dust.

DIY: bookmarks

It's confession time: I'm really bad at using bookmarks. I usually use whatever scrap paper I can find around me. Things I've used instead of bookmarks:

1. tissue paper
2. receipts
3. paperclips
4. hairclips
5. business cards

Basically, anything flat passes as a bookmark in my book (pun totally intended). One thing I'll never ever do is dog ear my books. I can't bring myself to. If I can't find anything to use as a piece of paper then I'll remember the page I stopped at or keep a note of it on my phone. I'm going off on a tangent now but honestly, the Google Keep app is a godsend. You can make little notes and list on that app. In addition, there's a desktop version. If you're anything like me and make your to do lists the night before in bed, it's really handy to have access to that list even though your phone is out of arms reach (aka you're too lazy to get up and get it). 

Now back on to the topic on hand. One of my bookish resolution for 2015 is to start using bookmarks. So, I decided to make myself some bookmarks!!! 

This is the template I made for myself. You can download the template over here and design your own bookmarks!

I also made other designs.

(take picture of done banana bookmark)

("" cactus "")

("" next page "")

("" grr martin quote "")

Download link

Instructions on how to make bookmarks:

what you need: paper, glue, scissors *optional: puncher, ribbon/string

I tried this with plain A4 paper, a thicker paper and photo paper. In my opinion, the thicker paper is the best man for the job. The plain A4 paper is okay. The photo paper gives very nice colour but is harder to work with.

step one: print the template or whichever design you fancy! Remember to set the printer settings to high. 

step two: cut out with scissors

step two (a):  make diagonal cuts at the corner (the orange lines) 

step three: fold extended piece of paper to the back of printed side and glue them down...this is for a nice clean edge. If you don't like the look of the black border, just fold the black border to the back side and glue it down as well

step four: do the same with the other piece. above, is how it looks when it is done!

step five: glue the two pieces together

If you like the bookmark as it is, feel free to skip the next steps. However, if you want a lil ribbon on your bookmark then read on.

step five: punch a single hole in the top middle part of the bookmark. You can fold the top bit in half and press down gently (cause you don't want to leave a mark) to use as an indicator to get your hole approximately in the middle.

step six: Cut ribbon/string to size and thread it through the hole and tie a knot 

step six (a): Put the two free ends into the hole. Don't pull the loopy end through the hole!

step six (b): Now put the free ends into the loopy hole.

step six (c): pull the free end to tighten the knot and you're done!

PS: I change the ribbon from the first photo because that one was way too thick for the size of my hole (that's what she said).

step seven: ta-da. use the bookmark!!!

And that's it!!! Simple right?!?! If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask me in the comment section. My personal favourite is the banana one. I like the shape of a banana (not an innuendo okay), but I don't really like the taste of a banana (again, not an innuendo.......or is it ) except in a banana cake! 

**You are free to use them for personal use only! No redistributing it for a price okay. It would also be nice if you gave credit.