Beautiful Burn by Jamie McGuire

Hold on... WHAT? The release of this book completely took me by surprise. I have loved every single one of the Maddox brother’s books. I know they are full of troupes and a little cliché but there is something about them that makes them completely addictive reads.

This is the 4^th and final book in the Maddox brothers series and follows Tyler Maddox (Taylor’s twin). Here is the goodreads blurb:

Fresh out of college, Ellison Edson has fallen through the cracks of rock bottom. While staying in her family’s vacation home in Colorado, her behavior has finally gained the attention of her parents—but not in the way she hoped. Cut off from the millions she’s always taken for granted, and left alone to fend for herself, Ellie spirals further out of control, making a mistake she can’t take back. 

Like his twin brother Taylor, Tyler Maddox is a member of the Alpine Hotshots, fighting wildland fires on the frontline. As arrogant as he is charming, Tyler’s nomadic lifestyle makes it easy to contain his relationships to one night. When he meets Ellie at a local party during off-season, her extreme personality and dismissive attitude fascinates him at first, but as his feelings deepen, Tyler realizes that the crippling inner demons of the woman he loves might be the strongest enemy any Maddox has ever faced.

I am so excited to read this book, and this is one that I will be reading on the plane to Vietnam. (DID I MENTION I’M GOING TO VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA? *HYPERVENTILATES WITH EXCITEMENT*) I love how each of these books ties in with the other books even though they would all work as standalone novels. 

Review to come soon!

Happy reading

 Hello to all those in Dumbledore’s Army, especially to my fellow Ravenclaws.

I have never posted about Harry Potter here, which is to ignore a huge part of my literary world. I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione and have loved the books with all of my heart. I went to the midnight releases for the last 3 books. (I was 11 when Order of the Phoenix came out, 13 for Half Blood Prince and 15 for Deathly Hallows) I dressed up to go to the midnight premieres. I dressed up as Mad-Eye Moody three years in a row.

I proudly display a Deathly Hallows decal on the back of my car and on my laptop. I show my love for this series proudly and publicly – there is nothing better than bonding with a stranger over a mutual love. I show my house pride with my Ravenclaw scarf.

Today I thought I would show you some of my Harry Potter collection...

My little book shelf shrine

Books

First, the main event: the books themselves. I would love to get hardcovers for Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets one day, but I just can’t justifying spending money on them now, plus these tatty books hold such a level of sentiment for me, it would be a crime moving them away from my series

Illustrated Harry Potter

This edition is absolutely beautiful. Jim Kay, the illustrator, is so incredibly talented. I read this last year, and it was my first re-read of the Philosopher’s stone in years! I will be buying all of the books when they are released in the illustrated edition

Harry Potter Colouring Book

I got this for Christmas from my boyfriends mum’s partner. I think a little birdie told them I had my eye on it (thanks Nick x). The illustrations inside are detailed and colouring them in is relaxing and satisfying. I might post a few of the ones I’ve done in another post.

Text books

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I loved this book and the notes scribbled in the side, I’ve written a full review and it will be up soon!

Quidditch Through the Ages. A new addition to my collection, and part of my February TBR, I’ll let you know what I think as soon as possible

Other

Dumbledore POP! Vinyl

This is my favourite POP! Vinyl that I own, Dumbledore gives me life.

Harry’s wand

This is none other than the wand of the Boy Who Lived. Necessary for all of my spell casting needs.
 

Key Ring

Hogwart’s crest is on my keyring. I am completely aware than Hufflepuff shouldn’t be in green, I got a messed up one in the mail and I love it more than the normal J

I love muck ups and rejects

Attire and such

Time Turner Necklace

Hermione is such a kick-ass heroine and Ron and Harry would be dead and lost without her. I wish I could be a little more like Hermione and this Necklace at least helps me pretend.

Scarf

I recently got this Ravenclaw scarf which I’m obsessed with. It is light and wearable throughout summer. It has the Ravenclaw crest on it and I love it so much. (I may also get a heavy knit scarf and a beanie for winter hehe)

Socks

I have a pair of Slytherin socks. Slytherin isn’t my house but I love them too, they are ambitious and driven and have a terrible reputation but I have a couple of friends who identify as Slytheirn's and I these socks are crazy comfy.

Phone Case

This was my fantastic phone case for my iphone 5, but I upgraded to a 6 a few months ago so this was passed on to my Harry Potter loving friend.

On my wish list

I know I have quite a few collectables already but there are a few things I admit are still on my wish list...

• The first is this quidditch set from BookDepository. I think I’m going to treat myself to this soon, but it doesn’t come out for ages – I want to see some photos of it from people who have bought it before getting it myself
• The other is the Unofficial Harry PotterCookbook. I want to make pumpkin pasties. I want to make butter beer. I want to make knickerbocker glories and Harry's birthday cake. I need this in my life.

Finally, what inspired me to post this: Alan Rickman. Hearing that he passed away from cancer made me incredibly sad. He was an incredible actor, who’s portrayal of Severus Snape shaped not only my childhood but people all over the world. You will be sorely missed. *Raises wand*

One of my small bookcases for all of your viewing pleasure

Cheap books? Did somebody say cheap books? *looks around frantically* Settle petal.. I did indeed.

I live in Wellington, New Zealand, and there aren’t that many options for buying new books in stores. We have Whitchoulls (kind of like a Barnes and Nobel) and Paperplus. Both of these are super expensive, and a Paperback will generally be sold for $20 NZD and a hardcover would be sold for ~$35 (but can be up to around $50). Yikes. Before you start calculating how much I must have spent on the ~350 books on my shelf; the majority of these were not bought for this price!

Book store sales

If you love bookstores, just like I do (there is nothing like perusing the isles of a book store) but can’t stand the prices – I recommend making a beeline straight for their clearance section. My local bookstores offer deep reductions on books often ~$5 per book. Also keep an eye on closing down sales. Last year a book store in my city closed down *weeps gently* which was bittersweet – one less bookstore in town, but they did have insane closing sales. They wanted to get rid of all of their stock so the day before they shut they had tables of 5 books for $2  

Online

Buying books online is significantly cheaper than buying them in store, and what’s more is so many of them do free shipping!

Amazon

If you live in the US then I would 100% recommend shopping at Amazon. Their prices are pretty much unbeatable. Amazon used to be one of my favourite book places to shop because they used to do free shipping over $120 internationally. I wouldn’t buy books for ages then wait until my wish list was bursting then make a big purchase and get free shipping. Until... *Dun Dun DUUUN* they took this offer away! Now shipping to New Zealand is completely ridiculous from amazon – I’m not paying more for shipping than for the actual books – bring back free shipping amazon!

Book Depository

If you have read any of my posts I am sure you have heard me talk about book depository one way or another. That’s because this is my go to place to buy specific books and new releases. The major upside is they do free shipping all around the world! Yes, I know. Although the books here are slightly more expensive than amazon, the shipping from the UK only takes about a week and I’ve never had an issue. They have a bargain bin here.

Mighty Ape

Recently mighty ape has been a place I’ve bought quite a few books from. Mighty Ape is essentially New Zealand Amazon. I use Mighty Ape for all sorts of things, and so I pay to get free shipping on all my orders (Similar to Amazon Prime). One amazing thing about Mighty Ape is they offer price matching! I have been told they can’t price match certain items before but have had so much success with the price matching before! I bought the Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness the other day for only $20 NZD after they price matched Book Depository.

Second hand books

Op shops

Op shops tend to be a place I avoid – the smell of moth balls isn’t my favourite. Although if you battle through the used clothes and shoes there is often a hidden wall that people forget about: Used books. Often there are so many books that aren’t interesting but last year my local op shop had about 20 new release YA books for $1 each – obviously someone cutting down their personal library but I was practically leaping around the store when I found them – and then waddled home carrying 20 books though town! Op shops tend to sell books for a few dollars a pop.

Library sales

Most local libraries have annual or bi-annual book sales. The Wellington City Library does 2 each year. This is where they get rid of excess books. What’s great is they often have popular books at these sales; when a new bestseller is stocked at the library they will often stock multiple copies to keep up with demand. However when the demand dies down a little the library sells extra copies of this book to make room for more.  At my library the paperbacks usually cost $1 each and Hardcovers $2 each. However the longer the sale goes on, the lower the prices drop. I swung by my library to pick up 3 hard cover books for $1 a week ago.

Let me know your favourite places to buy books!

So many people set themselves reading goals at the begging on the year (I posted about my own reading goals here) but find it hard to follow through. I have a friend, Coco, who is constantly asking me how I read so much and how she can read more.

Make reading a priority 

If you aren’t used to reading, or have made a resolution to read more each day then try to set aside a certain amount of time each day to read. People always complain they don’t have time to read, but it’s just because they are not making reading a priority.

Instead of playing that app on your phone, read.

We all have those moments in the day, 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there were we pull out our phones. Instead of pulling up the latest app (like Clash Royal – which my boyfriend is obsessed with) read a few pages of your book instead. I have the kindle and ibooks apps on my phone and make sure they are loaded with a few books so I can read them when I am waiting for something

Listen to audiobooks

Audiobooks are a great way to read more. I know tons of people who argue this doesn’t count as ‘reading’ but I think it’s a fantastic way to consume stories. But when you don’t have time to read this is perfect, there are so many boring tasks, such as driving or cleaning, that you can use to listen to books. I love physically reading books, but I also love audiobooks.

Make sure you read what you love
If you are finding yourself struggling to read or are forcing your way through a book and just not enjoying the process of reading. Stop. It's probably because that book isn't right for you, and might even push you into a dreaded reading slump. If you find that you love historical fiction - great! read that! If you're drawn towards non-fiction, keep on keeping on and if you love romance novels told from the perspective of cats then you do you. I'm not saying stick to only one genre but reading should be for enjoyment, so make sure you're enjoying it!

Find some reading buddies
Join a bookclub or read a novel with friends. When you have someone to talk about the book during or after it makes the experience much more fun. If you join a book club it might also help you set some deadlines on reading chapters which can be useful for some people. 

Keep on reading *salutes*