My Dream Library Collection

As bookworms, we often picture what our dream library will look like. Perhaps it will be hidden by a secret door tucked away from the world. Maybe it will have oak beams, spiral staircases, plush chairs, a crackling fire; and you can bet it will have bookshelves reaching to the ceiling with a rickety ladder you can slide up and down all day. But do you know what I hadn’t ever considered? What books would actually be in that collection. The ones I already own, obviously. But if I had the money to create a truly awe inspiring library, surely I would also have the means to acquire some expensive, truly remarkable antique books as well! So when the auction website Invaluable.com contacted me about doing a post on my dream literary collection I thought it was a brilliant idea! Here’s what I came up with.

A 1st edition collection of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Film Review

It’s the end of an era. *Sniff, sniff.*
I can’t believe that The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will be the last new Middle Earth film I’ll ever see. Sure, I’ll rewatch them (probably numerous times) on DVD, but I’ll never feel that same rush of awe as I did seeing them the first time, nor the nervous anticipation. I felt collected when I first entered the cinema and found my seat, but half an hour in I felt a sudden, overwhelming panic about how NOT READY I was for shizz to go down, and for this to be the final part… and for all the feels about to descend…!
As the film ended and the credits began to roll to the beautiful melancholy song The Last Goodbye by Billy Boyd (mirroring his previous haunting song Edge of Night from Return of the King) my friend and I, as well as the other people in the cinema, all sat in complete silence for a good 3 minutes as if suspended in the moment, awed, with our hearts just a tad broken, not quite ready to let go of the hobbits dwarves and elves that had been our companions and friends for so many years.

Quoting the Quill #43

“ ‘Go back?’ he thought. ‘No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!’ So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all a patter and a pitter.”

– J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)

~ * ~

In case you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a bit of a Tolkien enthusiast. I know, SHOCKER!
I can’t help it, I keep coming across his awesome quotes and I can’t help sharing them with you.  I have a problem.
This one is classic Tolkien though, it mixes 

Mini Film Reviews: Divergent, Catching Fire and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Hello peeps. 🙂 This blog post is wayyyyy overdue, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to write it! Divergent, Catching Fire and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug were all films I was insanely excited to see when they first came out. I counted down the months, weeks and then days until their release and ran into the cinema flailing my arms with the enthusiasm only a true fangirl could muster. Afterwards, I had so many thoughts that I wanted to write about but it never happened because the films were all released during semesters when I was struggling to find blogging time. However, I don’t want to let the films pass by completely without acknowledging their existence because I was SO excited to see them, yet I don’t really feel they warrant individual blogs. So instead (taking inspiration from Emma’s lovely posts) I thought I would write some mini-reviews as a way of summarising my thoughts. 🙂

Quoting the Quill #31

“Some believe that it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I’ve found. I found it is the small things. Every day deeds by ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.”

– The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

~*~

I am feeling in a Middle Earth kind of mood today (one might argue that I am always in a Middle Earth kind of mood) so I have decided to use a quote from The Hobbit film this week. I’m not sure this is

Quoting the Quill #10

The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.

– Alan Bennett

*   *   *

Quoting the Quill is an every other week meme created by me at Blogs-Of-A-Bookaholic. It runs every other Wednesday. Want to find out more or join in the fun? Check out the details here.

*   *   *

Ohhhhh and guys, my friend informed me…
NEWWWWWWWW HOBBBITTTTTTTTTTT TRAILERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Film Review

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! It’s here! It’s here! EVERYBODY CELEBRATE. The Hobbit is finally out in cinemas!!
Ahem. I’m calm, I’m calm.
BUT SERIOUSLY!!! 😀
Sorry.

I have been waiting impatiently for this film… well, pretty much since I first watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy and fell hopelessly in love with it, but I thought it would never happen. Then, when I heard the news that The Hobbit was going to be made I could barely contain my excitement. After, as if fate was somehow in my favour, my dream film suddenly turned into three films! Curse or blessing? I wasn’t sure, but since seeing the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I am almost certain that Peter Jackson made the right decision.

I’m utterly horrified by the idea that some people out there might not know the plot, but just in case…

The Plot
‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…’
Bilbo (Martin Freeman) is a Baggins, and Baggins’ are respectable Hobbits; they never do anything unexpected or go on any adventures. That is, until one fine day Gandalf the wizard (Ian McKellen) shows up with an unusual proposal. To Bilbo’s dismay a party of 13 dwarves ransack his home, getting mud on the carpet, eating everything in his parlour and drinking all his mead. They talk of dragons, stolen treasure and a kingdom lost; Lonely Mountain.
It just so happens that they need a burglar, one agile and small enough to sneak past the dragon Smaug to reclaim their home.
Three guesses who.
Bilbo, Gandalf and the thirteen dwarves must embark on the journey of a lifetime across Middle-earth, but will they ever return?

The Verdict

The Hobbit News: Film to be Split into Three not Two!!!

This is just a quick post, but an important one nonetheless. I have been keeping a close eye on all things Hobbit for some time. So I got extremely excited a couple of days ago when I received a Tweet through my phone.

I held my breath. No! Could it really be?! I followed the link (which you can read here if you wish) but to summarize it in short; Peter Jackson and several others got the chance to watch back a lot of the footage and realized that they potentially had enough material to extend it into three films instead of the expected two fans have been looking forward to. By doing this they might also be able to include extra’s from the Lord of the Rings appendixes padding out our favourite world into even more rich detail. However, they still needed the go ahead from actors, studio’s etc.

Well, today I got this through my phone:

And this statement was released on the film’s Facebook page:

Peter Jackson:
“It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made.

A Quick Update: Reviews, Life, and Release of The Hobbit Trailer!

Hi guys, as some of you may have noticed, there’re been a distinct lack of book reviews on my blog of late, and I feel the need to explain why. I have exams and also two coursework deadlines this January, all of which will go towards my final grades and determine whether I get into University. Stressful stuff! Therefore I have to spend the majority of my time left of December, and also January, with my head down studying. The direct result of this unfortunately, is that I’ve had to restrict my reading habits.