Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Encyclopedia of Me - H

























Harry Potter

(You knew this one was coming.) One of the hardest things to do is explain to somebody how much you love your favorite book. It's almost impossible to accurately and eloquently explain the passionate love you have for it without USING ALL CAPS OR TONS OF EXCLAMATION POINTS AND EMOTICONS OR TYPING GIBBERISH LIKE AKLJSDOGIH!!!!! But seriously, everything about this series is close to perfection (and the only reason why I say "close to perfection" is because I don't believe any book or movie or work of art of any kind can ever be perfect, no matter how amazing). The unique characters, the attention to detail, the backstories of each character (even if you don't learn them until playing Pottermore), and the storytelling just astounds me. If I had to pick one thing that inspired me to become a reader, it would be this series. I first finished the Harry Potter books when I was seven, and I haven't stopped rereading them since. Each time I read it (or listen to the audios by Jim Dale, which are also incredible), I pick out bits of foreshadowing or details I hadn't noticed before. I fall in love with it over and over again and never get tired of reading it. Hogwarts feels like my home and the characters feel like my family. It's the series I go to whenever I want to escape or simply just curl up next to the fire and dive into another adventure with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I think we all that one book or that one series that stays with us forever, no matter the circumstances, and Harry Potter is that series for me.

Hermione Granger

Hermione is the best. She's my favorite character in Harry Potter, and probably my favorite character ever. She has it all: Smarts, wits, loyalty, bravery, sarcasm, friendship, and all around awesomeness. In all the adventures she, Ron, and Harry have, she's usually the one who figures out the mystery. And she knows everything about everything. Harry may have defeated Voldemort in the end, but Hermione certainly helped him along. A lot. She's my fictional hero. Also, I can't think of a better person to portray her than Emma Watson.

Hogwarts

Like I mentioned before, Hogwarts feels like my home. When we went to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios a few years ago, my favorite part was getting to walk through Hogwarts. I'd pictured it so many times while reading the books and seen it on the big screen, but actually getting to go there?! It was awesome. I'm pretty sure I grinned the entire day. How cool would it be to have paintings that talked, staircases that moved, secret passageways behind tapestries or under statues, and a ceiling that looked like the night sky? If I could actually go to school there, I would. I'd be in Ravenclaw, of course, and play as a Chaser for the Quidditch team.

Happiness

This one pretty much goes without saying. :) I'm a happy person. I enjoy being happy. Simple things make me smile (books, chocolate, the theme song to my favorite TV show, sunshine). A day doesn't go by without me laughing at least once. My brother is usually the one cracking the jokes that make me spew water across the table. (Yeah, dinnertime's fun at our house.)

The Hunger Games

This was the first dystopian book I read, and I am so glad I did. I never knew such a genre existed before reading this series. It was one of the longest books I'd read in less than a day. I started it the night I got it and finished it the next morning. Same with Catching Fire and Mockingjay. It's also the book that made my best friend, Kirsten, like reading. My dad's taken me to see all the movies (which are fantastic), and I read The Hunger Games five times in a week before going to see it. That's how excited I was.

The Host

I tried reading Twilight and couldn't get past the Amazon sample, so I didn't think I'd ever read The Host. But then I saw the trailer for the movie, had it recommended to me by Kirsten later that week, and had to pick it up. It was so good. Sure, Stephenie Meyer's writing isn't the best, but she's a great storyteller. I fell in love with her characters right away and couldn't put it down. I read all 620 pages of it in two days. The movie was a good adaptation, but didn't do it nearly enough justice. If you like dystopian books, this one is a great choice.

"The Hunger Games" albums

I love the style of music that's featured on these albums, particularly the first two. "Safe and Sound" is my favorite song because of it. The dark, haunting, and sometimes somewhat creepy songs fit the theme of the movies perfectly. They also make for great inspiration when I'm writing. I've used many songs from the albums on my book soundtracks. It also introduced me to The Civil Wars, one of my favorite bands, after I heard "Kingdom Come."


"Here Comes the Sun"

This is my favorite Beatles song. It's light and happy and fun. This stands out to me as a summer song more than anything else, and I often listen to it while I'm at the beach or reading in the backyard.


Hugh Nicholson

Hugh Nicholson is a minor character in my 2014 NaNoWriMo novel, an MG fantasy book called August Knight and the Sword of Gold. He's an extremely old, very eccentric, narcoleptic wizard. He's adept in all magic and potions and would slay the dragon himself if it weren't for his arthritis. He's also known to fall asleep in the middle of his sentences, wake up, not remember what he was saying, and not even remember your name. He's called August a variety of names because of this, including Alan, Augustus, Augustine, Alex, and Audrey, all within five minutes. He always smells like pickles, too, though no one really knows why.

Homeschooling

I'm so glad we homeschool. If we didn't, I wouldn't have nearly as much time to read and write as I do now. Plus, it's tons of fun. Our schoolwork is mostly playing games and going to lectures and getting together with our friends. We learn all sorts of stuff and have fun with it. (And we can stay up late and sleep in the next day if we feel like it.)

What's on your "h" list?

7 comments:

Dr. Mark said...

So really, you like about three things that start with H and then just piggyback them all. :P

You putting Happiness and "Here Comes the Sun" together makes complete sense, too. And what? No Pharrell? ;)

I'm glad you enjoy the HG movies. I'm looking forward to going to another with you soon!

Boquinha said...

I love this post!!

I love reading about your love of Harry Potter.

I had no idea you'd read THG 5 times in a week!! Wow!

And OMG, Hugh Nicholson sounds AWESOME! What a great character!

I'm glad we homeschool, too. :) Selfishly, I get to spend even more time with you and I love that.

We both wrote about Harry Potter, homeschooling, and happiness. :)

Anonymous said...

My favorite thing about this list is Here Comes the Sun! It's pretty close to the perfect song and how can anyone not acknowledge its greatness?

I made fun of the first Hunger Games book at our book club here in Albuquerque, but I have to admit I've really enjoyed the movies.

You exude happiness!

Anonymous said...

TRYING TO EXPLAIN YOUR FAVORITE BOOK, OH MY GODS YES!! And To Kill a Mockingbird, for me, is what HP is to you. Also, I love Hermoine and I thought this BuzzFeed post is in both measures amazing and funny: http://www.buzzfeed.com/danieldalton/boss-witch

My favorite part of the day whenever I stay in our home has got to be the mealtimes. And I love Safe and Sound, too!

H for me would be: Harper Lee, Haunted and How You Get The Girl (which I'm absolutely sure you don't need the artist's name), The Honey Trees (a duo of musicians), The House of Hades by Rick Riordan (which is my favorite among the series, together with The Mark of Athena, tie), Hotcakes (another name for pancakes) and handwritten notes! <3

Emily said...

It's impossible to describe the love for HP. I have so so so many favourite books and I feel that I can't really narrow it down to one series, but the truth is that when someone asks me what my favourite book is, it's always going to come back to Harry. I will never stop reading them.

Hermione is amazing!! To be honest *all* of the characters are my favourites but she is incredible, it has to be said.

Harry Potter is definitely top of my 'H' list ... what else? How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn, an absolutely stunning Welsh classic that's probably in my top 5 books list; How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, my favourite YA/contemporary-ish book and also likely in my top 5; the Hobbit, of course!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! :)

Siths and Jedis said...

How did I not know you were going to do Harry Potter? Just kidding. I loved the post. I didn't know you liked the song Here Comes the Sun so much.

The Magic Violinist said...

@Dr. Mark

Oh gosh, Pharrell should change the name of his song to "Grumpy." I'd probably like it more if it hadn't played 10,000 times in one week.

I'm a little nervous about the "Insurgent" being different from the book, but Veronica Roth says she's happy with the changes, so that's reassuring. The trailers look great. :)

@Boquinha

Yeah, I was a little excited. :P

Ha ha, thanks! He was my favorite character to write from that book.

Same here. ;)

Go figure!

@Jimmy

I think it's under-appreciated as a Beatles song. It's a great one to listen to during the winter, especially when it's cold and snowy. :P

The movies are fantastic! Jennifer Lawrence is a really good Katniss.

:)

@bookishandawesome

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE. (Hey, maybe you should have a TKAM week for the lead up to the sequel . . . )

I saw that post, too. XD It was brilliant.

I predicted that, (you're right, I don't need her name ;) ), will have to check The Honey Trees out, another one I could've predicted, didn't expect that one (but they're delicious), and yes! Handwritten notes are the best!

@Emily

Yes, yes, and yes! I feel like my top ten favorite books list is always changing, but Harry Potter is and will definitely be #1. :)

She's the heroine all the other heroines are jealous of.

(Were we separated at birth?!)

Ooh, The Hobbit! It's been a while since I've read it, but I did see the movies recently. Have you seen them? They're really good. :)

No problem!

@Siths and Jedis

I was going to say, how did you not know I was going to do Harry Potter. :P

Yup! One of my favorite songs. :)