Saturday, July 26, 2014

In Which My Inner Harry Potter Fangirl Emerges

I don't usually do book haul posts mainly because I have a love-hate relationship with the acquisition of new books. I'm always excited for a new book (or two, or three, or well, you get the idea...), but my TBR pile is pretty out of control so I can't help also feeling a bit guilty when I add to it. HOWEVER, I am unabashedly excited for what the UPS man delivered to our house yesterday (in a massively heavy box, by the way):

Squeeee!!!!

Over the years, I've had a rocky relationship with the Harry Potter movies. When the first movie first came to theaters, I refused to watch it because I knew no film representation could ever come close to the magic I felt reading (and re-reading...) the books. I finally caved when a high school friend invited me to her birthday celebration which was dinner and a showing of, you guessed it, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Well, I wasn't so vehemently opposed that I would blow off a friend for her birthday, so off to see the movie I went. I had to admit the movie was good even though nothing will ever replace the novels in this bookish heart of mine.

As we ran out of new books in the series, there were still movies to be released, so the movies were something Harry Potter-related to get excited about. My husband and I saw several of them at midnight showings with friends and we always had complaints about the adaptations, but we've (mostly) learned to enjoy the movies separate from the books. My husband is still a bigger fan than I am -- he wore out his original copies of #1 and #2 and they are the only movies he has purchased duplicates of in both DVD and Blu-Ray.

I tease my husband quite a bit for being addicted to Twitter, but his habit came in handy last week when he spotted a tweet from MuggleNet alerting fans to an Amazon Lightning Deal on the Collector's Edition Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey -- List Price $1000, Amazon Price $600, Lightning Deal Price $129.99!!

Neither of us could resist that kind of a deal on a Harry Potter collector's set even if the main focus is the movies rather than the books. It is now proudly displayed in what has affectionately been dubbed our *Library Room* along with all our other HP goodies including our Collector's Edition Tales of Beedle the Bard and our box-set of the gorgeous new paperback editions.

The set itself is gorgeous and includes clothbound and (faux?) leatherbound copies of:


Movie Magic: Practical Props and Exciting Effects

A Guide to the Graphic Arts Department: Posters, Prints, and Publications from the Harry Potter Films 


Ten Years Later: Life on Set with the Harry Potter Cast and Crew 


The Paintings of Hogwarts: Masterpieces from the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Sets 

Harry Potter: Page to Screen

Wizard Wear and Muggle Attire: Costuming the World of Harry Potter 

The Creature Shop Compendium: Flora and Fauna from the Harry Potter Films 

Environments Envisioned: Building Fantastic Sets and Scouting Dramatic Locations 

There is also a replica of The Monster Book of Monsters film prop and a set of prints we'd really like to frame if we can find a place to hang them. I've only peeked inside the new books, but I am so excited to dive in and read them all. I've been doing quite a bit of reading poolside this summer though and these beauties will NOT be leaving our house or going anywhere near water.

A side effect of the excitement over this new set is that I am now really itching for a re-read of the whole series. Julie over at Smiling Shelves recently did a marathon re-read which already had me thinking about it, so I just might have to carve out some time for it soon :)

17 comments:

  1. 129.99 is a good price for all that!! So beautiful, I want them all!! Enjoy your newly acquired lovelies.

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    1. While it still seems like a lot of money in one go, it really is an incredible value for all these books (which are HUGE by the way!) The Page to Screen book itself retails for $75, so we were very lucky to be able to add this to our collection without breaking the budget :)

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  2. I still can't believe the amazing deal you got! I am fangirling so hard core right now over these books. I can't wait to read your reviews of them, and I love the look of the set, and I just love it. Did I mention that I love it?

    I too was hesitant about the movies, but alas, I love them and re-watch them all the time. I too always just try to not get upset when the movie is different and keep them separate from each other. Speaking of which...I could use a Harry Potter re-read. I haven't done one in forever. I need more time!

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    1. I know, right?! I almost feel bad reviewing them because I know the regular price is so ridiculously high, but I guess it can't hurt in case there ever is a great deal on them again :)

      It does look gorgeous in person -- the Amazon photo definitely doesn't do it justice -- and it's way bigger (and heavier!) than I ever thought it would be. I now understand why the Page to Screen book alone has a list price of $75 -- it's massive!

      And yes, we all need more time so we can read and re-read all the books :)

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  3. No I definitely could not! I never spend that much money on books all at once, but this most definitely needed to be an exception :)

    And is really is great to have that in common -- he's an on-again-off-again reader, but there are quite a few books/series we both like so it is nice to be able to talk about them together -- though most of the time our discussions revolve around how quickly/easily he figured things out and how he can't believe I didn't see it coming, LOL. Anyway it's always nice to enjoy movies with our guys too :)

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  4. I am crazy jealous. The Monster Book of Monsters looks epic! And now my desire to do a re-read has been kindled anew...

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    1. The Monster Book of Monsters is very cool, I must admit! I have quite a few big reading *projects* I would really like to start and re-reading HP is one of them -- I'm having trouble deciding though & will be posting about it later this week :)

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  5. How lovely! Sometimes Twitter comes in handy!

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  6. Cooool! What a gorgeous set!

    I do a big reread of Harry Potter approximately once a year or every two years. I can't be without them much longer than that. My heart is made out of those books.

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    1. I was trying to think how long it's been for me and I think it's been 5 years -- I'm definitely overdue!

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  7. Wow! Lucky you! I wish I'd seen the deal -- I would not have been able to resist. Enjoy!

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    1. It was like candy for this book nerd for sure! Never would have seen it if not for the Twitter-addicted spouse, lol

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  8. How cool! Congrats on the great deal :)

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  9. OMG!!! No way! Those are soo cool. Lucky Girl! I would have to post about them too. OMG!

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    1. I was pretty darn excited -- as you can tell!

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I'd love to hear what you think :)