A Good Week in Books (158) - A Good Week in London

So, I was MIA last week…I was on vacation in London! Because I’m a giant Potter nerd, and because I can, I thought I’d share some of my book-tastic vacation with you. If you’d like to see more photos, please leave me a comment (and maybe we can connect via Facebook –there are hundreds of photos on my personal Facebook page).

I sealed the deal for this vacation almost two and a half years ago. Basically, I purchased tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in 2015…I missed the first round of tickets, but got tickets in the second round (this was before any news of the play even coming out in book format). I figured I had 2+ years to save up for a London trip. I’d been to London before (9 years ago) with a theater class. I saw 25 or so plays on that trip, but I didn’t get as much time to play tourist/aka: do the literary/HP things I wanted. This trip was all about playing tourist and doing literary/HP things. I traveled with my boyfriend, who is also a librarian, and we geeked out completely.

We went to the Tower of London, the London Eye, The Warner Brothers Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter, The British Museum, several British bookstores (of course) including Forbidden Planet and Foyles, The West End (including the Palace Theater –where the play happened), the Sherlock Holmes Museum, the British Library, King’s Cross Station, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Harrod’s. Basically, we went to everything on my super organized itinerary. Go us! Touring the Harry Potter Studios was my favorite thing. It was so incredible, I feel like I’m still in a Harry Potter daze. I would go back to London in a heartbeat just to experience that again. Also, the play was probably the best play I’ve ever seen. Some pictures:

Now, I’m exhausted and jet-lagged. But, it was so, so worth it. I didn’t do much reading on this trip. I did read one book (mostly at airports). And I came home with several books (some of which are signed). I also received one for review while I was away (Thank you, Macmillan).

The books:

Meg and Linus by Hanna Nowinski
Rebel of the Sands (signed) by Alwyn Hamilton
Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
The Lies of Locke Lamora (signed) by Scott Lynch
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (wanted a British copy) by J.K. Rowling
The Up Side of Un Requitted by Becky Albertalli
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (the British copy is so pretty and blue!)

Some souvenirs:

How was your week in books?