When you can’t go to Hogwarts, become Hogwarts.
I’m a big fan of relaxing background noise for sleeping, reading, sometimes for working. And once lockdown started, I started playing this kind of stuff more and more, until eventually a YouTube recommendation led me to this: Hogwarts ASMR ambiance.
Creator ASMR Rooms has done her due diligence in recreating some of the most well-loved locales from the book version of the Potterverse, both visually and aurally— complete with fire-crackling, rain-pattering, quill-scratching goodness, and occasional, subtle onscreen action.
The artwork itself also reminds me of the style you’d see on Harry Potter merch in the pre-Warner Brothers days, or illustrations by the US books’ illustrator Mary Grandpré.
These days, I’m working from home in the Ravenclaw common room. Why not?
If you like the library video above, take your pick from the playlist of 50+ other Potter-inspired ambiance videos. Some of my favorites:
- Firenze’s Divination classroom (Woodland sounds, fire crackling)
- Forbidden Forest at night (Woodland sounds, rain)
- Slytherin dormitory (Calming underwater sounds, and a giant squid)
- Hogwarts Express train car (Soothing, monotonous train sounds)
- Ravenclaw common room (Fire crackling, light wind sounds)
People don’t always want to be with people. It gets tiring.
—Emma Donoghue, Room
Why East of Eden has been sitting unread on my shelf for years
The Span of Life
by Robert Frost
The old dog barks backwards without getting up.
I can remember when he was a pup.
Pretty books are pretty
Whatcha readin’?
I want to review more books on this blog, but I’ve been dreadfully behind on my reading goal for 2020—for a lot of reasons, like being busy with work, moving to a new apartment, a global pandemic, among other things—so now I’m playing catch-up. And in lieu of a review right now, here’s what I’m currently reading (or reading soon).
(Not pictured: A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin. I’ve been reading it for 84 years. Don’t @ me.)
Look at this cute little stack.
All from the library except the top one. And (unintentionally) all different genres! Sci-fi, horror, contemporary fiction (kind of an umbrella term but, more specifically, like, non-genre bestseller fiction), memoir, and thriller/mystery.
- A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green: I spontaneously grabbed this sci-fi novel in a local bookstore because I’m a fan of Green’s brother author John Green’s novels—not knowing it was the second book in a duology. Whoops. So, now that I’ve caught up and read book #1 (An Absolutely Remarkable Thing), I’m finally digging into this one.
- Malorie by Josh Malerman: The sequel to Bird Box, which I read last summer after seeing the Sandra Bullock Netflix movie and learning that it was also a horror novel! I’m excited for this one; only a few pages in and shit is already going down.
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng: I know only two things about this novel that lead me to picking it up at the library: 1) It’s gotten excellent reviews, 2) There’s a miniseries with Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington I want to watch (that’s also gotten great reviews) but I’d rather read it first.
- Over the Top by Jonathan van Ness: I haven’t read a memoir yet this year, and normally it’s one of my top genres. JVN is adorable. I love his work on Queer Eye and his commendable work on his own Instagram stories documenting his four cats eating breakfast every morning. If I’m being honest, that’s what pushed me to finally grab this one. *LOLs in cat lady*
- Someone We Know by Shari Lapena: I’m a sucker for a good mystery and/or thriller, and I’ve enjoyed the other novels by Lapena I’ve read (A Stranger in the House and The Couple Next Door). Thinking I’ll probably crack this open after Malorie.
What are you reading?
That Book Broad 