MinaLima's New Exhibit Celebrates The Secret Garden & Other Classics

You know those intricate designs in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beast films? Wanted posters, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes labels and school books? They're all created by design duo Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, aka MinaLima. The wizarding world isn't their only forte though, and at their House of MinaLima store and exhibition space you can admire their magical creations alongside animal artwork and beautifully illustrated classic novels. And alongside their brand-new book The Secret Garden, they've launched a stunning new illustrated classics gallery.

Madagascar the Musical at New Wimbledon Theatre [UK tour]

It's been a while since I've regularly posted to my blog – sorry! The last month has been a hectic one doing handover stuff at work and starting an exciting new job at a major well-known tech firm. It's been a blast but man it's been crazy and I've been too exhausted in the evenings for a proper blog catch-up. I'm hoping things will settle down soon again though so you can expect a regular flow of book, theatre and London posts, as well as tons of awesome recs from the Lake District, which I visited earlier this month. But first things first... I got to see the UK tour of Madagascar the Musical last week when it came to London.

Knights of the Rose at the Arts Theatre

Shakespeare and the stage go hand-in-hand. And even King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table don't look out of place in a theatrical setting. But combining these sources with 80s and 90s pop and rock classics from the likes of Bon Jovi, No Doubt, Meat Loaf and The Calling? That's a new one, for sure. Knights of the Rose mixes all these different influences, throwing in some Keats, Burns and Marlowe for good measure, to create a literary and musical melting pot that is a bit silly at times but also incredibly epic through fantastic staging and powerful performances by its cast.

An Authentic Taste of Italy at Venerdi in East London

Pizza, pasta, panna cotta... Italy gets all of the best foods starting with a 'p', apparently, but you don't have to make the trek all the way down to the sunny south to be able to sample some of these delicious dishes for yourself. Most of us will be familiar with the many Italian chain restaurants London has to offer but while they're convenient for a quick bite, they lack an authenticity that can really transport you to a sweltering hot Mediterranean day. Cosy restaurant Venerdi in East London's Hackney brings the essence of real Italian food right onto our doorstep with the deep flavours of fresh home-made pasta, quality buffalo mozzarella and the most scrumptious white pizza steeped in cheese and truffle you'll ever have.

Theatrical by Maggie Harcourt [blog tour]

You only have to look at the name of this blog to know what two of my absolute favourite things in life are books and theatre. So when I heard that Maggie Harcourt, author of the delightfully geeky Unconventional (which was super relatable to this fangirl, let me tell you that), would be publishing a stagey YA novel I realised that we should probably be best friends. Spoiler alert: this has not yet happened. However, I have had the pleasure to transport myself to an entirely new theatrical world through her wonderful new book and oh boy did I love the stageyness of it all. (And Maggie: if you're in the market for a BFF, you know where to find me.)

The King and I at the London Palladium

It's been a fairly light year for high-profile openings and Broadway transfers in London. There are some fringe venues getting great musicals in, like Southwark Playhouse with Bring it On and The Other Palace with the return of its geeky space comedy Eugenius!, but the bigger theatres mostly have some solid long runners in them right now. Which is great for them as it means the shows are clearly doing very well, but for someone who's seen most of what's out by now, new additions always excite me very much. And none more so this year than Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I.