Reading Slumps aren't the end

5 Ways to Break Out of a Reading Slump

10 Comments

Books are magical. If you’ve hit this page, then you know that they are and I don’t need to preach to the choir. But it can be hard to keep up the book reading habit once you become an adult. When you’re younger there’s more time, but with work taking a huge chunk out of your day.

When I talk about reading in the office, what I hear the most of is “I want to read more, but it’s hard to find the time” or “I don’t have the attention span for reading anymore.” When you’ve lost the habit of reading and don’t know where to start, sorry babe, but you’re in a reading slump.

Reading slumps can feel devastating for people who’ve been avid readers.

Continue reading “5 Ways to Break Out of a Reading Slump” »

The Ghosts of Old Finch Road

1 Comment

If you were ever to run into a ghost, which story would you tell them? Would you give them a ghost story? Today’s prompt is by Camilla @ Reader in the Attic and asks us to tell a local urban legend.

Everywhere has its own urban legends and stories, but when I was trying to think of what would count as a Toronto urban legend, I came up short. Casa Loma should have had something creepy happen in it. It’s begging for a ghost, but nothing. Just a guy who built a house. For books there’s always Ghosts of the Bay and all the shipwrecks that happen out on Georgian Bay, but I don’t know if that counts as local. It’s more than a couple hours drive from me.

So instead, I’m going to tell you the story of the Ghost of Old Finch Bridge.

Continue reading “The Ghosts of Old Finch Road” »

Facing Death: My Top 5 Nonfiction Books About Death

Leave a comment

Death is a part of life. There’s no escaping it and while some people dread death and others embrace it, we’re fascinated by it. For example, think of the last movie you saw without a death in it. Even Disney movies kill off their villains most of the time.

So lately, I’ve been reading a lot about death. I was always fascinated by the True Crime side of things, but never really thought about what it would be like on the other side. Books about death or facing death can take on all sorts of feelings. Usually they fall into two camp: the serious and the irreverent.

For obvious reasons, I find the irreverent more fun. While they can still be terrifying and unnerving, they take the edge off a bit. I’m not including adventure nonfiction in this list, but if you’re looking for those, you can find them here.

So, which books should you look at to learn more about death? Continue reading “Facing Death: My Top 5 Nonfiction Books About Death” »

Battle Royale: The Book that Launched a Thousand Copies

Leave a comment
Battle Royale: The Book that Launched a Thousand CopiesBattle Royale by Koushun Takami, Yuji Oniki

Buy it on Amazon, Buy it on Indigo
five-stars

Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language.

I don’t really need to tell anyone what a Battle Royale is. Thanks to Fortnite and before that, the Hunger Games, everyone knows what it is. People are dropped into a death map. They need to kill each other. The last person standing wins.

Simple, right?

Only kind of. Battle Royale is a Japanese novel from the nineties written by Koushun Takami. It was groundbreaking in its time not just for the writing, but the shock factor of it. The book was criticized by some for its violence. Where the Hunger Games feels futuristic enough to give us some distance, Battle Royale doesn’t allow it. This isn’t meant to be a comfortable topic that’s made into PG-13 movies. Even in movie form, Battle Royale doesn’t shy away from its horror.

Each year, a single class participates in a Battle Royale. It’s a shock tactic to control the children who are growing too wild for their parents. The class is picked from a lottery and there’s no guarantee that any child will be safe as they grow up. Therefore, everyone’s at risk.

The kids we follow this year? They’re in 9th grade. To put that into perspective, they would be around 12 to 13 years old when they were brought to the island.

Continue reading “Battle Royale: The Book that Launched a Thousand Copies” »

The Top 6 Horror Movies Adapted from Books

1 Comment

I don’t think I need to explain to anyone who’s reading this that movies can suck at adapting books. Sometimes the movie can add to a story like the first Bourne Identity movie. It can bring a world to life like it did in the Lord of the Rings. But other times, it can feel like it’s completely trashing the source material. (Watch out, Ella Enchanted. I’m coming for you.) As much as I want to bash some terrible Fantasy movies, it’s October, so I want to stick with the season. There are plenty of horror movies based on books to choose from.

So, when it comes to Horror movies, how do they stack up?

Don’t get me wrong, there are some terrible horror adaptations out there. I’ll be making a post about those later in the month. For now though, I’d like to focus on the positives and talk about the movies that were fantastic.

These are in no particular order, but hopefully they inspire you to check out some different movies.

Continue reading “The Top 6 Horror Movies Adapted from Books” »

Michael Fassbender as Macbeth

My Favorite Murder-er: Macbeth

Leave a comment

You can’t imagine how badly I wish that I could have a guitar intro for this blog. My Favourite Murder is a popular True Crime podcast that discusses a new murder every week. The two hosts, Karen and Georgia, play off each other in a way that makes it seem like you’re sitting with two friends. So here is My Favourite Murder-er, a fictional take on the podcast I love. And this week? I’m here to make a case for Macbeth.

Continue reading “My Favorite Murder-er: Macbeth” »

The Scariest Ghost Story I’ve Ever Read

2 Comments

I love a good ghost story. In fact, I love most ghost stories. There’s something so satisfying about that chill running down your spine. I go back and forth on whether or not I actually believe in ghosts, but there’s no doubt I love the stories.

Most ghost stories I’ve read are enough to give a bit of a chill. There’s the sound of something in an attic, or a house which is creepy, but… I can’t relate to. I, like most people my age who are living in a city, live in an apartment. That means there’s not that much room for hauntings at all. It’s hard to be a scary ghost when I can see everything at all times.

Continue reading “The Scariest Ghost Story I’ve Ever Read” »

wickedest of all witches

Witch, please! My Top 5 Books about Witches

4 Comments

Witches are the monsters that are forgotten about when we talk about evil. Everyone remembers vampires, werewolves, and the like, but witches? They’re not considered to be as frightening. Maybe it’s because a witch isn’t a demon, they’re a human. They can be reasoned with more readily and understood. They’re not the malevolent evil of a vampire, or the brutal violence of a werewolf.

This prompt was given by Kaleena from Reader Voracious for Blogoween. Please check out her blog.

So in no particular order, here we go!

Continue reading “Witch, please! My Top 5 Books about Witches” »

Trick or Treat! Halloween in Fictional Worlds

Leave a comment

Being able to trick or treat in fictional worlds is something I would never have thought of. I’m at the age where I should be the one escorting children around while they trick or treat. Rather than getting candy, I should be giving it out. Still, I love the idea of being able to step into a fictional world to get candy.

This prompt was created by Anthony at Keep Reading Forward and I’m going to add one rule to it. We’re going to assume that all of these worlds have a Halloween and understand Trick or Treating. Sound fair?

Let’s go!

Continue reading “Trick or Treat! Halloween in Fictional Worlds” »