Halloween Book Tag- October 31st

🎃 Tag Tuesday- October 31st: Halloween Book Tag 🎃

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

The original tag from Naomi TheBookLover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfDX4R6n3pc&feature=youtu.be

1. Carving pumpkins- what book would you carve up and light on fire?
🍁 I really cannot say that I would destroy a book. I would never want to, but one of my least favorite books is The Awakening by Kate Chopin. So I guess I'll pick that one for a least favorite. I would never light it on fire though. That is one of the worst things to me.

2. Trick or treat- what character is a treat, what character is a trick? 
🍁 Treat- Mother Goose from The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer. She is one of my absolute favorite characters. She is a treat to read about and would be a character that I wish I could know. It would be a lot of fun spending time around her. She's sarcastic and witty.
🍁 Trick- Peeves from the Harry Potter series. He is a major trickster and is a lot of fun to read about.

3. Candy corn- what book is always sweet?
🍁 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. This book is just a treat to read and is just adorable.

4. Ghosts- what character would you love to visit you as a ghost?
🍁 I'm not picking anyone that is dead because I don't want to spoil anything. I'd pick Hades from Disney's Hercules or Hades from all of Greek Mythology. Hades is a Greek God so he can't die but I don't care. He's my pick. I love how sarcastic he is and I think he would be so much fun to spend time with. He just better behave himself.

5. Dressing up in costume- what character would you want to be for a day?
🍁 Alice from Alice in Wonderland. It would be so fun just to spend some time in Wonderland.
Also, Hermione because it would be great to spend a day at Hogwarts. Yep. I'm doing it.

6. Wizards and witches- what is your favorite Harry Potter moment?
🍁 Can I say all of them? Okay, being serious my favorite Harry Potter moment is when the Weasleys get caught in the Dursley's stove in The Goblet of Fire. It's hilarious.

7. Blood and gore- what book was so creepy that you had to take a break from it for a while?
🍁 The Insanity series by Cameron Jace is creepy, especially the first couple of books. I never had to take a break from them, but they definitely creep me out. The Wonderland characters have been twisted into criminals and do horrendous things. It is one of my all time favorite series. A great retelling series of Alice in Wonderland. I completely recommend them.

Friday Reviews Week 8

🍁 Friday Reviews Week 8: 🍁

October 21st- 27th, 2017

☠️ Book 1: Tropic of Kansas by Christopher Brown 💀

Narrated by Josh Bloomberg and Bahni Turpin 

Listened to October 16th -22nd

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Going into this book I was not sure of what I was going to think about it. I am not a major fan of dystopian books. I have read two dystopian series, The Hunger Games and the Divergent series. Also, I have read The Giver. Really, I lost interest in dystopian books while reading the Divergent series. Tropic of Kansas looked interesting though and I wanted to do a review on it because I thought the description was intriguing.

We follow along two characters mainly throughout the book, Sig and his foster sister Tania. In this book, the United States does not exist anymore, at least as it now. It's split into territories that are fighting back and forth. At the center of this is the wasteland which the citizen's call "the Tropic of Kansas."

Sig is a fugitive orphan who is trying to survive out in the wasteland. He causes a lot of mischief as he traverses the territories trying to get to New Orleans. Tania, his foster sister, who used to watch over him when he was very young, is sent out to get him for the government. If she does, they tell her that they will let her trouble-causing mother out of prison. As she goes searching for him, we learn about their past and what has happened to the country.

Overall, I thought that this had an interesting premise. The narration for this audiobook was great with the two different narrators. The beginning of the book was not the best, but it got better as it continued. I would recommend this to readers that enjoy dystopian books. You might just enjoy this book.

*I was given this audiobook for an honest review.*

🎃 Book 2: Macbeth by William Shakespeare 👻

Read October 20th- 23rd

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This is my favorite of Shakespeare's plays and every time I read it again it brings back so many great memories. I first read this play when I was in eighth grade. We performed the Double Double scene in class on Halloween exactly ten years ago. This is one of my favorite pieces from any piece of literature let alone play. Macbeth is a play that I know that I will be able to go back to again and again and still enjoy it. 

🍂 The Plot 🍂

We begin the play with Macbeth and Banquo going to three witches after defeating the invading armies. The witches prophecize that Macbeth will become king of the Danes but also that Banquo's sons will be future kings. This is what starts all of the conflicts in the play. 

Macbeth tells his wife of this prophecy and she is the one to come up with the plan that Macbeth has to kill King Duncan. After the murder of the king, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are driven mad with guilt. 

🍂 The Characters 🍂
Macbeth: Macbeth struggles with what the witches (the weird sisters) have told him throughout the play and does not want to complete the crimes originally. It is with the insistence of his wife that he finally decides to complete many of the deeds in this play. 

Lady Macbeth: Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is manipulative, calculating, vicious,  and altogether a wicked seeming woman. She is the one to push Macbeth multiple times and even does some of the actions for him when he cannot even stomach them himself (I won't say what so I don't spoil the plot). Eventually, though we see a switch in her character. Once Macbeth takes on the role being the vicious murderer and becomes cold himself, she fully escapes into madness. This is where the famous "Out, damned spot" line comes from. She is a very interesting character to watch throughout the play and is definitely the most intriguing other than the witches. This is because of her drive and also some of the lines that she says. To me, she is one of the best Shakespeare female characters. 

The Three Witches (Hags/ The Weird Sisters) and Hecate: The witches are my favorite characters from any of Shakespeare's plays, besides the multiple fools/clown characters. They are some of the driving force behind this play. Macbeth first learns about becoming king from them and if he did not he would have most likely never become one. Their parts throughout the entire play are enjoyable to read/ watch/ or listen to. Also, it's kind of funny to see how they react to seeing Macbeth's downfall. They totally enjoy it and make it much worse for him later on in the play. The plays on wording that Shakespeare uses in this play, especially with the witches, is some of the best that I have ever read. 

🍂 Overall Thoughts 🍂

Again I would like to say, that I love this play. It's my favorite of Shakespeare's plays for a reason. For those interested in finding a Shakespeare play to read, I would recommend this one. I believe that you will find it interesting. 

🍂 Favorite Quotes 🍂

~ALL.              Double, double, toil and trouble, 

                         Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. 

2. WITCH.       Fillet of a fenny snake,

                         In the cauldron boil and bake;

                         Eye of newt, and toe of frog, 

                         Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

                         Adder's fork, and blindworm's sting, 

                         Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing-

                         For a charm of pow'rful trouble

                         Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

ALL.                Double, double, toil and trouble, 

                         Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

3. WITCH.       Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

                         Witch's mummy, maw and gulf...

ALL.                 Double, double, toil and trouble,

                          Fire, burn and caulron bubble.

2. WITCH.       Cool it with a baboon's blood, 

                         Then the charm is firm and good. ...

                         Something wicked this way comes. (4. 1. 1-45)

~ MACBETH. The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

                         Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player 

                         That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

                         And then is heard no more. It is a tale

                         Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 

                         Signifying nothing. (5. 5. 23-28)

🦇 Book 3: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett 🕸️

Read October 23rd- 25th

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The fifth book from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and the third book in the subseries: Rincewind/ Wizards/ Unseen University. If you are new to this series or want a refresher here is a link to all my posts, Terry Pratchett's Discworld. This book is part of the series and also the subseries, but really can be read as a standalone.

🍂 A Short Synopsis 🍂
Sourcery is about a wizard who had seven sons and then he had an eighth son-  a Sourcerer. On the Discworld, wizards are not supposed to have an eighth son, but the dying wizard at the beginning of the novel does not really care. He's actually quite evil.

" 'What is he?' (Ipslore, the wizard says this). 
THE EIGHTH SON OF AN EIGHTH SON OF AN EIGHTH SON, said Death, unhelpfully. "- Terry Pratchett's Sourcery 
- To explain this quote a little better if a person has an eighth son who was the eighth son, their son is then a wizard. Then if a wizard has an eight son, they get a sourcerer (which is not a good thing at all).

We then jump ahead eight years and are in the Unseen University where we follow along Rincewind (the most inept wizard on the Discworld) and many of the other wizards. The Sourcerer comes to the Unseen University with his staff and causes great trouble. The child is only eight years old and is easily the most powerful being, but he is much more than he seems. Throughout the story, we see his scenes, Rincewind and his companions, and other forces in the Discworld.

🍂 Rincewind 🍂
The book focuses mainly on Rincewind as our hero. He's the most unlikely of heroes, but that also as a wizard. This really makes his journey throughout this book even better just seeing how foolish he can be. This is the third book I have read of his subseries and I just cannot get enough of him.
 As I have mentioned above, Rincewind is inept. It is described a lot throughout the book on how horrible he really is (in extensive detail). He may just surprise us all though in the end.

"Examine Rincewind, as he peers around the sullen shelves. There are eight levels of wizardry on the Disc; after sixteen years Rincewind has failed to achieve even level one. In fact it is the considered opinion of some of his tutors that he is incapable even of achieving level zero, which most normal people are born at," Terry Pratchett's Sourcery. 

🍂 Other Important Aspects 🍂
There are many other characters that we follow along with other than Rincewind. Many of the wizards at the Unseen University are focused on throughout. They are blindly following along with the Sourcerer and we see a different side of them. Each feels very differently about the way to use magic. It's very obvious why they shouldn't rule anything, ever.

Then we come to The Luggage. The Luggage is a character that makes appearances in at least every Rincewind book so far. The Luggage is an aggressive suitcase that was given to Rincewind by a tourist. It eats people, falls in love (or at least develops a crush), and follows it's master across the Discworld.

This little fellow is The Luggage. Doesn't it look friendly? 

 One other character that really stood out to me is the Librarian, who has been in basically all of the books so far. The Librarian at Unseen University was turned into an orange orangutan in The Light Fantastic (Discworld Book 2) when a spell blasted the library. He speaks in a language of ooks and eeks, that most people understand. The reason he kept his job as the librarian after the spell was because of how good he is at it. He takes great care of the library. I really loved his storyline in this book and how comical and understandable Terry Pratchett makes this character.

Oh, and make sure you don't call him a monkey. He hates that.

🍂 Overall Thoughts 🍂

Again, I would like to say how much Terry Pratchett amazes me as an author. This man was a genius with his descriptions and just writing in general. The little puns and wordplay were a joy to read yet again. Reading his books always makes me a little sad inside when I think about his untimely death. This man was a genius wordsmith. 

The only reason I dropped this down a star was because of how it sometimes gets bogged down in the descriptions. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves a great fantasy book. You could go into the series at this book or at any of them. 

👻 Book 4: King Lear by William Shakespeare 🎃

Read October 27th
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This was the first time that I have read this play and overall I enjoyed it. It took me quite a while to actually get into it. I read and also listened to an incredible production of the play. It did not become a favorite for me, but it was enjoyable.

The play centers around a king of England, King Lear and his journey into insanity. Lear decides in the beginning that he wants to give his kingdom to each of his daughters because he is getting old. He decides that he will give them each a share, leaving the largest for the daughter who convinces him that she loves him most. His two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, who are foolish and deceitful, flatter him with their devotion. They are very insincere though while doing it. His youngest daughter, Cordelia, speaks truthfully and tells him that she does not want to just state her love of him for his kingdom. This enrages Lear and he disowns her and drives her from the kingdom.

He drives himself into madness with his treacherous oldest daughters helping along the way.

At first, I really could not stand any of the characters in this play besides Cordelia. The rest were just so awful to each other. Every character seems to be scheming against one another. Then there's King Lear, who is completely obvious to any of this going on around him. Over the course of the play, my early perception of Lear changes. By the end of the play, I really felt sorry for him.

This was different for me than any of Shakespeare's other plays. I have never found a tragic hero in any of his plays change so much in my view of them by the end of the play. It was what really made me like the play. I would recommend it. The characters can be quite annoying, especially Goneril and Regan, they are awful. The third-fifth acts of the play make up for this though.

The Author Scenario Tag

🍁 Tag Tuesday: The Author Scenario Tag 🍁

October 24th, 2017

The original tag was created by Kay from BooksKay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTKmIoLTbA&feature=youtu.be

Questions:

1.) Which author do you go to when you feel like rereading a book?
     🍂  Audrey Niffenegger with The Time Traveler's Wife- This book is my favorite of all time and it is one of the books I have read the most over the years. I have always loved the composition of it but the best part is the story. Henry and Claire are two of my favorite characters of all time. I love seeing them throughout the years of their lives.

2.) Which author do you make sure you get every new release from immediately?
     🍂 Chris Colfer- I have preordered every one of his books ever since he first released them, which ties in with the next question.

3.) Which author have you been there for since their first release and are planning on sticking around with for many releases to come?
     🍂 Chris Colfer- he started writing books in 2012. I will get any book that Chris writes. He is one of my favorite authors.

4.) Which author did you not like the first book you read from them but are prepared to give another book by them a chance?
     🍂 Ernest Hemingway- I have read two of his books for classes The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms. Ernest Hemingway has always interested me as a person, especially the events of the Lost Generation. I want to try some more of his books and hope that I will find one that I like.

5.) Which author who has stopped writing, do you want to come out with more books?
      🍂 At the moment I really cannot think of any authors that have stopped writing that I read from.

6.) Which author do you wish you began reading from sooner?
      🍂 Rick Riordan- This was actually the first year I have read any of his books. Greek Mythology is one of my favorite topics in literature and I know I should have read these before I did. I loved the Percy Jackson series and cannot wait to continue on with his other series.

7.) Which author was your favorite as a young reader?

      🍂 J. K. Rowling- The Harry Potter series is my favorite series of all time.

      🍂 Roald Dahl- I love Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

      🍂 C. S. Lewis- The Chronicles of Narnia was one of the first series I actually read. I would like to pick up more of C.S. Lewis's books sometime in the future.

      🍂 Dr. Seuss- My favorites are Green Eggs and Ham, The Grinch that Stole Christmas, Oh the Places You Will Go, and Horray for Diffendoofer Day (which was created by Dr. Seuss but continued by Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith)

Friday Reviews Week 7

🍂 Friday Reviews Week 7: 

October 14th- 20th, 2017 🍂

This has been the week of graphic novels. I have started other books but here are the ones that I finished. 

🍁 Book 1: Star Wars- Tag & Bink Were Here 🍁

by Kevin Rubio and Lucas Marrangon

Read October 16th, 2017

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A parody of the first six Star Wars movies. We follow along Tag and Bink as they traverse the galaxy. It starts with them minding their own business on Princess Leia's ship until the ship gets boarded by Darth Vader and the stormtroopers. Instead of dying they choose to borrow the armor of a pair of dead stormtroopers and their adventures really begin.

This book chronicles their adventures as we see many of the scenes from the Star Wars movies 4-6 and then 1-3. I enjoyed how this book basically makes Tag and Bink the reason why many of the events happen. For instance, Anakin's horrible love dialogue in Attack of the Clones, that's their fault.

This bind-up is a humorous take on the Star Wars movies that I enjoyed. I have heard of Tag and Bink previously and I was glad to have the chance to read their stories. 

🍁 Book 2: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales 🍁
by Joss Whedon, Amber Benson, Jane Espenson,
Sam Loeb, Doug Petrie, etc.

Read October 18th-19th, 2017
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I went into this volume expecting it to have more tales about Buffy and her gang. There were a couple but most were on other slayers from the past and also vampires. Many of the tales in this book were interesting and each had their own specific art style. Some of the art styles were great and then others were not as great for me.

My favorite tales from this bind-up are

"Numb"- which dealt with some of Angel's struggles as a vampire with a soul.

"Spot the Vampire"- this shows an image and then shows each person and you are meant to pick out who the vampire is. It was cute with the rhymes which made it feel like a Dr. Seuss story. Also, the illustrations were beautiful.

Tales of the Slayers: "Broken Bottle of Djinn"- This was a story set in Buffy's time period and had very cute illustrations. It's just a classic Buffy style mission. Buffy is trying to live through a normal day in high school, in this case, a Chem lab, and then she has to save the day from a demon attacking the school. It's cute short read that I loved.


I did like some of the other stories but they were not as good as the ones that I mentioned above. I did like that we got to learn about many of the previous slayers back from the first slayer. Altogether this is a good collection of short graphic stories set in the Buffy universe.

🍁 Book 3: Lumberjanes Volume 1: 🍁
Beware the Kitten Holy

Issues 1-4

by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, 

Grace Ellis, and Brooke A. Allen

Read October 19-20th, 2017

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Lumberjanes is about a group of five girls that go to Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for hard-core lady-types. This camp is not what it seems though. In this first volume, we see yetis, three-eyed foxes, talking statues, secret caves, and anagrams that the girls have to figure out. Our main characters are young teen girls, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley, who share a cabin together. These four issues chronicle the adventures of the girls as they try to enjoy camp together but also explore what is going on around them.

This graphic novel deals with a lot of supernatural creatures that the girls keep witnessing. The mystery that keeps expanding as the issues continue is intriguing to read about. The girls make a point of saying that the camp is more than they expected. I really love how the girls have to use what they have learned to get out of their troubles. Their friendship is the best part of this series and how they actually work together. It will be great to see how their friendship evolves more over the course of the series. My favorite issue so far has been issue three.

Issue 1: 📚📚📚📚

Issue 2: 📚📚📚📚

Issue 3: 📚📚📚📚📚

Issue 4: 📚📚📚📚

I will be continuing on with the series and I cannot wait to see what will happen next. 

Books Featuring Faeries/ Top 5 Wednesday

🎃 Books Featuring (Faeries/ Fae)/ Top 5 Wednesday 🍁

This week we were meant to pick one type of paranormal creature to talk about. For this week, I picked fae because I knew that I would have more books to talk about then the other creatures. One thing I have always liked about faeries/fairies/ fae, is the fact that they can be depicted in so many different ways. There is not one set in stone depiction of them.

Top 5 Wednesday is a group created by Lainey of Ginger Reads Lainey on Booktube. It is now hosted by Sam of Thoughts on Tomes on Booktube. Here is a link to the group on Goodreads if you are interested in joining.

5. Stardust by Neil Gaiman: One of the lands in Stardust is actually called Faerie and the citizens that reside there are Faeries. I will say that both the book and movie are amazing but are different from each other in tone (the movie is my favorite movie of all time). This is one example of the term "Faerie" meaning many sorts of people and not just one set type of creature. It is an adult faerie tale that is filled to the brim with magic.

4. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine: There are multiple fairies in this book. Lucinda is the fairy that actually puts the curse on Ella to make her obedient at birth. She's dim-witted and believes that this would be a blessing and everyone else knows that this is not true. Her character is an important character that helps add great aspects to this book. Mandy, their cook is also a fairy but is not very good at casting spells. It's interesting to see the different types of fairies and just learn more about the world of Kyyria.

I'll have to read this again soon, it's been a long time since I picked it up.

3. Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare: There are many fairies in this book, but I'll focus on my favorite, Puck. Puck is an example of a very mischievous fairy who is always pulling pranks on others around him. He is the closest that the play will come to a protagonist and is the reason why many of the actions take place. His character is one of my favorites from any of Shakespeare's plays.

2. The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi: In this series, the Fey are magical beings that live in the Invisible World. Faerie is also the name of that world. They use magic to hide themselves from humans and the humans that have the Sight can see through this magic. The intricate world that the authors created is one of my favorites.

Here are some of the types of Faerie mention in the book.
Banshees, Brownies, Dwarves, Elves, Gargoyles, Dragons, Hobgoblins, Sprites, Griffins, etc.

1. Wings series by Aprilynne Pike: This is one of my favorite series from high school. The faeries that exist in this world are very intriguing and different than I have seen in other books. Laurel, the main character in the novels has spent most of her life at home being home-schooled but during her tenth grade year she starts at high school. Sometime in the early fall, she starts to grow what look like flower petals out of her back and is worried about what this could be. These petals almost look like wings. The world of the faeries in this book is different than any other that I have seen. One aspect I really enjoy are the different types of faeries (spring, summer, fall, and winter) and learning about their cultures throughout the books.
This series may not be for everybody and I know that it can be strange at times. I really have always loved how different and strange it was. (I have yet to read the new fifth book in the series. I loved the fourth book and thought it was a good ending to the series. I'm not sure of what I'll think about the new book.)

The Movies Tag

Tag Tuesday: The Movies Tag
October 17th, 2017

Created by Elimarie on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOR_yT2_C2M

1. Favorite movie of all time?
    🍂 Stardust which is based on the book by Neil Gaiman

2. Favorite scene from that movie?
   🍂 Captain Shakespeare crossdressing scene. It's hilarious. Also, the scenes with the ghosts are great.

3. Favorite actors/ actresses?
   🍂 Actor: Robin Williams, Mark Hamill, and Brendan Fraser
   🍂 Actress: Carrie Fisher and Julia Roberts

Carrie Fisher

Robin Williams

4. Most annoying actor/actress?
   🍂 Rob Schneider in everything he's in. Also, Tom Cruise

5. Best director?
   🍂 I have to say Tim Burton, at least with his earlier movies.

6. Favorite guilty pleasure film?
   🍂 I don't feel guilty at all for liking this but I guess it's sort of cheesy: My Best Friend's Wedding.

   🍂 Also, The Game Plan, which I adore with all my heart.

7. Favorite tear jerker?
   🍂 My Girl, which is my second favorite movie. This devastates me and it's very beautiful.

8. Character from a movie that scared you the most?
   🍂 Freddy Krueger, 100 % and he still does.

9. Movie you love everyone hates?
   🍂 Mamma Mia, really I don't know if everyone hates this, but a lot of people do. I don't know why I like it but I just do. Also, I agree with everyone that says that Pierce Brosnan can't sing. Trust me, I know. Really, it's funny to laugh at those parts, just listen to "SOS" and you will know what I mean.
(Great now, Dancing Queen is stuck in my head again. Time to listen to the soundtrack again.)

10. Movie you hate everyone loves?
   🍂 The Matrix, I cannot get into it.

11. Favorite movie duo?
   🍂 Han Solo and Chewbacca, really it's no competition.

12. Favorite animated movie?
   🍂 The Little Mermaid or Disney's Hercules

13. Actor/actress crush?
   🍂 Harrison Ford, Leonardo Dicapro, Luke Evans and Brendan Fraser

14. Favorite movie villain?
   🍂 Darth Vader

15. What movie surprised you the most?
   🍂 Shutter Island: I did not think I would like this movie but I really did. It's scary.

16. If you could only keep one movie what would it be?
   🍂 Can I say all of them? No, okay... I guess Stardust. 

17. Movie recommendation and for whom?
   🍂 The Empire Strikes Back- to absolutely everyone. Though if you watch this you should probably at least watch A New Hope and then Return of the Jedi after Empire. So yep I love Star Wars so much.

18. If you could go back in time and marry actor/actress from back when (now old) who would it be?
   🍂 Harrison Ford
   🍂 Brendan Fraser

19. One remake you wish had never been made?
   🍂 Smoky and the Bandit 3: This is technically not a remake. It's more of a sequel but still. I love the first two movies but the last one is pretty awful.

   🍂 A remake I would choose is Dirty Dancing. The original from 1987 is so great and they should have never remade it. Also, I have heard the remake is awful. I know I'll never watch it.
Patrick Swayze was and always will be Johnny.

20. About to die but could only watch one more movie, what would it be?
   🍂 The Little Mermaid or Disney's Hercules

21. Favorite movie genre/ favorite movie from that genre?
   🍂 Action Adventure Comedies: The Librarian Movies, A Knight's Tale, and The National Treasure movies

22. What's the first movie you remember watching in theaters?
   🍂Ice Age, wow that was fifteen years ago.

Movie Monday: October 16

Movie Monday: October 16th, 2017

Review of Tower of Terror

Watched Sunday, October 15th, 2017

🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️

This is one of the first things I think about when I am thinking about Halloween. It was another one of my favorites and has become a staple each year for me. This was such a great experience watching it again.

The movie opens in 1939, with the deaths of five people: singer Carolyn Crossen, her actor boyfriend Gilbert London, the well-loved child star Sally Shine, her nanny Emeline Partridge, and bellhop Dewey Todd in an elevator after they were cursed.

We then jump ahead 60 years to a journalist, Buzzy Crocker who was fired from his job for publishing news that turned out to be fake. He now makes of fake stories, usually with his niece Anna dressed up as paranormal creatures. An elderly woman named Abigail Gregory comes to visit Buzzy and tells him that she knows what happened that faithful night 60 years previously. She tells him that Sally's nanny was a witch that placed a curse on Sally, but it all went wrong because of the others in the elevator. This caused each of the people in the elevator, including the nanny to be stuck in the hotel. She tells him that she is giving him the story that everyone has always wanted the answer to.

The story continues with Buzzy, Anna, and  "Q" the grandson of the bellhop to try and figure out the mystery of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Who really did curse these people? This mystery is intriguing to watch even after watching it every Halloween for most of my life. It used to creep me out as a child and now it really just interests me as a movie. I love noticing the pieces throughout the movie that give clues to the mystery. This is a great Halloween movie that I would recommend to anyone. 

Friday Reviews

Friday Reviews Week 6:
October 7th- 13th, 2017

This has been one of my best reading weeks this year and I also got to read two of the books that I have been anticipating for a long time, John Green's Turtles All the Way Down and Rhett and Link's Book of Mythicality.

🍁 Book 1: The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference 🍁

Edited by David H. Borcherding

Read October 7th-8th

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~ Brief Synopsis and General Thoughts ~

This book was mostly a disappointment for me. For a book said to be "An Indispensable Compendium of Myth and Magic" it really had nothing major of substance that would not be known to a fantasy writer or someone with knowledge of history. Really the fantasy topics are little and far in between. Most of the information that I read in this book was basically information that I learned in history classes, from historical fiction books, and fantasy books.

One section was actually useful for me, which is about the Anatomy of Castles. It's the only section of the book that I'll even use. I'm sure I could have found this information in some other source that would have been more detailed than what I have found here. This is a book that I bought years ago believing it to be useful for me in writing my book series. It's not.

~ The sections in the book ~

Below I will list the different parts of the book and what they contain. 

1.) Traditional Fantasy Cultures: talks about Christianity, Feudalism, Manorialism, The Social Order, Ecclesiastic Titles, Knighthood, and various terms about the Middle Ages

2.) World Cultures: talks about Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica, Other Mesoamerican Cultures, North America, Oceania, and South America

3.) Magic: contains: history, principles of magic, what magic does, ritual and ceremonial magic, secret societies, divination, building your own magical worlds (the list in this section might be useful for building basics of a story, but you can find questions like this anywhere. I have about twenty myself), written in the stars

4.) Witchcraft and Pagan Paths: How to recognize a witch, classical witchcraft, Gothic witchcraft, family or traditional witchcraft, dictionary of terms from witchcraft and magic, etc.

5.) Commerce, Trade and Law in Contemporary Fantasy: commerce, punishments, trade and barter

6.) Fantasy Races: dwarves, elves, fairies, giants, goblins and orcs, half-lings and hybrids, merfolk, trolls, minor races, Non-Western races, created races, Industrialization and Characterization.

7.) Creatures of Myth and Legend: contains an alphabetical listing of creatures (with about a paragraph of information for each creature) - Again this could be useful for someone who does not know about these creatures, but to write about them you would want/ need much more information than what this gives you.

8.) Dress and Costume: materials, colors, women's clothing, men's clothing, shoes, children's clothing, clergy, chastity belts

9.) Arms, Armor, and Armies: arms, armor, armies, beasts of war

10.) Anatomy of a Castle: castles and other fortifications, castle life, siege

~ Overall Opinions of the Book ~ 

I will say that I have not fully read every single part of this book. The reason I bought this book was for research and there are various aspects of it that are more important to me than others. Really, this focuses more on Medieval European concepts with little focus on the actual fantasy. I thought this would actually give tips towards writing, whether that be world building or creating a fantasy world. But what I actually received was a dry encyclopedia like book that gave very basic explanations of the topics. The images are okay inclusions in the book.

Fantasy writers, that believe this book will give you valuable pointers for writing fantasy, should really steer clear of this book. It's not worth the price and you will most likely not find what you are looking for. If you want to read something much more worthwhile, you should pick up Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff Vandermeer. It's is meant for writing fantasy but you can get something out of it if you don't write fantasy. I will be doing a detailed review of this sometime in the near future.

🍁 Book 2: The Marvels by Brian Selznick 🍁

Read October 9th, 2017

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~ Brief Overview ~

This book is incredible. It was my fourth book that I have read of Brian Selznick's and it definitely my favorite of them all. This may actually have become my favorite book of the year. I never thought that I would love this book as much as I do. It's actually pretty incredible. 

For those new to Brian's books, I want to explain his formatting. Half or more than half of his books are told in illustrations. Probably some of the best illustrations I have seen in books ever. Then the other half is told in prose. Brian's books are always beautiful, but this exceeded that in so many ways. 

~ Synopsis ~
The Marvels tells two different stories that connect in such an amazing way. The first is told in about 400 pages of continuous pictures. It begins with a boy named Billy who is shipwrecked in 1766 and eventually finds work at a theater in England. Throughout this story we follow the rest of his family throughout the generations and their life as actors. This is up until 1900, when Leontes Marvel is banished from the theater.

The second part of this story takes place almost a century later, in 1990, with the runaway Joseph Jervis. He has come to England from his boarding school to try and find his uncle. Albert Nightingale, his uncle, is known to be a strange man living in the most stunningly beautiful house, that contains many secrets. Joseph becomes fascinated in this house and his uncle. He tries everything to figure out what has happened in the past with his family and also the house.

~ Overall Thoughts ~ 
Brian Selznick does an incredible job weaving each of his books together. This book was no exception. It was intriguing in the mystery aspects and a great adventure that I believe would be great for all ages. This was one incredible read for me and has become a ultimate favorite for me. He also based the story off of real people so that was another great aspect.

If you pick up any book that I recommend for you this should be the one. Also, it's a quick read so it will not take you too long.

🍁 Book 3: 365 Journal Writing Ideas 🍁
By Rossi Fox
Read October 9th, 2017
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This was a quick read that had some really great writing prompts. I have been thinking of starting a daily journal next year and I'll probably use at least a couple of these. I like using prompts to play around with writing a bit. Some can be quite good, I just wish that this one had more examples that I enjoyed.

The formatting and layout of the book was somewhat disjointed. Also, the prompts are repetitive. This would be a great way to start journaling, but you might be able to find better prompts in other places.

🍁 Book 4: Rhett & Link's Book of Mythicality: 🍁
A Field Guide to Curiosity, Creativity, and Tomfoolery
By Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal
Read October 10th, 2017
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I loved reading this book and getting to know Rhett and Link more from it. I have been a Mytholical Beast for a little over three years and I am so happy to be able to read more about them and just about them.

This is the perfect book for any fans of Good Mythical Morning and Rhett and Link in general. I believe anybody though can get something out of this book. It is funny and heartwarming at parts. The section with their wives writing is great, it's probably one of my favorite parts of the book.

I really want to get the audiobook now to listen to them read it.

Check this book out.

🍁 Book 5: Turtles All the Way Down 🍁
By John Green
Read October 10th, 2017
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I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of the book. 

This book was incredible, though I'm not surprised. John Green has done it yet again. I read it in one sitting and was thoroughly engrossed the entire time. I have been a fan of John Green for about six years through his books and also as a Nerdfighter. I'm a very proud Nerdfighter. DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome)

~ The Plot ~
Sixteen year old Aza and her best friend Daisy, begin to pursue the mystery of the fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett's disappearance. Aza is reluctant but Daisy is insistent and there is a hundred- thousand dollar reward at stake. They both start to investigate and talk to an old friend of Aza's, Davis Pickett, the son of Russell Pickett.

Aza is living with the tightening spiral of thoughts that constantly plague her mind throughout her whole life. She does a great way of describing this on the first page saying that it's like she is in a fictional story, with someone controlling her every thought (very meta). She is trying to be a good daughter to her mother, a good friend, student, and live with a mental illness that controls a lot of her life.

~ The Characters ~
Aza was a great main character that I loved from the very beginning of this book. John definitly made her voice authentic. I believe that this book was incredible because of her character. The voice that he created made me realize what it felt like to live with OCD and anxiety a little more. It was hard to read at times because of it but also, so beautiful. I loved Aza so much.

Each of the characters also felt real. Aza's best friend Daisy made me think of my own friends. She's not afraid of telling Aza the truth when she needs to hear it but also is always there for her. Hearing about Daisy writing Star Wars fanfiction is some of the funniest parts of this book and I really enjoyed getting to know her character.

Aza's mom and parenting in general was another vital part of this book that I felt was important. She was always trying to figure out how to help her daughter. Her caring nature and attitude towards life was a great addition to this book.

Davis, one of the sons of Russell Pickett was a complex character himself. His father has fled and left Davis to care for not only himself but also his little brother, Noah. They do have servants but they are not around and both boys really do need a reliable guardian. Throughout the book, we see Davis try to protect his brother from the truth, but also him worry about the outcome of everything.

~ Overall Thoughts ~
It has been quite awhile since John has written a book but I feel that it was well worth the wait. I have been a fan of him for a long time and I am glad to say that this lived up to my overly high expectations of it. Sometimes I feel we hype things up too much, which will sometimes ruin the book. This could have been the case but John Green's book was written so beautifully. He writes with such a distinct voice and with so many stunning lines. I love his writing immensely and cannot get enough of it. The ending was so powerful and I'm still thinking about it three days later. I'll admit that I would love to read it again really soon. This has become my favorite John Green novel, right above Looking for Alaska. It's also a favorite of this year for me.

If you read any book the rest of this year please read this one. I believe that you will not regret it.

🍁 Have a great weekend. Happy Reading. 🍁