“I thought of a labyrinth of labyrinths, of one sinuous spreading labyrinth that would encompass the past and the future and in some way involve the stars.”
-Jorge Luis Borges, The Garden of Forking Paths
Category Archives: Books
Monthly Mentions: February 2015
Another month has come and gone.
So here’s the stuff I liked during it!
Favorite Bloggers:
Favorite Blog Articles:
- Going Pro—Earning Rhino Skin & Learning Which Opinions Matter
- WRITING: “HOW DO YOU DO IT?”
- How to Lose your Mind in Ten Days
- Do’s and Don’ts of the Slush Pile
- Talk It Out: How To Punctuate Dialogue In Your Prose
- 25 THINGS I WANT TO SAY TO SO-CALLED “ASPIRING” WRITERS
- Sensing Comparison Experiment
- SCHOOL SUSPENDED BOY WHO CLAIMED TO BE THE LORD OF THE RINGS
- 10 Practical Writing Tips from the Greats
- An Author’s Complicated Relationship with Self-Promotion
Review: Paddington
This movie is:
- Charming
- Cute
- Whimsical
- Beautiful
- Heart-Warming
- Uplifting
- Lovable
- Poignant
- Imaginative
- Brilliant
- Cuddly
and perhaps most of all: incredibly British.
When this movie was first announced last year, I was dubious about its quality. The trailer consisted of just an extended scene of prat-falls and vaguely gross-out humor. Additionally, it was strictly a kids film, and it was based on an old book series. Continue reading
Why I Write Dark Things
Starting at a young age, I was obsessed with the dark, enticed by the idea of it, and the concepts it presented.
Not in the sense of actual unethical acts, mind you. I’ve never been much of a deviant in that regard, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved tales of the sinister, the horrific.
As soon as I had the internet I researched monsters. I read Goosebumps with a fervor unmatched, and once those grew boring, I went towards dystopian fiction; eventually graduating to horror. Even now, the interest grows, and I find myself being drawn to shock fiction.
As you can probably tell, I’m not the most fun to watch movies with. In fact, it’s still a sticking point when I’m with my family, as they prefer comedies and… *shudder*…romantic comedies….
Social conventions would probably label me a goth, even in my adult life, but I never found that to be the right term for it. Continue reading
Monthly Mentions: January 2015
Another ongoing series!
As if I don’t already have enough of these!
As the month comes to a close, I thought I would make it a habit to set a record of the things I liked/discovered over the month so that I can take a look back and see how my taste in media grew and changed.
It also seems like a really great idea for an article, and a chance to give some shout-outs to my blogger friends.
So, allow me to present my favorite things this month, presented by category, but not in any particular order.
As a side note, these are not necessarily things that were made this month, just things I enjoyed during the time period.
Here we go! Continue reading
Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
Wondering what that countdown is about? Well, I am running a bit of a contest here on Coolerbs Reviews, if you’re interested come check it out, right here: Click Me
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
-Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence)
The Secret Review, or How I learned to DFTBA and Love the Puppy-Sized Elephants
“I am about to let you in on a secret.”
“A group hidden in plain sight.”
“Nestled in the depths of the inter-webs.”
“Protected by the sacred council of the YouTubers.”
“Managed by the White Girl Clan of Tumblr.”
“Meetings are everywhere, the only hint of their locations: in the coded messages of the Twitterverse.”
“Are you ready to join us? We are many, and are always seeking new blood.” Continue reading
The Scariest Book I Have Ever Read
Warning: The following contains disturbing content that may legitimately scare or otherwise upset readers. I am not joking. If you are not of a stoic nature, please go read a different article. I recommend this. (Click the green letters)
I have read many books in my life time.
All sorts of genres: Horror, Fantasy, Science fiction, etc.
I have even read the Twilight Books.
But for the longest time my favorite genres have been horror, science fiction, and dystopia.
I am only stating this so my words have weight. So that you understand I am not just blowing smoke here.
So, when I say this is the scariest book I have ever read, you should feel a chill go up your spine. Continue reading
The Top Five Websites to Read (when you really should be writing)
The life of a writer is complex; to survive it, you need just the right mind for the job. Able to deal with all sorts of things that other jobs/hobbies/purposes of existence, simply do not need to. There is a reason why people think writers are crazy. Just a sampling of what we deal with includes:
- Staring at a screen for an obscene amount of time, waiting for a single sentence to sound proper.
- Trying to ignore characters voices when we are not actively writing about them.
- Hand cramps, the likes of which the porn industry wishes it could invoke.
- Crippling fear of failure. (“Oh god I have to work at McDonalds now”)
- Crippling fear of success. (Success means live-readings, which by extension, means crowds)
- The villains in your nightmares suddenly becoming people you invented. On purpose!
- Getting bored of that one music playlists that you can listen to while writing.
- The looming knowledge that computers might become advanced enough to make the written word obsolete.
Rambling Review: The Hunger Games Trilogy
Things looking a bit different? Yeah, you could say that. You see I am having a bit of an event on the site for the next few weeks. You can read about it here. Otherwise, no worries, this is not permanent. Just a bit of fun. Hope you enjoy.
Warning: This article has massive spoilers of the Hunger Games Trilogy.
It’s a very good sign for society, that books are becoming popular again.
First we saw the Harry Potter boom, the seven part epic that made millions.
Then we saw the rise of the Twilight novels, an atrocious book series, which managed, despite its niche audience to turn into a massive movement.
Now we get to the next record smasher, The Hunger Games.
A new beast in that regard. As the last two phenomenon where just good stories. This one has a message to tell, a warning of what we could become.
So let’s take a look. Continue reading
Rambling Review: Brave New World (The Book)
It should be noted that this review is more of an overview. As such, it contains heavy spoilers. For anyone that thinks that they can skip reading the book by reading this review: Please do not attempt. I am not a substitute, just read the damn book. A little culture never hurt.
“O wonder!
How many godly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world! That has such people in’t!”
-Shakespeare
Never has a quote so perfectly matched a book. Continue reading
What Ender’s Game (the book) taught me about video games, and life.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST GETS VERY PREACHY. IF YOU DON’T LIKE MORALITY RANTS, TURN AWAY NOW!
Alright, so it is a very well-known secret that books can change your outlook on life. Your very beliefs really. I mean what else is the Bible, then a book with huge influence? (No offense intended to any Christian or other bible minded individuals)
Everyone knows that books can have effects on life, can help you through decisions, and so on. But what people don’t always know, is that this applies to all books. Fiction as well as poetry, nonfiction as well as historical. All of them could change you.
For me there is a few books that did this. Brave New World, Illusions. But most of all, Ender’s Game. Continue reading
Ender’s Game The Book
Among sci-fi nerds of the bookish persuasion, there are many well-known classics to the genre. Such as the “The Time Machine” and “I Robot”. Influential and mega-popular these books set in motion ideas that were later repeated millions of times in other stories.
It seemed for the longest time that modern culture had abandoned this. Oh sure, there where various minorities of people who still enjoyed the comfort of a good book. But I personally was ready to give up on it. No one seemed to like books, or rather choose movie and TV over books. Continue reading
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