Paper to Popcorn #2: Of Metal and Wishes vs. The Phantom of the Opera

Welcome to Paper to Popcorn! Paper to Popcorn is not be your typical book vs. movie comparison. The focus is on retellings, although there will be some features of movie vs. the source material. Each chosen book/movie combo will battle it out in a showdown to prove which one is the best on its own merits. Posts will feature reviews of both the film and book, rating scales, a brief outline of differences between the two, and characters, and ultimately a victor will be chosen. This week I'm featuring two Phantom of the Opera adaptations - Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine, and Phantom of the Opera, the 2004 film. The Book Title:...

Audiobook Review: The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson

Title: The Mirk and Midnight Hour Author: Jane Nickerson Narrator: Dorothy Dillingham Blue Publication Date: March 11, 2014 Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers  Add to Goodreads A Southern girl. A wounded soldier. A chilling force deep in the forest. All collide at night’s darkest hour. Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey has been left at home in Mississippi with a laudanum-addicted stepmother and love-crazed stepsister while her father fights in the war—a war that has already claimed her twin brother. When she comes across a severely injured Union soldier lying in an abandoned lodge deep in the woods, things begin to change. Thomas...

Waiting on Wednesday #60: Monster by C.J. Skuse

Happy Wednesday, fellow book lovers! This week's "can't wait to read" is: Monster by C.J. Skuse Publication Date: September 24, 2015 At sixteen Nash thought that the fight to become Head Girl of prestigious boarding school Bathory would be the biggest battle she’d face. Until her brother’s disappearance leads to Nash being trapped at the school over Christmas with Bathory’s assorted misfits. As a blizzard rages outside, strange things are afoot in the school’s hallways, and legends of the mysterious Beast of Bathory – a big cat rumoured to room the moors outside the school – run...

Giveaway: Trollhunters by Guillermo del Toro & Daniel Kraus

All samples & prizing are provided by Disney-Hyperion! This is a book I have been super excited about since I featured it in a Waiting on Wednesday post back in January (before the cover was even confirmed)! I am so thrilled to be featuring this book and it's creative team today along with hosting an AMAZING giveaway with all kinds of awesome bookish swag! The illustrations are stunning and, considering the authors who have created this unique story, I have no doubt that the book is going to be incredible! From the minds of horror geniuses Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus comes a new illustrated novel about the fears that move in...

Top Ten Tuesday #54: Books about bookworms

Today's Topic:  Ten Characters Who  Are Fellow Book Nerds This week I went with a mix of books from middle grade to adult... because holy crap this was a hard topic. I've been sitting here trying to figure out why this was such a difficult topic to pick books for and honestly I'm not quite sure. Maybe it's because my favorite genres are dystopia and horror so not a lot of reading is being done within the books? In any case, I tried to go with characters who were very blatant about their love of bookish things and in that, at least, I think I was successful!          Tory, Acheron...

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Throne of Glass Author: Sarah J. Maas Publication Date: August 7, 2012Publisher: Bloomsbury Pages: 404 Add to Goodreads "Nothing is a coincidence. Everything has a purpose. You were meant to come to this castle, just as you were meant to be an assassin." When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King's Champion and be released from prison. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The...

Weekly Recap: 7/19 - 7/25

My Super Exciting Life  This has been the week of back-to-high-school obsession. In high school I had a couple major obsessions: The Lord of the Rings and (starting in 2004) The Phantom of the Opera. I have been totally re-hooked by The Phantom of the Opera. This began when I read Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine at the beginning of the week and fell totally in love. Of course, I took the obvious next step of pulling out my Phantom of the Opera (2004) DVD and watching it immediately. Followed by ordering the blu-ray. Followed by renting the sequel, Love Never Dies, from Amazon Prime and watching that. Followed (obviously) by...

Spine-tingling Saturday #8: The darker side of Disney

Author: _Illuminati_ Posted on: March 26, 2015 I first read this story back when it was originally posted on Reddit and have re-read it a couple times since then. As you probably know, I am a huge Disney nerd (HUGE)! At the same time, I love the "dark side" of Disney. The book by that title really sucked, but (for some reason) people love writing scary stories about all things Disney. This story by Reddit user _Illuminati_ takes one of my favorite rides, Living with the Land, and makes it incredibly creepy! The writing isn't perfect, but the author does a great job of creating a deliciously spooky environment out of a beloved family...

Free Book Alert! Bound by Duty by Stormy Smith

Every now and again we get wind of an author doing something awesome, and we just found out that Stormy Smith is celebrating Bound by Duty’s first birthday by making it FREE, which has never happened before! Bound by Duty only recently became available on all platforms, and that means that you should be able to snatch this awesome deal up wherever you like to read. The sale only runs July 22 – 29, so don’t miss out on your chance to dig into this great (clean) new adult fantasy! Nook | Amazon | Kobo | iTunes Title: Bound by Duty Author: Stormy Smith Publication Date: July 24, 2014 Publisher:...

The book buying conundrum

Hi, my name is Tracy and I'm a book addict. Assuming most book bloggers have similar addictions, we all need to discuss something. The problem of lack of space. In the last year I've gone from having about one and a half full bookshelves (the other half being full of movies) to having three completely full bookshelves and another that's half full. My husband is terrified of what will happen when we move to Florida next year and I have to willfully keep myself away from bookstores (it doesn't work). It's a problem! There I am, walking through my local used bookstore, when I come across the second half of a complete series of books that...