A Defense of Found Footage Films

Hello. My name is Tracy and I am addicted to horror. As a child, I was incredibly sheltered. I saw my first real horror film, Darkness Falls, at the age of seventeen. My first horror film was about the Tooth Fairy and I was terrified. Don't judge me. After that first taste of totally safe fear, I was hooked. I absolutely fell in love with watching things on a screen that terrified me, but couldn't do any real harm and went away when the movie ended. When I was eighteen I saw my first found footage horror movie and they've been my absolute favorite ever since. Found footage films get so much hate and I truly don't understand...

Waiting on Wednesday #73: Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

Happy Wednesday, fellow book lovers! This week's "can't wait to read" is: Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan Publication Date: January 19, 2016 Raisa was just a child when she was sold to work as a slave in the kingdom of Qilara. Despite her young age, her father was teaching her to read and write, grooming her to take his place as a Learned One. In Qilara, the Arnathim, like Raisa, are the lowest class, and literacy is a capital offense. What’s more, only the king, prince, tutor, and tutor-in-training are allowed to learn the very highest order language,...

Top Ten Tuesday #67: scary books & movies

Today's Topic:  Ten scary Halloween books & movies I really hate giving up on a book before I finish it, but sometimes it just happens. Life is too short to suffer through a book you don't enjoy! Even more than DNFing a book, I hate giving up on a series, especially several books in. Out of all of these, I might try to finish Nil and Red Rising sometime soon, but I'm basically done with the rest. Best Scary Books          Insylum by Z. Rider (review) The Merciless by Danielle Vega (review) The Shining by Stephen King The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn (review) Welcome to the Dark...

ARC Review: The Rig by Joe Ducie

Title: The Rig (The Rig #1) Author: Joe Ducie Publication Date: October 6, 2015Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers  Pages: 320 Add to Goodreads //I received this book through Goodreads First Reads  in exchange for an honest review// Fifteen-year-old Will Drake has made a career of breaking out from high-security prisons. His talents have landed him at The Rig, a specialist juvenile holding facility in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. No one can escape from The Rig. No one except for Drake... After making some escape plans and meeting the first real friends of his life, Drake quickly realises that all is not as it seems...

Weekly Recap: 10/18 - 10/24

My Super Exciting Life  I will be SO HAPPY when this move is over. My life is absolutely insane right now with preparing to move to Florida on two week's notice. It's madness. Don't do it. But once it's over I know it'll be worth it. It has been a slow reading week (again). There's just no time! But I signed up for a read-a-thon this week, so YAY! I'm confident that I'll get my reading groove back soon! As we're preparing to leave and say goodbye to my family, we've spent more time than average with my parents and brother, Michael. Michael came to stay with us Sunday and Monday nights, and then again on Thursday and Friday nights....

HoHoHo Read-a-Thon

Last year, HoHoHoRAT became my first ever read-a-thon. I loved every single second of it, although I didn't meet my initial goal. This year I'm super excited to get another chance to try my hand at this Christmas read-a-thon! I think I'll have much better luck this go round (fingers crossed)! Once again, this read-a-thon is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Bookshelfery. Participants have from November 12th until the 17th to read as many holiday or winter themed books as possible. There will be some super awesome challenges and giveaways also! You can join here! My "Goals" You guys know me by now. I'm terrible with following...

Waiting on Wednesday #72: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Happy Wednesday, fellow book lovers! This week's "can't wait to read" is: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine Publication Date: February 23, 2016 Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen. In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and...

Top Ten Tuesday #66: book wishes

Today's Topic:  10 Wishes I'd Ask The  Book Genie To Grant Me Ooooh! What a fun topic! I'm splitting today into two categories: general book-related wishes and really amazing, expensive, rare books I'd love to own! Five Book-Related Wishes I'd wish for more time in the day for reading.  I'd wish for a super amazing hidden library with floor to ceiling shelves. And a sliding ladder.  I'd wish for the ability to speed read. I'd wish for unlimited funds to attend all of the awesome book conventions around the world.  I'd wish for more bookish friends.  Five Rare Book Wishes          The...

Audiobook Review: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

Title: Lost Stars Author: Claudia Gray Narrator: Pierce Cravens Publication Date: September 4, 2015Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press Add to Goodreads Star Wars meets Romeo and Juliet in this epic YA novel that follows two best friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the war between the Empire and the Rebellion. This thrilling YA novel gives readers a macro view of some of the most important events in the Star Wars universe: from the purge of the Jedi in Episode III, to the beginnings of the rebellion in Star Wars Rebels, and through the fall of the Empire in Episodes IV-IV. Readers will experience these major moments through the...

Weekly Recap: 10/11 - 10/17

My Super Exciting Life  This week has been a little better than last week was. I'm still quite fatigued, but overall I definitely feel a little more normal, so that's something! Towards the end of the week, I was also been able to read on more of a normal level. I spent this week slowly working through another Peter Pan retelling and Wendy Darling is coming up soon! I embarked on a dog sitting adventure for one night this week! I discovered that my younger dog is not impressed by having a stranger in her house. She mostly ignored her, but she was certainly not happy about it! It was a fun experience, though! I also made an...

Authors who can't let go

We all have a favorite author - a favorite series - that we just don't want to ever stop. I totally understand the feels that come when a series is over and a new one begins. Maybe it won't be as good, you think. And sometimes you're right! I've been really unimpressed by a couple authors' second series (Exhibits A and B). But at least they tried something different! It is, in my opinion, a hundred times more desperate to continue milking the same cow for literally decades. Sometimes I genuinely have to wonder if these women are really one trick ponies who just have no other ideas floating around in their heads. Three authors come immediately...