This Week in Books | 17/01/18

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

NOW: I loved the new adaptation of IT last year and decided to try the book, which is also in keeping with one of my reading goals to not be intimidated by the longer books on my shelves, and at 1,166 pages this is one of the longest books I've ever attempted to read. I'm not the biggest fan of Stephen King but I'm enjoying this one so far and enjoying taking my time and making my way through a book. Yes, parts of it are problematic and, no, I don't think I'm going to consider it a masterpiece when I finish it but I'll be very pleased with myself when I finally get through it.

THEN: I finished listening to A Natural History of Dragons in my car and really enjoyed the experience of listening to it. I'd like to listen to the other books in the series but I'll have to wait until I can afford the audio CDs to play in my car - they're so expensive!

NEXT: It's become something of a tradition for me to read a Binti story at the beginning of the year. I believe The Night Masquerade is the final book in this little trilogy and I'm looking forward to finishing the series and seeing how Binti's story ends - I'll probably pick this one up and whizz through it while I'm continuing to make my way through IT.

What have you been reading recently?

BIG Books on my TBR!

When I was younger I was never intimidated by big books, but I suppose 'big' is very subjective. For me, a really big book is anything that's 600 pages or more, and yet when I was younger reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was nothing, nor were the chunky latter two books in Cornelia Funke's Inkworld trilogy. Lately the biggest book I've read is the conclusion to Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles, Winter.

For some reason, as I've gotten older, I've begun to find larger books incredibly intimidating and I'm not 100% sure why. I think I've been so eager to read as much as I can in one year because there's always so much I want to read and too little time to read it all in that I've let the big books on my TBR gather dust. Well not anymore! Some books have been on my TBR for far too long, and if I could cross even one of these books off my TBR this year I'd be a very happy bunny.

My lovely friend Natalie @ A Sea Change has sung the praises of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell many times, but I still haven't read my copy despite owning it for a few years now - it has footnotes, for Heaven's sake! I've heard so many readers praise it as a masterpiece, however, so I need to read it soon.

I'm not the biggest fan of Stephen King's writing, especially when he writes about the supernatural - so far Misery is the book of his I've enjoyed most - but I adored the 2017 adaptation of IT so much that I'd really like to give the book a shot. It's just so huge...

This year will mark nine years since I bought my copy of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. Nine years. I love a good ol' revenge story and I've actually tried to read this one a couple of times and haven't been able to get into it. One of these days I need to give it another try and, if it still isn't for me, it's time to send my edition off to a more loving home.

Despite being a proud northerner and a lover of Victorian literature, I'm ashamed to admit I've yet to read any Elizabeth Gaskell. One of these days I'm going to read North and South because I love the 2004 adaptation starring Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe, but Wives and Daughters is the one that's really calling to me because I've heard so many good things about it. I particularly like that it features a friendship between two stepsisters at the centre of it - step-families have something of a bad reputation in fiction!

I fell in love with Italy when my friend Elena and I visited Rome in 2015, and I've since been lucky enough to visit Florence and Bologna, too. Italo Calvino has selected and retold a variety of stories in Italian Folktales - there are just so many crammed into one book that the idea of starting it makes me feel a bit nervous! I think it's a book I might have to work my way through over an extended period of time.

I've said time and time again how much I want to start Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, particularly as I'd like to watch the TV adaptation, but the series is so long and each book is so big that it seems like such a huge commitment. One of these days, though, I'd at least like to cross the first book off my TBR and see what I think of the series.

The shortest book on this list, Ken Liu's The Grace of Kings is still a fairly chunky one at just over 600 pages. I was very kindly sent this one for Christmas by Lorraine @ Insanity Sandwich and was thrilled to receive it as I'm very eager to explore more Asian and African-inspired high fantasy. This is one I'm hoping to cross off my TBR very soon!

Another one I've had on my list for a few years now, as a historical fiction fan I'm ashamed to admit I've yet to read any Sharon Kay Penman. Here Be Dragons is a novelisation of Joan, Lady of Wales (also known by her Welsh name, Siwan) who was the illegitimate daughter of King John and was married to the Welsh Prince Llywelyn the Great (or Llywelyn ap Iorwerth). I've been fascinated by her ever since I learned about her which is particularly frustrating because so little about her is actually known. This is another one I'd like to cross off my list sooner rather than later!

Are you intimidated by big books? Which larger books would you like to cross off your TBR?

Has IT reignited my love of horror?

I've never liked clowns. If someone has to paint a smile on then I can't quite bring myself to trust them - even Ronald McDonald has always had me a bit suspicious. My true fear of clowns began, however, when I was very young - around five or six, I think? - when my parents took my sisters and I to the circus. The clowns didn't freak me out until my dad was picked for a trick - you know the one, where the 'victim' has to stand up against a dartboard, surrounded by inflated balloons, and the clowns throw knives - and, being only around five or six, I didn't understand that this was a trick. I genuinely thought there was a chance my dad was going to be injured and it upset me a lot.

'Please don't hurt my daddy!' I cried, and one of the clowns turned on me and shouted at me, 'comically', to shut up. I've hated them ever since and I don't think my parents ever took me to the circus again.

Like many people then, Stephen King's IT has always scared the living crap out of me. I tried reading the book and didn't get past the prologue, the adaptation starring Tim Curry scared me for a long time because he looked so, well, clownish, and then a remake, directed by Andrés Muschietti and starring Bill Skarsgård as the titular character, was announced and, like the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to go and see it.

The result? I loved it. In fact I think IT is my new favourite horror film.

That's a weird thing for me to admit for several reasons: firstly, I'm not sure I really have a previous favourite horror film - The Silence of the Lambs would have been my previous answer if I had to think of one, but I think of The Silence of the Lambs as more of a thriller than a horror - because I don't tend to watch many of them, which leads me on to my second reason which is that I don't actually like horror films that much. I'm a big, big wuss. Every now and then I like scaring myself, all while knowing I'm probably not going to sleep properly for a couple of weeks.

I've always liked spooky things, though, even though I've always been such a scaredy-cat. I was obsessed with ghost stories as a child and there are plenty of horror films I've seen which have scared me because, like I said, I am a massive wuss, but they've always left me a little disappointed, too. So many horror movies, especially the teen slashers that spawn sequel after sequel, churn out the jump scares and the gore without any real substance, and for so long I've been yearning for a horror movie with characters I genuinely care about and worry for. Enter IT.

That all of IT's cast, aside from the titular monster himself, are children certainly doesn't guarantee the film's success. There are so many fantastic child actors out there, but unfortunately there are just as many films starring children who can't really act. This isn't the case here, I loved the kids and the chemistry between all of them is superb.

I haven't watched the show yet myself, but I have it on good authority that if you're a fan of Stranger Things you'll love this movie and these kids. Bill Skarsgård is brilliant as Pennywise but the kids, their relationship and their personal stories, are what makes this film and that's why I loved it as much as I did.

This is horror how I like horror, with the emphasis on the people having to deal with a terrifying place or scenario or person or entity rather than on that terrifying thing itself. IT has helped me realise that I don't stay away from reading horror because I don't like horror, but because years and years of bad movies have made me suspicious of the genre. Is that fair when books and films are completely different mediums? No, not at all, but life isn't fair.

So I'd like to read some more horror, because I think I'm going to find more books like IT than movies - though, ironically, not the original IT as I'm not the biggest fan of Stephen King's writing style. I want character-driven, character-focused horror, and if it happens to involve ghosts or witches and female leads I'll be even more inclined to read it.

Do you have any recommendations? Are you a fan of horror or is it a genre you stay away from? Are you planning to see IT? I can't recommend it enough, go and check it out!

You'll float, too.

Top Ten Tuesday | Adaptations

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I'm Looking Forward To or Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch', so today I decided to do a bit of both - I've got six adaptations I'm looking forward to, and four existing adaptations I still need to watch!

Adaptations I'm Looking Forward To

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins: The final instalment in The Hunger Games franchise is coming out this month and I can't wait to see it, even though it's going to be heartbreaking; I think Francis Lawrence has done fantastic things with these adaptations.

The BFG by Roald Dahl: I grew up with the 1989 animated adaptation of this film, starring David Jason, and the evil giants scared the crap out of me. 2016 marks Roald Dahl's centenary, and Steven Spielberg is directing a live action adaptation of The BFG. I'm really looking forward to this one.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters: One of my favourite books of this year is being adapted into a film - woohoo! Apparently Lucinda Coxon, who wrote The Danish Girl, has adapted the book into a screenplay, and Lenny Abrahamson, who is the director of the adaptation of Emma Donoghue's Room, will be directing it. Apparently Domhnall Gleeson will being in the film, but I'm hoping he's not playing the main character because personally I think he's far too young for the part. We'll see!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith: I haven't read the book, and I don't really have any intention of reading the book, but I can't deny that I think the trailer looks pretty awesome. I just love the idea of historical ladies kicking zombie butt, so I'll be going to see this one!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: Bryan Fuller, the genius behind Hannibal, is adapting Neil Gaiman's masterpiece into a TV series. I am excite.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli: So it was recently announced that this book is going to be getting a film adaptation, which I am very excited for. I'm hoping it'll have an Easy A film to it, because I love that movie and I'd hate to see this book get a bad adaptation.

Adaptations I Still Need to Watch

Tipping the Velvet (2002): The simple reason I haven't watched this yet is because I haven't read the book yet, but I'm planning to read it soon and then I'm really looking forward to watching this!

Carrie (1976): Last month I read Carrie for the first time, and then on Halloween my dad and I watched the 2013 adaptation. Given that the original adaptation is such a staple horror movie, though, I'd love to give it a watch some time. Plus, other than Alien, I don't think I've watched many movies from the '70s.

Macbeth (2015): I was so desperate to go and see this in October - Macbeth is my favourite Shakespeare play - but unfortunately it wasn't showing in my local cinema. Oh well, hopefully I'll get a chance to see it soon!

Jane Eyre (2006): I love the 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, but I've never seen the BBC miniseries which I know is a very popular adaptation. I like Ruth Wilson a lot, though, so I'd like to check it out!

Which adaptations made your list this week?

Book vs. Adaptation | Carrie by Stephen King

Today I'm back with another Book vs. Adaptation post! So far I've done Sarah Waters' Fingersmith (here!), Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (here!), Neil Gaiman's Coraline (here!) and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (here and here!), and today I'm going to be talking about the 2013 adaptation of Stephen King's debut novel, Carrie.

I read Carrie for the first time last month - it was one of the books on my Halloween TBR - and you can check out my book review here. I'd never seen any adaptations of Carrie before, I wanted to read the book first, and once I'd read the book I decided to seek out the most recent adaptation.

Carrie was published in 1974, and is the novel that started Stephen King's impressive career. The most famous adaptation is the one that followed two years later, in 1976, starring Sissy Spacek, but when I sought out an adaptation I immediately gravitated towards Kimberly Peirce's 2013 adaptation, starring Chloë Grace Moretz as Carrie White and Julianne Moore as her mother, Margaret. Why? Purely because I really like Julianne Moore and Chloë Grace Moretz, neither of whom are strangers to book adaptations.

Chloë Grace Moretz is something of an adaptation veteran; she's been in Let Me In (2010), Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2011), Hugo (2011), and If I Stay, and she'll soon be hitting our cinemas in the starring role of J Blakeson's adaptation of The 5th Wave. She was even considered for the part of Katniss - speaking of The Hunger Games, Julianne Moore is well-known for playing the part of President Coin in the franchise, and she also played Clarice Starling in Ridley Scott's adaptation of Hannibal. Both of them are pretty great actresses, so I was eager to see their portrayals of Carrie and Margaret White.

My dad and I sat down and watched this on Halloween - what's Halloween without a fitting film after all? - and the two of us enjoyed it!

Honestly? I actually enjoyed this more than the book, though if you've seen my review you'll know I found the latter half of the book to be a bit of a shambles. This film is a lot more concise, and I loved the extra scenes that were added; in the book the story is interspersed with pieces of 'non-fiction' all about telekinesis, and I was wondering how that was going to be included in this film. Unlike the book, which is set in the '70s, this adaptation is set in our present day, meaning there's more technology; characters have iPhones and Carrie uses YouTube to research telekinesis, which I thought was a really nice touch. In the book she does practice her own gifts, but she doesn't seem to wonder if anyone else is like her which I thought was a little odd.

I think this adaptation is acted very well, too. Moretz is a heart-breaking and believable Carrie and, after her portrayal of Mia in If I Stay, has cemented herself in my list of brilliant young actors. Naturally Julianne Moore is a fantastic Margaret White, and I thought the other cast members were great; Ansel Elgort was a charming Tommy, which I wasn't expecting if I'm perfectly honest, and I loved Judy Greer as Miss Desjardin and Portia Doubleday as Chris Hargensen.

I know quite a lot of Carrie fans were disappointed with this adaptation because they felt that too much was cut, but I don't think this film lost anything; I love a good disaster sequence as much as anyone else, but there's only so much I can watch before a film starts to get boring and repetitive, and for me this adaptation is a perfect balance of the horrifically sublime and the tensely subdued.

Whether you've read the book or not I recommend this adaptation! It's a particularly good film for people out there who don't like horror films - I guarantee this won't scare you.

Monthly Wrap-Up | October 2015

Somehow I packed quite a lot into this month. I was posting reviews like crazy - mainly because I wanted to review as many spooky books in October as I could - and my October was fairly busy. How, you ask? Let me tell you...

The Poor Clare

by Elizabeth Gaskell

Wytches, Vol.1

by Scott Snyder and Jock

Uprooted

by Naomi Novik

Horrorstör

by Grady Hendrix

We Should All Be Feminists

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Carrie

by Stephen King

What We Left Behind

by Robin Talley

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

by Elizabeth Gilbert

Step Aside, Pops

by Kate Beaton

Sugar Hall

by Tiffany Murray

Well, somehow I managed to get through ten books last month! Shockingly I didn't read all the books on my Halloween TBR, in fact I read quite a few books that I hadn't planned on reading, but it was a lot of fun to get through a few spooky books in time for Halloween! Sadly I still haven't read The Raven Boys or Half Bad, but I'm determined to get to them at some point. It's Sci-Fi Month in November, so I'm planning to read a little bit of sci-fi and then just read whatever else takes my fancy!

The Miniaturist

by Jessie Burton

Uprooted

by Naomi Novik

The Poor Clare

by Elizabeth Gaskell

Affinity

by Sarah Waters

Wytches, Vol.1

by Scott Snyder and Jock

Horrorstör

by Grady Hendrix

Carrie

by Stephen King

What We Left Behind

by Robin Talley

Nell Gwynn

by Jessica Swale

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

by Elizabeth Gilbert

I went to see Jessica Swale's new play Nell Gwynn in London last month, and it was so, so good! I've reviewed it on my blog already, and I'll be talking more about my trip to London below!

My mum and I went to see Suffragette in October and I enjoyed it. I'm weak for a period film, and I'm honestly astounded that there hasn't been a film about the suffragettes until now - that's kind of ridiculous considering what they did for us! I don't think it was the best film I've ever seen - one of the villains was so villainous he was almost a caricature, and I thought it was a real shame there were no people of colour in the film at all - but I did enjoy it and I'll definitely get it on DVD. It made me quite emotional, actually.

I also watched Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster on the BBC, as well as a few documentaries about witches which I all really enjoyed. Black Roses is so emotional, and I highly recommend watching it should you ever have the chance. For those of you outside the UK, Sophie Lancaster was a young woman who was beaten to death by a group of teenagers because she was a Goth. She was basically murdered because of the way she looked. She and her boyfriend were both attacked, and she covered her boyfriend's head while they beat her. Her story is harrowing, and in Black Roses British poet Simon Armitage has given Sophie a voice with some beautiful poetry, interspersed with an interview by Sophie's mother. The interview is real, but her mother is played by an actress in the programme.

For anyone in the UK, Black Roses is still available on iPlayer for another seven days and you can watch it here.

As October was, of course, Halloween month, I also ended up watching Practical Magic and the 2013 adaptation of Carrie. I'd seen Practical Magic before, of course, but it's such a fun movie that I couldn't resist watching it again, and I ended up watching Carrie on Halloween with my dad. I thought it was a great adaptation, actually, and I'll be talking about it in another post later this month.

My 2015 Reading Goals: An Update

Book vs. Adaptation | Coraline by Neil Gaiman

24 Things I've Learned in 24 Years

From Screen to Page #2

Book vs. Adaptation | Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Part One)

Book vs. Adaptation | Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Part Two)

It was my birthday in October! On the 10th I turned 24 (I'm so old!) and as my birthday fell on a Saturday this year, I went to London for the weekend with three of my friends from university to see Jessica Swale's Nell Gwynn at The Globe.

I had a brilliant weekend. I set off early, but it meant I got into London before lunchtime and I met up with the others in the station; all four of us had come from a completely different part of the country, and it had been about two years since we had all been together. It was really lovely to see them all again and catch up.

We were going to the theatre that evening, so before then we decided to go and drop our things off at the hostel we were staying in and then go to Westminster Abbey. I'd been to London several times before but I'd never been to Westminster Abbey - it was always closed for whatever reason when I wanted to go - and it turned out that this trip wasn't going to be any different. We got there and we got into the queue, and then when we were only a few places from the front we were told it was closing - why an attraction like Westminster Abbey would close at 1:30 on a Saturday I really don't know, but there you go!

It wasn't the end of the world by any means, but pretty much all of Britain's monarchs are buried in Westminster, along with a lot of other cool authors and historical figures. One of these days I'll get in there!

After that we decided to go to the National Gallery instead, which was beautiful. I'd been in there once before, several years ago, and it was nice to go back; I have a real weakness for Renaissance art so it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, and it turned out to be pretty helpful for one of my friends who's currently doing her PhD on Early Modern Literature.

Cocktails at The Hard Rock Cafe

We had a very nice dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe - along with a yummy cocktail each, because what are birthdays for if not cocktails? - and then we went to the theatre.

I'd never been to The Globe before, and it was such a fantastic experience to see a play in Shakespeare's theatre. I loved the play and I really hope it's going to travel around the UK so people who couldn't get to London have the opportunity to see it. We had brilliant seats and basically spent the evening laughing. Afterwards we had a nice, nighttime stroll back to our hostel; it's amazing how peaceful yet alive London feels when the streets aren't crammed with people. Our way back involved walking over the Millennium Bridge, which just so happens to be the bridge that the Death Eaters destroy in film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Then we got snacks and went to bed, and considering I'd been up for about 20 hours it didn't take me long to fall asleep!

From left to right: Elena, Beth, me and Hannah outside The Globe!

The next day was even more chilled out than the first; we weren't heading back home until late afternoon, we wanted to give ourselves two full days in London, and though there was lots of sight-seeing that we could have done, we ended up getting a late breakfast in Trafalgar Square (I had some delicious pancakes) and then we accidentally spent three hours in a huge Waterstone's. It was three hours well spent.

After that we found a nearby pub and just sat and chilled out and caught up. It was so nice just to be sat chatting with friends for a while, and though I would have loved to have gone to The Tower of London or the Natural History Museum or Westminster Abbey, this was just as good, if not better.

Needless to say, I had a great weekend!

Last month I was also lucky enough to attend In Conversation with Sarah Waters, which was hosted by Cardiff Metropolitan University. I work at an independent publishing house in Wales so we were sent an invitation, to which I said a huge YES PLEASE.

I love Sarah Waters; she's one of my favourite authors and The Little Stranger is one of the best books I've read this year. She was interviewed by a couple of members of the university staff and she was absolutely lovely, she was so intelligent and funny and incredibly pleasant. I loved hearing her speak and I'm so glad I got the chance to go and listen to her. I am a little gutted I forgot to take my copy of The Little Stranger, though - I might have got it signed!

Two days later I went to Swansea for an EP launch. I met Cath Elms through another friend of mine, and she has the most beautiful voice. Last month she was releasing her new EP, So Far From Whole, so I went to Swansea for the launch and met up with a few friends. It was a great night and Cath did really well. I'll leave a link to her website here so you can go and check her out!

And finally, I went to Swansea again the night before Halloween to take part in a murder mystery at my friend's house. It was so much fun - I haven't laughed so much in ages - and I had a fantastic night. I got to dress up like a Victorian, and I'm never going to turn down an opportunity to dress up like a Victorian, and it was a brilliant night; everyone brought food and everyone put effort into their costumes and really got involved.

From left to right: me, Cath, Kirsty and Eve - ready to solve a murder!

Basically October was the busiest month I've had in a while!

Catherine @ Based on the Book talked about the Similarities between Authors and their Characters

Cait @ Paper Fury talked about How to Be Kind to Book Bloggers

Tracy @ Cornerfolds talked about Authors Who Can't Let Go

Wendy, Layla and Kim @ The Midnight Garden discussed Roald Dahl's The Witches

What did you get up to in October?

Top Ten Tuesday | Recommended Halloween Reads!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is a Halloween themed freebie, so I thought I'd recommend some books that I think are ideal to read as Halloween creeps closer!

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: There's a reason this is Daphne du Maurier's most famous novel, and it's almost certain that if this had been the only book she ever wrote du Maurier would still be a famous author today. Rebecca is so atmospheric and beautifully written; you open the first page and you fall into Manderley. There are no 'boo!' moments here. If you're not a fan of slow reads this book might not be for you, but whatever your taste I recommend at least giving it a try.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: Shirley Jackson is my favourite horror writer, and in all honesty anything she wrote would be a great read for Halloween. Still, you can't go wrong with a good ol' haunted house story, can you? If you'd rather read something shorter, check out 'The Lottery'.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters: The Little Stranger is quite similar to The Haunting of Hill House in its mood, and another great book if you want to read a haunted house story that, like Jackson's book, is genuinely creepy.

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: Rolling in the Deep is like a literary version of a found footage horror movie. If you like movies like Trollhunter, The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield then I think you'll like this, but if found footage movies aren't your thing I still recommend giving this novella a try. I read it in one sitting, and really enjoyed it.

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield: This is another very slow book, and one that I'm still not 100% sure that I understood. It's a difficult book to describe, and one that I think was marketed in a misleading way; Bellman & Black has been described as a ghost story, but it isn't really, although there is a kind of haunting. I recommend reading this one, though, because Diana Setterfield's writing is beautiful. Even if you come out of this book a little confused, the act of reading it is enjoyable.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla is one of my favourite classics, and one of the most interesting things about it is that it's actually a pre-Dracula example of vampirism in Victorian literature. I've tried reading Dracula several times, for pleasure and for university, but I've never been able to finish it. Carmilla, on the other hand, I devoured. I think it's fantastic.

Misery by Stephen King: I'm not really a Stephen King fan, so the fact that I enjoyed this book says a lot if your tastes happen to be similar to mine. I know King has a humungous fan following, but for the most part I don't think his writing style is particularly great, I really don't like how the majority of his main characters are white male writers (seriously, Stephen, can't you try writing about someone other than yourself?) and I feel like a lot of his stories just go too far. IT is scary enough if it's just about a clown that kills children, so why does there have to be a supernatural element, too? Anyway, I did enjoy Misery; Annie Wilkes is terrifying, and the film adaptation starring Kathy Bates is very good if you'd rather watch that than read the book.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman: In all honesty The Graveyard Book would be another wonderful read for Halloween, but Coraline is short and sweet - if you're looking for something to read in one sitting, then Coraline's for you. Henry Selick's film adaptation is also well worth checking out, especially at this time of year!

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland: This one's less spooky and more fun, although there's a lot of fascinating detail about autopsies, but it's the start to such a brilliant urban fantasy series that I had to stick it on here.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: I'm not actually the biggest fan of Wuthering Heights - I'm forever going to be on the 'Heathcliff is NOT a romantic hero' side of the argument - but it is one of the pinnacles of Victorian Gothic literature. It's very atmospheric, and very wild, and very fitting for Halloween because it's full of despicable characters.

What did you talk about this week?