Review | Wytches, Vol.1 by Scott Snyder and Jock

Wytches, Vol.1

by Scott Snyder and Jock

My Rating: 

Everything you thought you knew about witches is wrong. They are much darker, and they are much more horrifying. Wytches takes the mythology of witches to a far creepier, bone-chilling place than readers have dared venture before. When the Rooks family moves to the remote town of Litchfield, NH to escape a haunting trauma, they're hopeful about starting over. But something evil is waiting for them in the woods just beyond town. Watching from the trees. Ancient...and hungry. 

I'm a big fan of Snyder's American Vampire series, so when I discovered he was writing a new series all about witches I had to check out his take on one of my favourite supernatural creatures.

The first volume of Wytches follows the Rook family - Charlie, Lucy and their daughter, Sailor - who've moved to a new town after Sailor was badly bullied by a girl who subsequently went missing. Naturally, the new town isn't quite the fresh start they expect it to be...

My favourite thing about this graphic novel is definitely the relationship between Charlie and Sailor; I've got a soft spot for good father and daughter relationships, and Snyder writes banter really well. His characters sound like people. It was also great to see a lead character who struggles with anxiety the way Sailor does. It would have been nice to learn a little more about her because at times it felt as though she was defined by her anxiety, and though I know from experience how much anxiety can take over your life it doesn't make you incapable of having hobbies and interests, but a lot of the story was focused on the idea of conquering fear with the help of others and on your own, which I really appreciated.

If you're looking for the kind of witches we're used to - pruned old hags or tempting sorceresses - you won't find them here. Snyder and Jock have created a whole new kind of witch, more of a whole new kind of creature than a warped version of us, but there are still certain allusions to the typical witchcraft we're used to that I thought were slotted quite nicely into the narrative. On the whole, though, these things are an entirely different form of effed up. They're pretty gross, actually, and some of the art is really quite creepy - Jock did a good job!

This volume is very much an introduction. There's still a lot left unexplained and undiscovered, the whole volume felt like a prologue for an upcoming story, so I didn't love it. I do think it has a lot of potential, though, and I'll definitely be picking up the next volume, because Snyder's American Vampire series only continued to expand and improve after the first volume and I'm hoping this series will do the same.

If you're into horror or you'd like to see witchcraft handled in a different way, I recommend checking this out - especially as Halloween approaches!

Monthly Wrap-Up | August 2015

Another month gone. Where is 2015 going? On the plus side, autumn is on its way!

American Vampire, Vol.5

by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Dustin Nyugen

American Vampire, Vol.6

by Various Artists

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

Lorelai, You'll Never Die

by Laura Konrad

The Little Stranger

by Sarah Waters

Parnassus on Wheels

by Christopher Morley

I managed to get through six books last month, but I feel as though I barely read anything. August was a strange month for me, I kept feeling like I was sliding into slump territory which resulted in me reading quite a lot but not finishing everything I was reading.

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

Skim

by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

Lorelai, You'll Never Die

by Laura Konrad

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse

by Diana Rowland

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

The Little Stranger

by Sarah Waters

I continued to watch Hannibal, of course, and tonight it's the last episode of Season 3 and possibly the last episode ever if it doesn't get picked up by another network. I'm going to be so upset if it isn't renewed because it's such a good show and it doesn't seem fair that genuinely good shows are abandoned while crap like Big Brother and The X Factor keep coming back each year.

Someone pick up Hannibal please!

Will Graham asking the important questions

The Great British Bake Off returned in August, so all across Britain everyone is going baking mad! I have no idea if the show is known anywhere else in the world, but over here we love it. Essentially it's just a show about baking, judged by Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, and each week there's a different theme - from desserts to bread to biscuits - until there's only one baker left to become Bake Off Champion. It's a really nice show, and I love seeing what everyone makes even though it makes me hungry.

Mary Berry: National Treasure

I also ended up watching two different adaptations of Rebecca this month, quite by accident. I bought myself a copy of the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock adaptation - I really enjoy his films, and even though I read somewhere that du Maurier wasn't all that impressed with his adaptations of Frenchman's Creek or Jamaica Inn, I thought if anyone could do a good adaptation of a story like Rebecca it'd be this guy. We might not find his films terrifying now, but they still have a lot of atmosphere, and personally I love Rear Window and Psycho.

I enjoyed his adaptation. It was pretty close to the book, and I think it was cast well, too. Laurence Olivier was a rather dashing Maxim de Winter and Judith Anderson was a fantastic Mrs. Danvers, which is just what I want from one of my favourite literary villains.

Joan Fontaine as Mrs. de Winter and Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers

My mum and I watched the film together, and then the next morning the two-part 1997 adaptation was on the TV. This was another very good adaptation, so I'm not quite sure which one I preferred because neither of them were bad adaptations at all. I think I may have preferred Emilia Fox's portrayal of Mrs. de Winter to Joan Fontaine's, purely because she looks a little plainer and more girlish; she looks very much how I pictured her while reading the book. Joan Fontaine, on the other hand, is stunning in the way all those actresses from the 1940s were, though she still acted the part very well.

Emilia Fox as Mrs. de Winter

The 1997 adaptation also starred Charles Dance as Maxim de Winter and Diana Rigg as Mrs. Danvers, and the two of them were brilliant in their roles, too. I wasn't sure about Charles Dance at first - in terms of appearance, Laurence Olivier's portrayal looks the way I pictured Maxim - but Charles Dance acted the part very well.

If you're a fan of Rebecca, I recommend them both!

Something I completely forgot to mention last month because I was too busy talking about Rome, but I'm taking driving lessons again! I was terrified of lessons for the longest time - I hated driving last time I did it - but ultimately I need to be able to drive, and I want to, too. I want the independence of being able to go wherever I feel like going without having to worry about train times or bus times or getting a lift, and this time I'm actually enjoying it!

My instructor is really, really nice - he's funny and he's super patient, which is perfect for someone who's as nervous behind the wheel of the car as I am - and I want to have my licence by the end of the year. I have no idea how I'm going to afford my own car or anything, but I'll tackle that hurdle when I come to it.

In even more exciting news, I have a new niece! My older sister gave birth to her second baby - another little girl - on the very last day of August. Her name's Millie and she's gorgeous. She's so teeny tiny! The poor little thing came out with two black eyes and a bruised lip because the midwives didn't realise she was in the wrong position, so her face got all squished inside the womb. In the end my sister was taken down for a c-section because she was in a lot of pain and Millie couldn't get into the right position, but she's here now and both mother and baby are doing just fine. Plus my other niece is very pleased with her little sister.

My niece, Willow, holds her baby sister for the first time!

Tracy @ Cornerfolds talked about the Female Character Types She Hates

Cait @ Paper Fury talked about wanting Diverse Books that are NOT about Being Diverse

Beth @ The Quiet People talked about why she loves Re-Reading Books

Allie @ Little Birdie Books asked Is Your Own Company Good Enough?

How was your August?

Top Ten Tuesday | They See Me Haulin'...

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 the 'Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession', and because I can't control myself I'm always acquiring new books.

I got back from Rome last night after an amazing holiday and I'm back at work tomorrow. I'm pretty tired, but it felt wrong to miss out on Top Ten Tuesday!

From my most recent backwards, here are the last ten books I've bought:

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee: I only read To Kill a Mockingbird for the very first time last month, but I loved it and not long after I finished it I pre-ordered a pretty hardback copy of Go Set a Watchman and it arrived today! I'm looking forward to seeing what adulthood made of Scout.

Wytches, Vol.1 by Scott Snyder and Jock: I love Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque's American Vampire series, and when I heard Snyder was writing another graphic novel series about witches I had to have it. This is another one I pre-ordered, and it arrived the day I left for Rome so I'm looking forward to reading it!

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: I was hardly going to come home from Rome without a new book. I tried desperately to find an Italian version of Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, purely because I really like the film and I liked the idea of owning a book set in Italy in Italian, but I couldn't find a copy. I found a little copy of this, however, in the gift shop at the Colosseum and fell in love with it. I've never owned a book of philosophy, but I started flicking through this and I couldn't resist it. Some of it's really funny and some of it's incredibly thoughtful. I'm going to enjoy dipping in and out of this.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: I found a brand new hardback edition of this for just £2 in The Works, so I snapped it up! I have yet to read any Yancey, but I've heard primarily good things.

The King's Mistress by Claudia Gold: I also found a hardback edition of this in The Works for just £4, and I picked it up for the simple reason that it's about a woman I'd never heard of. I like historical nonfiction and I love my historical ladies, but as much as I'm a history enthusiast I know very little about the whole Georgian and Regency periods so I thought this book might make for an interesting read!

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan: I'll be honest, the main reason I picked this up is because of the gorgeous cover. I have the hardback edition, and the cover is even more stunning beneath the dustjacket. I do also love the sound of plot and I've heard a lot of great reviews, plus it turns out one of the author's favourite children's books is Roald Dahl's The Magic Finger, which is also one of mine. I'm looking forward to reading it!

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier: I already own this and I've already read it, but I decided to treat myself to the VMC edition to match my copy of Jamaica Inn.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: Same again here, I've read it and owned another copy but I wanted this pretty one!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik: So I've heard nothing but amazing things about this one, including a rave review from my lovely friend Natalie, and I so rarely come across standalone fantasies that I couldn't resist buying this stunning hardcover. I'm reading it right now, and enjoying it so far!

The Secret Life of Aphra Behn by Janet Todd: This is another piece of historical nonfiction all about Aphra Behn, a woman who wrote novels, plays and poetry during the 17th century. She was also employed as a spy in Antwerp by Charles II, and was good friends with his mistress, Nell Gwynn, an actress whom she dedicated one of her plays to. Basically she's one of my heroes and I can't wait to learn more about her.

Which books made your list?

Monthly Wrap-Up | June 2015

It's time to wrap-up another month - where is 2015 going? We got some lovely weather here in the UK throughout June, so I've been enjoying the sunshine.

Somehow I managed to read twelve books this month, which I definitely wasn't expecting - in fact I even ended up completing my Goodreads challenge of reading 40 books! I can't wait to see how much more I can read this year.

There were some graphic novels, a dash of nonfiction, a couple of modern classics and a childhood favourite amongst my reads this year. A good month!

Lolly Willowes

by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Reviewed here!

How To Be a Heroine

by Samantha Ellis

Reviewed here!

Stargirl

by Jerry Spinelli

Reviewed here!

Jane, the Fox & Me

by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault

Reviewed here!

The Magic Finger 

by Roald Dahl

(re-read)

The Night Bookmobile

by Audrey Niffenegger

Lumberjanes, Vol.1

by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen

Reviewed here!

Medieval Monsters

by Damien Kempf and Maria L. Gilbert

American Vampire, Vol.4

by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Jordi Bernett

Reviewed here!

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

Ms. Marvel, Vol.3: Crushed

by G. Willow Wilson, Elmo Bondoc and Takeshi Miyazawa

Darkhaven

by A.F.E. Smith

I discovered a new favourite show in June: Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

I know, I know, it started back in 2o13, but I only just got around to watching it in June, and I couldn't stop. I marathoned the first season and loved it. I usually struggle with comedies; I know it makes me sound really miserable, but I get bored of laughing. That sounds ridiculous, I know, but I hate those shows with canned laughter (apart from Friends, which I will always love) that just continually make fart jokes and boob jokes, but Brooklyn Nine-Nine was so much fun. I laughed out loud more than once, and I can't wait to immerse myself in season two!

I also continued to watch Penny Dreadful, and season 2 is almost over! I loved Angelique so much, and I continue to adore Ethan Chandler who is just adorable.

And Hannibal returned in June! And then revealed season 3 would be its last because NBC have decided not to renew it...

Why is it always the best shows that get cancelled? Hannibal is such a fantastic show - how can it not be with Bryan Fuller at the helm and that fantastic cast? - and us Fannibals are all hoping that Netflix will pick the series up. I don't want this series to end! But, if it must, I trust that Bryan Fuller has created a brilliant finale. #SaveHannibal

How Do You See Cinder?

Should Our Books have Trigger Warnings?

From Screen to Page #1

Don't Judge a Book by its Author

As much as June has felt like another month that's gone by quickly, I also feel like I've packed a lot more into June!

In the middle of the month I ended up returning to Lancaster, where I went to uni, for the night because the publisher I work for published a short story collection written by one of the Creative Writing professors there. I helped to organise the book launch because I have contacts up at Litfest, so I travelled up there with Penny, our fiction editor, and then went out to dinner with two of my friends from uni who are still in the area. We had a lovely dinner at Bella Italia, and I completely forgot to take any photos because I'm rubbish, but it was so nice to be back in the city I love, even just for a night.

One of my friends was lovely enough to offer me a room for the night, and then I got back on the train down to south Wales the next morning. I also received some pretty cool news while I was up there; it turns out the portfolio I worked on for my MA last year is up on the uni's website for the current MA students to look at because it was one of the best from last year - I was so surprised!

I strayed into England twice in June; first to Lancaster, and then to Glastonbury. I moved around quite a bit while I was in primary school, and for a few years I lived very near Glastonbury in a little village in Somerset. I love Glastonbury; it's a fun, kooky little place that also claims to be the place where King Arthur is buried, in fact people still journey there every year to leave flowers for him at Glastonbury Abbey!

He and Guinevere have been missing since the dissolution of the monasteries (we have good ol' Henry VIII to thank for that) though it's doubtful that he was ever really there at all, as the monks happened to discover him at a time when the Abbey was in need of money. Still, it's nice to believe in things like this, isn't it? And he certainly means a lot to people; while we were there someone left him a rose.

If you ever have the chance to visit Glastonbury then I recommend going, especially if you've never been! It's a beautiful part of the world and Glastonbury Abbey is well worth a visit if you're a fan of history - in fact it's worth a visit even if you aren't! There are lots of fun little shops in Glastonbury, too, selling jewellery and incense and all sorts, and if you'd rather do something more outdoorsy you can always visit the Tor!

My mum explores Glastonbury Abbey...

These tiles are 800 years old!

I'm going to be doing some more exploring in July, a little further afield, as my friend Elena and I are off to Rome!

Becky Albertalli wrote a guest post @ Pop! Goes the Reader for Ladies in Literature month all about Body Positivity in Literature

Kat @ Murder of Goths wrote a guest post @ She Might Be Loved about Taking Up Space

Tonyalee @ Lilybloombooks wrote a great post all about Fitting In in the blogging world

Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows announced Harry Potter Month!

Cristina @ Girl in the Pages discussed Parents in YA Literature

Georgina @ She Might Be Loved talked about her Blogging Journey

How was your June?

Top Ten Tuesday | Best Books of 2015 (So Far!)

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 Books I've Read So Far in 2015'. I didn't know if I was going to get to ten at first because, while I read plenty, there are only a few books each year that really, really stick with me. Or at least that's always been the case before. This year, however, has been a great reading year so, and I hope it continues that way!

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: This was the very first book I finished this year, and it's just stunning. If you're a fan of quiet, emotionally bruising historical fiction then this novel is most definitely worth checking out. It's gorgeous. (You can check out my review here!)

Rat Queens, Vol.1: Sass and Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch: This graphic novel is a miracle. It's like someone took everything I ever wanted to see in a high fantasy story, gift-wrapped it and then handed it to me. It's fun and funny and fantastic - read it! (You can check out my review here!)

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland: This book was such a pleasant surprise. I expected to like it, but I didn't expect to love it. And I loved it. Angel is such a refreshing heroine in the world of urban fantasy, and I love her. (You can check out my review here!)

Fairest by Marissa Meyer: I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was disappointed when Winter's release date was pushed back to November, though I'd much rather wait for a book Marissa Meyer is happy with, and I was a little wary of a prequel starring Levana for the simple reason that I very rarely come across villain stories that I like. I'm not interested in villains with sob stories; give me villains who just relish being unforgivably villainous. That being said, I thought Levana's story was fantastic. It was so twisted and believable, and while it made me empathise with her a little it didn't make me dislike her any less, which is just what I want from a villain's story. (You can check out my review here!)

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Probably my favourite book of 2015, I just fell head over heels in love with it. I wasn't alive in the '80s, but this book is one of the only books I've read that's reminded me of how it felt to be a teenager. I found reading this book so emotional, in a wonderful way, and I can't recommend it enough. Also it's witchcraft with '80s music in Mexico City, how could you not want to read it? (You can check out my review here!)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: After reading The Haunting of Hill House last year I wanted to pick up some more Jackson, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle was the one that most appealed to me. I just loved it. There's something about Jackson's writing style that creeps under my skin and takes root there, and I love that.

American Vampire, Vol.3 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Sean Murphy: I've really gotten into this series this year, and I just loved Volume 3. I loved both of the stories, I loved the characters... I just loved it! (You can check out my review here!)

Jane Eyre's Sisters: How Women Live and Write the Heroine's Story by Jody Gentian Bower: This was my first non-fiction read in a long time, and I bloody loved it. If you're a fan of heroines, you'll enjoy this book, and if you're a fan of the way stories are written, you'll enjoy this book. For any students out there who are currently writing essays or dissertations around heroines and women writers then this book would be great for you, but it's an enjoyable read as much as it has the possibility to be an academic one. As a reader I enjoyed this, and as a writer I found it really useful!

How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: Jane Eyre's Sisters whet my appetite for more non-fiction, and as I already owned How To Be a Heroine and it was also about heroines I decided to pick it up. Whereas Jane Eyre's Sisters focuses more on how we write heroines, How To Be a Heroine focused on how we read them. It's a delightful book. (You can check out my review here!)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: I didn't pick this book up for the longest time because so many people told me to read it, and I'm always wary of hype; books are never as good as you want them to be when you hype them up. Then this month I decided to pick it up and went into it with no expectations whatsoever, and I really enjoyed it. Some books really are beloved classics for a reason, and this is one such book. I'm so glad to finally have it under my belt.

Which books made your list?

Review | American Vampire, Vol.4 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Jordi Bernett

American Vampire, Vol.4

by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Jordi Bernett

My Rating:

AMERICAN VAMPIRE flashes back to two very distinct points in American history. The first tale comes from the early 1800's with the "The Beast in the Cave" featuring art by the legendary Jordi Bernet (Torpedo, JONAH HEX). Learn about the original American Vampire, Skinner Sweet, and his involvement in the brutal Indian Wars, and an ancient evil hidden in the heart of the Old West. Plus, more about the man Skinner used to call his best friend - James Book!The second tale comes straight from 1950s America, where AMERICAN VAMPIRE is terrorizing the suburbs with hot rods, teenyboppers and fangs! "Death Race" focuses on ferocious new vampire hunter Travis Kidd - but what is his connection to Skinner Sweet? As the story comes to a violent end, a sworn enemy's identity is finally revealed, and lots of blood is spilled!

Considering how much I enjoyed Volume 3 (reviewed here!) of American Vampire I was bound to pick up the next instalment as soon as I could afford to - I love graphic novels and I'm happy to pay a little more for them than I would for any other book, but when you need to catch up on a series and buy three at once it gets pretty pricy pretty fast!

A part of me was hesitant to pick up Volume 4 because I loved Volume 3 so much, I was worried I'd somehow find this volume hugely disappointing because it wasn't the previous one, but I ended up enjoying it quite a lot. After the sheer awesome that was the previous volume, I think Snyder's decision to take a break from those characters was wise; instead our first story in this volume shows us James Book and Skinner Sweet in their youth - it was nice to see a pre-vampire Skinner and a not-dead Book! - the second took us to the '50s and introduced another new character: Travis Kidd, and the third showed us something of Calvin Poole and the racial tensions in mid-20th century America, with just a brief glimpse of Pearl and Henry.

My favourite story in this volume would have to be Travis Kidd's, which surprised me. I was a little wary going in that Travis was going to be a very typical character; a Skinner Sweet in miniature, only with less fangs. Instead he was an interesting character with an interesting set of wooden teeth, and I loved the James Dean, rebel without a cause vibe to his story which really suited the era it was set in. I look forward to seeing what he gets up to next.

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the first story which explored the history between Book and Skinner. I feel like too many enemy stories start out with two guys who were 'once like brothers', so I was a little disappointed Snyder decided to go down that route for these two, but having said that the two of them once being like family does make their inevitable war against one another all the more bittersweet.

I would like to see more of Mimiteh in future, a Native American vampire who seems like a cool, but lethal, lady. I'd love to know if she and Skinner have ever crossed paths.

I liked the way Calvin's story played around with prejudice, and also introduced us to what seems to be a new species of vampire. Snyder just keeps on expanding this world he's created, and I love how his imagination works.

My main criticism of this volume, and the reason I didn't rate it as highly as the previous, was simply because there weren't enough ladies in it for me. I wasn't too keen on the fate of Piper, Travis's 'girlfriend', and there were times when I felt Mimiteh was rather sexualised, but that could just be me being very picky. Pearl and Felicia usually have quite a bit of 'screen time', so I suppose it's only fair the boys get some, too!

I'm still loving this series, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next volume!

Top Ten Tuesday | Lights, Camera, ACTION!

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 Books I'd Love To See As Movies/TV Shows'. I love adaptations; there's always the fear that an adaptation is going to be terrible, especially if it's an adaptation of a book you love, but from a critical point of view I find all adaptations fascinating. I love to know why certain decisions were made: why the costumes look the way they do, why that setting was chosen, why that actor was cast, how the director first came to know the book if they knew it before at all.

I love films and there are a few TV shows I adore, so while I'm certainly no expert I tried to assign a director to each of these make-believe adaptations because I thought it'd be fun to give an idea of the kind of adaptation that I'd love to see!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: I read this not too long ago, and Jackson has quickly become one of my favourite authors - she's certainly my favourite horror writer! Heavily inspired by the above cover, I'd love to see Henry Selick create a monochrome stop motion adaptation of this. We so often associate stop motion with children's films, and I think that combined with how grotesque you can make stop motion figures would make for a really atmospheric southern gothic film. Henry Selick's no stranger to adaptations, he's the director of Coraline and also the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and, most recently, The Box Trolls.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: I had to read this during my first year of uni, and though I wasn't expecting to like it I ended up loving it. It's such a fun, vibrant story - well worth a read if you're a fan of retellings - and I think this would work wonderfully as a Studio Ghibli film. Studio Ghibli are also familiar with adaptations; they're the company responsible for the brilliant adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle!

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris: Okay, so obviously The Silence of the Lambs already has an amazing film adaptation starring the fantastic Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster - if you haven't already, watch it, it's so good - but I'm also a huge fan of the show Hannibal, created by the marvellous Bryan Fuller who's also adapting Neil Gaiman's American Gods for TV. I'm really hoping the show gets the rights to Clarice so they can eventually tackle the Silence of the Lambs story in the show.

American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque: I can't be the only one who thinks this would make a really fun TV series, right? I've really gotten into this series this year, and if it were to be adapted I'd love to see someone like Guillermo del Toro at the helm. I feel as though del Toro would be a wonderful fit because he could handle the darker, spookier elements, he's the director of Pan's Labyrinth and the executive producer of Mama after all, and he'd be able to co-ordinate all the action sequences, too, as he's the director of the Hellboy films and Pacific Rim. He's no stranger to TV, either - in fact he's one of the co-creators of The Strain, which just so happens to deal with vampirism.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland: Personally I think this would make such a fun Tim Burton movie. Just so long as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter weren't playing the leads. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but it's time to give some other actors a bit of work! Burton has this habit of mixing bright, vibrant colours with really macabre situations (e.g. in Corpse Bride the land of the living is black and white, whereas the afterlife is bright and colourful) and I think that would work really well with this story.

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: I mean... this story's just meant to be adapted into a found footage horror movie, right? It'd be so much fun to watch, not to mention creepy as hell if given to the right creative team.

Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch and Stjepan Sejic: I've heard rumours that this series is going to be adapted into an animated series, and I really, really hope those rumours are true.

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau: There have been an awful lot of historical fiction adaptations on the BBC recently - The White Queen; Wolf Hall; Poldark; The Strange Case of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - but I'd love to see some more ladies in these adaptations, and given that so much of The Crown takes place in a nunnery I think it'd be a really fun crime drama to watch.

Feed by Mira Grant: Yet another Mira Grant book. You all know how much I love this one, and though I'd be worried that an adaptation wouldn't do it justice I do think this book would make an amazing TV show. Every episode could open with one of Georgia and co.'s blog posts, or at least that's how I imagine it.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I thought the adaptation of If I Stay was really good, so I'd love to see an adaptation of the sequel, too.

Which books made your list?