Hello October // Holly's Halloween Movie Nights

Please welcome back Holly from The Arts Shelf who is sharing her favourite Halloween movies!

No Halloween is complete without a selection of scary movies, and these are a few of my favourites.

1: Nightmare Before Christmas

Okay, this one isn’t scary, but it’s still a Halloween staple; and a Christmas one too.

2: Ghost Ship.

I watched this one as a teen and it absolutely chilled me to the core. Now I’m older and can stomach the gore a little better, it’s become a favourite.

3: Cry Wolf.

This one’s a bit of a mind bender, and honestly a fave film whatever time of the year. Great both the first and second times around, it also doesn’t hurt that it stars Jared Padalecki.

4: Beetlejuice.

An absolute classic, passed down from my parents. Funny and freaky, Halloween wouldn’t be complete without this side of crazy.

5: Friday the 13^th.

Whether the original or the remake, this story does not go amiss on the night of October 31^st. If you want gore and a creepy location that will haunt your dreams, look no further.

What are your favourite Halloween movies? Let us know on Twitter!

@The_Arts_Shelf

@Cazzimon

Hello October // Brianna Reviews - Taken by Benedict Jacka

Published: 6^th September 2012

Publisher: Orbit

Format: Paperback

Synopsis: Welcome to Fountain Reach. Ancient seat of the Aubuchon dynasty. Majestic setting of the White Stone tournament Alex Verus' (not necessarily reliable) reputation attracts all sorts. Most are plain bonkers. Yet there's one invitation he just can't refuse At Fountain Reach, Alex is perfectly placed among the noted and notorious to figure out why apprentices have been vanishing. But the tournament is a minefield of ancient grudges and new threats and Alex can't afford to miss a trick as his elusive adversary stays one step ahead in this most dangerous of games.

Alex is definitely beginning to pick up a reputation for investigating things – or maybe just for finding is way right slap bang in the middle of trouble. He has been asked or pointed in the direction of Fountain Reach by several people and he has also been asked to quietly looking into the disappearances of several apprentices although a lot of people seem to know that he has been asked. So obviously Alex and Luna set off for Fountain Reach to investigate the creepy house.

I would like to start off by saying: Yes, no Deleo/Rachael!

As predicted both Sonder and Talisid make a reappearance, the more I see Sonder the more I like him. Other reappearances include Onyx and Morden. But sadly no appearance from Starbreeze, I hope she comes back soon. 

I feel like Luna takes a fairly central role in Taken despite that fact that Alex spends more time with Anne. I really like the way that we get to see the way in which Luna is changing in this book (for the good) there is definitely a noticeable difference between her in the last book and her in this book as she is becoming more confident and learning to control her curse more as well as learning more about mage society. There is also a change in the relationship between her and Alex, he’s no longer trying to push her away and accepting that she can also take risks, not just him.

I liked Anne from the moment she appeared it might have just been because she is friends with Luna, but she quickly won me over herself Variam took a little longer, in fact I’m still not sure I like him.

I found the house in this very creepy from the first time Alex visited it, in fact in places I almost had goosebumps, I think it’s that feeling of a building somehow watching you, that idea has always creeped me out, although I guess in this case it was more than a feeling.  I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil it, not because it isn’t something you can’t guess but because I really enjoyed the ‘who did it and how’ of this book, and in my opinion it is exactly the right mix of creepy, dark and disturbing. The longer you dwell on the scene inside the old shed with the bath tub, the worse it gets.

It’s starting to bug me a little how little we actually know about Alex, I still want to know how he became a mage, was he one before he met Richard? What about his parents? How old is he? (he seemed older in this book than he did in the others) and I also wonder how much other characters know about him, is it common knowledge that he was a Dark apprentice, because Natasha has her little speech about how Anne and Variam started off as Dark apprentices, yet Variam has a go at Alex for not understanding what it was like to be a Dark apprentice and to escape from it, which if Alex’s past was common knowledge surely Variam would realise earlier that Alex wasn’t judging him and Anne.  And if Alex didn’t finish being an apprentice, how come he’s not still one, and who taught him how to be a diviner I know he learnt from the Diviner from the first book (sorry I’ve forgotten his name) but Alex mentioned that it had never been a Master, Apprentice arrangement which to me suggests that he learnt from someone else. Maybe Alex’s past is something we’ll pick up slowly from each book.

Of course I will read the next book, I want to see if Luna continues to use her whip, if anne and Variam stick around did Onyx get out or have we seen the last of him… and more importantly does Starbreeze come back?

Hello October // Holly's Cosplayers

 

In honour of Halloween, I’ve made a list of my top 5 characters who I think would Cosplay, come October 31^st.

1: Brandon and Abel, from How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by J C Lillis.

Of course Brandon and Abel would spend Halloween cosplaying their favourite characters, Sim and Captain Cadmus, respectively.

2: Kaz Brekker, from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

I’m pretty sure Kaz would dress up for the occasion, if only for a job. Grisha? Stadwatch guard? His choice in itself however is a mystery.

3: Lucien, from A Court of Thorns and Roses by S J Maas.

Tamlin would hate to wear a mask, and Rhysand would probably wear one just to annoy Tam, but I think Lucien would be game for costumes and a good time.

4: Simon Spier, from Simon Vs The Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.

Would it be weird to suggest that Simon would dress-up as an Oreo? Or maybe he would join his friend Abel as Captain Cadmus?

5: Rhy Maresh, from A Gathering of Shadows by Victoria Schwab.

I honestly think Rhy, accompanied by Alucard, would make a fabulous pirate. But maybe that’s just me?

 Do you have any Cosplay Character suggestions? Let us know on Twitter!

@The_Arts_Shelf

@Cazzimon

Thanks Holly! This is such a wonderfully creative list and has definitely got me thinking about other book characters i'd love to see cosplay as someone else! Please do share any fan art or other cosplay ideas with us. You could even share your own list right here on the blog! Please get in touch :)

Hello October // Caragh Reviews - Haunt Me by Liz Kessler

Published - 6th October 2016
Publisher - Orion Children's Books/Hachette
Format - Kindle
Synopsis -  Joe wakes up from a deep sleep to see his family leave in a removals van. Where they've gone, he has no idea. Erin moves house and instantly feels at home in her new room. Even if it appears she isn't the only one living in it. Bit by bit, Erin and Joe discover that they have somehow found a way across the ultimate divide - life and death. Bound by their backgrounds, a love of poetry and their growing feelings for each other, they are determined to find a way to be together. Joe's brother, Olly, never cared much for poetry. He was always too busy being king of the school - but that all changed when Joe died. And when an encounter in the school corridor brings him face to face with Erin, he realises how different things really are - including the kind of girl he falls for. Two brothers. Two choices. Will Erin's decision destroy her completely, or can she save herself before she is lost forever?

I received a digital copy of Haunt Me from Hachette.

When I read the description for Haunt Me I thought 2 things;
1. I've never read anything like that before.
2. It would be PERFECT for an October read.
Of course, both of those things are true. In general, I don't read a lot of paranormal books and honestly, I'm not even sure why. If somebody asked me i'd say it's one of my favourite genres but 2016 has been filled with a LOT of straight forward YA books. It's been great, but i'm trying to shake up my reading style and this was a pretty good place to start.

Upon sitting down and trying to write this review, I still don't know 100% what I think or feel about it. I really enjoyed the actual reading of the book. It was easy to read, pretty quick paced and easy to understand characters - all things you want generally. I did however hope it would be a little more complex. Exploring the idea of ghosts, the possibility of a physical relationship with other side and the emotions and trauma that would be involved seemed like such a huge task to write about in just a few short pages and....it kind of was. Though the story itself was fine, it lacked a lot of intimate details. I don't mean that kind of intimate, get your minds out of the gutter.... I mean that there was just a lot of misplaced emotion. It felt like it took Joe about 30 minutes to realise he was dead and actually be ok with it. Likewise, Erin discovers her house is haunted and she's sharing her bedroom with a ghost and she's over the moon. There's no real conversation that the reader witnesses that really explains how they feel. And of course there's the insta-love aspect that I just didn't believe in.

Ironically though, when we meet Joe's brother, now there's the emotional and that weird connection feeling in the depths of your belly. If the whole book had that feeling then i'd have found it a lot more intriguing. Like I said though, I did enjoy reading it. I will say that it did handle a lot of big, sensitive issues - more specifically mental health and drug problems. I felt they were discussed well in general terms, making reference to Erin getting help in the past for anxiety etc which was great.

Overall a solid 3 stars. It wasn't quite the chilling paranormal book I was expecting but still enjoyable and one to remember.

Hello October // Brianna hates magic #2 - What is Magic?

What is magic? I mean I know what magic is but in the context of books it seems to me that it can be quite a broad spectrum. So obviously you have books like Harry Potter, Poison Study and Wizards First Rule, which are obviously magic, but then for me it all gets a little blurry and questionable.

Even books which do clearly contain magic like Lord of the Rings and Eragon leave me questioning whether they are ‘magic’ books, probably because I view them as being primarily fantasy books, but are they also magic books, for that matter is all fantasy magic?

Fantasy itself covers I wide range of books and styles so if all fantasy is magic then magic covers a huge range, even fantasy that doesn’t seem like it has magic like Game of Thrones has magical elements. And while on the subject of magical elements what about things like Morganville, I mean the house is... something… but is it magical, I mean it does stock up an empty fridge with cokes, and even getting down to the basics of it, are Vampires themselves magic? Is any book involving vampires or werewolves ‘magic’?

Once we’ve started questioning whether Vampires and Werewolves are magic, where does that leave Gods? Are Gods magic? Because there are things that happen in Percy Jackson that definitely fall under a description of magical, but he is a demi god so is it still magic. And once you question Gods then you have to question Angels and Demons; Hush, Hush definitely has some magical elements but does the fact that they are Angels negate the magic? The Demon Trappers series has all three, angels, demons and magic and until this moment I’d never really stopped to think that the series includes magic, I guess I was too preoccupied with the demons. (Although that’s not saying much I forgot that poison study was about magic!)

And where do you stop after Vampires, Werewolves, God and Angels and Demons? Shapeshifters? Ghosts? Elves? Dragons? Premonitions? The Grim Reaper? Talking Lion’s and Fauns? At least we are certain that Witches, Mages and Fairies are magic… right?

The other alternative for Vampires and Werewolves is science. A lot of vampire books these days do make it sound more like science, Morganville especially makes it more biology and physics based (although maybe that’s all magic is in everything). Morganville does a good job of explaining the magic off as science, the portals, the control over the borders of the town, but even with all that Science just falls a little short of explaining it all; I mean the house for starters has a mind of its own and responds to the people inside, including saving both Michael and Clare, and throwing out unwanted guests and again, it stocked the fridge; Then there is Ada who is kind of science but at the same time, maybe not entirely and also the mental powers of the vampires, not to mention the existence of vampires in the first place.

I can’t talk about whether it is science or magic without bringing up the His Dark Materials trilogy Personally I always considered them science, until I saw it on a list of magic books on Goodreads, the daemons, the knife that can cut windows into different worlds, yup that all sounds pretty much like magic, but at the same time when I read them it just didn’t feel like magic to me.  

Maybe the definition of whether something is magic is all up to the way it’s perceived when read which could explain why I don’t like magic yet love magic books, so long as the magic blends into the world of the book and blurs the line between science and magic then I’m fine with it. What if the characters in the books see magic, when it’s really science we know it’s science but they don’t because it’s nothing they’ve ever seen before? I’m never quite sure if the magic in White Wolf and The Swords of Night and Day is supposed to be technology left over from a previous civilisation or if it really is magic.

I suppose either is possible and ultimately like most things in books, a lot is up the author but I think much more is up to the person reading it and how they imagine the book and it’s world to be like, after all my Grandma refers to Google as ‘my magic screen’ – to me it’s the internet easily explained as technology made of 1’s and 0’s (yeah… I have no idea how it works), to her it’s ‘magic’ – maybe magic is just what we call stuff that is so far beyond our understanding we can’t even begin to work it out.

P.s. What about Sci-fi… could it be magic too...?

Hello October // Autumn Mornings #1

Hello there Autumn book lovers. It's just me here today for a little bit of a chat as October is well and truly here now. I can't begin to tell you how much I am loving big fluffy jumpers and cosy scarves. Living by the sea is beautiful but it doesn't half bring a big cold breeze in the mornings. There are so many reasons to love October but today I want to talk about one - mornings.

Anybody who knows me is completely aware that I am not a morning person. I work on the backshift at work (meaning late starts and even later finishes) for that very reason! Between my busy work life and even busier home life, it's pretty rare that I get some free time to just relax and enjoy myself. That's where October comes in. There's just something so wonderful and magical to me about chilly breath-seeing mornings (but not quite frost!) that gets me up and out of the house. I'm also really lucky to have friends that indulge me in my October madness :)

Those who have a lot of free time (is there anyone left that does?) probably won't really appreciate this post but it left me with a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy and I just knew I had to share my day during this month long blogfest.

Last week, I got Brianna up ridiculously early (well, to us anyway) because it was the day I had decided upon to partake in the years first Pumpkin Spiced Latte.

So we went along to Starbucks, which honestly is a bit too far out to actually justify most days. My tiny village can just about understand a coffee shop, never mind get to grips with grande/vent/mochas and so on! We had a little laugh about the fact that we were in a service station having lunch by choice when most people were on their way somewhere super important; we imagined meetings and conferences.

We grabbed our drinks (Caramel Macchiato for Brianna), found a cosy corner and promptly pulled out our books and ignored each other. It was wonderful. That's the beauty of our friendship. After all these years, we find so much comfort in each others presence that ignoring all social etiquette seems perfectly normal to us! It inspired me to share with you some of my Autumn mornings during October and share some photos of my village as the colours of Autumn start coming in. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do!

 Please share stories and photos of what you've been up to in so far this month! Get in touch to organise some space :)