Folklore Friday - An Introduction

Folklore is the grandfather of literature, the original bedtime stories.  Even before we had paper and ink, we had words.  Storytelling is a tradition of the human race, nurturing your imaginations and creating the storytellers of the future.  Folklore may not be elegant or award winning, but it plays an important role in the history of writing.  Every Friday I will write about a different folklore, some that are household names, others that are less widespread. I'd like to give credit to my friend Cassie for coming up with this brilliant idea and allowing me to use it! Hansel and Gretel will be the subject of my first ever Folklore Friday, a tale most children have heard at least once growing up.

Sharp Objects: A Novel - Book Review

Only 15 minutes before I started this article, I turned the last page of Sharp Objects: A Novel by Gillian Flynn.  It's 6 AM and I'm exhausted from staying up all night reading, but I had to come write this while it was still fresh in my mind, while the feelings are still there.

If I could choose one word to sum up all of Sharp Objects, it would be addictive.  Dark and twisted, you're drawn in from the very first page, ensnared into a story you love to hate and can't put down.  Throughout the book I was conflicted, unsure if I liked it or not but helplessly unable to turn off the light and go to bed.  As the chapters flew by I found myself increasingly disturbed and intrigued at the same time.

Camille Preaker, a reporter recovering from a recent stay in a mental hospital, is sent back to her hometown by her boss to cover the story of the murder of a young girl and the disappearance of another.  Returning home brings back buried childhood memories and a troubled past, with the case stirring up things best left forgotten.

Books to Film - Twilight

We all have had our favorite books turned in into movies at some points, or perhaps even TV shows. There are countless film adaptations for popular books and series, such as HBO's Game of Thrones based on the book series by George R.R. Martin.  Some of these turn out fantastic, while others flop and leave readers desperately trying to convince their friends that the books really are good despite the movie.  I'm going to write a series of articles about these book to film conversions, and this will be the first of them.  This particular post will be longer than my future posts on the subject, because I will be covering all 5 of the movies.  Fear not, this should be the only one that is a literal wall of text!

As a book series, The Twilight Saga has seen great success.  I personally enjoy the characters and story, but the writing had its flaws.  This is not a book review however, so I won't be going into detail about what I liked or disliked about the books.  This post is meant to analyze how the movies compare to the books, and my own thoughts on the character portrayal and such subjects.

Fifty Shades - Why so popular?

While browsing through the most recent New York Times bestseller's list, I noticed that sitting in number 5 was the infamous 50 Shades of Grey, and that -gasp- it's been on the list for a total of 46 weeks.  Look down a few titles and you'll notice both its sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, in the number 8 and 9 position.  Darker has been on the list for 46 weeks as well, an impressive feat considering it was written after the first book, and Freed had 44 weeks on the chart.

Clearly all three books came into popularity at nearly the same time, which is most likely do to the considerable word of mouth and media attention it got once the world knew it was there.  What is it however, that makes the books so very popular? "Everyone and their mother are reading it" is a term I've heard many times referring to the books, and it's actually true. So why?