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“Barbenheimer”: Is It Worth Seeing Both?

For the record, my plans for this weekend included neither watching Oppenheimer and Barbie, nor writing up reviews about both the films and the “challenge.” Not to mention, I was only interested in seeing Oppenheimer; I was going to wait for Barbie to come out either on streaming platforms or on DVD/Blu-Ray. Then, some of my original plans fell through and… Continue reading “Barbenheimer”: Is It Worth Seeing Both?

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Speculative Fiction Narratives with Expansive Worlds & Histories: Part 1

This is a topic I've been thinking about for some time. I figured with life stressing me out to the point where I'm worried about getting burned out, I might as well get some of these thoughts about the speculative fiction genre out of my mind. One of the aspects about speculative fiction which lure… Continue reading Speculative Fiction Narratives with Expansive Worlds & Histories: Part 1

ARCs · Audiobook · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Haul · Book Theories · Book to Media Adaptations · Books · Comics · Coming-of-Age · Debut · Fairy Tale Retellings · Fairy Tales · Family · Family Dynamics · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Folklore · Gender Roles · Goodreads · gothic · graphic novels · Grimdark · Horror · Indie Books · LGBTQ · Literary Awards · Literature · magic realism · Mark Lawrence · Metaphysical Fiction · Middle Eastern Fantasy · Middle Grade Books · Middle Grade Fiction · Paranormal · Parents and Parenting · Predictions · Reading · Science Fiction · Seanan McGuire · Sequel · speculative fiction · Trilogy · TV · Video Games · Wayward Children · Young Adult Fiction

Reading Check-In: February 4, 2023

This is the second full week I have been without my computer, which means I’m typing this week’s blog post through the mobile app. Yes, I’m able to use the app as easily as the website, but I know trying to write out or to copy-and-paste my review won’t be easy for me to do… Continue reading Reading Check-In: February 4, 2023

ARCs · Asian Influence · Audiobook · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Haul · Book to Media Adaptations · Books · Coming-of-Age · Debut · Fairy Tale Retellings · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Goodreads · graphic novels · Horror · LGBTQ · Middle Eastern Fantasy · Middle Grade Books · novella · Reading · Science Fiction · Seanan McGuire · Sequel · speculative fiction · Video Games · Wayward Children · Young Adult Fiction

Reading Check-In: January 7, 2023

Happy New Year Everyone! 2023 is underway and so are the books for this month. WOW! So many excellent titles are coming out this month! Anyone who follows me on Goodreads will notice 2 things about my Reading Challenge. First, in 2022, I fell short by 5 books. I still read 70 books, but I… Continue reading Reading Check-In: January 7, 2023

ARCs · Audiobook · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Review · Book to Media Adaptations · Books · Children's Fiction · Coming-of-Age · Debut · Duology · Fairy Tales · Family Dynamics · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Folklore · gothic · graphic novels · Greek and Roman Mythology · His Dark Materials · Historical Fiction · humanity · Literary Awards · Literature · Metaphysical Fiction · Middle Eastern Fantasy · Middle Grade Books · Middle Grade Fiction · Military Fiction · mythology · Reading · Review · School · Science Fiction · Seanan McGuire · Sequel · Short Story · speculative fiction · The Golden Compass · Trilogy · TV · TV Show Review · TV Show Spoilers · Video Games · World Cup · Young Adult Fiction

Reading Check-In: December 3, 2022

The last few weeks have been very busy for me. Work and life has kept me occupied; and, while I haven't read as many books as I wanted, I've been able to read enough to write up some reviews and, hopefully, reach my reading goals by the end of this year. What have I finished… Continue reading Reading Check-In: December 3, 2022

African Influence · American Society · Australia · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Books · Debut · Fantasy · Favorite Books · Goodreads · graphic novels · Horror · Indie Books · Literary Awards · Literature · Middle Grade Fiction · novella · Predictions · Reading · Science Fiction · speculative fiction · Video Games · Young Adult Fiction

Awards: The 2021 Nebulas, the 2022 Hugos, and the 2022 SCKA

Earlier this week, the 2022 Hugo Award Finalists were announced. Similar to other (literary) awards, there were surprises, the snubs and the expected among them. After noting (and congratulating) the nominees, some of us tend to do one and/or two things. One, we look over which nominees we may or may not have read or… Continue reading Awards: The 2021 Nebulas, the 2022 Hugos, and the 2022 SCKA

African Influence · Africanfuturism · ATLUS · Audiobook · Australia · Book Haul · Books · Christianity · Coming-of-Age · Education · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Folklore · Gaming · Harry Potter · Literature · magic realism · Middle Grade Books · Middle Grade Fiction · Reading · School · Sequel · speculative fiction · Trilogy · Video Games · Young Adult Fiction

Reading Check-In: December 25, 2021

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! Because today is a holiday and I'm a bit of a workaholic, I'm keeping this week's post simple and straightforward. What have you finished reading recently? I did it! I finished this book, which is the 20th book released in 2021, which means I'll be able to present… Continue reading Reading Check-In: December 25, 2021

A Song of Ice and Fire · Asian Influence · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Theories · Books · Christianity · Debut · Dystopia · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Gaming · Gender Roles · George R.R. Martin · Grimdark · Horror · humanity · Ideas · Indie Books · Literary Awards · Literature · Mark Lawrence · Military Fiction · Reading · speculative fiction · Trilogy · TV · Video Games · Vigilantism · Writing

An Analysis of the Genre: Grimdark, Horror & Dark Fantasy

NOTE: This post is a rewrite of an assignment I wrote for a graduate school course. If you would like to read the original essay, then click here. Also, this is written in APA Format. Speculative fiction is the general term used when describing books which fall under the genres of fantasy, science fiction and horror,… Continue reading An Analysis of the Genre: Grimdark, Horror & Dark Fantasy

A Song of Ice and Fire · Africanfuturism · American History · American Society · Anime · Asian Influence · ATLUS · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Black History · Book to Media Adaptations · Books · Children's Fiction · Coming-of-Age · Fairy Tale Retellings · Family · Family Dynamics · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Folklore · Gaming · Gender Roles · Harry Potter · His Dark Materials · Historical Fiction · history · humanity · identity · Japan · LGBTQ · Literary Awards · Literature · magic realism · Metaphysical Fiction · Movie Spoilers · Movies · mythology · novella · Old Magic · Paranormal · Parents and Parenting · Reading · School · Science Fiction · Seanan McGuire · Sequel · speculative fiction · supernatural · The Chronicles of Narnia · The Golden Compass · Trilogy · Video Games · Wayward Children · Young Adult Fiction

My Favorite Speculative Fiction Narratives

***My 200th Blog Post!!!*** For this post, which marks a new milestone for me, I decided to discuss one of the most enjoyable—and the most dreadful—topics: favorites. We all know why favorites is a fun topic, but it can be daunting for opposing reasons: others have them as their favorites, they are ubiquitous, they are… Continue reading My Favorite Speculative Fiction Narratives

Africanfuturism · American Society · Asian Influence · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Black History · Book Review · Book to Media Adaptations · Books · Children's Fiction · Coming-of-Age · Debut · Dystopia · Education · Fairy Tale Retellings · Family · Family Dynamics · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Folklore · Gaming · Gender Roles · Harry Potter · Horror · J.K. Rowling · magic realism · Middle Eastern Fantasy · Middle Grade Books · Military Fiction · Movies · mythology · Old Magic · Paranormal · Parents and Parenting · Parody · Reading · religious beliefs · Review · School · Science Fiction · Sequel · speculative fiction · supernatural · The Chronicles of Narnia · Trilogy · TV · Video Games · Young Adult Fiction

Speculative Fiction Starters for Children and Young Adults

This article was written for the Martian Chronicle blog, but it was never posted so I decided to rewrite and to present it on my blog. Enjoy!             When children and adolescents show an interest in reading, we—as adults, and as readers ourselves—want nothing more than to load our recommendations and favorite books on to them. Unfortunately, not… Continue reading Speculative Fiction Starters for Children and Young Adults