#William Stieg

[s-soulwriter]

Books based on your MBTI

INFJ (The Advocate):

"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

INTJ (The Architect):

"Dune" by Frank Herbert

"Neuromancer" by William Gibson

INFP (The Mediator):

"The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman

INTP (The Logician):

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams

"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

ENFJ (The Protagonist):

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

ENTJ (The Commander):

"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn

"American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis

ENFP (The Campaigner):

"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens

"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

ENTP (The Debater):

"Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

ISTJ (The Inspector):

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson

"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown

ESTJ (The Supervisor):

"The Firm" by John Grisham

"The Pelican Brief" by John Grisham

ISFJ (The Protector):

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

ESFJ (The Provider):

"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

"Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" by Fannie Flagg

ISTP (The Craftsman):

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

"No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy

ESTP (The Dynamo):

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman

"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

ISFP (The Composer):

"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

"The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett

ESFP (The Performer):

"Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Brida" by Paulo Coelho

[filmnoirsbian]

Hi !! I was wondering if you had any book recs/favorite books? Things that you think of as inspiration or just plain like? Genuinely curious. <3 im in love with your work btw i spent the other day binging your patreon

Some favorites that deeply impacted me from a young age up into teenagedom: the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, Oddly Enough by Bruce Coville, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Little Sister by Kara Dalkey, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage, Piratica by Tanith Lee, the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, Holes by Louis Sachar, The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg, Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori, The Sea-Wolf by Jack London, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins, Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath, Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, The Iliad and Odyssey (allegedly) by Homer, The Táin by many people, Harlem by Walter Dean Myers, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein, The Hainish Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, The Ethical Vampire series by Susan Hubbard, The Howl Series by Diana Wynne Jones, the Curseworkers series by Holly Black, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, Android Karenina by Ben H. Winters, An Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, Beloved by Toni Morrison, A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, World War Z by Max Brooks, This is Not A Drill by K. A. Holt, Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Crush by Richard Siken, Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, Devotions by Mary Oliver, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Some favorites read more recently: The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, Engine Summer by John Crowley, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot, My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, Reprieve by James Han Mattson, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, Kindred by Octavia Butler, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, Station Eleven by Emily St. John-Mandel, The Crown Ain't Worth Much by Hanif Abdurraqib, The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica, The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, She had some horses by Joy Harjo, Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón, The King Must Die by Mary Renault, Books of Blood by Clive Barker, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, Cassandra by Christa Wolfe

Plays: The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Electra by Sophocles, Los Reyes by Julio Cortázar, Angels in America by Tony Kushner, August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco, The Trojan Women by Euripides, Salome by Oscar Wilde, Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr, Fences by August Wilson, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond

Graphic novels: The Crow by James O'Barr, DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, Eternals (2021) by Kieron Gillen and Esad Ribić, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Tank Girl by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

[orchidblack]

Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's The OA stands as one of the more fascinating artifacts from the anything-goes era of Netflix-- an unfettered, deeply personal vision that somehow exists in superposition between love it or hate it. Their new Hulu series, A Murder at the End of the World, isn't as bugnuts, but after two episodes I'm totally on board. The show is a cyberpunk-tinged whodunnit that feels equally inspired by Agatha Christie, William Gibson, Stieg Larsson, and Alex Garland. Marling has half-jokingly mentioned Carmen Sandiego as an unconscious influence, but the vibe is far closer to the games of Hideo Kojima. Most of the action unfolds in a high-tech Icelandic compound straight out of Death Stranding, haunted by mysterious masked figures and AI holograms. As with Kojima, subtlety is in short supply-- the needle drops are defiantly dorky, the characters broadly archetypal (a Banksyesque artist critical of Silicon Valley goes by the moniker FANGS), and the ideas and emotions unabashedly big. If you like your gothic techno-dystopias with an undercurrent of aching sincerity, new episodes out Tuesdays.

[determinate-negation]

No one talks about how the original illustrator of the Shrek children’s book (William Stieg) was a passionate follower of Wilhelm Reich, and how this influence stretches through the series of films.

this is very interesting i did not know this. but how does this influence appear in the films

[odnagnisul]

100 livres à avoir lu dans sa vie (entre autres):

1984, George Orwell ✅

A la croisée des mondes, Philip Pullman

Agnès Grey, Agnès Bronte ✅

Alice au Pays des merveilles, Lewis Carroll ✅

Angélique marquise des anges, Anne Golon

Anna Karenine, Léon Tolstoï

A Rebours, Joris-Karl Huysmans

Au bonheur des dames, Émile Zola

Avec vue sur l'Arno, E.M Forster

Autant en emporte le vent, Margaret Mitchell

Barry Lyndon, William Makepeace Thackeray

Belle du Seigneur, Albert Cohen

Blonde, Joyce Carol Oates

Bonjour tristesse, Françoise Sagan ✅

Cent ans de solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Charlie et la chocolaterie, Roald Dahl ✅

Chéri, Colette

Crime et Châtiment, Féodor Dostoïevski

De grandes espérances, Charles Dickens

Des fleurs pour Algernon, Daniel Keyes

Des souris et des hommes, John Steinbeck ✅

Dix petits nègres, Agatha Christie ✅

Docteur Jekyll et Mister Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson ✅

Don Quichotte, Miguel Cervantés

Dracula, Bram Stocker ✅

Du côté de chez Swann, Marcel Proust

Dune, Frank Herbert ✅

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury ✅

Fondation, Isaac Asimov

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley ✅

Gatsby le magnifique, Francis Scott Fitzgerald ✅

Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers, J.K Rowling

Home, Toni Morrison

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Kafka sur le rivage, Haruki Murakami

L'adieu aux armes, Ernest Hemingway ✅

L'affaire Jane Eyre, Jasper Fforde

L'appel de la forêt, Jack London ✅

L'attrape-cœur, J. D. Salinger ✅

L'écume des jours, Boris Vian

L'étranger, Albert Camus ✅

L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être, Milan Kundera

La condition humaine, André Malraux

La dame aux camélias, Alexandre Dumas Fils

La dame en blanc, Wilkie Collins

La gloire de mon père, Marcel Pagnol

La ligne verte, Stephen King ✅

La nuit des temps, René Barjavel

La Princesse de Clèves, Mme de La Fayette ✅

La Route, Cormac McCarthy ✅

Le chien des Baskerville, Arthur Conan Doyle

Le cœur cousu, Carole Martinez

Le comte de Monte-Cristo, Alexandre Dumas : tome 1 et 2

Le dernier jour d'un condamné, Victor Hugo ✅

Le fantôme de l'opéra, Gaston Leroux

Le lièvre de Vaatanen, Arto Paasilinna

Le maître et Marguerite, Mikhaïl Boulgakov

Le meilleur des mondes, Aldous Huxley

Le nom de la rose, Umberto Eco

Le parfum, Patrick Süskind

Le portrait de Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde ✅

Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery ✅

Le père Goriot, Honoré de Balzac ✅

Le prophète, Khalil Gibran ✅

Le rapport de Brodeck, Philippe Claudel

Le rouge et le noir, Stendhal ✅

Le Seigneur des anneaux, J.R Tolkien ✅

Le temps de l'innocence, Edith Wharton

Le vieux qui lisait des romans d'amour, Luis Sepulveda ✅

Les Chroniques de Narnia, CS Lewis

Les Hauts de Hurle-Vent, Emily Brontë

Les liaisons dangereuses, Choderlos de Laclos ✅

Les Malaussène, Daniel Pennac ✅

Les mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée, Simone de

Beauvoir

Les mystères d'Udolfo, Ann Radcliff

Les piliers de la Terre, Ken Follett : tome 1

Les quatre filles du Docteur March, Louisa May

Alcott

Les racines du ciel, Romain Gary

Lettre d'une inconnue, Stefan Zweig ✅

Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert ✅

Millenium, Larson Stieg ✅

Miss Charity, Marie-Aude Murail

Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

Ne tirez pas sur l'oiseau moqueur, Harper Lee ✅

Nord et Sud, Elisabeth Gaskell

Orgueil et Préjugés, Jane Austen

Pastorale américaine, Philip Roth

Peter Pan, James Matthew Barrie

Pilgrim, Timothy Findley

Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier

Robinson Crusoé, Daniel Defoe ✅

Rouge Brésil, Jean Christophe Ruffin

Sa majesté des mouches, William Goldwin ✅

Tess d'Uberville, Thomas Hardy

Tous les matins du monde, Pascal Quignard

Un roi sans divertissement, Jean Giono

Une prière pour Owen, John Irving

Une Vie, Guy de Maupassant

Vent d'est, vent d'ouest, Pearl Buck

Voyage au bout de la nuit, Louis-Ferdinand Céline ✅

Total : 37/100

[logi1974]

Südengland 2023 - Tag 26

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Nachdem man uns relativ kurzfristig die Unterkunft in Dover aufgekündigt hatte, angeblich wegen “unforeseen circumstances”, konnten wir uns - nach einigem hin & her - bei booking com eine neue Unterkunft aus deren Portfolio aussuchen.

Da die ursprüngliche Unterkunft, wie schon von uns vermutet, die Ferienwohnung überbucht hatte, bekommen sie jetzt von booking com die Mehrkosten aufs Auge gedrückt. Dazu wurden die Vermieter auf dieser Buchungsplattform gesperrt, da das nicht das erste Mal war.

Jedenfalls sitzen wir jetzt 20 Minuten von Dover entfernt, im beschaulichen Küstenstädtchen Deal - ein kleines, aber verstecktes Juwel.

Zum Abschluß unserer Reise widmen wir uns einem der größten Skandale, der vor rund 100 Jahren das südliche England buchstäblich in Atem hielt. Worum ging es dabei? Natürlich um Liebe, Leidenschaft, Ehebruch and everything in between. How shocking!

Schauplatz des ganzen Liebeswirrwarrs war das prachtvolle Walmer Castle, das nur gerade einmal 1.500 Meter von unserer Unterkunft entfernt liegt. Da können wir das Auto prima stehen lassen und machen uns zu Fuß auf den Weg.

Ursprünglich war das Walmer Castle, das knapp 12 km östlich von Dover liegt, eine Tudor-Festung. Im Jahr 1540 zur Zeit der Herrschaft von Heinrich VIII erbaut, diente die Festung zum Schutz vor Angriffen der Spanier und Franzosen.

Ganz typisch dafür sind die runden Außenmauern, geformt wie eine Blüte in mehreren Kreisen. Deshalb spricht man auch hier von der Tudor-Rose.

Sinn und Zweck war, dass der Kanonenbeschuss feindlicher Schiffe nicht so viel Schaden anrichten konnte, weil durch die Abrundung nur ein kleiner Teil des Mauerwerks zerstört wurde.

Von hier aus hat man einen strategisch guten Überblick über die See, da die Anlage direkt am Strand liegt. Seit 1708 ist Walmer Castle der Sitz des Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

Dies sind die Inhaber des ältesten militärischen Amtes in England. Sie repräsentiert den britischen Monarchen in den Cinque Ports, einem Bund von ursprünglich fünf, heute 14 Hafenstädten in Kent und Sussex.  In früheren Zeiten ein wichtiger Posten, ist er längst ein (einträglicher) Ehrenposten für verdiente britische Persönlichkeiten.

Erwähnenswert finde ich folgende Amtsinhaber:

Arthur Wellesley, 1. Duke of Wellington, der 1852 im Walmer Castle verstarb. Der Sessel, in dem er verstarb, ist noch vorhanden und zu besichtigen.

Auch ein Paar Stiefel des Dukes sind zu sehen. Deren englische Bezeichnung „Wellington Boots“ (kurz Wellies) für Gummistiefel geht auf diesen zurück.

Sir Winston Churchill, wichtig(st)er britischer Staatsmann des 20. Jahrhunderts, hatte das Amt von 1941 bis zu seinem Tod 1965 inne.

Elisabeth, die Königinmutter (als „Queen Mum“ bekannt, der offizielle Titel lautet „Queen Elisabeth The Queen Mother“; sie war schließlich selbst einmal englische Königin). Sie hatte das Amt von 1978 bis zu ihrem Tod 2002 für 23 Jahre inne.

Und der schöne William Lygon, 7. Earl Beauchamp. Seit der Serie Outlander wissen wir, dass man Beauchamp nicht französisch ausspricht, sondern durch Anglisierung: Bietsch-häm.

William Lygon wurde 1872 geboren und war schon in jungen Jahren eine bekannte Persönlichkeit des öffentlichen Lebens. Er trat 1891 die Nachfolge seines Vaters als Earl Beauchamp an. Als hochrangige Persönlichkeit der Liberalen Partei stieg er bis zum Senior auf und 1910 wurde er Kabinettsminister.

1902 heiratete er Lettice Grosvenor, die Schwester von Hugh Grosvenor, 2. Duke of Westminster.  Sie hatten insgesamt 7 Kinder, drei Söhne und vier Töchter. Familienfotos zeigen Beauchamp, Lettice und ihre sieben Kinder, wie sie ihre Umgebung und die Gesellschaft des anderen im Walmer genießen.

Anscheinend hatte der Duke of Westminster seinen Schwager William nie gemocht, da er eifersüchtig auf das öffentliche Amt seines Schwagers und sein offensichtliches häusliches Glück war.

Hugh Grosvenor war ein wütender, unerfüllter Mann - trotz dreier Ehen (und er würde noch ein viertes Mal heiraten). 

1931 war Grosvenor unglücklich mit seiner dritten Frau, Loelia Ponsonby, verheiratet. Sie behauptete, er habe sich jede Nacht betrunken und sei untreu gewesen. Doch während er jegliche sexuelle Freiheit genoss, erwartete er von seinen Mitmenschen, insbesondere von seiner Familie, höchste Maßstäbe an Anstand. 

Im Jahr 1931 wurde Earl Beauchamp als Homosexueller „geoutet“. Williams Entlarvung hatte lange auf sich warten lassen. Seit Mitte der zwanziger Jahre kursierten Geschichten über homosexuelle Partys, auf denen einheimische Jugendliche und Fischer den Grafen und seine Gäste bedienten. 

Doch sein Verhängnis begann in Australien. Im August 1930 war William zu einer Weltreise aufgebrochen. Er wurde in Sydney „überwältigend“ empfangen und blieb zwei Monate, begleitet von einem Diener aus Madresfield und einem jungen liberalen Abgeordneten, Robert Bernays, der als Redenschreiber fungierte.

Der Earl und sein Kammerdiener teilten die Wohnung nicht als Herr und Diener, sondern als Liebespaar, eine häusliche Vereinbarung, die nicht unbemerkt blieb. 

Der Duke of Westminster beauftragte Detektive, weitere Beweise gegen seinen Schwager zu sammeln. Er hoffte, die Liberale Partei durch Beauchamp zu ruinieren, sowie auch Beauchamp persönlich aufgrund seiner privaten Abneigung. Homosexualität war damals eine Straftat.

Im Frühjahr 1931 lud der Duke seine Schwester vor und legte ihr im Beisein von drei Anwälten die Beweise vor. Er empfahl Ihr, William sofort mit ihren Kindern im Alter zwischen 14 und fast 28 Jahren zu verlassen und ein Scheidungsverfahren einzuleiten. 

Anschließend informierte Westminster den König, dass er Beweise für kriminelle Handlungen der Unanständigkeit zwischen William und einer Reihe von Männern vorlegen könne. William war jedoch ein Freund des Königs.

Seine Majestät hatte keinen Zweifel daran, dass Westminster William entlarven, die Beweise der Presse vorlegen und ihn verhaften lassen würde.

Der Gedanke an einen solchen Prozess, bei dem männliche Prostituierte vorgeladen, Billets-doux verlesen und Schwachstellen bloßgestellt würden, ließen den König eingreifen.

Um die Krise einzudämmen, wurden eigens drei Ritter des Hosenbandordens geschickt, um William davon zu überzeugen, alle seine offiziellen Ämter niederzulegen und England bis Mitternacht zu verlassen.

In einem letzten Tiefschlag schrieb der Duke of Westminster an William einen knappen Brief: „Lieber Schwager, du hast bekommen, was du verdient hast. Deins, Westminster.“ 

Wenige Tage nach seiner Abreise erfuhren Zeitgenossen, dass der „Exzentriker“ Beauchamp ins Ausland gegangen sei, ��um Schlammbäder zu nehmen“, ein Euphemismus für einen homosexuellen Exilanten.

Besonders sehenswert war für uns der 1997 eröffnete „Queen Mother’s Garden“, der für Queen Mum -  Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900 – 2002) - zu ihrem 95. Geburtstag geschaffen wurde und wo ihre Lieblingsblumen gepflanzt wurden. 

Sie soll sich hier sehr gern aufgehalten haben. An sie erinnert hier auch eine Bronze-Statue: Auf einer Parkbank sitzt einer ihrer Lieblingshunde, ein Welsh Corgi Pembroke.

Die Festung schützt den wunderschönen Garten vor den heftigen Kanalwinden, so wächst und gedeiht hier eine beeindruckende Vielfalt an Pflanzen und Bäumen. Selbst im ausgetrockneten Festungsgraben wachsen Magnolien.

Insgesamt gehören acht Hektar mit Gartenanlagen und Wald zum Castle. Diese Fläche wurde seit dem 16. Jhd. immer wieder umgestaltet, jeweils nach dem Geschmack des ansässigen Lord Wardens.

Heutzutage kümmert sich English Heritage um die Anlage. Selbstverständlich führte der Ein- und Ausgang durch den Empfang mit einem Souvenir Shop. Und ebenso selbstverständlich ist ein Tea Room vorhanden. 

Da das Walmer Castle direkt am Strand liegt, kann man von hier aus übrigens fabelhaft am Meer entlang laufen. 

Für uns endet hier unsere Reise und es geht wieder per Fähre zurück nach Dünkirchen und weiter nach Deutschland.

Dieses Mal jedoch ohne weitere Zwischenübernachtung, sondern auf direktem Wege.

Ich danke all meinen Lesern, die bis hierhin tapfer durchgehalten haben, für die Aufmerksamkeit.

Wir lesen uns wieder im Dezember, wenn Ihr möchtet, wenn es für uns wieder einmal nach Namibia geht.

Good Night!

Angie, Micha und Mr. Bunnybear (Hasenbär)

[aninsecurewriter]

100 must-read books!

This is a list of books considered "must-reads" from various lists and online posters. I'll be reviewing them as I go but mainly keeping track of what I have and haven't read here.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The Secret History by Donna Tart

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Norwegian Wood bt Haruki Murakami

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Lolita Vladimir Nabokov

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Ulysses by James Joyce

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Gulliver's Travels by Johnathan Swift

The War of the Worlds by H.G Wells

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Beloved by Toni Morrison

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Macbeth by Shakespeare

The Lord of the Rings (trilogy) by J.R.R Tolkien

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally

London Fields by Martin Amis

Sherlock Holmes and the The Hound of the Baskerville's by Arthur Conan Doyle

My Man Jeeves by P.G Wodehouse

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Gladys Aylward the Little Woman by Gladys Aylward

Mindnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Dissolution by C.J Sansom

The Time Machine by H.G Wells

Winnie the Pooh (complete collection) by A.A Milne

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Castle by Franz Kafka

Dracula by Bram Stoker

All Quiet on the Western Front by Eric Maria Remarque

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Misery by Stephen King

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis

The Shining by Stephen King

The Odyssey by Homer

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson

Tell No One by Harlan Coben

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

[msadmiral]

Does the pied piper had a name?

He does have a name! His name is Jeremy. Jeremy William Kirchhoff.

I named him after his voice actor (Jeremy Stieg) because he needs more credit. I mean, come on. What’s the point of having a voice actor if your character doesn’t even talk? He needs more recognition, not just for playing the role of the Piper, but also because he’s the son of the author of the original Shrek! fairytale!

So sorry for my little ramble there, I’m just kind of upset how voice actors don’t get a lot of attention compared to their characters. I’m rambling again, I’ll stop-

[halloweenvalentine1997]

A recommended reading list of books I own and have read

A Demon in my View by Ruth Rendell

A Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell

A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett

A Season in Purgatory by Dominick Dunne

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin

All Around the Town by Mary Higgins Clark

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Breaking Blue by Timothy Egan

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Carrie by Stephen King

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean

Dead Run by Erica Spindler

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Every Breath You Take by Ann Rule

Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fatal Flowers by Rosemary Daniell

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule

Help the Poor Struggler by Martha Grimes

High Lonesome by Joyce Carol Oates

I Am the Only Running Footman by Martha Grimes

I Know You Know by Gilly Macmillan

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg

If You Really Loved Me by Ann Rule

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Menfreya in the Morning by Victoria Holt

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

My Sweet Audrina by by V.C. Andrews

Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin

Night Gaunts by Joyce Carol Oates

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard

Over Tumbled Graves by Jess Walter

Pearl in the Mist by V.C. Andrews

Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews

Pursuit by Joyce Carol Oates

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Ruby by V.C. Andrews

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Slenderman by Kathleen Hale

Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule

Southern Cross by Patricia Cornwell

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

Suicide Blonde by Darcey Steinke

Summer by Edith Wharton

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag

The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates

The Anodyne Necklace by Martha Grimes

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

The Blooding by Joseph Wambaugh

The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Cutler series by V.C. Andrews

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

The Deer Leap by Martha Grimes

The Doll Master by Joyce Carol Oates

The Elizas by Sara Shepard

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

The Female of the Species by Joyce Carol Oates

The Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

The Hudson series by V.C. Andrews

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

The Logan series by V.C. Andrews

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

The Old Contemptibles By Martha Grimes

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Prince of Lost Places by Kathy Hepinstall

The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence

The Right Hand of Evil by John Saul

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Shining by Stephen King

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

The Stand by Stephen King

The Strange Beautiful by Carla Crujido

The Sundial by Shirley Jackson

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

The Third Twin by Ken Follett

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

The Turn of the Screw & Daisy Miller by Henry James

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Vanish by Tess Gerritsen

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Wait for Me by Sara Shepard

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

What Remains of Me by Alison Gaylin

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Wonderland by Joyce Carol Oates

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

[zel-shadedreviews]

So, this movie had a rather interesting impact across the studio, animation and the internet. After his falling out with Disney, Katzenburg further wanted to get back at them with this as his secret weapon. This was based on a book of the same name, written by William Stieg, where his art style was replicated in the book opening. Decades later, the movie maintains a monstrous presence across the internet, spawning video after video about its content, where there’s even a reanimated collaboration done by several artists. While establishing itself as one of the most memorable films of its time and following, its content also made its mark on many animated movies that came afterwards.

In fact, the impact of this very movie is tremendous as DreamWorks changed their opening logo to its introduction.

Shrek, a feared ogre, isolates himself in the swamp until he’s approached by an escaped donkey and then a whole group of fairy tale creatures that were banished to his land. It turns out that Lord Farquard of Duloc banished them due to his high prejudice, causing Shrek to leave his swamp and demand him to reverse the change. In a pursuit to officially become king, Farquard sends Shrek on a quest to rescue the imprisoned Princess Fiona so he can marry her, but the ogre soon finds himself letting his guard down and developing some strong feelings.

To start things off, the plot is mainly the hero going there and back, Point A to B, but it fills itself with a key point that many amounts of media attempt to do by subverting its fairytale premise. It presented some great subversion of the cliches where the monstrous main character isn’t the bad guy and becomes the hero by the end, the princess isn’t a damsel, the dragon turns out to be a longing romantic and the how a unique couple get together by the end. It does follow Beauty and the Beast at first, but doesn’t base its whole storytelling based on the premise, rather than giving us an entirely new ending.

The film achieved a new style that’s meant to start as a jab at Walt Disney Animation Studio’s whimsical way of starting their movies with a book and narration; instead, Shrek begins the whole story, only to use the very pages as his own toilet paper. From the moment his outhouse flushes and he grandly steps out, that’s when the audience knew exactly what movie they were receiving. There’s not even a sign of an original song number from Shrek, but a track to fully represent what they’re heading for.

People liked to call this the “movie that started it all”; it contained tropes where nearly every animated movie tried to copy them, even to this day. You name it, something tried to copy its fairytale premise like Hoodwinked, Chicken Little and Happily N’ever After, while a plethora of the content such as immature fart jokes, celebrity voice-casting, the law of a dance party ending and many more were repeated rather poorly.

Shrek was the beginning of that but I can’t really fault it. I feel Shrek does all those tropes perfectly, as they fit the mood of the movie.

It was doing itself well, up until the misunderstanding where Shrek does overhears some horrible descriptions, where the mistake rubs off on Fiona. While it does cloud the third act, even having a whole song number, I felt that they executed the misunderstanding cliche rather well, as it’s meant to reflect on Shrek’s insecurities where he doesn’t want to be viewed as a monster. When he snaps at Donkey, he does sound legitimately heartbroken, where it’s up to the sidekick to call him out on his behaviour and make things right between the two of them.

There’s some movie references such as Shrek quoting Babe’s closing line and a Matrix fight scene, but they aren’t forced. I can actually see Shrek praising Donkey in that same fashion.

With every good joke, there’s rarely a bad one but some are poked at expense with the villain’s small height. I don’t have a problem as it’s the main characters making fun of the racist and egotistical villain, but they elaborated on the whole point and it got tiresome.

Why not talk about the characters? Shrek as the onion-obsessed ogre as he is comes off as a likeable and sympathetic creature, where he relishes in the hatred that people gave him due to their first impression. Shrek starts off as disgusting and mean-spirited to newcomers but as the movie progresses, he begins to soften up and actually express his true feelings; you see why he hates society and how people choose to fear him from his appearance alone, so his one wish is to permanently isolate himself from the entire civilisation. It’s how he’s viewed that takes a serious toll on his insecurities. It’s up to this adventure which changes his life for the better, meeting new companions that remain an impact.

In fact, Shrek’s character arc I feel is the strongest as you do see it in the entire franchise, minus the third movie, where he doesn’t feel accepted and how he doesn’t fit in. His progression is as strong as few main characters from the DreamWorks franchise such as Hiccup and Po.

Donkey is also a likeable character, where he’s the stand-in for the annoying sidekick trope at first, pretty much spewing mouth diarrhoea for most of the first act. However, that’s pretty much the point as Donkey basically wants to see a friend in Shrek, first seeing him as someone to look up to. When asked if Shrek’s species deters him the slightest, Donkey shows no sign of care, surprising the lonesome ogre. Donkey is essentially a little lost child who glues himself to the begrudging type, where no matter how many times he’s told to leave, he never does so. He does become an amazing friend at the end, helping both Shrek and the princess with their problems. Eventually, he would clash against the dragon, before revealing a rather feminine side from the beast, where the two form a hilarious connection.

Fiona is a really good character as well, shown as the princess who sticks to the common trope of how to be rescued but eventually learns to let loose. At first, Shrek sees her as just a way to get his home back, but then the two begin to respect each-other along the way; Fiona sees how Shrek has a heart, while he sees the boisterous and disgusting side to her, impressing him greatly. You also see a secret involving Fiona which changes the entire perspective and also becomes relevant for their connection at the end.

As for their connection, they do really work from one cliche involving the couple that argue at first before becoming one. While the two butted heads at first, with Shrek seeing Fiona as his main quest and the other repulsed by his appearance. Eventually, Fiona sees the sympathetic side to Shrek and treats him nicer, before showing a fighting side that astounds the ogre. While the misunderstanding trope was used, it adds more to their struggles in life as both are seen as monsters that don’t belong in a romantic fairy tale, which made them closer than before by the end.

I loved their fate by the end on how it twists the tale around by maintaining the princess as an ogre, who’s seen “beautiful” towards him. It’s a heartwarming spin on the broken curse trope.

Lord Farquard is a pretty good villain, standing as a brutal dictator who banishes the fairy tale creatures as they strike a horrible sign in his kingdom. He enjoys nothing more than seeing their suffering, going to the point of outright torturing the Gingerbread Man for answers and even murdering one of them for a decoration off-screen. He’s a loathsome creature, standing off as more of a monster than the titular character, seeing the fairy tale characters as lower-class citizens. He bares a horrible and distasteful face of pride, acknowledging that the knights’ deaths at the tournament are for solely his own sacrifice. His main goal is to become an official ruler by marrying a princess, where he himself doesn’t see her as a person but a trophy, even lusting over her image while in bed.

What adds to the surrounding joke was his height, which loses some points in the comedy for overusing itself. I’ve heard a common criticism from fans on how this contradicts the message of beauty within, where the mains would take pot shots at his height. I suppose that this was geared to the mains making fun of the villainous leader due to his prejudice remarks, where they share humour on his lack of intimidation.

Many fairy tale creatures make their mark in the movie but don’t clog up the running time with their appearances, where they’re shown as background characters that assist the mains: there’s the Magic Mirror that speaks like a game show host; Robin Hood, presented as the French-accented Monsieur Hood, who claims Fiona as his damsel and attacks Shrek with his Merry Men, only to suffer from the hands of Fiona; the banished group consisting of many familiar faces such as the disowned Pinocchio and three German pigs inform Shrek of their situation; there’s also the Dragon that guards Fiona’s tower, but is portrayed as someone who’s easily swooned by the flattering Donkey, surprising on how overly-affectionate she really can be. I liked on how they built up the scenario of the latter character where the writers don’t rub it off as a one-off joke, but involve her by the movie’s climax.

Nowadays, a lot of family features gather a ton of celebrities for the sake of marketing; this movie managed to have these actors perfectly fit their characters.

Originally, Shrek was going to be voiced by Chris Farley, but then the actor passed away, where there’s even footage of the archives. So instead, they hired Mike Myers as Shrek, where he gave the ogre a Scottish accent as opposed to a Canadian one, as he felt that it fitted the character’s background. Cameron Diaz aced the headstrong and spunky attitude of Fiona, allowing this character to have a variety of personalities from the gentle yet firm type and also one that glamoured in disgusting tropes. You can also tell that Eddie Murphy threw everything he had from his style of comedy into the character of Donkey, balancing in between of an annoyingly-talkative best friend and an innocent outcast. I’m also surprised that no-one else even mentions John Lithgow’s performance as Lord Farquard at all, where he delivered a great amount of booming nature from a short character while allowing some small comedic moments.

In fact, it’s the way how these actors delivered some basic lines such as “Why are you following me?”, “Two things, okay? Shut. Up.”, “I like that boulder. That is a nice boulder.”, “… and so on and so forth.” and many more.

This is the last time I’ll mention how this movie’s iconic style changed the industry, as this contained quite a few pop songs. To put it bluntly, the movie shuns the idea of original songs, especially when Disney was achieving awards, and makes fun of that such as Shrek’s annoyance towards singing and Fiona’s high vocalisation causing a mother bird to explode. From the iconic beginning alone, we start with Smash Mouth’s All Star, presenting the wild home life of the main character and slapping the faces of newcomers that the overall feature isn’t even related to a musical. Whenever the very song is played, people will immediately name that Shrek’s anthem, as no matter how you look at it, the movie is always associated with the very song.

This would be another team that various family movies attempted to copy by throwing in any dated pop song to relate to the younger audience. However, this film is the pinnacle of how to do it right as the songs perfectly fitted the scenario relating to the characters: Bad Reputation covers the fight scene between the two rejects against the king’s army; we also receive a travelling song, I’m On My Way; My Beloved Monster is a no-brainer for the budding romance between Shrek and Fiona; I already went on about the unavoidable misunderstanding trope, where Hallelujah clouds the delivered depression; thanks to Lithgrow’s involvement, we end with another song by Smash Mouth, I’m a Believer, allowing Murphy’s performance, capping off the entire feature with a bang.

I’m honestly impressed that this movie still holds up in terms of its comedy, story and tropes done stupendously well. I can see where current audiences are coming from with the argument that this movie is overrated and played thanks to internet culture, but I never see this as the fault of the product. I still think it’s a fantastic movie where it holds up as a staple in animation history.

Final Rating: B+

9/10

[jxrm]

book log - 2017

tampa by alissa nutting

turtles all the way down by john green

vegas girls by heather skyler

class mom by laurie gelman

anne of green gables by l.m. montgomery

the identicals by elin hilderbrand

quidditch through the ages by j.k. rowling

the breakdown by b.a. paris

final girls by riley sager

audition by ryu murakami

gray wolf island by tracey neithercott

the stranger beside me by ann rule

one of us is lying by karen m. mcmanus

the call by peadar o gullin

a thousand nights by e.k. johnston

the library at mount char by scott hawkins

tender morsels by margo lanagan

rings by koji suzuki

the good daughter by karin slaughter

because you love to hate me by amerie

the party by robyn harding

primates of park avenue by wednesday martin

you by caroline kepnes

someday, someday, maybe by lauren graham

the hating game by sally thorne

eleanor oliphant is completely fine by gail honeyman

shine by lauren myracle

when dimple met rishi by sandhya menon

you can have a dog when i'm dead by paul benedetti

it's always the husband by michele campbell

princeless: raven the pirate princess by jeremy whitley

princeless: free women by jeremy whitley

goodbye, vitamin by rachel khong

sabine's notebook by nick bantock

always and forever, lara jean by jenny han

talking as fast as i can by lauren graham

three wishes by liane moriarty

behind closed doors by b.a. paris

dark places by gillian flynn

behind her eyes by sarah pinborough

baby proof by emily giffin

american gods by neil gaiman

confessions of a domestic failure by bunmi laditan

wedding night by sophie kinsella

you suck by christopher moore

night film by marisha pessi

the subtle art of not giving a fuck by mark manson

let's explore diabetes with owels by david sedaris

the here and now by ann brashares

it started with goodbye by christina june

murder games by elisabeth crabtree

the enchantress returns by chris colfer

down the rabbit hole by holly madison

women who run with the wolves by clarissa pinkola estes

goons n' roses by donna joy usher

the silent wife by a.s.a. harrison

cocoa and chanel by donna joy usher

secondhand souls by christopher moore

the seven steps to closure by donna joy usher

stranger than fanfiction by chris colfer

you are here by jenny lawson

killing mr. griffin by lois duncan

a dirty job by christopher moore

joyland by stephen king

irrestible by adam alter

small great things by jodi picoult

stranger with my face by lois duncan

the vegas diaries by holly madison

the potluck club by linda evans shepard

the girl with the dragon tattoo by stieg larsson

the wishing spell by chris colfer

one less problem without you by beth harbison

saving ceecee honeycutt by beth hoffman

in the country we love by diane guerrero

the last anniversary by liane moriarty

i woke up dead at the mall by judy sheehan

remembrance by meg cabot

girl in translation by jean kwok

very good lives by j.k. rowling

milk and honey by rupi kaur

my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry by fredrik backman

the screwtape letters by c.s. lewis

reconstructing amelia by kimberly mccreight

how to fall in love by cecelia ahern

wild by cheryl strayed

NOS4A2 by joe hill

year of yes by shonda rhimes

troublemaker by leah remini

the summer we read gatsby by daniella ganek

the miraculous journey of edward tulane by kate dicamillo

sorry not sorry by naya rivera

the circle by dave eggers

the woman in cabin 10 by ruth ware

boneshaker by cherie priest

time cat by lloyd alexander

the color purple by alice walker

all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr

the princess bride by william goldman

when breath becomes air by paul kalanthi

the wangs vs. the world by jade chang

mischiling by affinity konar

sarong party girls by cheryl lu-lien tan

nine woman, one dress by jane l. rosen

the light between oceans by m.i. stedmaan

magonia by maria dahvana headley

the restaurant critic's wife by elizabeth laban

the couple next door by shari lapena

the wedding sisters by jamie brenner

how to be a bawse by lilly singh

where am i now? by mara wilson

scrappy little nobody by anna kendrick

double cup love by eddie huang

little girl gone by gerry schmitt

truly madly guilty by liane moriarty

something in between by melissa de la cruz

rich people problems by kevin kwan

modern romance by aziz ansari

yes, my accent is real by kunal nayyar

the girl on the train by paula hawkins

we should hang out sometime by josh sundquist

love ltters to teh dead by ava dellaira

what alice forgot by liane morairty

bringing it home by tilda shalof

the maintenance man by michael baisden

charlie and the great glass elevator by roald dahl

the princess diaries by meg cabot

[tahelms85]

Stole this from someone else on a tag.

A book recommended by a librarian Saint X by Alexis Schiatkin

A book that’s been on your TBR list for way too long Wicked by Gregory Maguire

A book of letters Mr. Men series by Roger Hargreaves

An audiobook The Otto Digmore Difference by Brent Hartinger

A book by a person of color Their Eyes Were Watching God by Toni Morrison

A book with one of the four seasons in the title Suddenly Last Summer and Other Plays by Tennessee Williams

A book that is a story within a story Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

A book with multiple authors The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

An espionage thriller The Davinci Code by Dan Brown

A book with a cat on the cover Pet Sematary by Stephen King

A book by an author who uses a pseudonym The Regulators by Richard Bachman

A bestseller from a genre you don’t normally read Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shatterly

A book by or about a person who has a disability Deaf Utopia by Nyle DiMarco and Robert Siebert

A book involving travel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

A book with a subtitle Monster: The True Story of the Jeffrey Dahmer Murders by Anne E Schwartz

A book that’s published in 2017 Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

A book involving a mythical creature It by Stephen King

A book you’ve read before that never fails to make you smile Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

A book about food The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C Morais

A book with career advice One For the Money by Janet Evanovich

A book from a nonhuman perspective The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

A steampunk novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

A book with a red spine Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Harry Potter

A book set in the wilderness Call of the Wild by Jack London

A book you loved as a child The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone

A book by an author from a country you’ve never visited Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

A book with a title that’s a character’s name Coraline by Neil Gaiman

A novel set during wartime The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A book with an unreliable narrator How's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones

A book with pictures Amelia Bedelia Means Business by Herman Parish

A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

A book about an interesting woman The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

A book set in two different time periods A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

A book with a month or day of the week in the title Mad Hatters and March Hares by Ellen Datlow

A book set in a hotel The Shining by Stephen King

A book written by someone you admire This Time Together by Carol Burnett

A book that’s becoming a movie in 2017 Berlin Syndrome by Melanie Joosten

A book set around a holiday other than Christmas Cupid Strikes…Three Times by Ajme Williams

The first book in a series you haven’t read before A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sara J Maas

A book you bought on a trip The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

ADVANCED: A book recommended by an author you love One For the Money by Janet Evanovich

A bestseller from 2016 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

A book with a family-member term in the title A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

A book that takes place over a character’s life span A Prayer For Owen Meaney by John Irving

A book about an immigrant or refugee We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu

A book from a genre/subgenre that you’ve never heard of Dungeons & Drag Queens by Emma Alice Johnson (bizarro fiction)

A book with an eccentric character A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler

A book that’s more than 800 pages The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

A book you got from a used book sale Wicked by Gregory Maguire

A book that’s been mentioned in another book The Outsiders by SE Hinton

A book about a difficult topic Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (OCD)

A book based on mythology The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

[eritasdaily]

Opinion: Millennials are Different Because We Grew Up with Shrek

Opinion: Millennials are Different Because We Grew Up with Shrek

All of my life I have read articles and been told by grown ups that all generations are radically different from each other. And for the most part, I have disagreed. In my experience, people will be who they are going to be and while the trends may be different, the people stay the same. That is, until recently when I realized that no, there is something different about us, the millennials. All…

[lesbomatriarchy]

I know that I'm not helping this situation at all but I saw Sheket and read it as shreck and sat there for at least 2 minutes being blown away because I thought Shrek was a word in Hebrew.

My friend my pal I am about to make your fuckin day