If you appreciate the thrillers and mysteries of today, you can be grateful to the tropes born out of classic crime noir fiction. The complex plots, dry and dark humor, cracked moral compasses, and breathless suspense are just a few of the elements that permeate the gloomy ambience in these novels. If you are prepared to burrow deeper into the shadows…follow me.
Read MoreBelieve it or not, there was a renaissance for the horror genre, and it was both glorious and ridiculous. After the ‘80’s, myself and other fans were bereft. Where were we to go to browse what had apparently been delegated by outside forces as our secret shame? How were we to follow the path to our dark Narnia? Why were our coveted stacks of scary delights abandoned in the corner?
Read More380+ books endorsed through spotlighted features, 90+ reads reviewed and another 80+ showcased in crib notes. All lovingly curated for your browsing pleasure. We’ve reached the first Anniversary of Cracking The Spine and along with this master list hopefully you will enjoy my Top Ten reasons to be a book nerd and the Ten Commandments of Reading!
Read MoreIt may surprise you to discover that I hold a profound appreciation for the art of songwriting. To have the artistic discipline to compose words that evoke emotion and tell a masterful story in four minutes or less is nothing short of genius. With the albums I love, the best ones offer a journey that connect a thread from start to finish, that play as a musical storybook.
Read MoreAs a generation we have become fixated on true crime. And we all, to one degree or another, are consumers of it. It’s not a mere obsession with the depravity inflicted upon victims or the desire to be an interloper on another’s suffering. It’s the who, what, where, when and why that we are trying desperately to understand.
Read MoreIn the simplest terms, pop culture can be defined as a blend of ideas, images, attitudes and perspectives that characterize a given culture or generation. Or if you prefer the snarkier translations as much as I do, the destruction of the human race.
Read MoreTo date on this blog I have avoided publishing an immersive “to be read list”. You know the ones, 100 or 50 or 150, books you must read before you die. After perusing many of these lists, I can say with confidence that they are heavily redundant, somewhat elitist, and a sure cure for that pesky insomnia. Certainly there must be a better list of books I can recommend you keep company with in your dying days.
Read MoreWordplay is by definition the clever and witty use of words and the manipulation of their meaning. The application of techniques such as snark, oxymorons, slang, euphuisms, puns and malapropisms can elicit distinct and often colourful responses in a reader. Come play with me…
Read More“If you are around long enough the stories you read, or watch, or listen to are distant. Until they become close.”
Possibly none more so than tales of dystopian fiction, which saw a rise in readership with the release of The Hunger Games books, and the wave of popularity has only gained momentum with the success of The Handmaids Tale television series.
Read MoreI have been referred to as many things in my life; small but mighty, a ball buster, a machine, and a kraken. All literally, figuratively or factually true given a particular set of circumstances. I have been told not to take it personally, that I am over thinking it, and a slew of other vaguely insulting and patently condescending platitudes intended to manifest as a physical pat on the head meant to send me on my merry way.
Read MoreI love to walk, almost as much as I love to read. It’s one of my life’s greatest disappointments that I cannot enjoy these two things together. As I was bemoaning this tale of woe to friends it was recommended to me to give podcasts a try. And I am so glad I did.
Read MoreI may not be able to make predictions or have the patience to await a psychic vision of where a New Year might take me, but one thing is of absolute certainty...I’ll be reading!
Read MoreGiving a book as a gift is a deeply intimate experience for the giver or the receiver, and when all the stars align, for both. You are in essence giving someone the world, an opportunity to explore something new, to learn, to be still and consider what exists outside themselves. To find new heights or depths of emotion.
Read MoreQuotes, idioms, aphorisms. Groups of words, perfectly choregraphed and connected to underscore any particular moment of life. They are the embodiment of how we are affected by something we have seen, heard, felt, smelt or tasted.
Read MoreI am a parent to no child but will evangelize to any young person I am in the vicinity of about how lucky they are in regard to the books available to them today. And make no mistake, by no means are the young the only ones reading from this glutinous feast of fiction..
Read MoreTo pop a mixtape into a player is to be transported to another time and place. Each song can usher you from extraordinary love to unbearable grief in a span of four minutes or less. In my high school days, my biggest dream was that a boy I liked would give me a mixtape.
Read MoreIt’s expected that at some point we are supposed to stop believing in the monsters that populate these stories. I would argue that to do so puts at risk our belief in the counterpoint.
Read MoreThere needs to be an invitation, a hand extended to join the dance, a plunge into the deep end of the pool, a ticket to ride, a peak behind the curtain, the suave pick-up line from the hot guy, a door opener, a table setter.
Read More59 novels, 29,999 pages, 5,989,800 words (ish). That’s just a fraction of the works of Stephen King that also include short stories, novellas and myriad of other collections and written works. We fans have certainly earned our moniker of Constant Reader.
Read MoreGirls, sisters, wives and women…oh my! Gone Girl, Girl On The Train, Luckiest Girl Alive, What My Sister Knew, My Favourite Sister, The Night Sister, The Wife Between Us, The Wife, The Innocent Wife, The Woman In The Window, The Woman In Cabin 10, The Woman Left Behind.
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