The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

If you are a Gilmore Girls fan and a book lover then this is the perfect reading list for you! So take a break from binge watching, binge eating and your coffee obsession to take a good long look at the Rory Gilmore reading challenge. The list contains 339 books that were either seen on screen or referenced in the original series. If you would like to be as well read as one of our favorite Stars Hollow residents then you have a long TBR list ahead of you...

This list will also have a permanent page all to itself on this blog that can be reached in the tabs at the top of the page and here at this link: Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

1. 1984 by George Orwell

2. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

3. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

5. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

6. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

8. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

9. The Archidamian War by Donald Kagan

10. The Art of Fiction by Henry James

11. The Art of War by Sun Tzu

12. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

13. Atonement by Ian McEwan

14. Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

15. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

16. Babe by Dick King-Smith

17. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi

18. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

19. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

20. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

21. Beloved by Toni Morrison

22. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney

23. The Bhagava Gita

24. The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy

25. Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel

26. A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy

27. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

28. Brick Lane by Monica Ali

29. Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner

30. Candide by Voltaire

31. The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

32. Carrie by Stephen King

33. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

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

35. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

36. The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman

37. Christine by Stephen King

38. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

39. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

40. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

41. The Collected Stories by Eudora Welty

42. A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

43. Complete Novels by Dawn Powell

44. The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton

45. Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker

46. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

47. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

48. Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac

49. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

50. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

51. The Crucible by Arthur Miller

52. Cujo by Stephen King

53. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

54. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

55. David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D

56. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

57. The Da Vinci -Code by Dan Brown

58. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

59. Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

60. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

61. Deenie by Judy Blume

62. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

63. The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx

64. The Divine Comedy by Dante

65. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

66. Don Quixote by Cervantes

67. Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv

68. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

69. Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

70. Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook

71. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

72. Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

73. Eloise by Kay Thompson

74. Emily the Strange by Roger Reger

75. Emma by Jane Austen

76. Empire Falls by Richard Russo

77. Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

78. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

79. Ethics by Spinoza

80. Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves

81. Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

82. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

83. Extravagance by Gary Krist

84. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

85. Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore

86. The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan

87. Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser

88. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

89. The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

90. Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein

91. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

92. Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce

93. Fletch by Gregory McDonald

94. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

95. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

96. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

97. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

98. Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger

99. Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

100. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

101. Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

102. George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg

103. Gidget by Fredrick Kohner

104. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

105. The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

106. The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo

107. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

108. Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky

109. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

110. The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford

111. The Gospel According to Judy Bloom

112. The Graduate by Charles Webb

113. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

114. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

115. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

116. The Group by Mary McCarthy

117. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

118. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

119. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

120. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

121. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

122. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

123. Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare

124. Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare

125. Henry V by William Shakespeare

126. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

127. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

128. Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris

129. The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton

130. House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

131. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

132. How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer

133. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

134. How the Light Gets In by M. J. Hyland

135. Howl by Allen Ginsberg

136. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

137. The Iliad by Homer

138. I'm With the Band by Pamela des Barres

139. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

140. Inferno by Dante

141. Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

142. Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy

143. It Takes a Village by Hillary Rodham Clinton

144. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

145. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

146. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

147. The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain

148. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

149. Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito

150. The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander

151. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

152. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

153. Lady Chatterleys' Lover by D. H. Lawrence

154. The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal

155. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

156. The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield

157. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

158. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

159. Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken

160. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

161. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

162. The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway

163. The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

164. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

165. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

166. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

167. The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

168. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

169. The Love Story by Erich Segal

170. Macbeth by William Shakespeare

171. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

172. The Manticore by Robertson Davies

173. Marathon Man by William Goldman

174. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

175. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir

176. Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman

177. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

178. The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer

179. Mencken's Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken

180. The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare

181. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

182. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

183. The Miracle Worker by William Gibson

184. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

185. The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin

186. Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor

187. A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman

188. Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret

189. A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars

190. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

191. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

192. Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

193. My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It's Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh

194. My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken

195. My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest

196. Myra Waldo's Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo

197. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

198. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

199. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

200. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

201. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin

202. Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen

203. New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

204. The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay

205. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

206. Night by Elie Wiesel

207. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

208. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan

209. Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell

210. Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski

211. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

212. Old School by Tobias Wolff

213. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

214. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

215. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

216. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan

217. Oracle Night by Paul Auster

218. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

219. Othello by Shakespeare

220. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

221. The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan

222. Out of Africa by Isac Dineson

223. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

224. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

225. The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan

226. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

227. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

228. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

229. Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington

230. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

231. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

232. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

233. The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker

234. The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche

235. The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill by Ron Suskind

236. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

237. Property by Valerie Martin

238. Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon

239. Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

240. Quattrocento by James Mckean

241. A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall

242. Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers

243. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

244. The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

245. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

246. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

247. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin

248. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

249. Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman

250. The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien

251. R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton

252. Rita Hayworth by Stephen King

253. Robert's Rules of Order by Henry Robert

254. Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton

255. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

256. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

257. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

258. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

259. The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition

260. Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi

261. Sanctuary by William Faulkner

262. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

263. Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James

264. The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum

265. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

266. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

267. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

268. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

269. Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman

270. Selected Hotels of Europe

271. Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell

272. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

273. A Separate Peace by John Knowles

274. Several Biographies of Winston Churchill

275. Sexus by Henry Miller

276. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

277. Shane by Jack Shaefer

278. The Shining by Stephen King

279. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

280. S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton

281. Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut

282. Small Island by Andrea Levy

283. Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway

284. Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers

285. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore

286. The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht

287. Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos

288. The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker

289. Songbook by Nick Hornby

290. The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

291. Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

292. Sophie's Choice by William Styron

293. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

294. Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

295. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

296. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

297. A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams

298. Stuart Little by E. B. White

299. Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

300. Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

301. Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett

302. Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber

303. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

304. Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

305. Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry

306. Time and Again by Jack Finney

307. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

308. To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

309. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

310. The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare

311. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

312. The Trial by Franz Kafka

313. The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson

314. Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

315. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

316. Ulysses by James Joyce

317. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath

318. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

319. Unless by Carol Shields

320. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

321. The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers

322. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

323. Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard

324. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

325. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

326. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

327. Walt Disney's Bambi by Felix Salten

328. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

329. We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker

330. What Color is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles

331. What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell

332. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

333. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

334. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

335. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

336. The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

337. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

338. The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

339. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

That is the end of the list, go ahead and enjoy this last picture of Rory and Jess

Philosopher Kings Reading List

I am NOT the original creator of this list. I got these book titles from the Youtube video by Hint of Film titled 'Captain Fantastic: The Unofficial Reading List' that I have placed below. Hint of Film also has a couple other film analysis videos that I really liked. I liked this list for myself and wanted to put it in a place where I could See it laid out and in reach. Which is why it is here.

Apart from being a post this list will also have its own page on my blog so that should you wish to come back to this reading list or any reading list I create you will not have to dig through the blog to find it. The Link for this list's page is here: https://ybarrabookstacks.blogspot.com/p/philosopher-kings.html

"We Created Paradise Out Of Plato's Republic. Our Children Shall Be Philosopher Kings"

Above is a quote from the movie 'Captain Fantastic'. Below is a list of books that are seen, mentioned, quoted, and referenced in the movie. For anyone who has not seen 'Captain Fantastic' I personally recommend it. The movie gives us a look into the life of a family that has completely moved out into the mountains and forest of Oregon to raise their kids in what can in a way be described as a personal survivalist compound. They live off of the land without electricity or pluming. Throughout the movie we see the family hunt, climb the face of a mountain, sing and read by the fire, venture out into a town close by to sell products they have made and get mail. What is most noticeable in the film is the children's intelligence and literacy. These are displayed by conversations the family has, as well as a particular scene when their aunt questions the children's schooling and the youngest child is put up against both of the aunts children to answer questions. She then goes on to answer the questions her cousins could not even guess at, making the aunt look a bit stupid to herself  for ever even making her argument. It becomes clear that the children are assigned to read books picked out by their parents, this is their form of education and the books below are the ones seen in the movie though there are a great many stacks of books who's titles we never get to see.

'The Brothers Karamazov' - Fyodor Dostoevsky

'Guns, Germs, and Steel' - Jared Diamond

'The Fabric of The Cosmos' - Brian Greene

'Middlemarch' - George Eliot

'Marxism In Our Time'  - Isaac Deutsher

'Trotskyism and Maoism: Theory and practice in France and the United States' - A. Belden Fields

'Stalinism: Russian and Western Views at the turn of the millennium' - Alter Litvin and John Keep

'Maoism In Action' - C.L. Chiou

'Three "Whys" of The Russian Revolution' - Richard Pipes 

'Fascism vs. Capitalism' - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

'Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare' - Philip Short

'Coolidge' - Amity Shlaes

'Lolita' - Vladimir Nabokov

'The Hammer and The Cross' -  Michael Scott Rohan

'The Chomsky Reader' - Noam Chomsky

'The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower' - Robert F. Barsky

'Because We Say So' - Noam Chomsky

'Who Rules the World' - Noam Chomsky

'Noam Chomsky: Class Warfare, Interviews with David Barsamian'

'Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky'

'The Joy of Sex' - Dr. Alex Comfort

'Maus' - Art Spiegelman

The U.S. Constitution & Bill of Rights

'Samadhi: Personal Journeys to Spiritual Truth' - Derek Biermann

'The Holy Bible'

'Plato's 'Republic'

'The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus' - Aliki

'The Pocket Book of Baby and Child Care' - Dr. Benjamin Spock

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassle

I originally started this book thinking I was picking up a YA but soon found myself reading what I'm pretty sure a YA would only ever mention vaguely enough so you know it has happened, but I don't read a lot of YA so maybe I'm wrong. Either way retellings of classic stories have been big the last couple of years both in the books and on screen and 'The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel' was the perfect retelling to be released this October.

The story is told to us from the point of view of young Katrina. Through her we learn many of the myths and legends that fuel the superstitious minds of the small Dutch American town of Sleepy Hollow. We also come to understand the relationships she has and builds with members of the town, both new and old. As the story unfolds we witness Katrina's highest and lowest points, brought on by romance, loss, and the ever hanging questions about the supernatural.

The story does an amazing job of not giving itself away all at once, there is never a point where we know something our main character has not yet realized and I like that about it. Until the very end it is uncertain if the mysterious events are created by the hands of man or if the legends are in fact true...

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SOMETIMES DEAD IS BETTER

Don't Get Discouraged in Bookstores

Bookstores can be daunting for readers and non readers alike. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small shop or a large chain bookstore, for some people one shelf can be overwhelming. Here are some things to keep in mind that might make the experience smoother and some you might not have known:

1. Most bookstores, including second hand book stores have signs either on the book shelves themselves or hanging around the store that tell you what genre or age appropriate books are in what areas.
2. Its not required but its a good idea to have a list or to keep in mind certain books you are looking for because once everything is in front of you the possibilities are endless and you just might forget why you came in the store in the first place. I implement this especially in second hand book stores because the selections are at most times unpredictable and it's easy for us booklovers to get carried away.
3. Second hand bookstores may arrange their books in ways that a big chain stores would not. Bigger bookstores keep hardcover and paperbacks of the same books on the same shelf, but second hand bookstores have a bit more freedom. For example at Half Price Books, there are separate areas of the store dedicated to hardcover books and paperbacks. Because of this I often have to remind myself to check both sections. This bit of information is something I didn't know for the longest time and it has really helped me recently especially collecting old science fiction books.
4. Don't be afraid to ask for help looking for a book if you don't know what part of the store it might be in. I’ve noticed that book store employees are less likely to come up and ask if a customer needs help then almost anywhere else but its not because they don't want to help you. Most employees are book lovers themselves and know that most of us like to be left alone when we are among bookstacks so we can adequately explore, or internally debating with ourselves about if we really need the whole stack of books we have been juggling for the last thirty minutes. But when you do ask for help on a certain book make sure you at least know title or author, searches can’t be done by book color.
5. Bookstores don't just sell books anymore. Many different things can be bought at bookstores, such as: journals, CD’s, vinyl records, gameboards/card games, collectable figures and toys, comic books, coffee, snacks, etc. 
6. Second hand stores often have a section where they keep their rare or higher priced items. Sometimes these are shelves with locked doors and other times its the wall behind the registers. I highly recommend going and taking a look even on these shelves you can be surprised what you find.
7. When going to sell your books to secondhand bookstores keep in mind that you won't get half of what you paid for the books in the first place. You are likely to get more from more relevant and in demand books then for what everyone was going crazy over last year. But sometimes money is money and you will take what you can get and don’t be ashamed of it.

Indecent Reflections

                             

Have you ever thought about mirrors?

Most people look into a mirror at least once a day.

We go out of our way for just one more glance,

and why wouldn't we.

We were born into a world where there are such things as beauty standards.

Where in its earliest introduction into the home,

the mirror only furnished the walls of the very wealthy.

A sign of power and beauty.

Sometimes I feel that we like the vain act of peering into the looking glass,

because it gives us the chance to see ourselves as others do.

In fact I know we do.

We love and obsess over it,

just as we obsess over the way others see us and how they perceive us to be.

The eyes of others always have been and always will be the original mirrors.

We see ourselves when we look into another persons eyes.

The person they see us to be.

The version of us they themselves have made us out to be.

We like the way we look in some peoples eyes more than others.

The same way we like the way certain people look at us more than others.

They were right when they said that the eyes are the window to the soul.

The only question now is,

when I look into your eyes is it your soul I'm seeing or is it the reflection of my own?

And if it is my soul, is it reflected back at me in its entirety,

or is it only the pieces of myself that I have allowed you to see

and the blank spaces you have filled in?

What vain little creatures we are,

that we would look in the eyes of another with only the hope of finding ourselves there...

~ Elyza Ybarra

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE KING OF HORROR

The Order in Which to Read Stephen King Books

CONTINUITY CONTINUITY CONTINUITY

To the average reader it is understood that unless a book is part of a series, It is simply a standalone. When it comes to Stephen King books however the rules don't apply. No one Stephen King book is a standalone, even his book series' connect to the rest. In fact the Dark Tower itself is known among King fans to be at the center of it all. 

I have said before that I have come into it late in the game. I have only started to collect King's works within the past year and a half, I but have always been a fan of the movies. I had gotten my first king book when I was in middle school but I never finished it. The truth is I wasn't ready. I may have been tested to be several grades ahead in reading but Middle Grade books consumed all of my free time and I wasn't ready for real substance yet. 

It wasn't until my second year of college that I realized my reading tastes had graduated to classics and fiction that didn't come from the Children's or YA sections of bookstores. It was around this time that I decided I would try again. When I find I like something I tend to become obsessive. Not in a bad way but I did research what would be the best way to start reading King and got relatively the same answer everywhere I looked. START FROM THE BEGINNING. The beginning of course being 'Carrie'. 

Now I've found that the reason behind this is that the linking of the books, characters, towns (that only exist in his works), and events starts right at the beginning. If you were to jump around, you would be drowning in Easter eggs you didn't even know were right in front of you. My first King book that I mentioned above was 'Cujo'. So...the very first page of 'Cujo', completely gives away the ending to King's book 'The Dead Zone' which was published two years before 'Cujo' and who's characters also play a role in both books, which both take place in CASTLE ROCK. This is just one example and that is only the first page of one book. Both stories have had Easter eggs in the show by the way! 

I bring all of this up for two reasons:

1. Its something that anyone who wants to start reading King should know.
2. I get asked by people who don't read King why I have 17 King books but have not read them all. The thing about that is I want to read them in order because I want to make those connections, but I also have a personal goal to own them all in hardcover. for anyone who knows, King paperbacks practically get their own couple of bookshelves at second hand book stores and when they do have the hardcovers, the better looking the copy the higher the price.

If you would like a list of Stephen Kings books in publication order, I have made my own list in another post that I update with every new book release/release date announcement. 

The link to that post is here --->  Stephen King Book Checklist

King has effectively built his own universe and its ours to roam, just be careful there is a lot to fear out there and remember
ALL THINGS SERVE THE BEAM

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There Was Something on the Moon

Halt Passenger!

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so shall you be.

Prepare for death, and follow me.

- New England gravestone motto


***SPOILERS***

'Rouge Moon' is the first book by Algis Budrys that I have ever read, but it will likely not be my last. Its no surprise that I would like the science fiction book as it is one of the main genres that I read. Some of my favorites being 'The Transall Saga' and 'A Princess of Mars'.

Algis Budrys does a good job of building up his characters but sadly not much else. More than half of 'Rouge Moon' is spent on getting to know our very 'Great Gatsby' like characters. Anyone who knows me knows that I detest how despicable the characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most celebrated work are written. The movie adaptations however hold a place in my heart. Even though I also feel this way about the characters in 'Rouge Moon' it was the science fiction aspect that kept me hooked.

Dr. Edward Hawks is the lead scientist of a US government operation on the moon. However Dr. Hawks has never set foot on the moon himself. Instead he has created a machine that works as a 3D printer for genetic material. A person goes in to the machine and is cloned not once but twice. One clone is transmitted and comes to life in Dr. Hawks lab on earth and the other is transmitted to the moon. the body that originally went into the machine is no more. Both new clones share the same brain, and the clone that stays in the lab is kept in a dark and confined space so that it may witness everything that its other copy endures while on the moon. Unfortunately this also means the pain and experience of death. Once the clone in the lab is taken out of its confinement its brain separates from the other clone as it has its own experience and lives its own life. However so far all of the men whose clones Dr. Hawks has sent up to the moon and have shared the experience of death have suffered mentally, some even catatonic because of the experience. This changes when Dr. Hawks is introduced to Al Barker, a man unafraid of death and the only man to go into the machine and come out relatively sane.

Buy why send men up to the moon this way, and for what purpose when man has already successfully made it to the moon through space craft? Well while on the moon the US discovered a machine, a maze really that is completely booby trapped and has killed everyone who has ventured into it. By sending men to the moon the way he has Dr. Hawks is able to get a play by play from the clone still in the lab of the events going on in the machine on the moon. the government wants to know how to safely walk through the machine and come out the other side so they might figure out how to deconstruct it, weaponize it and use it to the US governments advantage.

"I looked at the stars, which are distant suns, and the night, which is the earth's shadow, and the snow, which is water undergoing a state-change, and I took the tears in my eyes and I made a wonderland."

Overall 'Rouge Moon' was fast paced which may be a reason that I didn't mind the characters as much as I did in 'The Great Gatsby' where there are literally whole pages dedicated to listing names of people who attended Gatsby's party. F Scott Fitzgerald really liked to fill his pages with lists in all of his writing, it just gets to be too much sometimes. I know a lot of people get defensive when I talk bad of 'The Great Gatsby' but that is just my opinion, and you have a right to your own.

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The Siren and the Specter

Our main character David is a known skeptic who is invited to places said to be haunted. He is known for debunking the places he visits in his books where he writes about his supernatural experiences, or rather the lack there of.

When David is asked by an old friend to return to a town that was once their old college stomping grounds, he finds himself staying at the Alexander House. The goal for Chris and his wife is to turn the old house into a tourist attraction. To David Cain however the Alexander House is much more than just another job. It is also the house that David's idol and predecessor, John Weir went missing from. Weir's name has since been slandered by "true believers" as the skeptic who was killed by what he proclaimed didn't exist. The fact that Weir' body was never found makes the whole affair that much more of a mystery. With his book David wishes to honor Weir in a way, giving him the respect the man truly deserves but first he must survive a month in the Alexander House.

The twists and turns in this book will have you constantly questioning who can be trusted and what can be possible. Though we may come to some realizations before David, we are still rattled by his thoughts and questions even when we think the answers are solid and clear which I feel sets the book apart.

I like That David takes the time to think and asses the situations he finds himself in instead of running blindly into things the way so many horror characters do. Its refreshing not to be yelling "DON'T GO INTO THAT ROOM" to horror characters who can't hear you or take your advice. Jonathan Janz pulls away from the cliches of the horror genre to give us main characters who can remain somewhat composed in high tress level situations.

The only thing that really bugged me about this book is that all of the women that David encounters seem to have it out for him, almost collectively at times. Whenever he is around female characters he is constantly being accused (by the characters themselves) of sexualizing them when he is just trying to get answers, save some kids and survive! They only ease up on him when he starts dating one of them which is all kinds of fucked up. Though I am a woman who takes offence at this, I also understand that there are women in the world who are actually like this. It is just how quickly it all seems to end that had me a bit shook up.

Are ghosts real or is this all just another hoax...

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So Much I Want To Tell You

I have followed and watched Anna Akana's videos on youtube for the past 4+ years of my life. Her videos are very comedic but hold a good amount of truth and support for Akana herself as well as her fan base. Akana is the kind of person who isn't afraid to open up to her fans which is exactly what she is doing again in her book 'So Much I Want To Tell You'.

Anna Akana is a Comedian, Actor, Director, Producer, Youtube Personality. She also has her own clothing line, and has directed and produced her own short films and TV shows. Akana has her own show on Youtube red called 'Youth & Conciquences' as well as her show 'Miss 2059' which was picked up after she got such a good responce on her short film 'Miss Earth'. Akana is also a suicide prevention advocate.

Akana's Book is titled 'So much I want to tell you: letters to my little sister'. She has been open with fans before in videos about her sister Kristina's suicide. Through her book as well as her channel Anna has shared her story for Kristina and every other girl out their.

I liked reading Akana's book because reading it you can really hear her voice. Its almost as is if she is talking to you from one of her Youtube videos. The book is divided into sections where she talks about her career, her health (both mental and physical) and relationships. Akana goes over many topics at different lengths. There are moments where she really digs deep and talks about her problems with depression that she has had since her sisters suicide, moments where I had to put the book down and just let the tears fall. Moments that the wounds from my own loss demanded to be heard  and told me "you do those things", "you feel that way", all the while realizing I had not wanted to believe it until now, until I knew that someone else had these feelings too.

Another thing I liked about Akana's book is that when she brings up topics and situations she has had in her life she will also mention the title of one of her Youtube videos that she had made while those situations were going on in her life. This also helps to set up a timeline for fans to follow while reading her book. 

One of Akana's Chapters in her book is called 'Take Your Birth Control'. Akana also made this chapter into a Youtube video posted on her channel when the book was released to give her fan base a taste of what was to come. this is the video posted above. the chapter of her book and the video itself may as well be word for word. If your thinking about picking up the book watch the video!

Below will be a couple of videos from her that I often think about at the most random times:

Stephen King Book Checklist

This is a checklist that I made and have started to keep up to date myself as new release dates are announced and books are released. I will now keep it up to date on here as well. It is in order by book publication date (because continuity matters) :

For the convenience of us both this information is now located on its own page of my blog where it is more easily accessible. Here is the link Stephen King Reading List

• 1974 Carrie 
• 1975 'Salem's Lot 
• 1977 Rage
• 1977 The Shining
• 1978 Night Shift
• 1978 The Stand
• 1978 The Long Walk
• 1979 The Dead Zone
• 1980 Firestarter
• 1981 Roadwork
• 1981 Cujo
• 1981 Danse Macabre
• 1982 The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger 
• 1982 The Running Man 
• 1982 Different Seasons
• 1983 Christine
• 1983 Pet Sematary
• 1984 The Talisman
• 1984 Thinner
• 1985 Cycle of the Werewolf 
• 1985 Skeleton Crew
• 1986 IT
• 1987 The Eyes of the Dragon
• 1987 The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
• 1987 Misery 
• 1987 The Tommyknockers
• 1989 The Dark Half
• 1990 Four Past Midnight
• 1991 Needful Things
• 1991 The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
• 1992 Gerald's Game
• 1993 Dolores Claiborne
• 1993 Nightmares and Dreamscapes
• 1994 Insomnia
• 1995 Rose Madder
• 1996 Desperation
• 1996 The Regulators
• 1996 The Green Mile
• 1997 The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass 
• 1998 Bag of Bones
• 1999 The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon 
• 1999 Hearts in Atlantis 
• 2000 On Writing
• 2001 Dreamcatcher
• 2001 Black House 
• 2002 From A Buick 8
• 2002 Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales
• 2003 The Dark Tower V: The Wolves of the Calla 
• 2004 The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
• 2004 The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
• 2005 The Colorado Kid
• 2006 Cell
• 2006 Lisey's Story
• 2007 Blaze 
• 2008 Duma Key
• 2008 Just After Sunset
• 2009 Under the Dome
• 2010 Full Dark, No Stars
• 2011 11/22/63
• 2012 The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole
• 2013 Joyland
• 2013 Doctor Sleep
• 2014 Mr. Mercedes
• 2014 Revival
• 2015 Finders Keepers 
• 2015 The Bazaar of Bad Dreams 
• 2016 End of Watch 
• 2017 Sleeping Beauties 
• 2018 The Outsider 
• 2018 The Body 
• 2018 The Mist 
• 2018 Flight or Fright 
• 2018 Elevation

Gerald’s Game: Netflix Movie Vs. Book

***SPOILERS***

The Dog:

In both the movie and the book or story starts out with a married couple (Gerald and Jessie) going to their lake house in the off-season. This is where the game begins.
In the film we are introduced to the dog as the couple is driving to the lake house and again when Jessie feeds him the “Kobe rib eye, from Kobe”. In the book the dog is first heard rather than seen off in the distance when Jesse is already cuffed to the bed.

The Handcuffs and Voices:
This brings us to our next subject, in the Netflix rendition we are meant to believe that this is the first time the handcuffs have been brought into the marriage bed but that Jessie has known Gerald has needed to use Viagra to get it up for sometime now. In the book however there is never any mention of Viagra or the little blue pills, but we are led to understand that Jessie is used to being subjected to her specially bought handcuffs. The plot for both mediums are strikingly similar in most aspects except for one in Netflix’s version Jessie has a sort of mental break after the dog comes in and starts to bite off and eat pieces of her now deceased husband (and who could blame her). When this happens she imagines Gerald getting up off the floor and starting to talk to her, and ridiculing her (also making a Cujo reference). Then she materializes another version of herself to both defend her and be the voice of reason. If the movie had followed closer to the book it might not have played out so smoothly and it certainly would’ve been longer. In King’s book the voices didn’t appear after the mental break on the bed because they were already with Jessie. They had been with her since the day the sun went out, the day of the eclipse on Dark Score Lake. Each was a woman’s voice, each with its own name and personality some even being Jessie at different stages of her life. Each voice is named after a person in Jessie‘s life or given her own childhood nickname. These are some of the voices:

• Ruth Neary: This voice is named after Jessie‘s college roommate, the voice is blunt and tells it how it is no matter how cringe worthy the topic. Ruth was always a person in Jessie‘s life who pushed her to open up but when Jessie wasn’t ready to open up about Dark square Lake she moved out never telling Ruth anything not even why she left.

• Nora Callahan: Named after Jessie‘s therapist who she stopped seeing another person who pushed to find out what happened at dark score lake.

• Goody Burlingame: The voice of the dutiful wife, she often shames Jessie when she is not lady like and blames the situation that Jessie ends up in on the fact that she wouldn’t just lay down and take it like a good woman. In small moments she becomes a voice of reason but she is often being told to shut up.

• Punkin: This is a younger version of Jessie. The Jessie that was, on the day of the eclipse on Dark Score Lake. The voice is given the nickname that Jessie‘s father had given her. She tells Jessie to look back on the day that the sun went out to find what she needs to escape from her handcuffs now. This is also a voice that we get to see materialized in the movie when Jesse talks to her in her head out on the swing by the lake and whom Jesse writes the letter to the end of the movie.

• The Young Girl: This voice is never really given a name it could be Punkin but we’re not told for sure it’s a voice that screams out for Jessie’s needs such as water and if I remember correctly it is only heard once or twice.

• UFO’s: There are several different voices that Jesse her self identifies as UFO voices they pop up every now and then and when they do they sometimes complement Jessie on how well she’s doing and handling her situation and other times they present a cold truth about what could happen to Jesse, of what her future could be. Like the imagined Gerald and Jesse in the movie the voices in Jessie‘s head guide her through her days coverage to the bed both convincing her to fight and belittling her.

The Dreams:

There are two different kinds of dreams that occur. The first are simply suppressed memories coming back to Jessie, memories from Dark Score Lake (these are the only ones shown in the movie), memories of when Jessie went with Ruth Neary to a support group in college where girls were sharing their sexual assault experiences and Jessie ran away and had a meltdown because she began to remember her own. The other dreams where feverish nightmares that mixed Jessie’s past and present all into one.

The Dolores Claiborne tie-in:

Anyone familiar with Kings books knows that they all connect somewhere, even when he's writing under his pen name. The books Gerald's Game and Dolores Claiborne share a celestial event, an eclipse. I have not yet read Dolores Claiborne though I plan to VERY soon I know that both books revolve around the events that both women lived through on the day of the eclipse in Maine on Saturday July 20th, 1963. The picture to the right is a photo of the map that can be found at the front of both books. It is a map of Maine where King's books take place and shows us the path of totality of the eclipse on that fateful day.

There is one very distinct scene in both the movie and the book that connects these two stories, but once we hear about them they are dropped and the scenes are never really mentioned again. Perhaps there is more on this encounter in the Dolores Claiborne book since it was published directly after Gerald's Game but I won't know until I read it. If it ends up being a big thing for me when I do, it will possibly Get its own post. Mostly because I don't really have anyone to go into depth on King books with, but back to the topic at hand. In the movie Jessie tells us "I had a dream, that night at the lake house. There was a woman standing over a deep well, looking down into the blackness. And I'm in the well looking up at her. The sky was so dark behind her, the eclipse burning overhead...she was standing there in her red dress, looking right at me." this is very similar to what happens in the book however it is not a dream! This encounter between childhood Jessie and Dolores Claiborne happens directly after the incident with Jessie's father on the swing when he sends her inside so that she can clean herself up. Its more of a vision, as Jessie walks into the hallway of the lake house she looks up to see pretty much what is described to us in the movie. We are never told how or why this has happened, and I NEED to know more.
Like with the voices, I understand why this scene had to be changed for the movie. It would have been extremely out of place to just be like, 'oh ya she randomly sees a portal on her ceiling that shows her a woman looking down a well somewhere else in Maine who has also lived through some crazy shit during the eclipse. BUT we aren't going to explain how or why because we probably won't make the movie for that book...'. Some things are better revised because they wont transfer well or will take additional explaining that will ultimately take you out of the movie and that's understandable. When reading the books your more open to this because well its a Stephen King book, and it ain't King without some weird ass crazy/scary shit going on, which is also why we never really question the voices or the moonlight man. Face it its the truth its why we keep picking up the books he pops out every year. We like that crazy/scary shit, and there is no shame in that.

 The Moonlight man:

Jessie called him by several names in the book some of which being the Space Cowboy, Dr. Doom, Monster of Love, and Death but the most screwed up of all of them is probably who she believes him to be when she first sees him, her own father. She thinks that he’s come back from the dead as a living corpse to take what he wanted on that day at Dark Score Lake and she is ready if it means everything is over. As time goes on she realizes that it couldn’t possibly be her father which leads her to the other names mentioned above. Jessie sees the moonlight man twice the first time after thinking he’s her father then realizing he isn’t she passes out from fear after he shows her his box filled with jewelry and bones. The second is when Jessie escapes her cuffs and is fleeing from the house and Throwing him her ring as she leaves as a sort of payment for her life and then later hallucinates him in the backseat of her vehicle because of loss of blood. This is similar in both the book and movie scenes and so is what she finds out much later that he was not death nor anything made from her own imagination but a living man named Raymond Andrew Joubert. We found out all of this when Jessie writes her letter.

The letter:
As mentioned before in the Netflix movie Jessie writes the letter to herself, her younger self, explaining what she’s doing now so that what happen to them can be used to help others. However in the book the letter is being written to Ruth Neary, Jessie‘s college friend. After so many long years Jessie is finally reaching out to tell Ruth why she ran away, what happened to her at dark score lake, what happened to her at the lake house with the handcuffs, her voices who had helped her escape, about the moonlight man and how Jesse had gone to face him to prove to herself that he was just a man and that she didn’t have to go on being afraid of the night.

Quotes from the book:

“It had all been a little too bright to be real,like things seen through a fever which is not quite high enough to be life threatening”

“He had been able to face her with his lies; it was the truth which had made him finally look away.”

Fun Side Notes:

It was brought to my attention recently that in Netflix’s movie Jessie does in fact have an IPhone and the movie could have ended much sooner if Jessie had said one little sentence “Hey Siri, call 911”.

Questions:

Was there any differences between the movie that you liked or didn’t like?

Do you wish they had done the extra work to get into Jessie’s voices or do you think it was a good idea to change it up for the movie?

How do you feel about the References to some of kings other works, and do you know how many are in both the book and movie?

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ALL THINGS SERVE THE BEAM

If She Dies, She Takes The Truth With Her

I wasn't planning on posting anything until next week, however since I already stated I was planning to put up the Gerald's Game post then I figured an extra time this week wouldn't hurt and I really want this post to be up before the release date of the book. So here it is...

Title: Sadie

Author: Courtney Summers

Genre: YA, Thriller, Suspense

I had stopped reading YA awhile back. I just couldn’t get into what I was picking up anymore but that all changed this past month. Courtney Summers had me hooked by the second page with the line "And it begins, as so many Stories do, with a dead girl.". To be honest with you if I hadn’t had responsibilities at the time I started reading, I probably would have finished it in a day or two. Sadie starts off  as the story of a girl that everyone suspects to be a runaway, but quickly unfolds into a girls journey to find the man who murdered her sister at any and all costs.

The story is told from two points of view and on two time lines:

The first is told by West McCray. McCray's story is told through the script of his podcast titled "The Girls". McCray has been tasked with essentially following the story of our girl Sadie who has run away after the murder of her younger sister, whom she raised. Through the podcast we get to hear the side of the people and the life Sadie was supposedly running away from and the interviews of people who interacted with her on her journey after she left home. 

The second is told by Sadie herself. Sadie who unknown to anyone back home is on a hunt, a mission for revenge and she wants much more then for the man that murdered her sister to be put behind bars. The cops didn't know who did it but Sadie does and so as she begins her journey she tells us herself, "I'm going to kill a man. I'm going to take the light from his eyes. I want to watch it go out. You aren't supposed to answer violence with more violence but sometimes I think violence is the only answer.".

Courtney Summers really knows how to give substance to a character. Sadie is built up for us by herself, by her own thoughts, feelings and inner monologue. We come to understand her thought process for the here and now. Through West McCray we learn more about her back story, and come to understand a bit of why we see the things in her we do. This process helps Sadie's side of the story to move along without having to stop in the middle of her constant moving to recant a past she has no need to concern herself with, and also keeps the reader on track.

Sadie can be found in bookstores on 9.4.18

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Stephen King TV and Cinema (2016 and on)

These past couple years have been very good to Stephen King fans. And no it's not because new books came out, because if you didn't know King has published about 2+ books a year, every year since his first book Carrie was published in 1974. So if you were thinking you wanted to start a collection your already about 71 books behind, and once October hits the next two books will have been released so that makes 73. That will also make five books released this year alone. It has been good for King fans because of all the movies and TV shows that have been coming out and will continue to come out, for the next couple years *fingers crossed*. Some people might be looking at their screens with confused faces right now and that's ok. Most people who don't follow along with the book continuity may not even realize what is King and what isn't when its on TV or the big screen or that it has even been released. 

Surprisingly Hulu and Netflix have played a big part in this. Hulu was ahead of the game releasing their first Stephen King show '11.22.63' (named after its book) in 2016. In 2018 Hulu has Taken it one step further with its new Stephen King show 'Castle Rock' (named after one of Kings made up Maine towns where many of his stories take place or near) which is currently on its 6th episode with new episodes being added once a week (no Hulu does not sponsor me, I just like to share!). Let me just say there is a SHIT TON of easter eggs in this show, I screamed when I saw the opening the first time because it shows pages and manuscripts from many of the books that are set in the small town. To be honest I'm probably going to have more posts to talk purely about Castle Rock so be ready because I need to move on for the moment. While Hulu has been making shows Netflix has been making movies releasing both 'Gerald's Game' and '1922'. Also released on TV in 2017 were both shows 'The Mist' (based off of a King short story originally published in 'Skeleton Crew' in 1980, was re-released as its own book in paperback July 2018), and 'Mr. Mercedes' (named after its book). The Mist comes on Spike, but can also be binged on Netflix!

The last two 2017 releases are the ones that you had to buy a movie ticket to go see. These are of course 'The Dark Tower' (Which is an 8 book series if you were wondering), and the new 'IT' movie (also named after its book). I didn't get to see The Dark Tower because I have not started its series but I have a basic understanding of the tower itself from what I have picked up from other readers and have gotten the understanding that it serves as an entryway into the settings of all of Kings works, the beam, and its animal guardians. I wont go into IT now because I have yet to read the book, but of course have seen the original TV mini series we all call the original movie. 

Now to the future! Here are some of Kings works said to be getting movies, TV series, or Remakes soon:

•  Pet Semetary and Fire Starter are both looking at getting their own remakes soon. I haven't seen the originals! I need to hunt them down.
• Sleeping Beauties TV series. This book was Released in October of 2017. All of the women in the world fall into a deep sleep even growing a cocoon like a butterfly but if they are awoken from their sleep they become rabid. Sounds normal to me besides the cocoon. Ha Ha... this IS on my bookshelf but I have yet to start it
• Hearts in Atlantis movie
• Doctor Sleep movie. sequel to the Shining
• IT 2 that ones a given. When are we getting a trailer though...I keep running into that damn fan made trailer!

I'm not 100% on if these are all real or hearsay so if I end up being wrong I apologize now!

What I can guarantee are the book releases:

• Flight or Fright (release date Sep.4,2018)
• Elevation (release date Oct.30,2018)

Next week I will be comparing Netflix's 'Gerald's Game' movie to the book! 

I have also have a checklist for myself mostly, of all of Kings books listed by and with original release date which I update as new titles are announced or released. Let me know if you would like me to post it...

You can follow me on Instagram @ybarra_bookstacks

Harry Potter and Norbert's great escape

Harry Potter and What You Missed if You Didn't Read the First Book

**SPOILERS**

The Harry Potter books may be coming into their 20 year marks but not everyone who grew up with the
series (Movie and book alike) have read the books or completed the series. I know that may make more
than one person *gasp* and faint on the inside but we all know its the truth and I will be the first to say
that in my youth I never made it past the third book, nor had I ever owned one of the books, and perhaps
that was what was holding me back. In the summer of 2017 however I took a trip abroad to London and
Edinburgh and decided to pick up the new editions that came out in the UK for the 20th anniversary of
the Philosopher's Stone. I’ve decided that as I finish the books I will compare the parts that aren't in the
movies or have been changed, there will be one post per book. We probably won’t go into the Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find them or the Cursed Child books unless requested or decided upon later down
the line (So let me know if that interests anyone). I guess now would be the best time to Jump right in…

The Day Harry became known as “The Boy Who Lived”

The book begins earlier then the movie. We are first introduced to the Dursley's and get to follow
Vernon throughout his day as he goes to work and notices many suspicious things and weirdly dressed
people who all seem to be celebrating and in such a good mood. What Vernon was witnessing though he
didn't know it, was the wizarding world in celebration that the dark lord had been defeated and wizards,
witches, and owls were all out and about in the muggle world without a care and the muggles began to
notice.

Aunt Petunia's Hair

This ones not as big I suppose. Many characters traits from books don’t always get translated into
the movies. Aunt Petunia as well as Dudley are both blond in the books but have dark hair in the movies.

Meeting Draco

In the movie as we all know we meet Draco just outside the great hall when he introduces himself as
well as his minions to Harry. In the books this conversation actually takes place on the Hogwarts Express
during Harry and Draco’s second meeting. Yes, I said second! Harry first meets Draco on Diagon Alley
in Madam Malkin's Robe Shop where most of the talking is done by Draco and Harry never actually tells
him his name.

Kings Cross

Hagrid doesn’t drop Harry off at Kings Cross after taking him to get all of his school supplies. He returns
him to Privet Drive and the Dursley’s. The Dursley’s drop Harry off at Kings Cross laughing about the
fact that there is no such thing as Platform 9¾ (But we all know better…).

The Ghosts

In the movie we are only ever formally introduced to nearly headless Nick, though we see that there are
other ghosts wandering the halls of hogwarts. We miss out completely on the relationship between the
Bloody Baron, and Peeves the Poltergeist

The Sorting Hat

The Sorting Hat performs a song for the first years before McGonagall starts calling them up to be sorted
and it goes like this:

‘Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,

But don’t judge on what you see,

I’ll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat then me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There’s nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can’t see,

So try me on and I will tell you

where you ought to be.

You might belong to Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave of heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart,

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil,

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you’ve a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind,

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You’ll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don’t be afraid!

And don’t get in a flap!

You’re in safe hands (though I have none)

For I’m a thinking cap!’

The Mirror of Erised:

When harry looks into the mirror it is more than just his parents he sees standing behind him like we are
lead to believe in the movie. Harry sees many people who are described to have similar traits to his own
and whom are assumed to be his family and ancestors on his father's side.

Sending Norbert to Romania:

Dumbledore sends Norbert to Romania in the movie and that's the end of it. In the book Hermione and
Harry struggle carrying Norbert in a crate while hiding under the invisibility cloak. They make their way
all the way up to the astronomy tower to meet up with some of Charlie’s friends, who put Norbert in a
harness to be carried between their broomsticks to take him to Charlie in Romania. Also charlie is Ron’s
older brother whom they wrote to about the situation and pick up if that needed to be clarified!

Detention:

Our trio do not gain detention with Draco because they were caught out of bed at Hagrid’s hut by Draco.
Instead Hermione, and Harry are caught leaving the astronomy tower (where they took Norbert to be
picked up) because they forgot Harry’s invisibility cloak in the tower. Draco was Caught trying to catch
them with the dragon, and Neville was also caught out of bed trying to warn Harry about Draco.

The Centaurs:

We find out while the group is in detention that the Dark Forest is home to many magical creatures. The
centaurs that the group happen upon can be described as appearing to be CP characters, like from a video
game. When they would be asked a question they would simply repeat a line they had said before while
looking up to the sky.

The Nimbus 2000:

We all remember the excitement that ensued when Harry’s broom arrived in the great hall. In the book it
was a little different. Harry was told to keep his broom, and his spot on the quidditch team secret. One
reason was that first years are not allowed to keep their own brooms on campus, the second is that
McGonagall wanted it to be a surprise, that Harry was her “secret weapon”.

The Tasks:

There were seven tasks, seven obstacles set in place to guard the stone by 7 trusted people:

Fluffy -- Hagrid
Devil’s Snare -- Sprout
The Charmed Keys -- Flitwick
Giant Wizards Chess Board -- McGonagall
A Mountain Troll -- Quirrell
A Potions Riddle -- Snape
The Mirror of Erised -- Dumbledore

Both Quirrell and Snape's obstacles were not included in the movie.

Fun Facts:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone (as it was originally published in the UK and in every other part of the world except for the US it seems) has its title changed for sales in the US. I have never found out the reason as to why. Most Americans don’t even know it has been changed in US editions of the books or movies for that matter which also have changed wording based on where in the world you buy your copies. I Prefer the original UK version because it gives it all so much more substance and history. The Philosopher’s stone has real lore in human history, and countless stories of people who wish to obtain or create it. To me it makes the plot that much thicker!