Horrorstor / Grady Hendrix

IMAGINE THIS: you're in an Ikea at night when it's deserted and suddenly there are GHOSTS and HAUNTINGS, that's right, get ready for both Thrills, and Chills!

Here's what many before me have said about Horrorstor: it has concept in spades and the exact right amount of execution to make it a fun and quick read. The ending is only okay and some of the story beats seem unnecessary BUT, overall it's good and spooky! And isn't that all we can ask or expect from a book like this? A slasher-esque movie turned concept book? BUT WAIT, I hear you say, THERE MUST BE MORE TO LIFE. Good point, and there is, and it comes in the form of Joey Comeau's slasher thriller The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved.

This book not only gave me the satisfying type of fear that comes from a book that is not only extremely over the top but is also very well written, and left me feeling Real Human Emotions to such a degree that although I read this book several years ago, I still think of it often and recommend it to people on the reg. For instance! A couple weeks ago I was getting my nails done and the esthetician and I somehow realized we had a mutual appreciation for true crime podcasts, which led to a discussion of reading, which led to my admitting that I get scared VERY easily and so I can't watch horror movies or listen to horror audiobooks BUT since she loves horror she should DEFINITELY find and read a copy of The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved by Canada's own Joey Comeau (If you recognize his name it's probably because of the late great A Softer World).

LISTEN, I do not claim to understand Mr Comeau's mind, but imagine the ramblings of that weird and sad comic translated into a really good and affecting horror novel and out comes a book that is NOT ONLY a really scary bloodbath but ALSO a really touching story about a single mother and her son. I can't explain it!

I normally don't like/can't read horror, despite my yearly quest for spooky scary reads in the Fall, but I can honestly recommend both of these books, although for entirely different reasons. If you are trying your BEST to play Civilization 5 but it Will Not Stop Crashing then I recommend you log on to your nearest library website and get yourself an ebook copy of Horrorstor to read whilst enjoying a quiet evening at home. If you want a book that will spook you til your eyes are wide BUT ALSO will spring into your mind with tenderness years later, read The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved.

And really, who among us hasn't shut all the lights off in a normally busy and bright space and felt just a lil bit of the creepy crawlies.

watched in 2017

I stopped recording what movies I watched this year when I got to 13, and let me assure you: I watched way more than 13 movies. And so I cannot tell you everything I watched, because I don't remember. BUT I can talk about a few that were notable enough for me to remember when I watched them. Sometimes I'm good at remembering plots and storylines, but not when I watched something, or with whom, etc. Like, my list says I watched 2001: Space Odyssey this year but I feel like I watched it absolute eons ago. Perhaps because this year was extremely long, and very full, and at parts surreal. A lot happened this past year, both to me personally and on the international stage. I also watched District 9, and let me tell you: it is very weird to watch a movie like District 9 amid calls for building a racist wall and deporting refugees. It hits close to home, is what I mean.

Here's a short list of some of the other movies and shows I remember watching:

• Thor: Ragnarok (17) delightful and genuinely funny, highly recommend. Gonna watch through Taiki Waititi's filmography, I think. 
• The Monster (25) give me a silent movie and live organ music on Halloween or give me death. 
• Hidden Figures (16) I've said it before and I'll say it again: this movie is required viewing. 
• Contact (97) I loved this. I think it will become a movie I watch again and again. I love Space! I need a big sunhat! I want to read the book! Alright alright alright!
• Sunshine (07) this was the year of Space Movies, apparently. 
• Hot Fuzz (07) turns out this movie is a) as delightful and funny as everyone has been saying for ten years, and b) chock a block with really good and inventive storytelling and jokes.
• Logan (17) the more I think about it the more I appreciate it. It's a logical progression from the previous X-Men movies, and a reflection of the current climate. 
• Lion (16) I don't know what to say about this movie! It was very good, but everything I say feels irreverent somehow! 
• Atomic Blonde (17) I will watch any movie that prominently features Charlize Theron kicking everyone's ass.  
• The Fugitive (93) this one is in the canon for a reason, folks. I didn't kill my wife. 
• The Castle (97) there's a joke from this movie in Thor: Ragnarok, that's how iconic it is. 
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi (17) everyone who didn't like this movie can get stuffed. The last couple Star Wars movies have had the thesis "actually, war is bad" and I'm a fan. 
• Stranger Things 2 (17) Joyce and Steve are the Moms of the Year 1984. 
• The Good Place (S1) I have only seen season one so if someone spoils this show for me, just remember, I have a very special set of skills. 
• Brooklyn-99 - this was often our mealtime-tv, and I think we've watched it through like three times now. I love B99. 
• Parks and Recreation - the other day I saw someone on twitter say that they didn't like Parks and Rec and EXCUSE ME, how? 

I probably also watched Mad Max: Fury Road, because how is it possible for anyone to go an entire year without viewing that absolute legend. I live, I die, I live again. We are not things. 

As a final note: I CANNOT be the only person who sees this and thinks it was done on purpose: 

books read in 2017

Listen, I write a lot for school and for my other blog (which my best friend and I write together and which is, imo, a v good blog. I'm proud of it.) so writing here has taken a serious backseat to the rest of my writing life. BUT new year new blogging goals, and I want to write a little bit about the books I'm reading, since it helps me remember them better. And so, in chronological order (I think), the books I read in 2017 (not including a few short picture books):

• The Happiness Project / Gretchen Rubin - this book is nice and I liked it. I feel like I was pretty late to the Gretchen Rubin train, but it's a nice train to be on. 
• What We See When We Read / Peter Mendelsund - I read this for a class in my second semester, and it's quite good. When I first read it I made a note that it was "a little monolithic", which probably gives you some insight into how much academia is seeping into my brain. What can I say, I like to read about reading. 
• Partners in Crime / Agatha Christie - whenever I'm in a reading rut Tommy and Tuppence are there to bolster me up. 
• The Life-Changing Magic of not Giving a F*ck / Sarah Knight - this was a good, quick lil book and I recommend it! I listened to the audiobook version and I feel like I could be pals with Sarah Knight. There's a new book out with a similar title which I feel a strange antipathy towards. 
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone / JK Rowling - do I need to explain Harry Potter to anyone?
• I'm Judging You / Luvvie Ajayi - HELLO EVERYONE I recommend you read this book ASAP, also the audiobook version is a PURE DELIGHT. 
• White Rapids / Pascal Blanchet - this is a great little piece of Canadiana! And it's about a bit of Quebec history that I didn't know anything about. 
• Bitch Planet, vol. 1 / Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro - not for everyone but I enjoyed it. 
• The Rosie Project / Greame Simsion - another book I read way after everyone else! A good pal gave me her copy and I stayed up til 4:00 am to finish it. 
• Wishful Drinking / Carrie Fisher - the audiobook is absolutely PERFECT for a three hour car ride. 
• Sunshine / Robin McKinley - I've been a Robin McKinley fan for a long time so why I didn't pick this one up is a mystery to me. Actually tbh it's probably because of a misplaced prejudice against vampires and a weird self-congratulatory attitude about having only read Dracula and no other vampire stories. Get over yourself, past Glynis. Literally no one cares about your opinions on Twilight, just let people enjoy things. 
• The Miniaturist / Jessie Burton - this was...fine. I feel like there was a lot of wasted potential in the ideas and storytelling. 
• There is no Right Way to Meditate / Yumi Sakugawa - very short, very cute. 
• Witches of East End / Melissa de la Cruz - this book was really dumb but I liked reading it. 
• My Friend Dahmer / Derf Backderf - do not, I repeat, DO NOT delve into Jeffrey Dahmer's wikipedia page directly before bed after finishing this book! It is a bad idea! The book is good though!
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane / Katherine Howe - more witches! Plus now I like the name Deliverance?
• Every Heart a Doorway / Seanan McGuire - a book about children who go through a door into another world and then end up back on earth and now they're dealing with it. It's good! 
• Vengeance Road / Erin Bowman - if you liked True Grit (and let's be honest, who didn't), you'll like Vengeance Road. There's revenge. There's riding horses through the desert. There's good representation of indigenous peoples (as far as I can tell! I'm white! Feel free to correct me on this one!). 
• Giant Days, vol. 4 / John Allison, Max Serin - I've said it before and I'll say it again: I will read anything John Allison writes. 
• Go Ask Alice / "Anonymous" - here's the two-sentence review I wrote on this book when I finished it, because I will not spend one more iota of mental effort on thinking about it: "Greetings friends! Not only is this book 100% fake it is also: complete shite!" 
• The Outside Circle / Patti Laboucane-Benson, Kelly Mellings - this should be required reading for all Canadians. It lays out inter-generational trauma in an understandable and immediate way. PLEASE READ IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN. 
• Queer: A Graphic History / Meg-John Barker, Julia Scheele - chock full of good, rigorous, academic work. If you find yourself saying "what the hell is queer theory" then I recommend this book! 
• Jane, the Fox & Me / Fanny Britt - delightful! lovely! poignant!
• Unquiet Past / Kelley Armstrong - oh hello, did you order one deus ex machina? 
• The Winter People / Jennifer McMahon - spooky scary! A fun read with some solid creepiness that I quite enjoyed. 
• Uprooted / Naomi Novik - another audiobook which is definitely worth the many, many hours it takes to get through it. A sort-of retelling of Beauty and the Beast. 
• How to Be a Woman / Caitlin Moran - listen, Caitlin Moran's feminism is not perfect, but then, neither is mine. I really like this book regardless. 
• Fatty Legs / Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret (Olemaun) Pokiak-Fenton - a true story of one girl's experience in a residential school in the north. Very short, lots of illustrations, highly recommend. 
• Lily Renee, Escape Artist / Trina Robbins - not quite what I was expecting but still good. 
• Whose Body? / Dorothy L. Sayers - I don't think I'll ever get tired of British crime writers. 
• Spill Zone, vol. 1 / Scott Westerfeld, Alex Puvilland - VERY GOOD, MUCH RECOMMEND
• Magpie Murders / Anthony Horowitz - I know this is getting rave reviews but honestly the more I think about it the more it bugs me. Motives in the story seem very........unmotivating. It's not BAD, it's just not my favorite. 
• Austenland / Shannon Hale - Shannon Hale, like Robin McKinley, has been a longtime fave and this book was just as fun and silly as I wanted it to be. 
• A Murder for Her Majesty / Beth Hilgartner - Christmas is a good time to reread faves from your youth. Shout out to this book for making young Glynis want to be in a choir.