Victor LaValle On Mental Illness, Monsters, Survival
In Victor LaValle's new novel, The Devil in Silver, a man is mistakenly committed to a mental hospital where a buffalo-headed monster stalks patients at night. The plausibility of a monster roaming the hospital's halls made sense, says LaValle, who has a personal connection to the mentally ill. "The times that I've been in those hospitals — even as someone who was not even institutionalized at the time — I felt so much like I was in a haunted house," LaValle tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "And if I had looked down that hallway, for a week, for a month, for a year, at some point, it would not have been that impossible to believe that I would see something rounding that corner, something strange, something impossible, because my mind could no longer register the reality I was living in. And [it] started creating a horror that in some way symbolized the experience I was going through."
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
I’ve edited a monthly magazine for more than six years, and it’s a job that’s come with more frustration than reward. If there’s one thing I am grateful for — and it sure isn’t the pay — it’s that my work has allowed endless time to hone my craft to Louis Skolnick levels of grammar geekery. As someone who slings red ink for a living, let me tell you: grammar is an ultra-micro component in the larger picture; it lies somewhere in the final steps of the editing trail; and as such it’s an overrated quasi-irrelevancy in the creative process, perpetuated into importance primarily by bitter nerds who accumulate tweed jackets and crippling inferiority complexes. But experience has also taught me that readers, for better or worse, will approach your work with a jaundiced eye and an itch to judge. While your grammar shouldn’t be a reflection of your creative powers or writing abilities, let’s face it — it usually is.
The Half Price Blog - The Official Blog of Half Price Books - 100 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels to Geek Out Over
If your answer to every question is 42. If you can quote the three laws of Robotics. If you want to say “my precious” every time you see a gold band. Then this list is for you.
Top 100 Novels
A contemporary list, with an international flavour and a respect for the classics, The Best Books: Top 100 Novels of All Time list contains many of the great works of fiction you'd expect, but with a few surprises to add a little spice to the collection. Which books would you omit and which would you add to our list? Please let us know in the comments section below.
Teacher's Top 100 Books for Children
The following list was compiled from an online survey in 2007. Parents and teachers will find it useful in selecting quality literature for children. Charlotte’s Web by E.B.
short stories at east of the web
A game of Scrabble has serious consequences. - Length: 4 pages - Age Rating: PG - Genre: Crime, Humor
30 Books I’m Glad I Read Before 30
In various ways, these 30 books convey some of the philosophy of how Angel and I live our lives. I honestly credit a fraction of who I am today to each title. Thus, they have indirectly influenced much of what I write about on this site.
Books of Adam
For some reason, my readers weren't completely appalled with the Facebook drawings I did a while back. In fact, the requests came fast and hard (insert stupid sex joke here). Here's a selection of derpy drawings I did for your viewing pleasure. Pleasure for your eyeballs.
Top Fantasy Book Series
You are here: Home / Fantasy / Top Fantasy Books and Series Top Fantasy Books and Series-List of best 10 fantasy book series. Fantasy sagas i love the most.
30 Books Everyone Should Read Before Their 30th Birthday
The Web is grand. With its fame for hosting informative, easy-to-skim textual snippets and collaborative written works, people are spending more and more time reading online. Nevertheless, the Web cannot replace the authoritative transmissions from certain classic books that have delivered (or will deliver) profound ideas around the globe for generations. The 30 books listed here are of unparalleled prose, packed with wisdom capable of igniting a new understanding of the world. Everyone should read these books before their 30th birthday.
10 Essential Books for Book Nerds
What makes a book nerd? Reading a lot of books — and liking to talk about said books — is a major requirement, of course, but there’s often something a little more nebulous involved: book nerds are the kinds of people who get a little thrill when walking into a bookstore, who press volumes into their friends’ hands with serious promises of life changing moments, who are fascinated by following the many tangled threads through authors and literature, happily wandering wherever they might lead. Robin Sloan’s recently published Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is a book for such people — if you can’t already tell from the title. If you count yourself among them (or are looking for a gift for the same), we’ve put together a list of books you might want to consider taking a look at.
CALLIHOO Writing Helps
Character Feelings You can describe your character's feelings in more exact terms than just "happy" or "sad." Check these lists for the exact nuance to describe your character's intensity of feelings.
25 Spectacular Movies You (Probably) Haven’t Seen
Midnight in Paris Woody Allen’s latest places starving writer Owen Wilson in Paris with his fiancée, Rachel McAdams. Searching for inspiration for his incomplete novel, Owen begins taking strolls around the city at night where he discovers an unexpected group of people. I wish I could be more specific, but it would ruin the surprise. Know that it is brilliant, witty and full of mystique. 92% on Rotten Tomatoes (RT). Let the Right One In
Literature's Most Disturbing Sociopaths
How many times have you imagined smashing someone's windshield with a tire iron after they cut you off in traffic? Or stabbing your boss with a sharp pencil when he denies you that raise yet again? Or conning your way into a carefree life of luxury? We all have dark urges—at least I hope it's not just me or this is going to be one seriously awkward article—but very few of us act on them, which might be why we love reading about people who do. Many sociopaths are charming, witty, and intelligent. They're also free of the guilt, emotional consequences, and moral dilemmas that plague the rest of us.