Review - The Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Title: The Uninvited (Uninvited #1) Author: Sophie Jordan Teaser: “They say she’s a killer. One day she will be.”...
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Top Ten Books I'd Love To See As Movies/Tv Shows
I love this week’s Top Ten. Hopefully all of our posts will give a nudge to Hollywood.
Number #10
Title: Article 5 (#1)
Author: Kristen Simmons
Genre: YA Dystopian
Number of Pages: 362
Release Date: January 1st, 2012 by Tor Teen
This story would make a gritty, realistically violent movie or television series. The world is vast and over controlled by the new America that replaces the Bill of Rights with the Moral Statutes. I’d love to watch the romance between Ember and Chase. The book is perfect blend of action and little moments that make you swoon.
Number #9
Title: Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
Genre: YA Dystopian
Number of Pages: 374
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012 by HarperCollins
PLEASE OH PLEASE make this a movie. I will beg on my hands and knees. This is seriously one of my all-time favorite series with a perfect example of a swoon-worthy romance. Perry is my numero uno book boyfriend. You can’t have him.
Number #8
Title: Dorothy Must Die (#1)
Author: Danielle Paige
Genre: YA Retelling
Number of Pages: 452
Release Date: April 1st, 2014 by HarperCollins
Need I explain. Wizard of Oz. Retelling. There, explained.
Number #7
Title: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA Retelling/Science Fiction
Number of Pages: 390
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
This tale is amazingly descriptive with a world I feel like I MUST see. I would love to see the words reimagined and shown on screen.
Number #6
Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Genre: YA Contemporary
Number of Pages: 304
Release Date: October 18th, 2007 by Razorbill
Hauntingly beautiful and true to the realistic troubles that young people face, this is a story that needs to be told. If not by someone reading Jay Asher’s eloquent words, then by a big screen.
Number #5
Title: Redeeming Love
Author: Francine Rivers
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 464
Release Date: May 9th, 2005 by Multnomah Books
Truthfully, I don’t usually read Christian fiction, which is what this book is filed under, but this is a story that anyone can enjoy and take a great deal from. It tells the tale of a young girl that is sold to prostitution, and slowly learns what real love and healing means. I cried many, many times while reading.
Number #4
Title: The Crucible
Author: Arthur Miller, Christopher Bigsby
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 143
Release Date: March 25th, 2004 by Penguin Classics
I know this has already been made into a movie, but I would love to see this as a television series. This was a mournful time in our history, that can be mirrored to judgments we place on others today.
Number #3
Title: Bunnicula
Author: James Howe, Deborah Howe
Genre: YA Horror
Number of Pages: 128
Release Date: August 8th, 2006 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers (First published in 1979).
Laugh it up, because I would too. I’m actually not sure if it was ever made into a movie, but even so I’d love a remake. This is a comedic horror story about a vampire bunny. Oh, the nostalgia.
Number #2
Title: Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick
Author: Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
Genre: Romance/Comedic Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 128
Release Date: April 29th, 2014 by Image Comics
This would make for one freaking hilarious (and rated R at least) movie. The art and little things you see in the background make this graphic novel an awesome ride start to finish. And it’s not just a story about sex. It has plot!
Number #1
Title: The Dead House
Author: Dawn Kurtagich
Genre: YA Thriller/Horror
Number of Pages: 440
Release Date: August 6th, 2015 by Orion Children’s Books
I haven’t even read this yet, and I already want to see the movie. -
What would The Witch Snitch be if I didn’t review a few non-fiction Wicca/Witchcraft reads as well? Be informed! Let go of your misconceptions. And if nothing else, these reads are a must for authors or aspiring authors who are writing character that may follow Wicca.
Title: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Author: Scott Cunningham
Genre: Adult Non-Fiction (Wicca/Pagan)
Number of pages: 240
Released: September 8th, 2002 by Llewellyn Publications
Description:
Cunningham's classic introduction to Wicca is about how to live life magically, spiritually, and wholly attuned with nature. It is a book of sense and common sense, not only about magick, but about religion and one of the most critical issues of today: how to achieve the much needed and wholesome relationship with our Earth. Cunningham presents Wicca as it is today: a gentle, Earth-oriented religion dedicated to the Goddess and God. "Wicca "also includes Scott Cunningham's own Book of Shadows and updated appendices of periodicals and occult suppliers.
Positives:
-PERFECT started book for those interested in Wicca, what the word ‘magick’ actually means, those who have a friend or family member who practices Wicca, or those who are open to dissolving the misconceptions about Wicca.
-Scott Cunningham’s explanations are easy to understand and provide a real view of what Wicca actually is and how to practice it. Although I personally love the media’s view of witches too, the real thing that I practice is not a bunch of ‘hocus pocus’.
-Has two Appendix, with one that lists Occult suppliers and the other with Wiccan/Pagan publications. These are sometimes hard to find with just a google search, so when I was first exploring Wicca I loved this addition to the book.
Negatives:
-Honestly, I have none other than I would ecstatically enjoy if the book was longer and included even more beginner’s information. Luckily Scott Cunningham published more than 30 other books, all of which were received positively.
Overview:
This book was one of the first that I read upon exploring Wicca. I, myself, had lots of preconceived thoughts about what Wicca actually was. I thought it was just a bunch of people who fooled themselves into thinking that they could turn a cup into a mouse. Although there are those who follow a more ‘media-centered’ view of Witchcraft, that is not what Wicca really is meant to be. We all love getting into the pop culture’s “witch”, but Wicca is an earth-based spirituality that involves the positive and negative energies of the earth. Scott Cunningham explains that so well.
Some great quotes:
“Another fundamental point: magic isn’t a means of forcing nature to do your will. This is a completely erroneous idea, fostered by the belief that magic is somehow supernatural, as if anything that exists can be outside of nature. Magic is natural. It is a harmonious movement of energies to create needed change. If you wish to practice magic, all thoughts of it being paranormal or supernatural must be forgotten.”
“That perhaps is at the core of Wicca--it is a joyous union with nature. The earth is a manifestation of divine energy. Wicca's temples are flower-splashed meadows, forests, beaches, and deserts. When a Wicca is outdoors, she or he is actually surrounded by sanctity, much as is a Christian when entering a church or cathedral.”
Those two quotes right there could sum up why I love the book, but I’ll go on a bit more about what the book includes. The book is divided into three sections: Theory, Practice, and a ‘beginner’s’ Book of Shadows. With Theory, you’ll explore everything from what magic really is, deities, and Wiccan holidays. In Practice, it takes you a step further into exercises and self-dedication. The last section, the Book of Shadows, includes spells for many things, blessings (sort of like prayers), recipes, and explanations of crystals/runes/symbols that are used in magic.
Personally, I took notes throughout the book, marking quotes and sections I loved. I took it a step further and actually have made a ‘scrap-booked’ journal of what I learned as I read. His thoughts and explanation of what Wicca actually is, is spot on. Reading this book is an eye-opener and spiritual experience.
The greatest part? He frequently says that this is just ‘his view’ of what it is, as in… There is no one way to practice Wicca ‘right’. Many religions push that thought forward, but Wicca, in a way, believes that you take what inspires or moves you and make it yours. In my practice, spells are my meditations, aligning with the elements also consists my chakras, magic is energy that I can influence based off of what I project, and deities are symbols of these energies that exist.
Think it’s still a bunch of hocus pocus? Think of it this way – we all can feel when someone puts out ‘negative energy’. You have probably even heard someone say that. Then why, if we attune our focus on the positive, can we not manipulate our own energy to what we want it to be?
Rating:
Recommended to:
-Anyone interested in Wicca for their own use or to understand a friend/family members beliefs.
-Anyone who is willing to through away stereotypes.
Anyone who is just interested and intrigued by the idea.
-Although I love books/movies with the ‘media’ idea of a witch, I would love it if an author displayed a more realistic version of what Wicca actually is in a character they develop. So I would recommend this to authors as well.
Not Recommended to:
-No one. I recommend this to everyone. Everyone can use more knowledge, as what this world needs is more understanding.
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