Nerd Church - Care Some

I've read two blog-posts recently that made me think about the book Angelfall by Susan Ee (US - UK.)

The first was the fabulous post on +Emily F (aka the Paperback Princess)'s blog, about diversity in YA. This led me to a small rant... more on that in a sec.

The second post was a review of the book by Laura @ P.S. I Love That Book. (A very good review, may I add.)

This is a book that I myself have read and reviewed before, and to be honest I have a tendency to go on and on about various points that can be made with this book as an example.

So, on to the rant...

Reading these posts made me think more about Angelfall - a book which really resonated with me because the main character, Penryn, acts as a carer to her mother and her sister.

I actually really appreciated having a character that I could relate to in terms of caring - that part of my life is something which a lot of people don't understand.



I've been a full-time carer for a relative in the past, leaving me with lasting depression issues - and I currently act as a part-time carer to other relatives.

And then I thought... why aren't there more carers as characters in books? There are a lot of carers in life, after all.

Why don't people include diverse situations more in books? There are people out there who are hugely under-represented in popular culture.


And then I thought... why don't people know more about carers in general?

This definition of a carer comes from The Carer's Trust website:

"A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support."

Believe me, being a carer is something which affects everything about you - the way you think, the way you act, and your sense of self. There are also literally millions of carers in the UK, and hundreds of thousands of those are aged 16-24.

The Carer's Trust can offer support to carers in the UK - please use them if you need them; I wish I'd known about them when I could've done with a helping hand. There's a ton of practical advice on the site - whatever your age or situation.

Carers do an incredible job - but rarely ask for anything in return.

My own theory is that we don't want to cause worry or distress to the person/people we're caring for - or cause any embarrassment for them because they can't manage various tasks themselves; but then, we forget to take care of ourselves. And that doesn't end well.

You probably know quite a few carers - you just don't know you do.


Nerd Church is a space where I have a small chat/rant every week about 'issues' of various sorts in a friendly setting (non-nerds welcome!) Feel free to continue the discussion or start your own, but please link back to this blog ;)



Like this post? Try these:

• Reviewing the Evidence - Angelfall by Susan Ee
• Nerd Church - Look for the Light

I Want To Read All The Books!

Do other readers get this? This inexplicable, irresistible, urge to go out and read every single book in the goddamned world?!?!

No? Just me? Ok. I'll go sit in my corner and be quiet.

Seriously though, do you ever get discouraged by the fact that a single human life-time is just not enough to read all the books that are worth reading?

(And let's face it, they are all worth reading - even the bad ones, because even the bad ones have something to say about you, about life, about everything.)

If I carry on reading at the pace of about 200 books a year, it'll take me five years to reach 1000 - millions of new books are published every year. That's well over 5 million books in the time that it takes me to read 1000. Sigh.

That doesn't mean I'm going to stop - hell, no! It's better to read a fraction of the books available, than to read no books at all!

(On a related note: this lady is now my hero.)

Happy Reading! ;)


Like this post? Try these:

• Books On My 'To-Buy' List
• The Bookish Rebel

A Few Changes

I've been having some issues with Google+, so I've reverted to the old BlogSpot comments system.

This means that Google+ comments will no longer appear on this blog, but will still appear on the Google+ version of the post they were related to.

I'm not ignoring you; if it were up to me I would've kept all your comments where everyone can see - but needs must.

And my technology issues (Google+ keeps insisting that I'm spam and blocking my access to various things,) mean that I need to be able to comment on my own blog (which I couldn't under Google+) - and this is the way to do it.

Feel free to re-comment or copy and paste your comments back onto the blog. And please know that I appreciate all of your comments.

Friday Fics Fix! - A Cat's Tale

I've been reading crack. It's very rare that anything good comes from reading crack.

(Fangirl translation: crack fiction is something so random, that you wonder what drug the author was on; i.e. 'are you on crack? wtf did you write?')

I guess it's testament to the amount of fanfiction I read that I don't always find it all that strange any more (any more? anymore? Is it one word or two? See, that's the other thing - you read enough fanfiction and you forget what grammatically accurate English looks like.)

So, this weeks pick is: (dramatic drumroll...)

Sherlock is a Cat by aron_kristina

(Side Note: If you type 'Sherlock is a Cat' into AO3, there are 807 results - I sh** you not.)

Anyway - the awesome thing about this fic is that Sherlock isn't actually a cat: he just thinks he's a cat. (Cue random actions perpetrated by Sherlock and some highly inappropriate verging on sexual high-jinks between him and John.)

There's no graphic sex scenes, which makes this highly unusual for fanfiction (some of the things I've seen... Hell is empty. And all of the devils are here,) and no real romance (just said inappropriateness while Sherlock thinks he's feline.)

So yeah, a fun, random, fic - and one which I really enjoyed.


Like this post? Try these:

• Friday Fics Fix! - Fic-ception Edition
• Friday Fics Fix! - In Which the Avengers are Exposed to Crack (Not the Drug)

Comics Wrap Up - I Love the Way You Hurt Me

TV Trailers

You may or may not have seen this trailer before - apparently it's been floating around for a fair few months, but I've only just got around to it/realised it was a thing so... my blog, my wrap-up, my rules ;)

'Lucifer' - which looks like it could pretty damn cool - is based on the comics/graphic novel character which originally appeared in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series.

It's DC, so lord knows where we could end up eventually plot-wise, but the whole 'devil-leaving-hell' thing looks pretty interesting.


 
Graphic Novels

This week I read Grumpy Cat Volume 1 (UK - USA ) (which collects the Misadventures of Grumpy Cat and Pokey! #1-3) - it's freaking adorable! My review will be up in early February.

Starve, Vol 1 (UK - USA)- a fantastic graphic novel about a gritty reality show, with some truly beautiful artwork - was released on Tuesday, and you can check out my review of it here.





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• Comics Wrap Up - Like a Bat Outta Hell
• Comics Wrap Up - Calling Out For a Hero

Books On My 'To-Buy' List

Do you have a 'to-buy' list?

My 'to-buy' list isn't quite the same as my tbr - if I bought everything on my tbr I wouldn't have any money left for things like... food.

Some of them are on my tbr, obviously, but a lot are books that I've already read but want to own so that I can re-read them, or just because I want to know I have them (Don't judge me!)

I really want these books... I'll just have to save my pennies!



Straight James/Gay James by James Franco (UK - US)

You may have noticed, but I really love this book. That's why I want to own it. I want to have a nice paperback copy in my hands :) That came out decidedly weirder than how I intended it to sound.





Crimson Peak: The Official Movie Novelization by Nancy Holder (UK - US)

I've seen the film (UK - US) (Tom Hiddleston - yes, please!) but have heard very good things about the novelisation - which caught my attention, because normally people are a bit like 'Ehhhh...' when it comes to novelisations.







20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill (UK - US)

I've read this twice from the library. I love Joe Hill. I love short stories. I love Joe Hill short stories. I really want this book.







Locke & Key: Welcome To Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (UK - US)

Joe Hill + graphic novels = one happy reading addict!






Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (UK - US)

Another book I've borrowed from the library not once but twice, and one I was first inspired to read by the Leo DiCaprio film (UK - US) (yes, sometimes I watch the film without having read the book - please don't hurt me!)


It also started my Dennis Lehane addiction; Leo has a lot to answer for.






Live By Night by Dennis Lehane (UK - US)


Another Lehane book to feed my junkie habits. This is book #2 of the Coughlin series (you can read my review of book #3 'World Gone By' here.)

I love Joe Coughlin; I shouldn't because he's a gangster. But I love him.






Like this post? Try these:

• Review Time! (Oh Yeah!) - Straight James/Gay James by James Franco
• Review! (Woo!) - World Gone By by Dennis Lehane
• Book or Film? The debate continues!

The Writer Diaries (or, I Need to Be Brave)

At some point, I'm going to have show people the cr*p I write.

I'm not sure why this is such a mental stumbling block to me - I've got no issues with showing people my artwork or craft projects (in fact I tend to stick it in their faces and demand praise like a three year old.) I drew my avatar/profile pic (you know, the bird? It's an Adaryn Rhiannon, and I hand-drew it - check me out!)

So why is showing my writing off such an issue?

It might be because this is so much a part of me, that I'm worried that someone will be overly-critical and therefore will be judging not just the writing, but me. (Some deep sh*t going on there.)

Certainly, blogging is helping with that.

True, I use a username instead of my real name (but that's because my real name is relatively distinctive and I don't want strangers stalking me, if that's ok with you,) and I use a bird as an avatar (but really, you don't want my face on everything - I look about 12, no-one would take me seriously.)

So, what can I do about the whole 'need-to-show-my-writing' deal-y?

Well, I'll tell you dearest reader, I'm going to share some (cue gasps, ladies in corsets fainting, me finding a portal back from the nineteenth century.)

So here is a poem I wrote a little while ago:

 

Tie my wrists,

My fingers,

My neck.

 

Strap on my armour

Of gold and chain,

Of resin and ribbon.

 

Affix medals

To my breast.

 

Cinch in my waist,

With a leather restraint,

Camouflage my scent,

Tug and leash my hair,

Binding it like rope.

 

I wrap myself

In the ritual;

Prepare to go to war.

 

Ok, so I don't have a title. I can't decide if it's pretentious or overly-simplistic. I'm not happy with the last verse at all.

 

But there you have it. Let me know if you like it (or don't - be gentle!) and (hopefully) I'll find the courage to share some more soon.

 

 

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• The Writer Diaries (or, 2016, I'm Gonna Getcha)
• The Writer Diaries (or How to Destroy a Blank Page)