Let the Right Book In

Unless you have lived under a rock (or in a hole in the ground), you will have heard of The Hobbit! So there isn't much point in me giving a brief synopsis, but for the sake of completion... The Hobbit focuses on the adventures of a hobbit called Bilbo Baggins, who is invited to take part in a journey to help some dwarves travel to the Lonely Mountain in order to reclaim their treasure. However, the treasure is currently being guarded by the dragon, Smaug. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." And so began my journey back into Middle Earth. This book has always been one of my favourites since childhood. However, it does bring back some dark memories of losing my uncle's beautiful leather-bound edition he had let me borrow... but the less said about

Night Shift was Stephen King's first short story collection, released way back in 1978 and it contains quite a lot of his more popular short stories that ended up becoming movies. The prime examples being Children of the Corn and Sometimes They Come Back. “The thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle.” King is often hailed as the master of the short story. Prior to this collection I had only read Nightmares & Dreamscapes and The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, and I did really enjoy them, but found it odd when people would comment things like "Oh it was good, but it was disappointing compared to earlier ones". Well, now I get it, guys!  Now I get it. You can quite literally feel King's hunger for story-telling throughout the entirety of this collection and given these stories were written at the very start of his care

It's a question I frequently get asked on instagram - what is your favourite Stephen King book? And inevitably, I give them my top 3 and these 3 picks just roll off the tongue. No thought involved. So then I thought...why not challenge myself to pick a top 10? And here we are! I decided not to include the Dark Tower series in my consideration, it's hard to compare single novels in this series to other standalone books, so just remember that the Dark Tower is quite literally, the best reading experience I've ever had (will probably ever have) in my entire life. So I have not forgotten about Roland and co. Let me know in the comments if you agree/disagree, or if a certain book is missing (perhaps I just haven't got around to reading it yet!). 1. Pet Sematary In all honesty, I'm not sure this book will ever be topped. There was just something very unique about this reading experience for me. As a fan of horror movies, I'm often left lying awake at night

Disappearance at Devil's Rock tells the story about a family's ordeal following the mysterious disappearance of thirteen-year-old, Tommy Sanderson. Creepy occurrences follow as his mother, Elizabeth, and his sister, Kate, try to unravel exactly what happened out at Devil's Rock... "But Tommy isn't a ghost. He can't be, because right now Tommy is the opposite of a ghost. He is nowhere." After seeing Paul Tremblay all over bookstagram with rave reviews, I have been eagerly waiting for one of his books to come out of my TBR jar...and finally, it happened! And this book did not disappoint. Initially, it took me a while to get properly into the book due to the slow-building at the beginning, but then all of a sudden, I was HOOKED. Tremblay's writing is so effortless, it's easy to breeze through 80 pages or so without even noticing time has gone by. His characters are well-written and most importantly of all, believable. Like my good frie

As an advance warning, this review may turn into a pure fan-girling post. But if you love The Boss like I love the Boss, then this is the review for you! Or similarly, if you're not sure why I love The Boss and want to know what it is that makes him special...then, again, this is the review for you. "In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream..." - Born to Run. Born to Run is Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, named after the iconic song and album released in 1975. This autobiography is honest and candid with Springsteen exploring topics he didn't really need to, but felt like they should be addressed. He writes this autobiography like he writes his music, it's beautiful and heart-rending and most importantly of all, it's relatable. He explores his lifelong battle with mental health, from growing up a father who was diagnosed as a schizophrenic, to battling with his own demons, ultimately needing to see a shrink. He&

It arrived! It finally arrived! I am beyond excited to finally get my hands on this subscription box, lovingly created for those of us who prefer the more dark and sinister things in life. I always felt like subscription boxes were a "waste of money" and I didn't need to pay to have someone else choose books for me?! How do they know what I would like? Well...I have been proven WRONG. The creators of this box are huge Stephen King fans and it would therefore follow that whatever they love, I'm probably gonna love too. So here we go...let's delve into what was included in this month's box, the theme being "From Beyond the Grave"! Firstly, the books! That's what we're all here for, right? One of the books is The House on Cold Hill by Peter James. Peter James has been having a bit of a moment recently on bookstagram - everywhere I look, there his books are! So I was very excited to get my hands on my first Peter James book - let's s

The Book Thief is a story narrated by Death, and when Death tells a story, you really have to listen. In WWII-Nazi Germany, following the death of her brother and being separated from her mother, Liesel Meminger goes to live with a poor foster family on Himmel Street. In such dangerous times, the family hide a Jew down in their basement and a beautiful friendship based on books and reading develops. "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right." I absolutely loved this book and devoured it in 4 days (well, really 3 since one day I didn't get to read at all). It was unputdownable at times. One of my favourite things about this book (which was often cited as a negative in goodreads reviews) was the narrator of the story being Death. I thought this was a very unique idea from Markus Zusak and I really enjoyed the beautifully poetic way in which Death narrates the story. You can almost feel Death lingering over the story, simil

Hi everyone, I thought I'd start my blog with a quick introduction. I'm Johann (obviously) and I'm currently in the process of obtaining my PhD in Pharmacy...however, when I'm not in the lab, there's one thing I love to do - and that's read! Having been an avid reader in my youth, life soon got in the way and I became a casual reader, often taking months to finish one book. Then a couple of years ago, I became obsessed with the horror genre, and one day I was searching online for ideas for new books when I kept seeing this Pennywise the Clown pop up. I was intrigued...went online to Amazon and ordered IT by Stephen King. The rest, as they say, is history... I devoured IT and fell in love with King's style of writing. It felt like he was writing just for me - and I think that's pretty special when you find that in an author. I had only finished IT when I jumped online to order even more King books. Quickly I decided that I wanted to embark on