Last Day at my Library

So today I finished up the last little bits of my work (pictured left) at my current library in preparation for my new job which starts Monday. I’ve cleared my desk, my desktop and my email and am ready to move onto my fascinating new job working in Open Data. Having left three jobs since 2010, here is my advice for people in my position.

Start packing early, and get your home stuff home as soon as you have a concrete date of departure.
Although there are lots of reasons to push back tasks, remember that your last few days may be filled with things you didn’t plan for (meetings, last minute tasks, etc.), and if you want to make sure you bring home your fan, you photos, your rubik’s cube (everyone has one of those right?) and whatever else, they should all head home sooner than later.

Create a list of what must get done before you leave
Then print it out, tack it up on the wall, and cross each thing off as you do it – this will be a clear reminder of what needs to get done and a good way to ensure you cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s before you leave.

Figure out the best way to leave your office for the next person
If someone is coming in to do your old job, maybe leave a note – or as I often do, a list of things that were not very apparent to me when I started. Remember that even after your gone, you can still do a little good.

Get your coworkers contact info if they’re willing
Keeping track of friends tends to be easy, but coworkers sometimes fall into that bizarre space where you don’t exactly know if you want them connected to you on Facebook/LinkedIn/Google+ but believe me, it’s easier to ask in the weeks leading up to the end, rather than two weeks later (especially if some of them are retiring)

Take a moment
Regardless of whether your job change is a good or bad one, it is a transition period and it’s sometimes easy to lose track and forget that often the best way to figure out what is most important is to step back, take a breath, and then look around. Maybe you want to get a picture of the office you sat in for four years before your gone or maybe you just want to make sure you have that last latte from your favourite local coffee spot. Make sure to take a little time for you.

5 Things about Me and Reading In no particular order

1. The first piece of mythology I can recall reading is the story of Theseus, but even though he is much more famous for his adventures in the labyrinth with the minotaur, what interested me the most was his dad telling him; “I’ve put a bunch of stuff under this big rock, when you’re old enough to move it you can take what’s there and go make something of yourself”, which is pretty much exactly what happens and was the first moment I understood the concept of “not until you’re older”
2. Like many children of the 70’s, my favourite preschool book is The Monster at the end of the Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollen.  If you’ve never read this 4^th wall-breaking story I am entirely jealous of the fact that you will get to read it for the first time.
3. When I was eight years old, my third grade teacher Mr. Murray read the entire class the novel The Hobbit, a chapter at a time for a month.  I think I can honestly say that every time I read a fantasy novel I’m trying to recapture the state of awe and wonder I felt in that classroom almost thirty years ago.
4. Each month I set out to read at least seven books, and even though I don’t quite make my quota every month (with comics, course readings, family time, etc.), my punishment is I get to read eight or nine books the next month, which is pretty much the best punishment ever.
5. As many readers eventually do, I have tried my hand a few times at creative writing – netting me a couple rejection letters and one short story which can still be found online related to a role-playing game I was really into at the time, and honestly, I still like it!

Things I've noticed: My Summer is 18 Days Long

Over the spring and summer of 2012 I’ve been taking evening classes to continue my work towards my Masters of Library Science Degree. The Spring had me focused on a budgeting course and the summer is focused on a course called The History of the Book. Both of these classes have been fun and informative in different ways (one of them will probably have a bigger effect on my future in the library world, and the other on my understanding of the library world).

One side-effect of the two courses however, is that once I’m all finished, I will have exactly 18 days before I hit the Fall 2012 term and begin again.

So… what to do with those 18 days.

Bookmonkey’s Top Priorities for his (almost) three weeks of course-free Summer 2012

1. Start working on stuff for my 15^th Wedding Anniversary: mostly I know I’m going to be busy in September and October with school and the new job, so this is my big opportunity to do some grunt-work involving the big event

2. Get on to my reading list for August: As I’ve said in previous posts, I try to read 7 books a month for my own pleasure. This month I’ve been reading an awful lot of books on the Mass Market Paperback format for my class – interesting reading but I still have six books to go this month and so far have only got to Warm Bodies.

3. Write Thank You / Update Letters to my Grad School References: At this time last year I was waiting and waiting to hear whether I would be accepted into Grad School or not – little known fact, you actually need letters of reference from previous teachers and others in your profession to apply. As I sent my four references the news last year that I got it, I figure this year I should send them an update on what their letters have got me so far in my continuing education

4. Begin to weed my home book/music/movie collection: August is a perfect time to follow the instructions from one of my earlier posts and begin to see if I can make some room on the many shelves I have throughout my house. As my birthday is near the end of the month, I’m pretty sure I am going to need the space.

5. Take a vacation maybe? For years my family has done summer camping trips, usually sticking to mid-week camping as the crowds are thinner, but if I want to get out at all this year I only have two available weekends in which to try (we don’t even bother trying on long weekends), so if we want to get out there this year I’ve actually only got two small windows in which to make the attempt.

And after all those things are done, maybe I’ll take a nap! Or start planning for Christmas.

Things I've Noticed: Five Reasons Everyone Should watch The Warriors

Although I’ve long been a fan of this little gem from 1979, It has been a difficult process for me to explain exactly why I think the majority of people out there should see it.

So let me give it a try...

5. You’ll finally be one of the cool people who understand where the phrases “Warriors... Come out to pla-ay!” and “CAN YOU DIG IT?” comes from.

4. For an action film set in a dystopian near-future New York, it sits comfortably in my top three (also see Escape from New York and I Am Legend)

3. For an action film set in a dystopian near-future New York, It has a surprisingly great performance from lead actor Michael Beck

 2. The Tag-line is as follows: These are the Armies of The Night. They are 60,000 strong. They outnumber the cops three to one. They could run New York City. Tonight they're all out to get the Warriors.

 1.  The story is inspired by the Anabasis by the Ancient Greek writer and soldier Xenophon, meaning that while you’re watching the various gangs do their best to bring the Warriors down, you are also watching an adaptation of one of the coolest stories written in the ancient world.

Top Five Comics I'm still getting around to reading

As I'm sitting here typing away in my study, I'm faced directly by my bookshelf of books to be read and I'm realizing that my comic book and graphic novel collection is starting to pile up. I've been pretty focused on novels and school work for the last year and therefore the important business of comic book reading has fallen to the wayside a little (Interestingly I've read a number of books about comics this year, but that's not quite the same thing).

So here we go - Bookmonkey's top five list of comics I own but still haven't gotten around to reading yet:

5. Tiny Titans - this kid-aimed comic actually belongs to my youngest daughter, but those teeny tiny little versions of the Teen Titans are consistently awesome - I'm about 10 issues behind.

4. Jack of Fables - I got up to volume 5 (I think), to just about where the Great Fables Crossover occurs and haven't gotten back to the series since - I own them, I just haven't read them yet - I'm about 4 trade paperback collections behind.

3. Fables - Same story as above, only I'm about 5 trade paperback collections behind ( I did read Peter & Max, however, and it was awesome).

2. Hellboy - This one is a little embarrassing, although I'm only one trade paperback collection behind (and it only came out about a week ago), I'm usually so good about reading this title that a new collection doesn't spend a night in my house without me checking it out.

1. Starman - This one is actually the worst (not the series, I haven't read it yet), I mean this is my worst offender, as I own all six Starman Omnibus collections in hardcover, have heard nothing but praise from my friends who have read it, and it has a Hellboy crossover and I still haven't gotten past issue one! The series looks so good, but I just haven't had the time to begin!

So there you go - the comics I own that I still need to get around to reading. I've just got a few more books to read this month and then I'm totally going to start (only next month is happening in just over a week and then I have seven more books to read...

Bookmonkey's Top 5 Films to see in Summer 2011

Superheroes. This summer sure can’t seem to get enough of them and I’ve got to admit I’m feeling in the mood for some super-heroic films myself, hopefully I’ll try not to limit myself to only one sub-genre, but let’s see what’s coming out.

As with previous lists I’m trying to avoid listing the films I’ll probably see due to my kids, like the final Harry Potter Film or possibly Spy Kids 4 (oh, who am I kidding, I’m a big Robert Rodriguez fan at heart) or my BFF Mike (I think if I skipped Green Lantern it may irreparably damage our friendship) or the ones I’ll see but only if they are playing nearby (like August’s Don’t be afraid of the Dark, co-written and produced by Guillermo Del Toro).

Here they are, in order of release, my top five must list for theatre viewing this summer:

Thor: Here’s the thing about Thor, I started out wanting to see this movie simply because it’s directed by Kenneth Brannagh. Then I actually checked out some Thor comics (the ‘80s stuff by Simonson and the more recent run by Straczynski), and you know what, this movie just looks really fun. I’m hoping I won’t have to eat my words in a couple weeks, but for right now, I’m really excited about this movie.

Super 8: After seeing the first actual trailer, this movie looks like a nice throw-back to Close Encounters, but made by the guy who did the recent Star Trek reboot I liked so much. It looks like exactly the kind of alien-related fun I’m into.

X-Men: First Class: Here’s the thing, I just spent my last few months watching The Avengers, and one of the things that The Avengers helped influence was the Hellfire Club and specifically Emma Frost in the X-Men universe, both things that are going to be in the next film, add to that the movie has Nicolas Hoult, who I liked a lot in About a Boy and was really impressed by in Skins, and you’ve got a movie I’m going to be checking out.

Captain America: The First Avenger: I love the idea of setting a superhero movie in the Second World War. One of my favourite sub-genres of speculative fiction is alternate histories, so the idea of adding superheroes to a war movie seems like a really great cross-genre idea for me.

Fright Night: I loved the original of this, and in a way that makes me both excited and in fear for how this movie is going to go down. The original was both funny and scary, and the fact that this film will have previous Doctor Who David Tennant in it (doing the Roddy McDowall role from the original) has got me pretty intrigued into what this film will end up looking like.

Bookmonkey's Top 5 films to see before summer 2011

This summer has got a lot of genre picks I'm going to see, and it starts in May with the release of Thor. Although I'm not a big fan of the Marvel Character, I am a big fan of director Kenneth Branagh and I've enjoyed the Marvel films over the last few years. The four months between now and Thor, however are filled with a lot of Genre films I'd like to see, so I thought I would share it with all of you.

1. The Green Hornet

Although I never saw the classic '60s series, my interest in the film comes from two distinct factors: a) Canadian Actor Seth Rogen, who I've loved since his days back in Freaks & Geeks, b) Director Michael Gondry, whose film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind may be a strong contender for my favourite SF film of the last ten years.

2. Your Higness

A send-up of fantasy films starring Danny McBride (who I've loved in everything I've ever seen him in, from Land of the Lost to Up in the Air), and James Franco (another actor I've been following since Freaks & Geeks), this movie looks like it may do for heroic fantasy what Hot Tub Time Machine did for time travel SF.

3. Limitless

Starring Bradley Cooper, this film looks at a miracle drug that can open all of mans potential, I wonder if there will be a horrible downside? Regardless I'm looking forward to checking it out.

4 Paul

Much like Scott Pilgrim last year, Paul mixes some of my favourite things (Shawn of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and again (wow!) Freaks & Geeks alum Seth Rogen in a buddy film involving a tour of the great alien contact sites throughout America and the chance to help out a real live (and disgusting) alien called Paul.

5. Source Code

From the Director of my favourite SF film of 2009, Moon, comes this film about a man using technology that allows him to live the last 8 minutes of someone elses life over and over in an attempt to discover who killed him, only problem, he doesn't just want info, he wants to change history.

Bookmonkey's top 5 Genre Films of 2010

After a year of watching new genre films and blogging about them, I think it’s about time to look back at my favourite genre flicks I saw this year. And yes, if you’re like my BFF Mike, you wouldn’t even make this listing until after next week when Tron Legacy comes out, but regardless of how good that film might be it is not going to beat my current top five.

*Quick side note – I have linked each of these to my full reviews, today’s list simply states why these films are on my year-end favourites list.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Because it had the most disgusting explanation of the butterfly effect (or if you will the vomit-covered squirrel effect) I’ve ever seen.

Inception

Because ever since Dreamscape, I’ve been a huge fan of the film within a dream film (within a dream?)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Because darn it, I like my classic mythology being used in film. Although I enjoyed the Clash of the Titans reboot as well, this one stood out because it figured out how to mix product placement with defeating the Medusa.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Because in a whole lot of ways, I felt this movie was made specifically for me. The fact that the rest of you like it is just a bonus.

Splice

Because it shows that Horror + Canada = Awesome

Next year’s crop of films looks pretty good from where I’m sitting, with X-Men: First Class, The First Avenger: Captain America, The Green Hornet, Green Lantern and Thor already topping my must-see list.

Special Mentions: The A-Team, The Book of Eli, and Machete for sheer awesomeness. Also the best film I saw on DVD this year, Black Dynamite.

Top Five books I’ve read on Blogging

It’s been just over 10 months since my first post, and since then I’ve actually done really well at my goal - three posts a week, every week on my explorations in genre fiction film and games, as well as the occasional thing I’ve noticed.

At this point I thought it would be kind of fun to look at the books that have helped me the most in my aspirations to be a good blogger. The first major blog I began following was Neil Gaiman’s, which initially was a record of the book tour for his 2000 novel, American Gods. It had everything I was looking for in a blog at the time, a project (documenting the tour), a recognizable voice (I’ve been a fan of Gaiman since Sandman - you can read about it here), and it was easy to read. Luckily, rather than going back to his oldest posts, you can simply find the book Adventures in the Dream Trade (pictured left), which collects the initial run of his blog as well as a number of other writings.

So when I first got interested in creating a blog last summer I had been a dedicated reader of one blog and that was about it. Like everything in my life I try to do as best I can at any new project, so I started by grabbing a couple books out of the library and began to figure out how not only to create a blog, but also how to maintain one. The two most helpful were No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 ideas for your blog (pictured right) by Margaret Mason, and The Rough Guide to Blogging, by Jonathan Yang. Both books gave me a lot of tips, not only on content, but on how to get my blog out there, and I have to say that a lot of the postive results I have achieved can be traced back to these books.

These days I’m actually taking a slightly more academic look into the phenomenon of blogging and have just picked up a book both intriguing and slightly creepy regarding the blogosphere. The Peep Diaries (pictured left), by Canadian author Hal Niedzviecki looks at the culture around blogging, Facebook, Reality TV, Twitter and YouTube and attempts to see what it is saying about us as a people - I like the fact that the book raises some interesting questions, but at the same time gives a lot of the positive aspect of these things as well.

My favourite part of reading about blogging is finding new authors, and my current top pick of the blogger / professional writers is definitely Jen Lancaster, blogger (www.jennsylvania.com) and author - although to be honest my wife found these books and strongly suggested I check them out. Honestly, if you only check out one of the books I’m recommending here - check out her first book, Bitter is the New Black (pictured right), as it is one of the funniest, bitchiest, heartbreaking/warming non-fiction books I’ve read this year.

It’s kind of funny, with the one-year mark in sight (only a month and a half away), I’m trying to figure out my challenge for year two - I was thinking of fooling around with podcasts - but if you have any suggestions, feel free to comment!

Five Great Places to Start with Phillip K. Dick

Yesterday I was over at my BFF Mike’s blog (where he is slowly, but surely reviewing every novel that won a best novel Hugo award) and saw that he was talking about the classic Science Fiction novel The Man in the High Castle.

At the end of his review he stated that in regards to Phillip K. Dick

Your friendly neighbourhood Bookmonkey loaned me many PKD books in my early twenties.

He'd be glad to recommend some to you.

I am indeed a huge fan of Philip K. Dick - this guy's stories have influenced everything from The Matrix to Memento - So I figured today I should list five good places to start if you’d like to check out Phillip K. Dick (pictured left).

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said If you’re only going to read one of Phillip K Dick’s novels, let it be this one. The story is Pretty simple, imagine that tomorrow you woke up in an unfamiliar hotel room. You still have your wallet and cash but your ID is missing and even though everything looks the same, there is no record of you anywhere – not even your friends or family have any recollection of you. The main character of the story, Jason Taverner has exactly this happen, only in his old world he was a celebrity. This was the only Phillip K. Dick novel to be nominated for both a Nebula and a Hugo and it is totally worth it.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Simply put – this is the novel Blade Runner is based on – it has a few different turns from the film and is pretty straight-forward as far as most of his novels go. A personal favourite which looks at whether or not Robots deserve to be considered life forms of there own.

Dr. Bloodmoney

It’s post-apocalytic fun and features one of my upcoming Genre Characters of the week. Totally worth a view. After a nuclear holocaust we follow the lives of a number of people trying to pick up the pieces of the course of a decade; with mutants, marauders and astronauts, this story is incredibly cool.

Ubik I’m a huge fan of any story where the world appears to be going wrong and no rational explanation can be drawn for what is happening. This should not be your first Phillip K. Dick

book, but if you find you are liking his stuff, this one is a must read.

Adjustment Team

This one is actually a short story, but as there is an upcoming Matt Damon movie based on it (see the trailer here), I figured it would be a good place to start as well.

So there you have it, five great places to start exploring the works of Philip K. Dick.

Bookmonkey's top 5 Genre Films to see this summer

We are now just a few weeks away from the beginning of May and the start of the years really big genre flicks. Like lots of people, I want to see more movies than I can afford, and therefore I've got to be picky about what I'm going to see.

Here are the five genre films I am definitely hoping to make time to see this summer - I may end up seeing others with my kids (please not Eclipse), and there are a few non-genre movies I'll be checking out, but in the category of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction, these are my current must sees.

Inception

Put simply enough, I'm a huge Christopher Nolan fan, I loved Memento, and the new Batman movies have been a lot of fun. The movie looks not a little bit like a mix between The Cell and Dark City - but as I liked both of those films a lot, this one is a must see for me.

Iron Man 2

I was really suprised by how much I liked the first one, the acting was great, the action sequences fantastic and the story was really fun. Plus I loved Micky Rourke in The Wrestler, and am really looking foward to him as a villain here.

Ondine

Actually I just saw the trailer for this one a couple days back and totally loved it. Originally I was going to put The Sorcerer's Apprentice as my pick for a summer fantasy film, but this sweet looking film about a fisherman who fishes a girl out of the sea has totally got me intrigued. Plus Colin Farrel plays the fisherman, and as my wife is a huge fan I may have no say in the matter.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

To anyone familiar with my blog, it's pretty obvious I'm a big fan of Scott Pilgrim; I talk about the series a lot. Add to my love of the series the fact that the movie stars one of my favourite Canadian actors and is directed by the guy who did Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Spaced, and I can say this one is the movie I'm most looking forward to this summer.

Splice

I'm always on the lookout for new horror, and as re-imaninings and torture-porn continue to fill up the theatres, it can be more than a little tricky to find clever new horror. Last year my favourite horror movie was Drag Me to Hell, this year, I'm excited about the Frankenstein-influenced film, Splice, starring another of my favourite Canadian actors.

The 100th Post

So here I am, seven and a half months later, having done 3 posts a week since last August and this is it - my 100th post.

For those of you who've been around since the beginning - thanks! For those of you who joined along the way - it's been a lot of fun, for those of you who are coming here fore the first time - Hi, I'm Bookmonkey - nice to meet you.

For today's post I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself, so you could learn a bit more about the blogger you've been reading all this time.

Bookmonkey's top five things you should know about Bookmonkey

5. I have a pretty well rounded life

In addition to blogging I do a lot of stuff; I'm married, have two kids, am in my 30s and am a part-time university student. Past that I'm working on becoming a healthier me (both emotionally and weight-wise), and have ambitions to get paid to write someday.

4. I'm focused on doing my best at what I do

Whether that stuff is being a husband, father, BFF, Canadian, fan boy or whatever - I try to ensure that I a little time each day focusing on the most important aspects of my life. I'm also the kind of guy who only plays one Wii game at a time, an hour or so a week, until I finish it - then I move on to the next one.

3. A lot of my spare time as a kid was spent doing Role-Playing Games

Starting with basic Dungeons & Dragons, I moved through Fantasy games in Elementary, then SF and Super-Hero games through High School and finally ended up doing White Wolf horror games for the majority of my twenties. Although I haven't touched on this a lot in my blog so far - it will begin to have a focus for my second 100 posts.

2 My favourite Genre is Horror

Which is a little odd as I'm not a fan of gore - sorry, I haven't seen the Saw series and don't really intend to anytime soon. I am, however a huge fan of Horror novels and comics as well as classic and clever horror films - my favourite last year - Drag me to Hell, my favourite overall, probably the works of John Carpenter.

1 I am really, really big into finding connections between things

This originally started when I realized there were a lot of Best Picture winners that I had never seen - and as I went through them, I began to notice that I was starting to understand a lot more pop culture references. Then it moved onto references in novels and non-fiction and eventually comic books. I like seeing where ideas come from and understanding the history of the things I like.

So there you go - these five bits of info may help you see deeper into my writing, giving you a little background info into the guy you've been reading all this time.

Here's to the next 100,

Your pal, Bookmonkey

Top Five Cool Genre things my oldest daughter has shown me

Today I'm writing my 92nd post, and as my oldest daughter Lori was born in 1992, I thought I would take a moment and look at five of the coolest genre things she introduced to me or shared with me.

5. Harry Potter

Like most parents of kids who were born in the '90s, we hit a point where suddenly Lori was talking all about giants and muggles and The Boy who Lived. Thankfully, as my oldest daughter is a reader - this was well before the movies came out. That way, when people started talking about these new movies, I was totally in the know, heightening my cool dad factor. The fact that the books are really, really fun as well, was a huge bonus.

4. Checking out the Opening Day Matinee

I think it started with The Phantom Menace, where we first called Lori in sick from school and took her out to the first matinee showing of the movie instead. I know that a lot of movies have midnight openings, but the matinee tends to be a little less crowded, and I think my kids have more fun at it - we've taken gone to see everything from the Lord of the Rings movies to the Matrix Trilogy, to various super-hero films. In the end we're probably talking about one or two movies a year, and we make sure our kids have no homework due that day, but the sheer fun of skipping out on a day to see a new movie is a gift I have loved sharing with my kids - and I hope one day they share it with theirs.

3. Setters of Cataan

Lori first played this game with friends at a birthday party, and when she got home she couldn't stop talking about it. It was a board game that didn't work like any other board game she had ever tried and it sounded almost like something she might have made up. Luckily I found a copy at our local board game store, picked it up for her birthday and the rest is history. Not exactly a genre game, Settlers of Cataan is a german-style board game which is a lot of fun and very addictive, we now have most of the expansions and still have a lot of fun when we bring this game out.

2. The World Fantasy Awards

Years ago I started reading the Bram Stoker award winners for best Horror novel, as I'm a big fan, and my daughter would overhear me talking about how much fun it was to read a series of award winning horror books. Although Lori is not into horror, she did seem to like the idea of reading award winners, so she asked me to find her some award with books more suited to her. I found the World Fantasy Awards pretty soon after that and she's been working her way through them steadily ever since. The thing is, as I was the one getting her these books at first (she didn't have her own library card yet), I would take the time to read the back of the book on the way home and as a lot of these books had great stories, I started reading them myself. I've always been bigger into Horror and Science Fiction than Fantasy, so without her interest, I might never have found these really great books.

1. Hayao Miyazaki

As a kid I watched a lot of Anime: Astro Boy, Robotech, and Vampire Hunter D were big favourites. Moving into parenthood however I started focusing on other things. Sure I still saw some great stuff (Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most heartbreaking films I have ever seen, period.), but anime largely fell by the wayside. Like a lot of other kids however, my daughter got very big into Pokemon, and as I was dragged to Pokemon movie after Pokemon movie, I eventually figured she needed to broaden her horizon. Stop #1 - according to a very frinedly video store clerk, was Hayao Miyazaki. So we started renting his movies, and wow, these were great. We actually own pretty much every one of his films now, and I don't honestly know if I would have come across him without Lori's interest.

So there you go, five of my favourite genre things I pretty much owe to my daughter.

Thanks Lori!

Top Five Underrated Genre Gems pt. 2

Back in November I wrote about five genre films that may not have been box office smashes, but definitely deserved a second look. Today I'm going to continue the list into genre flicks you might not have got around to, but should seek out if you have the time or interest.

So here we go - Bookmonkey's next top five overlooked genre gems (including a couple TV shows):

1. Being Erica

This Canadian Fantasy series asks a very simple question, if you could go back in time and change any regrets in your own life - what would you change? The story follows a 32-year-old Canadian girl named Erica Strange who has in many ways hit a massive wall in her life, professionally, personally, emotionally, you name it. Then one day she meets a therapist called Dr. Tom who takes her on as a client and begins the process of changing her life, one regret at a time. This show hit all the marks for me as Erica is my age and from my country, so all of the music, hair styles and events from her past were things I could remember myself. The show is at turns funny and heart breaking, and if you haven't seen it yet, go check it out.

2. Carnivale

If, like me you've just spent the last few months watching Heroes vs. the Carnival, you may feel burned out on the idea of Carnival-folk with special powers. Let me say, however, that HBO's Carnivale is very different; set in the Great Depression, the show follows two men, a farm boy and a preacher who are destined to fight for the fate of the world's magic, both light and dark - the interesting thing is, the show does a great job of not exactly pinning down which guy is good, and which is evil.

3. The Faculty

I'm a big Robert Rodriguez fan, I love everything from the Desperado movies to the Spy Kids flicks, but I've always had a special spot for one of his earlier films. The Faculty mixes an Invasion of the Pod People story with high school, students vs. teachers and goes to some pretty freaky levels. It is definitely a horror film (so be wary if you thinking of showing it to kids), but is also incredibly fun.

4. The Librarian

As a Library Technician myself (I'm slowly but surely making my way to my Master's Degree), I would not be doing my job if I didn't point you towards this series of films. The concept is simple, what if there were a librarian whose job it was to house all the great mythological treasures of the world, and what would he do if something were stolen. Think a B-Grade Indiana Jones and you've got the idea. The characters are all very fun and if you've ever wonder what Bob Newhart would look like kicking butt, you might want to check this series of films out.

5. Sunshine

Last year, Director Danny Boyle got international acclaim with the film Slumdog Millionaire. The movie (if you havne't seen it) is really wonderful, but for genre fans, his big break was probably 28 Days Later; which in a lot of ways revitalized the Zombie and Post-apocalyptic sub-genres of Horror. In 2007 he directed the Science Fiction film Sunshine, about a crew of astronauts working to re-ignite a dying sun. The film is really fun, and it has some nice meetings between the SF and Horror genres.

Top five albums I listen to while reading

A while back I wrote a post talking about setting up for a good reading session, and I mentioned the idea of having a theme song to read to - this got a lot of responses from friends and readers who asked me what kind of CDs I listen to while reading, so to satisfy your curiosity, here you go:

Bookmonkey's top five current albums to listen to while reading

5. Ride the Lightning - Metallica

Or specifically the instrumental tune "Call of Ktulu," which I can listen to exactly 5 times in a row on repeat while I'm walking home (yes, I do read while walking - something that has lead to uncomfortable contact with lamp posts, other people and once an uncomfortably personal contact with a fire hydrant). Usually I keep the song specifically for horror reads.

4. Away We Go: Original Motion PIcture Soundtrack by Alexi Murdoch

This one is really new for me, I've only been listening to it for a few weeks, but I really love all the songs and even though they have lyrics, I don't find that they get in the way of my reading at all - they just comfortably groove with whatever is going on in my book - currently my favourite tune is All My Days.

3. The Neverending Story: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Klaus Doldinger

This soundtrack is really fun, doesn't fill my head with lyrics (which can be distracting while reading), and most importantly reminds me of a story about a kid reading a story, so if I'm listening to it while I'm reading I'm getting all Meta. Favourite track - Swamps of Sadness.

2. Legend: Original Motion picture Soundtrack by Tangerine Dream

I'm actually a pretty big fan of Tangerine Dream, a lot of the music is instrumental, and while I worked at a video store in the late '90s I watched a videocassette of theirs that showed images from the Grand Canyon over and over again because I liked the tunes. My favourite song on the Legend soundtrack is called Cottage - it works very well for reading high fantasy stories.

1. Virtually anything by James Horner

Over the years I've probably purchased at least a dozen James Horner (pictured left) Soundtracks, from Star Trek III, to Legends of the Fall, Aliens and Titanic, I've just really loved what this guy can do with music - here's a quck taste of one of my favourites, the One Last Wish theme from Casper.