The enduring struggle of one’s self-deception and inner conflicts, influenced by Conrad's sense of seclusion, inspired his stories and journeys worldwide, exposing the clashes, exploitation, and barbarity of Euro-African relations during the colonial expansionism of the 19th Century.
Read MoreThe definition of what makes a bookstore is always changing. It used to be the vintage atmosphere of an old store with books lining each wall, a maze constructed by novels many have never even heard of. A charming environment where books find their forever homes.
In recent decades though, bookstores have become much more than that. They’ve become the crisp, clean walls of an Indigo, and the digital, seemingly endless webpages of the BookOutlet website. Amazon even has a significant amount of books!
The definition of what makes a good bookstore is always changing. My goal for today is to look at a few factors that can provide insight into a possible answer. Will buying books from Amazon be our future? Will indie book stores steal the spotlight? What will Indigo become?
PHOTO BY ASHLEY BYRD ON UNSPLASH
There’s no better feeling than finding an awesome book in a bookstore and being able to take a seat and read it. What makes this better is being in an amazing environment. When somebody buys a book online, they can always choose their own reading location, but that just isn’t on the same level as being inside an actual bookstore.
Indigo, before they decided to rebrand, fit this category well. Store color schemes had warmer tones, and there was more wooden furniture. It felt like home! Now, Indigo stores have colder colors and the decor is much fancier. It’s not as welcoming. Indie bookstores, on the other hand, are well known for their warmer and cozier environments. As somebody who has worked retail, I can say confidently that customers almost always prefer this kind of environment.
On the topic of working retail, I can also safely say that the happiest customers are those who have had a great experience with store employees. Stores like Indigo and indie bookstores always have amazing, talkative employees who are genuinely passionate about books.
Online stores like Amazon and BookOutlet? Not so much. You’re simply met with a website and there’s no genuine human interaction if you have any questions.
Price, regardless of what a person is purchasing, is always a very important factor. Everybody wants a good deal! From my experience, the best prices for books are at indie bookstores or on websites like Amazon and BookOutlet. Additionally, when it comes to indie bookstores, shoppers also get to know that their money is going towards a small business, rather than a corporation!
PHOTO BY JESSICA RUSCELLO ON UNSPLASH
Indigo on the other hand isn’t exactly well known for low prices. There’s the occasional good deal on a paperback, but even then that isn’t always the case: and hardcovers cost even more, going for at least $30 each. When somebody shops at Indigo, every purchase is almost always an expensive one. It’s also supporting a big corporation, rather than a small local business like most indie bookstores!
With the question of what makes a good bookstore answered, I think it’s necessary to highlight which kind of bookstore is the best. Thus, based on the answer, it’s safe to say that indie bookstores are the best kind because of the fact that their attributes align the most with the categories discussed.
According to this article by the Washington Post, “ninety-two percent of small businesses say they have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus,” which just puts into perspective the difficulties that small businesses like indie bookstores face. Small businesses are always at a disadvantage due to chain stores and large corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and even Indigo.
Now more than ever, it’s incredibly important that everybody supports small businesses: and in regards to bookstores, this means that it’s vital for everybody to show indie bookstores their support. After all, they are the best kind of bookstore!
Emily Aalders is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not writing, Emily can be found reading and spending all of her money on overpriced coffee. After she graduates from Algonquin College, Emily hopes to be an author.
Perhaps more so than other age categories like Adult and Middle-grade, YA has been influenced by sweeping trends. One subgenre dominates the scene for a few years before it fades away, making space for the next big thing.
It’s clear to see that the last few years have been dominated by High Fantasy books led by characters who are often thieves, assassins, or otherwise morally grey. Books like Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series and Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology are massive successes from this niche.
But the fatigue is starting to set in. Dozens and dozens of books that fit this premise are released every year. The long and noun-heavy titles are becoming a meme, and readers are wanting something new and fresh for their next book.
The only question is, what is going to replace morally-grey high fantasy? That is what writers, publishers, and agents are all wondering.
The Shape of Water
The movie about the fish guy that won a lot of awards. Also, a great representation of the “Monster Boyfriend” idea. Retrieved from Wikipedia.
And I think I have the answer for you in two simple words: Monster Boyfriend.
That’s a fair question, dear reader.
Essentially, “Monster Boyfriend” stories centre around—or at least prominently feature—a romance between a relatively normal humanoid and some kind of sentient monster. A great example would be the relationship in The Shape of Water between Elisa and the Amphibian Man. The Amphibian Man is traditionally “monstrous,” but it isn’t a real issue for Elisa and the pair share a romantic bond.
Now, some of you may be thinking:
“Hey, isn’t this just those paranormal novels that were all the rage in the late 2000s?”
To which I would say, yes—but with some differences. That similarity, however, is a big reason I think the “Monster Boyfriend” surge is just on the horizon.
In case you live under a rock, Twilight is a book series by Stephanie Meyer about a teenage girl falling in love with a vampire. It ignited the paranormal romance boom, and the popularity of said boom didn’t survive long after the Twilight saga released its final movie.
What didn’t die with the end of Twilight was the hate for Twilight. It was one of the internet’s very first punching bags, right up there with prepubescent Justin Bieber. Most criticisms decried it for being girly, boring, and stupid. In the late 2000s, one of the most embarrassing things you could have been was a Twilight fan.
Twilight
Be honest, you hadn’t actually read the book when you were dunking on it in 2011. Book cover designed by Gail Doobinin and retrieved from Wikipedia.
In more recent years, opinions have started changing. There’s been something of a “Twilight Renaissance” with readers openly admitting to enjoying the series. People celebrate and meme about the parts of Twilight they love while also levying actual criticism of the saga: like Meyer’s inappropriate fictionalization of the Quileute Tribe.
This Twilight resurgence is a huge part of why I think the next YA trend is heading in such a paranormal direction.
It’s not controversial to say these past few years have been turbulent. But many people have faced that uncertainty by submerging themselves in nostalgia. The Twilight renaissance has proved people are ready to return to that series, and I bet many of them would be keen on reading other books like it. In fact, there is already an established community online for lovers of human and monster romance.
So 2022 will give us the return of paranormal romance, but with a modern twist. The esoteric love interests won’t be the same vampires we’ve seen so much of, but instead, a wide range of monsters will get their time to shine. Fish people! Demons! Aliens! Werewolves who actually get the girl! New monsters entirely conjured from the author’s imagination!
Not only that but there will be diversity in the relationships themselves too. That aforementioned established fanbase is predominantly queer. They will not settle for the same cishet girl meets cishet boy plotlines that permeated the late 2000s. Instead, we’ll see #ownvoices books with POC leads, trans characters, and gay relationships. It will be paranormal but more conscious of its readers and characters. And it will, of course, be much more monstrous.
That, dear reader, is where I think YA is going next.
Corrin first picked up a book when she was three years old and hasn’t stopped reading since. She’s a 2nd-year student in Algonquin College’s Professional Writing program and hopes to publish a novel of her own one day. Her favourite way to waste time is by playing video games.
Today Writers From Around the Worlds looks at Thea von Harbou, one of the leading lights of the golden age of cinema during the Weimar era; she was also a short story writer and a novelist of national renown. She personified female independence and what would now be feminism, being an early proponent of abortion, among other things, the most controversial of which—her support of Nazi Germany would lead to her mainly being ostracized by both literary and cinematic historians. These controversial political views make her a testament to just how complex the human experience can be. While she lived in splendor in the pre-war years on her wall – once covered with the art of the world– were two photos. One was of Gandhi, and the other was of Adolf Hitler.
Patrice Petro, author of "Representation In Weimar Germany," quotes a 1931 speech by Thea von Harbou regarding the repeal of Paragraph 218 which banned abortion--
“Our main goal is to find a new form of preventing pregnancy and therefore to make the entire [Paragraph] 218 unnecessary. Immediately, however, the Paragraph must fall because it is no longer morally recognized by women. It is no longer a law. We need a new sexual code because the old code was created by men, and no man is in a position to understand the agony of a woman carrying a child she knows she cannot feed. The law derived from male psychology, which forces a woman into having a child, creates, even if not deliberately, constitutional inferiority of women in relation to men which serves as a bulwark against women’s activities in economic and political life.”
Remembered more as a footnote to the career of her onetime husband and titan of German cinema director Fritz Lang. Born in the German province of Bavaria in 1888, Harbou published her first story at age 14. Completing college in Dresden, she traveled to Africa, later returning to Germany to pursue a career on the stage. By the 1920s, she was a behemoth in her own right within the German film world.
Harbou co-wrote both of Lang's "Dr. Mabuse" films, "Der müde Tod" ("Destiny"), the "Die Nibelungen" films, "Metropolis," and "M," among others. In total, she wrote or co-wrote ten films with Lang. For Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, another great director of the era. Harbou wrote or co-wrote "Phantom," "The Grand Duke's Finances," and "The Expulsion." Harbou co-scripted "Michael" with director Carl Theodor Dreyer. She was also a short story writer and a novelist of national renown. She secretly married Ayi Tendulkar, an Indian screenwriter, journalist, and actor, in 1938. Harbou remained in Germany during the war and continued writing scripts and directing two films (both of which had problems with Nazi censors). At a 1954 rescreening of "Der Müde Tod," she slipped and fell, dying several days later of complications.
Published originally in 1926 and in English in 1927, the novel was the basis for and written in tandem with Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis. An example of expressionist literature, the story is considered the only way to understand the movie of the same name. The novel rendition expertly reproduces the ambitious nature of Wiemer German cinema and is even available online for free.
Science. History. Snarky letters. Rivalry. Romance. Time travel. If any of these are of interest to a reader, then This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone would be a great read.
Full of complex and descriptive imagery, this collaborative book tells the story of Red and Blue, two agents on separate sides of a war raging on through time and space. Traveling back and forth through various historical time periods and events, Red and Blue exchange carefully placed and creatively sent letters to each other. It is beautifully written and a great example of how a book can benefit from heavily descriptive writing.
Many books require dialogue to work properly. But This Is How You Lose The Time War does not have much dialogue—unless you count the letters between Red and Blue. Normally, something like this could affect the success of a book. However, this issue isn’t present here: the letters written in this story provide the perfect amount of character interaction. Spoken words aren’t necessary!
“THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR” BY AMAL EL-MOHTAR AND MAX GLADSTONE, PUBLISHED BY SIMON & SCHUSTER.
Due to this fact, El-Mohtar and Gladstone’s collaboration is heavily descriptive and follows a very repetitive pattern: Red or Blue work on a mission for their respective sides of the war. Along the way, they find a letter integrated intricately into their surroundings. They read it, and so on. In the beginning, I was concerned that I would grow bored of such a repetitive pattern, however, as soon as I began reading Red and Blue’s witty letters to one another I became invested.
Character-driven books, in my opinion, are always at risk of being boring. This book is very much an exception to that risk—the events between letters are intriguing and are full of historical easter eggs. As someone very interested in history, this became an opportunity for me to guess what time period Red and Blue were in as they received one another’s letters.
The letters themselves were also something super exciting to look forward to—watching Red and Blue’s witty rivalry was so much fun, and watching their connection with one another change with each letter was also something that kept my undivided attention.
I wouldn’t change much of this book if I could. The writing is perfect, the characters are great, and it’s such an amazing read. Something I’ve noticed from their Goodreads reviews however is that the historic and scientific descriptions could get confusing at times, which could possibly take away from the story. While I think some amount of this is necessary, I definitely agree that it felt excessive at times and that more clarity would be beneficial to the book.
This book ripped my heart out, threw it against a wall, and then put it back inside my chest. But I am not complaining: that’s how amazing this book is. Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone truly created a masterpiece that I, an avid science fiction avoider, cannot get out of my head. It’s sapphic, it’s romantic, it’s the Mona Lisa of writing. So incredibly well told and unforgettable.
I would recommend this to anybody who is willing to become emotionally invested in a book. This Is How You Lose The Time War is definitely not an easy read, but there is no doubt in my mind that it is certainly worth every word.
Emily Aalders is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not writing, Emily can be found reading and spending all of her money on overpriced coffee. After she graduates from Algonquin College, Emily hopes to be an author.
Retreieved from VictoriaLeewrites.com. Cover art by Maggie Enterrios.
In A Lesson In Vengeance, Victoria Lee whisks readers away to the unattainable land of private boarding schools for the wealthy. Well, unattainable for the majority of readers, anyways.
But Dalloway School, where A Lesson in Vengeance takes place, is no ordinary boarding school. The famous girls’ school is also the location of a series of deaths over 200 years ago. The Dalloway Five, as they came to be known, were students rumoured to be witches. Whose dabbling with the arcane got them killed. Some even say they haunt the school itself to this very day.
Enter Felicity Morrow. She’d been obsessively researching the Dalloway Five for her senior year thesis until her long-time girlfriend, Alex, died unexpectedly. After more than a year away, she’s finally back, ready to continue her studies. But the occult calls to her, and the ghost of Alex hides behind every corner.
Felicity’s new roommate, Ellis Haley, doesn’t help matters. Brand new to Dalloway, she’s already a successful novelist, and her latest book tackles the Dalloway Five. Felicity finds herself wrapped up in Ellis’ research. However, she can’t shake the pull towards Ellis and magic, nor can she get rid of the feeling that getting involved with either spells her doom.
Wherever you think this book is going, you’re wrong. An immaculate thriller, it will consume your thoughts while you’re not reading it, and it will linger in your mind for long after you’ve finished.
The two main characters are one of the book’s major strengths – both are layered and interesting. Felicity herself, I found to be a very compelling, if unreliable, narrator. Despite being the daughter of a wealthy socialite, many readers will empathize with Felicity’s struggles with grief, mental illness and her own queerness. Ellis is eccentric and intriguing. Much like Felicity, I found myself drawn to her, wanting to know more.
I wish some of the other side characters – namely Leonie, Quinn, and Kajal – got more attention and scenes. Leonie and Kajal are some of the only non-white characters, and I would’ve liked to learn a little more about their experiences. Like what drew them to apply for Godwin house – the ultra-exclusive residence at Dalloway where the characters live during the school year. Quinn, Ellis’ nonbinary older sibling, was just a ton of fun when they were finally “on-screen.” I would have loved to read more about them.
On another note, this book has some amazing prose. Lee is richly descriptive and creative with her imagery. Lines like “I feel like she creates and unravels me in the same moment, a sentence she writes and erases and rewrites, a product of her want and imagination. I feel like she invented me,” are plentiful. This dramatic, romantic flair won’t be for everyone. Still, in my opinion, it heightens the gothic atmosphere of a centuries-old finishing school.
A Lesson in Vengeance sits at the crossroads of ambition, privilege, grief and trauma. Its exploration of mental illness could be considered meta, as Felicity herself describes her thesis as an exploration of “…how depictions of mental illness are used to build suspense by introducing uncertainty and a sense of mistrust, especially with regard to the narrator’s perception of events, and the conflation of magic and madness in female characters.”
I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Lesson in Vengeance, and I recommend it to anyone looking for an appropriately autumn-themed book to close out the season with. You won’t regret it.
Corrin first picked up a book when she was three years old and hasn’t stopped reading since. She’s a 2nd-year student in Algonquin College’s Professional Writing program and hopes to publish a novel of her own one day. Her favourite way to waste time is by playing video games.
OSAMU DAZAI, NO LONGER HUMAN (ARCTICZUKO.TUMBLR.COM)
Osamu Dazai, one of 20th century Japan's best fiction authors, is considered a pioneer in Japanese fiction writing. Yet, his immense talent is perpetually overshadowed by a life strung with tragedy.
Shuji Tsushima was born into the Tsushima clan, an aristocratic family in the Kanagi region of Japan before he took on Osamu Dazai as his pen name. On June 29th, 1909, he was born into privilege, having access to a large mansion filled with servants. The family's luxuries can be attributed to the tremendous political influence received by his father, Tushima Gen'emon. The Tsushima family was large, with Gen'emon and Tane Tsushima giving birth to eleven children. However, Tane's health deteriorated rapidly after the birth of the eleventh child. With his father busy, and his mother bedridden, Shuji's upbringing resided with their family's maids and workers.
While attending Hirosaki University, the sudden suicide of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who also happened to be his favourite author, caused him unexplainable grief, and sooner or later, his life would be driven by this decision. The great potential he showed academically soon became missed classes and failed exams. To compound matters, Shuji developed a drinking problem coupled with an attraction towards prostitutes. In 1929, while still studying at University. Shuji attempted suicide for the very first time. Unsuccessful, but it would only lead to a series of more suicide attempts, including his second attempt with Shimeko Tanabe - a hostess whom he met in a bar, the pair attempted to drown off a beach. Shuji ended up surviving through the assistance of a nearby fishing boat, while Shimeko was not as fortunate.
Several years and several relationships later, in the era of Japan's rehabilitation post-war, Shuji or Osamu's popularity reached its peak. His first famous work, post-war os Viyon no Tsuma, was set in a post-war Tokyo, the story's protagonist; a woman who suffered after the war had left her with nothing. His next novel Shayo, also known for its English title, The Setting Sun, was heavily influenced by a Japanese woman named Shizuko Ota and her own work of transcribing the events of her life after the war. More than a big fan of Osamu, Shizuko ends up having an affair with Osamu, leading to Osamu having an illegitimate daughter with Shizuko.
Osamu's life again began spiralling into turmoil, following the birth of a daughter out of wedlock. His mental health declined, coupled with alcoholism and a diagnose of tuberculosis from before the war. In the end, he abandoned his second wife and his mistress, and his next relationship would end up being his last.
Dazai and Tomie's bodies discovered in 1948
The last woman in Osamu Dazai's life is Tome Yamazaki, a beautician. The two developed a relationship, living together. During their time together, Osamu wrote his most famous novel - Ningen Shikkaku or No Longer Human. He was able to finish the book successfully before committing suicide with Tomie. The two drowned themselves in a river near their home.
Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human tells the emotional and captivating story of a young man caught in the disintegration of Japanese aristocratic traditions amidst the impact of Western ideas. Consequently, he finds himself "disqualified from being human" (a literal translation of the Japanese title). Narrated in the first person, it contains several elements which portray the tone of an autobiography. Through recurrent themes of Dazai's own life, including suicide, social alienation, and depression. And as of January 1, 2019, the book is in the public domain.
Danni’s Author PHoto.
Writing as a medium and a profession has changed drastically over the years. Long gone are the days of sitting at a typewriter and mailing your manuscript to brick-and-mortar publishers. Now, we read primarily online, and authors have a million options at their disposal for publishing and marketing their books.
Danni Maxwell is one of those new-age authors. Originally from Kingston, Ontario, Danni writes Queer New-Adult fiction and is currently celebrating the release of her new short story collection. She's active in the writer community on Tiktok, where she has 1500 followers.
I had the chance to sit down with Danni to discuss her writing recently. Here are some of the best moments of that conversation.
As cliche as it sounds, I really have been writing for as long as I can remember. Telling stories became my creative outlet from a young age, but I think my earliest memory of writing any of them down was when I was 7. It took off from there, and I wrote all through elementary school just for me. The stories were books I wanted to read that I couldn't find when I looked for new books. I also dabbled in fanfiction writing for almost 5 years before shifting back to original content. I never really took it seriously until my creative writing class in high school, though.
Thank you! I think it definitely depends on each individual book I write. I can draw inspiration from anything. Usually, that's a good thing, but sometimes it can get really distracting. A single photo, a sound. A scenic view through a car window. One tiny thing could incite an idea for me, be it a character, a plot point that I write around, etc. It will get stuck in an infinite loop in my mind until I write it down. Characters will come to me, scenes will play out, and it becomes the bare bones of a plot that starts the entire process of writing the book. I am not really a plotter by nature; I plan little things and let the rest come to me as I go along. That is a whole other problem in itself!
LIfe In COlour’s Cover, retrieved from Ninestarpress.com
Sure! It's a short story collection with a diverse cast of characters and their journeys to happily ever after. In A World in Blue, you follow Oliver and Blue. Even though Oliver writes about happily ever afters, he doesn't believe in them. Blue is his #1 fan (but he doesn't know Oliver is his favourite author because he writes under a pen name). He knows Oliver's opinion on love and happily ever afters, but Blue is determined to show Oliver that they do exist. When Skies Are Grey is a companion sequel about Oliver's best friend Eli, who thinks he's notorious for ruining everything he touches, especially relationships. But then he meets Grey, the person his best friends swear will be the one to show him how to grow and learn how to love again. The Rainbow Connection is the perfect epilogue to everyone's story.
I think I would go somewhere to Europe. Paris and Italy are known for writer's retreats, and I couldn't think of anything better than writing from a little Parisian patisserie or surrounded by gorgeous Italian architecture. How could that not foster my imagination?
Danni’s newest book, Life in Colour is out now and available on Amazon.ca or directly through the publisher at Ninestarpress.com.
Corrin first picked up a book when she was three years old and hasn’t stopped reading since. She’s a 2nd-year student in Algonquin College’s Professional Writing program and hopes to publish a novel of her own one day. Her favourite way to waste time is by playing video games.
CREDIT: @DARIA_KRAPLAK ON UNSPLASH
In my previous blog post, I wrote about getting out of reading slumps. For me, reading slumps are easy to avoid: not much work goes into reading. However, recently I have been struggling with a new literary issue: a writing slump. No matter what I type, the words on my screen stare back at me with an emptiness I don’t believe expresses my true potential as a writer. My writing slump isn’t an inability to type words on my laptop: it’s about the depth of what I say, about the literary choices I make. And I hope I’m not the only one who feels like this sometimes.
“THE PROJECT” BY COURTNEY SUMMERS, PUBLISHED BY WEDNESDAY BOOKS
Luckily I’ve been able to narrow it down to one main reason, which is good because knowing the cause of a problem makes finding the solution so much easier. The reason is actually reading! Whenever I read a really good book, I always end up comparing whatever I’m working on at the time to what I’ve read. The Project by Courtney Summers (here’s the link to the book’s Goodreads page!) is what I have read most recently. It’s an absolutely amazing book about cults, and everything is pieced perfectly together like a puzzle. The plot is thorough and complex, yet it all works perfectly together without leaving any plot holes behind. The writing itself is also so well done: it’s as if every individual word was picked out carefully and deliberately. Each “and” seems like it was chosen for a reason beyond the word’s actual purpose.
I could say this for dozens of other books. Every book on my shelf, probably. There is always something I’m comparing my writing to, which takes away the motivation to actually write. And even though deep down I know that every writer is different, it doesn’t stop the struggle to meaningfully put words on a page. The only method I’ve found to be helpful is avoiding reading altogether, and though that can help temporarily, I doubt I’d survive the process of writing an entire novel without reading at some point. For now, my only solution has been to push through the struggle. It gets words on a page, but it definitely takes away from the fun that I usually have when writing.
Now, has writing this article pulled me out of my writing slump? Not really. But maybe it can serve as a reflection on the issue at hand and make figuring it out easier than it would have been if I hadn’t taken the time to think about it. Perhaps other writers who are reading this post have found it beneficial to curing their own writing slump. Whatever happens, at least I know one thing: I need to stop getting stuck in slumps.
Emily Aalders is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not writing, Emily can be found reading and spending all of her money on overpriced coffee. After she graduates from Algonquin College, Emily hopes to be an author.
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash
The past two years have been incredibly difficult on us. Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic: the wildfires in Australia and the United States; the major protests in India, Poland, and the United States; the explosion in Beirut; the locust outbreak in east Africa; and much more has left us staggering without a chance to catch our breath..
With all the struggles from these events, self-care has never felt more important and what better way to take care of yourself than with a book?
Unlike listening to music, or watching a show, reading needs our undivided attention. We have to be actively engaged in the story, which stops our minds from worrying and stressing over other demands. According to a study at the University of Sussex, reading for just six minutes decreased stress levels by 68% (Reading 'can help reduce stress' (telegraph.co.uk) ).
Sleep is an important part of taking care of ourselves. Reading just 20 minutes before bed signals to our brain that we are slowing down our pace. It’s a better alternative than browsing through your cellphone, your TV or any other activities that might stimulate our brains too much, and decrease our quality of sleep.
Books push us to visualize and experience the world we’re immersed in. Our imaginations aren’t constrained by the boxes and rules of our reality. Magic, aliens, monsters, myths are all possible; and creativity has a chance to grow and thrive.
The benefits extend to our reality as well. An increase in creativity can lead to innovative ideas in our careers or passions.
Reading can be done anytime and anywhere we want. In high school, I loved reading during my lunch hour, in class, in the halls, and any chance I got. When I’m on my break at work, I’ll take time to recharge by reading something engaging.
Even without the physical copy of a book, we have the possibility of accessing stories on our phones, computers, laptops, tablets, Kindles, and Kobos. We can read while sitting, standing, or lying down. All you need is something to read.
Image by Yuri B from Pixabay
The list of Fantasy subgenres takes after the average book in its genre: both are very long. This fact can make the various distinctions hard to wrap your head around. Some of the nichest tropes and settings have their own category (like Assassin Fantasy, which unsurprisingly is a subgenre dedicated to contract killers in Fantasy.)
But if you’re new to the genre, you don’t need to know the summary of every category of Fantasy. In fact, a lot of them can be grouped into a handful of the larger subgenres that comprises the umbrella that is mainstream fantasy. And I just so happened to have listed and summarized them for your reading pleasure.
Crossworld Fantasy involves characters from the real world travelling into a new Fantasy world. It’s often referred to as Portal Fantasy, although the term crossworld is more fitting since not every story uses a portal to get the character where they need to be. It’s a common plot device in childrens’ literature especially, so crossworld Fantasy would be great if you’re looking for a bit of a nostalgia hit.
Dark Fantasy mixes the fantastical with elements of horror. Set either on entirely new worlds or just another version of our own, there is always a thread line of gloom and doom in the setting. This is also where you’ll find many books with strong Lovecraftian influences. Other hallmarks of the subgenre are a surplus of morally grey characters, morbid descriptions and a habit of twisting hallmarks of lighthearted Fantasy into something far grimmer. If you’re already a horror fan, then this is the subgenre for you.
When the average person pictures Fantasy novels in their head, this is the subgenre that they’re thinking of. High fantasy takes place in sprawling, fictional worlds, often meticulously worldbuilt and lush with detail. These stories follow large-scale plots – nations clashing or terrifying evil wizards threatening to destroy the entire world. High Fantasy tends to account for some of the longest books in the genre, but if you aren’t afraid of length then you’re in for a tale of epic proportions.
Historical Fantasy is – you guessed it – Fantasy set in historical time periods. Many novels centre around alternate versions of our history, where the existence of magic or other supernatural creatures changed the outcome of major events. Others simply explore what life would be like if you add fantasy to a certain time period. If you’re a self-proclaimed history buff, then these are the books you should read.
If you’re looking to read about witches and vampires mixing with smartphones and Starbucks, then Urban Fantasy is what you’re looking for. Urban fantasy usually (but not always!) takes place in large cities, and the fantastical elements of the world may be a secret or a normal part of life for characters in this world. Urban Fantasy is a great place to start reading the genre as it provides the familiar setting of our own world to balance out the fantasy.
Two great examples of High Fantasy and Crossworld fantasy respectively are J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series and C.S.Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Covers taken from goodreads.
So, there you have it: five of the biggest Fantasy subgenres! Any of them would be a great place to start for someone just taking their first steps into the genre. So take a look through Goodreads shelves for these categories; I’m certain you’ll find the perfect book to begin your Fantasy journey.
Corrin first picked up a book when she was three years old and hasn’t stopped reading since. She’s a 2nd-year student in Algonquin College’s Professional Writing program and hopes to publish a novel of her own one day. Her favourite way to waste time is by playing video games.
Pio Baroja
1872-1956
Death visits the paupers` house by Johannes Stradanus (Jan Van Der Straet) (1523-1605, Belgium)
The Spanish novelist and essayist Pío Baroja y Nessi is considered one of the signifIcant writers of the Spanish Literary movement: The Generation of 1898. His works consistently explore self-criticism with pessimistic views of life.
Portrait by Joaquin Sorolla (1914)
Pío was born in San Sebastián, Spain on Dec. 28, 1872. In 1879 his family moved to Madrid, where at 15, he studied medicine. Receiving his doctorate in medicine at the University of Madrid in 1893, he spent the next year as a country doctor in Cestona. Dismayed by the hardships and petty intrigues of country life, Baroja renounced his medical post in 1895. The shock of the Spanish-American War in 1898 provoked in him, as in many of his contemporaries, resentment against Spain's social abuses and the influence of the post-Inquisition Catholic Church. By 1898, he began contributing articles to the journal Revista Nueva and made the first of many trips to Paris. Baroja grouped most of his novels into cycles or trilogies. By 1902, Baroja devoted himself entirely to writing, turning out two or more books almost every year until his death, having published more than 100 books, including over 60 novels as well as volumes of memoirs, collections of short stories, essays, and poems.
His techniques to depict action in his novels include sacrificing structure to a practically haphazard flow of people, places, plots, and subplots, with style marked by short, choppy paragraphs. Baroja enjoyed considerable fame within Spain and abroad, and many of his novels were translated into English. In 1935 he was admitted to the Spanish Royal Academy. His works influenced many younger writers, notably Ernest Hemingway, who visited Baroja in Madrid in 1956 to declare his debt to him. Baroja died that same year on Oct. 30, 1956, at the age of 83.
Hemingway visits Baroja, 1956
"Allow me to pay this small tribute to you who taught so much to those of us who wanted to be writers when we were young. I deplore the fact that you have not yet received a Nobel Prize, especially when it was given to so many who deserved it less, like me, who am only an adventurer."
- Ernest Hemingway, 1956.
Characters of a reprehensible nature; the likes of which include vagabonds, adventurers, prostitutes, and anarchists, whose cynicism and rebellious spirit symbolized the author's ideal of a life of action, are regular features of a Baroja protagonist. His characters are committed only to a life of action, who, lacking constructive purpose, find themselves condemned to final ruin. He believed that only action has any positive value in a hostile and absurd world. Personal failure is the dominant theme of a typical Baroja novel.
JOSÉ APARICIO INGLADA - El Hambre en Madrid (Museo Municipal de Madrid, c. 1818) - Madrid's Year of Hunger
The Quest, the first of the La Lucha Por la Vida (The Struggle for Life) trilogy, presents a gritty, often brutal picture of urban life in working-class Madrid, as the protagonist, Manuel Alcazar, is pummelled by socio-economic forces beyond his control. While the novel concentrates on the social contrasts and difficulties of working-class life in Madrid, vital clues show the larger context in which Baroja, who became deeply influenced by the shock of the Spanish-American War, wrote. The war demoralized Spain, leaving in its wake the self-image of a weak and backward nation; for many Spaniards, their country’s perceived stagnation and backwardness was a dramatic contrast to America’s forward-looking energy and drive.
The period’s politics are less prominent in The Quest’s content than Baroja’s graphic elicitation of the sights, sounds, and smells of daily life in Madrid. Evocatively capturing the changes of the nineteenth century as urban populations, not just in Madrid but other cities rose considerably. Like Manuel, peasants flocked to urban centers, hoping for economic opportunity but often found only slums, hardships, and petty intrigues instead. The Quest is a worthwhile starter for anyone looking to explore one of Spain’s most celebrated writers.
CREDIT: SIORA PHOTOGRAPHY (@siora18) ON UNSPLASH
No reader enjoys being stuck in a reading slump: it’s not fun getting stared down by your bookshelf, unread books taunting you and your lack of motivation to read. There’s nothing better than reading a great book! Luckily, there are a variety of ways to end a reading slump that don’t include endlessly staring at an unopened book.
Purchasing a new book is great for reigniting your love for reading. It changes things up on your bookshelf and introduces you to new stories. Additionally, if going to a mainstream bookstore doesn’t work, sometimes going to a thrift store can help. Because thrift stores thrive on donations, the selection for items (including books!) is random and much different than a store that chooses its items carefully. You never know what you’ll find, and if you’re used to mainstream bookstores, it’ll definitely be a change of scenery and will have much more variety. Regardless, purchasing a new book to read is a great way to get out of your reading slump and enjoy a new book.
If you’re the kind of person who likes to read a book more than once, this suggestion may help. All you need to do is grab your favourite book and read! If you have multiple favourites or even no favourites at all, try just reading a book you haven’t read in a while. Even if you don’t finish the book you choose, this is a great way to get your mind back into the reading groove: you’ll hopefully be reminded of why you love reading so much in the first place! Familiarity helps make things easier, especially in regards to a reading slump.
This idea is slightly different from the others. If you’ve tried your best but still can’t find the motivation to read something, try writing about it instead. You could write about why you think you’re in a reading slump, how you got out of a previous reading slump, what kind of book you want to read or literally anything else! Writing is a great way to switch things up while still incorporating words into what you’re doing. Even just reading over what you’ve written can help refresh your mind and remind you of how much you love to read! If you don’t want to write about reading, and instead think a writing prompt would help, a great place to find writing prompts is here!
If you’ve tried everything and still can’t get out of your reading slump, then it’s time for a method that may not be fun, but will get you back into reading. Sort of like being given assigned reading, all you have to do for this one is to choose a book and decide on how much you want to read in one sitting. Ten pages? One chapter? As long as you read something, then that’s all that matters. Try to set a daily goal that’s simple and not difficult to accomplish. Even if it’s not enjoyable, this will make sure that you’re still reading! The goal with this one is for you to eventually pass your reading goal without even realizing it, thus getting back into a reading groove!
For those who love to read, a book slump is the worst. Hopefully at least one of these four techniques are useful and somewhat helpful in getting you out of your reading slump!
Emily Aalders is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not writing, Emily can be found reading and spending all of her money on overpriced coffee. After she graduates from Algonquin College, Emily hopes to be an author.
Welcome to The Bookstore! We're like a small independent shop and your local book club all wrapped up into one. We'll be sharing book reviews, dishing out literary history lessons, and discussing our opinions on everything that makes the book world tick. So grab an armchair or start browsing the shelves; The Bookstore is pleased to have you.
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