The Reading Armchair

October 13, 2015

Short vacations!

Ciao, my lovely friends! As you can guess, I'm going on a short vacation tomorrow. It's my first time in Rome and I'm so excited about it. I can't wait to find out how espresso tastes in Italy! Anyway, I'll be back next week, so see you soon! Those of you who follow my instagram account will probably get a glimpse of what I'll be up to :)

October 6, 2015

Review: Hellboy Vol.2: Wake the Devil by Mike Mignola

Title: Hellboy: Wake the Devil

Author: Mike Mignola

Publisher: Dark Horses Books

Date of Publication: 1994

Number of Pages: 146

Find it at: Book Depository

Summary

When strangeness threatens to engulf the world, a strange man will come to save it. Sent to investigate a mystery with supernatural overtones, Hellboy discovers the secrets of his own origins and his link to the Nazi occultists who promised Hitler a final solution in the form of a demonic avatar.

Review

Up until now, I knew Hellboy only by his image. I didn't really know anything about him, whether he was a superhero or what his deal was. I hadn't even watched Guillermo del Toro's films. So while opening this comic book I would encounter a world that I didn't expect to find.

Strange creatures have awakened, things that shouldn't exist. For this reason, the Bureau of Paranormal Research has taken over the investigation. Hellboy is an agent for this bureau, but he's not the only one. Clark, Sapien, Waller and Sherman are all agents and they are divided into small groups, in order to search all the possible locations of the paranormal activities.

But what is really going wrong? People who should be long dead are rumoured to be alive, like Vladimir Giuresku. There is also more to it. The nazis wanted to build a whole army of vampire men, but while encountering the true power of Giuresku, Hitler decided to kill him. But Giuresku has the ability to return back while being in his own castle. And there is still a nazi scientist, Ilsa Haupstein, who wants to see Giuresku alive once again. This is exactly what the Bureau is trying to stop. From this point, it really gets complicated and I won't spoil it.

The antagonists in this comic book are amazingly constructed. They have a master plan, they are all devoted to their own ideals and beliefs, they are willing to sacrifice everything in order to achieve their ultimate goal. It's a shock to find out that there is a definite connection between them and Hellboy. It's even a shock for the hero himself. But this also gives us a very believable explanation about those two things in Hellboy's head. The art in these pages is breathtaking.

Wake the Devil is dark. You can guess that just by looking at its cover, but there is a time in the story when everything is going wrong. You can see that the protagonists can barely survive, that maybe this time the bad guys will manage to take over the world. The art style also emphasizes the atmosphere, making it one of the most memorable comics I've ever read.

The edition I own is completely drawn in black and white. The truth is that I missed a little the colours. Maybe if Hellboy was red, it would make a difference. But I know that newer editions have colour, so I would urge you to find those ones.

I don't say that Hellboy: Wake the Devil is without flaws. In fact, there are some plot holes and I still don't understand how the antagonist's plan failed. But it's definitely one of those comic books that get you pumped up for more and I will most certainly read the other stories. A dark, action-packed story for all the comic book lovers out there!

So, my advice is...

Go Hellboy!

October 5, 2015

The Reading Book Post, October 5th

Hello, everyone! October is here at last! This month will be the one that will bring a lot of changes in my life. I might be a little absent lately, but I promise that I'll try to write as much as I can. Anyway, let's see what happened in the literary world the previous week.

Kirkus has announced the finalists for the literary prizes. The winners will become known on October 15, in a ceremony which will take place in Austin, Texas. Also, the shortlist of the Goldsmiths Prize 2015 has been announced. The winner will be announced on November 11, 2015.

Exciting news for writers/comic book artists! Mark Millar is funding a competition, in which the writers and artists are called to write scripts with his characters. The winners will get paid Marvel and DC starter rates.

Sad news for the literary world. The Swedish author and playwright Henning Mankell passed away at the age of 67. He was well known for the creation of the Inspector Kurt Wallander. Some books of the series include Faceless Killers and The Fifth Woman.

Tor Books is celebrating its 35th anniversary. For this reason, they revealed their new logo design.

Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle is getting a sequel. It's called Truly, Madly Famous and it will be published on October 13, 2015. For those of you who can't wait, you can read right now an excerpt from the upcoming novel.

The Martian (one of the most anticipated films for me in 2015) is out in the theaters. Gearge R. R. Martin has written about our long obsession with Mars. Amazing!

Another fantasy writer has big news this week! Patrick Rothfuss has announced on his blog that he has sold the rights for a TV series based on The Kingkiller Chronicles. What awesome news! I can't wait!

Can you guess the reason these books were banned? Take this quiz to find out, some of the reasons are really shocking! Which Literary Monster Are You? Take the quiz and let me know of the results. I got Medusa. That's interesting..

September 30, 2015

5 Years Time

After the blog awards, it's time for a tag. This is seriously one of the most amazing tags I've come across! I was tagged by the amazing Raashi @ Be the Change you Wish to See in the World (read her version of the tag).

This is me, 5 years ago. I know that I haven't really shown you my face up until now, so there you have it. In this photo, I am 20 years old, I'm in a beautiful little, hidden beach in Corfu (where I studied) and I haven't changed that much in those 5 years (although I did change my hair and I'm happy about it).

My goals for the future

I really hope to find a job in the field of my interest, which is usability and user experience. But, to be honest, I don't have only this particular career in mind. Being able to support myself and having a pleasant working environment would be great.
In about three weeks, I'm moving in with my boyfriend in a city that I've never been before and I have no idea what it's like. In five years, I'd like to have a comfortable place to share with my loved one.
I want to finish my novel! Ok, I hope that this one will take much less than 5 years, but it's something to look forward in the future.
I adore cocker spaniels! So at some point I really hope to adopt one (they are the cutest dogs!)
Like Raashi said in her own post, I'd really like to keep blogging. I enjoy it immensely and it's something that would make really happy to continue doing. Plus, the community is so great, I've made so many amazing friends :)

I won't tag anyone in particular, but I would very much like to see your goals for the future. If you decide to do this tag, please share a link in the comments below :)

One Lovely Blog Award and Sunshine Blogger Award

I've been nominated for these blog awards for a long time and I finally got the chance of doing the posts. Because they are both awards I will nominate some bloggers at the end of this post, for both of the awards.

One Lovely Blog Award

Thank you so much Ranu @ The Araliya Bookshelf for nominating me for this award!

The rules for this award are:

Say Thank you to the person that nominated you
Explain the rules of the award
Say seven random facts about yourself
Nominate 15 other bloggers
Display the badge/logo of the award in your blog

Seven Random Facts About Myself

I can't start my day without a cup of coffee! I'm addicted.
I usually try to use a magnetic bookmark I got from the National Gallery in London with a painting of Monet on it.
I can't even describe to you how excited I am that the release of the new David Mitchell novel is only 27 days away.
Also, I expect new albums in the next months by some of my favourite groups/artists.
I've just started watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and I LOVE IT
I still find Amnesia: The Dark Descent the scariest game I've ever played
Finally, Artemis Fowl will be adapted into a film!

Sunshine Blogger Award

Thank you so much Wren Love @ For the Love of Books for nominating for this award!

The rules for this award are quite simple:

Answer the 11 questions provided for you
Nominate other bloggers
Ask them 11 questions of your own

1. What was your favourite book as a child? The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

2. Why did you start your blog? What inspired you? On an implulse really. I want to make my reading more challenging and I thought that it would be nice to share it with the world.

3. Explain your blog's title! The Reading Armchair: the most comfortable place in the house for reading.

4. Do you run or contribute to any other blogs? I've guest blogged and I enjoyed it very much. But I don't really write systematically for another blog.

5. What book do you recommend to everybody? You are probably tired of hearing me recommending this book to you, but here you are once more: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

6. Worst book-to-movie adaptation in your opinion? Best book-to-movie adaptation in your opinion? The worst book-to-movie adaptation would most probably be Eragon and the best The Princess Bride.

7. Favourite book cover? There are so many beautiful covers! The Remains of the Day is one of favourite.

8. Do you prefer ordering books online or visiting a bookstore? Visiting a bookstore. Nothing beats browsing the shelves!

9. Are you OK with buying used books or do you always have to get new ones? Yes, there is something exciting about used books. I've even found some with dedications in the front pages.

10. Do you write your own stories, poems, etc? Yes. In the past I wrote more poetry, but now I've started a novel.

11. If you had to transform into a character from any book, which character would you become? Can I just be Lizzie Bennet? I mean, she gets Mr. Darcy!

My questions

1. Which is your most anticipated book?

2. Do you read graphic novels? Which is your favourite one?

3. Which was your favourite book so far this year?

4. Do you like winter?

5. How would you like to spent the Halloween?

6. Who are your top 3 authors?

7. Is there a series that you would like to be continued, although it doesn't?

8. How do you choose which book to read next?

9. Would you buy a book because it has a beautiful cover?

10. Do you prefer detailed descriptions or witty dialogues in a novel?

11. Which book would you recommend?