Bookie Brunch: Trick or Treat! – My Top Five Favourite Paranormal TV Shows

Welcome to Bookie Brunch: Trick or Treat!

On each blog stop from now through Halloween, a blogger or vlogger will have a handpicked Halloween treat to share with you - it might be a video clip, or a feature about great spooky films, a playlist of great, creepy songs, a recipe for treats, or a gallery of witches.

It might be anything! But it's sure to be something fun, so feel free to drop by each day from October 23-31, to pick up some cute treats to put you in the Halloween mood. All the treats will be added into the linky at the end of this post, so feel free to browse.

My treat for you is:
My Top Five Favourite Paranormal TV Shows

As many of you may already know, or at least suspect, I love reading and watching about all things paranormal, so here is a Halloween-appropriate list of five TV shows I was (or still am) addicted to at some part over the last decade and a half (listed in order of airing):

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
   I was in high school, so about the same age as the main characters, when it first aired and this series was one of the first things that made me fall in love with paranormal genre, so it will always have a special place in my heart.
   
2. Charmed
   Three witch sisters, ghosts, demons, and angels were something I just couldn't miss.
   
3. Angel
   Naturally, I equally loved this Buffy spin-off, though I still haven't seen the last two seasons. But I'm planning to have a re-watch of both series some day and then finally catch up.
   
4. Supernatural
   Although I saw some episodes at its beginning, I actually only got fully caught up and addicted to it this spring. There's every monster and other paranormal entity you can imagine (and those you can't), together with an abundance of mythology, so it just doesn't get more supernatural than Supernatural.
   
5. The Vampire Diaries
   And so much more than just vampire diaries. I'm pretty sure I've already raved about TVD on this blog and elsewhere quite enough, so I'm just going to shut up. Do I need to say I love it?

Photo credit: CW, edits found here and here.

Have you watched any of the shows or read the mentioned books? If so, what did you think of them?

Also, if there is any other paranormal show/book/ book series you enjoy, please let me know, I'm always looking for recommendations in this area.

Feel welcome to express your thoughts in the comments!

About Bookie Brunch: Trick or Treat!: The first blog hop was a Bookie Brunch special event for Halloween, and it was a lot of fun, so we're just continuing the tradition. Bookie Brunch was a weekly book discussion founded by Sasha Soren, the author of Random Magic. Browse archive.

Video Week: 'Random Magic' by Sasha Soren

Also this month - drop by for Video Week: Random Magic, from Oct. 21-30, featuring an entertaining week of cool reviews and creative features from vloggers around the world. They're featuring the book Random Magic by Sasha Soren. Visit the YouTube page for the schedule in infobox.

If I had to choose a Random Magic character for Halloween, I would definitely be Winnie, because she's brave and resourceful and never gives up, no matter how tough the situation is. Also, what better costume than a quirky doodle witch can you imagine?

 

Credit: Photo found here.

Find Random Magic Print | Kindle

If you stopped by for Halloween, here's what you'd find in your treats bag:

Credit: Photo found here.

Roasted chestnuts may seem boring but this is the delicacy that makes me look forward to autumn every year. Yum!

Bookie Brunch Trick or Treat Blog Hop: Ghost Books

Welcome to Bookie Brunch: Trick or Treat 

Bookie Brunch is a weekly book chat for book lovers. A new Bookie Brunch posts every Sunday, and you're welcome to join any ongoing discussion whenever you like.

In the meantime, let's have some treats for Halloween. Just click on the badges at the end of the post, for a new treat!

Here's a treat from me at Beyond Strange New Words:

Want to be scared? Meet a ghost or two in:

My Top Five Ghost Books

(in random order, click the images to view summaries and/or my reviews)

Beloved by Toni Morrison: Slavery and a baby ghost haunting the mother – true horror.

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole: A castle haunted by a giant knight ghost-in-armour…uh-oh!

        

In the Garden (Blue Dalia, Black Rose, Red Lily) trilogy by Nora Roberts: Nothing compares to a wrath of a ghost of an ill-treated mistress who can possess people at will.

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse: The Pyrenean Mountains, the spirits of the wronged people seeking a way to reveal their tragedy – a sad and beautiful story.

Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach: A ghost who isn’t a ghost and not-a-ghost who might be a ghost, and then there is a real ghost. Confusing? Go read the book, it all makes sense.

Actually, go read all these books. They are amazing. What about you? Do you have a favourite ghost book? Feel free to let me know about it in the comments.

Bookie Brunch
*Every Sunday* Founder: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)

 See all discussions HERE.

My favorite Halloween candy/or treat is
?

because we don't have a tradition of celebrating Halloween where I live, but I imagine these would taste yummy:

  
  

What's yours? Tell us!

 Feel free to leave a comment if you like, to share your fave Halloween treat or some other cool link for Halloween. Thanks for dropping by, and...

Happy Halloween!

Bookie Brunch: Fantasy vs. Realism

Welcome to Bookie Brunch!
Founder: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)

Come join the discussion!

*Every Sunday*

Today’s host: Beyond Strange New Words (@StrangeNewWords)

Next week’s host: Story Wings (@StoryWings)

This week’s discussion is open through: July 31 - August 3

Your host this week:

Pepca at Beyond Strange New Words (@StrangeNewWords)

Her guests this week:

Christina at The Book Addict (@Christina_622)

Jodie at Books for Company (@BooksForCompany)

Sarah at Sarah Says Read (@SarahSaysRead)

Lorren at The Story Girl (Twitter: N/A)

The question under discussion: 

(suggested by your host)

People often tackle the issue of characters or plot being unrealistic or not possible in real life. Are you on
the-book-must-be-believable/realistic side or not? Why or why not?

Related topics to consider:

Do you prefer books with fantasy elements or books which stick to the world we know? Do you think it is important that contemporary literature remains true to life or do you welcome deviations from what would normally happen?

***

Christina, having Tazo passion tea lemonade, says:

***

Jodie, taking a sip of banana milkshake, says:

This is a tough question because l think it depends on a few things :

1 - My Mood : Sometimes l could literally read anything and it can be quite unrealistic but l still love it and other times any little thing which doesn't seem real can put me off a book. For example, l recently read The Iron King which l enjoyed but l did feel if l would have read it at the wrong time l probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much or at all. It totally depends!

2 - How It's Written - I think if the unrealistic side of the book is put across with realistic things then the parts which are unrealistic can become more realistic. For example if the plot of the book is very 'far fetched' but has strong characters alongside then plot then the characters can make everything feel much more real.

3 - A Mix - This kinda goes alongside the 'My Mood' category. I like both fantasy and also 'down to earth' books and if l read too much of one then l kinda get bored and fed up of it. I like to mainly read books which have a little bit of fantasy mixed with normal YA but sometimes l can read books where you really have to open up your mind to believe what your reading but l have to be in the right mood for this and not have read too many books like this recently. 

Overall l enjoy both sort of books and wouldn't be without them. The world would be rather boring if everything was like how it is now with nothing new from what we know. I like to be able to be taken into a new world where the author has used their imagination. But like l said, l like to limit myself to these sort of books and also read 'normal' books.

***

Sarah, sipping on a caramel iced cappuccino and enjoying a glazed donut with chocolate icing, says:

I don't think necessarily that books or plots need to be realistic. I love fantasy, sci-fi, and anything with a magical (or paranormal) twist to it. I can accept pretty much anything that happens along those lines because it's instantly explained by "Hey, it's magic." (Although trying to convince people that vampires sparkle is stretching it a little, but who am I to argue with an author's imagination?)

I DO think that characters need to be realistic. There are some books that I've heard such great things about, but I just find the main character to fake to concentrate. Besides the characters needing to be realistic, they need to behave realistically. I can totally accept magical happenings, paranormal creatures, and anything along those fantasy lines. I cannot accept when characters make decisions that I don't think are believable or realistic. A well-fleshed out character has a distinct personality about them - we as readers come to feel that we know a well-written character pretty well. So when they do something that seems to go completely against their nature and is in conflict with what we already know about them, it bugs me. Big time.

All that being said, I completely embrace the fantasy genre, and I welcome deviations from the "real world". It's interesting, imaginative, and there's SO much to explore and create once you've put magic into the equation. Anything can happen, and that's really exciting. Plus, I see a lot of the real world every day - we see it every time we take a walk, watch the news, go to work or school. I think that fantasy lets us imagine things differently - it gets our creative juices flowing, opens our minds to other possibilities, and allows us to escape the real world for a little while.

***

Lorren, taking a sip of double-strength herbal peach iced tea with a tiny bit of sugar, says:

I think for me, the importance of believability depends on which part of the story we are talking about. I love magical realism, where we are dealing with our present-day world but things behave in a magical or whimsical way. I love a hint of fantasy in a contemporary book. I also have always enjoyed fantasy and science fiction, although I read much less of it than I did in high school. However, if the characters are behaving in a way that is unrealistic, I am bothered, whether it occurs in a more realistic book or a fantasy book. I'm not talking about irrational behavior or quirkiness in a character - I think that might be much more true to life than a "normal" character. What bothers me is when characters don't act human (unless, of course, they aren't human, which is a completely different set of rules) or when events play out in a way that makes the story seem fake. I think this can happen in "realistic" or "fantasy" fiction.

***

Your host, Pepca, sipping sweet green tea with a splash of milk, says:

I am annoyed when someone complains that they do not like a book because it is not realistic. People, it is called fiction. It is supposed to differ from real life. I have enough reality around me all the time. I read to escape the reality for a while. Therefore, I like new and unexpected things in books. Fantasy and paranormal fiction is among my favourite genres. I am totally for the unrealistic side.

That being said, I do think a book must be believable within its own paradigm. Its setting, plot and characters have to be consistent with one another. The characters and the plot have to correspond to the rules by which the world set in a particular book operates. If trolls turn to stone in the sunlight, then there cannot be any trolls walking around during the day, right? Right.

The same goes for contemporary fiction. I like it when things turn out differently than expected, but they have to be likely to happen. I do not like too farfetched circumstances, such as a poor girl exploited as a mafia prostitute getting away with loads of dirty money, killing a few mobsters, and living happily every after. This kind of outcome is not much plausible. Such impossible contradictions to reality are not to my liking.

On the whole, I enjoy novelties and surprises and discovering new worlds entwined with fantasy and paranormal, provided that they function accordingly to their concept.

***

You’re invited! Visitors: Please share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section, so they can be included in the discussion. This is an active discussion through Wednesday, so feel free to stop by again later on.

About Bookie Brunch

Bookie Brunch is a weekly meet-up, held every Sunday, where book bloggers can have a cup of tea and chat about a particular bookie question of interest. The discussion is open from Sunday through Wednesday, and you’re welcome to drop by any time to add your opinion or read what other people have to say. This discussion is open as well to general readers or bloggers in a different field, authors, publishers and publicists.

Courtesy guidelines: Thank you for coming! All thoughtful comments will be considered and probably get a response from fellow bloggers. In fact, you’re encouraged to talk about it and share viewpoints or include links to relevant materials. We’d like everyone to have a nice time. Differing viewpoints are just fine, even if strongly expressed, but inflammatory or off-topic comments will be removed.

Find Bookie Brunch

This week (Today): Beyond Strange New Words (@StrangeNewWords

Next week (Upcoming Sunday): Story Wings (@StoryWings)

Contact Bookie Brunch

If you’d like to be a host/guest for an upcoming brunch: @StoryWings

If you’d like to bring goodies for a giveaway: @StoryWings

If you’d like to suggest a question: @LiederMadchen
If you’d like to browse all Bookie Brunch discussions (Archive): The Fluidity of Time

What do you think? Please feel free to join the discussion on this week’s question by commenting below.

Coming Soon! Bookie Brunch

Coming soon: Bookie Brunch 
Founder: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)
Come join the discussion! 
* Every Sunday*

Is there anything better than getting together with your friends and discussing something you are all passionate about? Maybe, but not much. So, let’s get together on Sunday over Bookie Brunch and talk authors, characters, stories, genres, and everything else related to what we love – books, books, books.

What’s Bookie Brunch all about?: Bookie Brunch is a weekly

meet-up, held every Sunday, where book bloggers can have a cup of tea

and chat about a particular bookie question of interest.

The discussion is open from Sunday through Wednesday, and you’re

welcome to drop by any time to add your opinion or read what other

people have to say.

This discussion is open as well to general readers or bloggers in a

different field, authors, publishers and publicists.

Courtesy guidelines: All thoughtful comments will be considered

and probably get a response from fellow bloggers. In fact, you’re

encouraged to talk about it and share viewpoints or include links to

relevant materials. We’d like everyone to have a nice time. Differing

viewpoints are just fine, even if strongly expressed, but inflammatory

or off-topic comments will be removed.

Contact Bookie Brunch

Be a guest at an upcoming brunch: @StoryWings 

Bring goodies for a giveaway: @StoryWings 

Suggest a question: @LiederMadchen

Browse Bookie Brunch discussions (after July 2011, archive):
The Fluidity of Time

Find Bookie Brunch

You’re invited! Feel free to join us every Sunday for great

company, fun discussions, and occasional goodie giveaways. Some upcoming dates are listed below, it’ll be great to see you there.
Calling all bookies - grab a seat and let’s talk books.

Upcoming Bookie Brunches in July 2011:

We’ll be talking about e-readers vs. print editions, fantasy vs.

realism in books, characters vs. plot, and lots of other cool and

bookish questions.

Sunday, July 10

Host: Songs and Stories (@LiederMadchen)

Sunday, July 17

Host: Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf (@MoonlightGleams)

Sunday, July 24

Host: This Miss Loves To Read (@MissIrenne)

Sunday, July 31

Host: Beyond Strange New Words (@StrangeNewWords) 

More Bookie Brunches: Every Sunday, July 2011 through December 2011:

Upcoming dates on the schedule.

Would you like to be a guest on an upcoming brunch, bring a giveaway,

or send a question? Feel free! Please leave your info below, and then

contact the Bookie Bruncher who can help get you set up:

Contact Bookie Brunch

Be a guest at an upcoming brunch: @StoryWings 

Bring goodies for a giveaway: @StoryWings 

Suggest a question: @LiederMadchen 

The first Bookie Brunch is open for a delicious discussion on July 10, at Songs and Stories . 

I’m going to be a host at an upcoming Bookie Brunch on July 31, feel free to drop by. See you there!