Books

If there’s one thing that gets me in the mood for Halloween, it’s a good ghost story. Nothing is really as creepy or as spooky as hearing about some haunt or another.

So what do you do when there isn’t a campfire accompanied with darkness and faces being lit up with a flashlight? You read one yourself! There are loads of great Halloween reads, some of them specifically about the holiday, and others that have given way to many of today’s pop culture ideas about Halloween, like Frankenstein.Read More »

E.L. James’ hit 50 Shades of Grey series may be fictional, but it features some real locations and brands that are benefitting from the free advertisement. Actual locations in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, as well as some brands preferred by the main characters, are not only enjoying an increase in business, they’re trying to capitalizing on it.Read More »

Fifty Shades of Grey fever is undeniably sweeping the nation right now. The erotic novel (so-called “mommy porn”) is breaking e-reader records while turning on women everywhere with spanking and light bondage. It seemed to me like this book just popped up overnight and became insanely popular, but the novel actually debuted over a year ago.

So here’s the lowdown on how this phenomenon has evolved:Read More »

Once considered taboo, romance and erotica books have exploded in popularity recently. Steamy novels are nothing new, so why have they become so popular now? Is 50 Shades of Grey so different from the rest of the romance and erotica genres that it has seduced readers everywhere? There may be more to it than the theories about lonely housewives fulfilling their needs through the printed word, it may have more to do with the anonymity that technology provides.Read More »