Books make for excellent props, don’t you think? It’s highly advised you have some kind of element you can interact with whenever you’re doing a photoshoot as it highly affects the outcome: photos turn out more natural and it goes without saying makes posing more comfortable for the model, especially if it’s YOU behind the lens. I always find myself reaching for a book every time I don’t know what to use in my shoots.
I have told you before that books have always been a huge part of my life. I think I told you, a while ago, that it was my grandmother who got my into the habit of reading. I have memories of her sitting by the bed, reading beautifully illustrated books. Curiously, I remember very vividly a book I had of Hansel & Gretel’s story, to the point I can even recall what its pages smelled like!
(It goes without saying that I’ll be looking for that book as soon as I finish this post).
As a teenager, it was the Harry Potter saga the one that brought me back to reading with eagerness. I remember my mother buying them for me and trying (in vain) for the book to go on for longer than 3 days because that was my usual reading pace back then for 300~500 pages book. I was obsessed with reading! Around that time I also read Twilight and other standalone books here and there, and it’s during this lockdown in particular that I’ve started getting exposed to those old books again. I recently finished (re)reading the first book of the “Spooksville” saga: The Secret Path. Imagine my delight when I found out the saga has 24 books! I’m in shock!!!
The first book of Spooksville tells the story of Adam, who moves into the small town of Springville, although all the children (including some adults) insist on calling it “Spooksville”, given all the strange events that occur at all times of the day. There Adam meets Sally and Watch, two friends that will tag along in the scary adventure of finding The Secret Path, an alleged door to another world, another dimension.
The story is short and sweet. The book only has 144 pages and I easily read it in a day. Even though it’s easy to read, I felt attracted by the book (twice in my life) because the story has a great original twist to the variety of horror and witches, even though it’s a highly explored genre in YA books. It captures your attention chapter by chapter, growing you anxious in parts where you know something’s going to happen but you don’t know exactly WHEN. It’s even a little scary — I remember, as a teen, imagining it all happened on the street of my mother’s house, which gave the story a touch of realism for me.
I needed these type of books to get me out of the “reading slump” lockdown had put me into. Now I can’t wait to read more books of this saga!
