Turn off the TV and Read: Salem

Salem, which is picked up by WGN America, is set in Massachusetts in the 17th Century. The show will revolve around the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts and will be full of supernatural (they’re not fake witches of history but witch witches), romance, and action. The show premieres tonight and I’m hoping it turns out well.

Turn off the TV and Read: Almost Human

Tonight is the season possibly series finale of Amost Human, a police procedural set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with androids.

The year is 2048. Meet Detective John Kennex, a cop who survived one of the most catastrophic attacks ever made against the police department. After waking up from a 17-month coma, he can’t remember much — except that his partner was killed, he lost one of his legs and he is now outfitted with a highly sophisticated synthetic appendage.

By mandate, every cop must partner with a robot. And despite his passionate aversion to androids, John is paired up with Dorian, a discontinued android with unexpected emotional responses. Although such responses were deemed flaws, it is in these "flaws" that John relates to Dorian most. After all, John is part-machine now, and Dorian is part-human. John and Dorian’s understanding of each other not only complements them, it connects them. (from tvrage)

Turn off the TV and Read: Helix

Helix is a new intense thriller on the SyFy channel about a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to a high-tech research facility in the Arctic to investigate a possible disease outbreak, only to find themselves pulled into a terrifying life-and-death struggle that holds the key to mankind's salvation...or total annihilation (from tv.com).

I put together a few books that I found that have similar scenes of scientists going too far, viral outbreaks and people going a bit crazy as a result.

Turn of the TV and Read: Sleepy Hollow

Like Cori mentioned in her post on Top 5 Supernatural TV shows, Sleepy Hollow has been a new favorite of mine and was the first show that came to mind for getting back to doing this feature.

Sleepy Hollow takes its name and some mythology from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by John Irving into a modern setting where the Headless Horseman who turns out to be Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse returns along with Ichabod Crane. Ichabod, unfamiliar with his new time, teams up with Lieutenant Abbie Mills to track down the Horseman, who has been resurrected by a cult of evil witches... and they have summoned other evils as well to unleash the Apocalypse. Ichabod is guided in his quest by his wife Katrina, a member of a cult of good witches. Katrina is trapped in limbo by a demon who is orchestrating everything that happens in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow brings in elements of gothic mystery, fantasy, and the race to save the world that so many books have as well.

Turn Off the TV and Read: Continuum

Continuum follows Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols), a Vancouver City Protective Services officer, as she is transported from the year 2077 to 2012 when eight ruthless terrorists, known as Liber8, attempt to escape execution through time travel. With the help of 17 year old tech genius Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen) and VPD officer Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster), Kiera must survive in our time period, and capture Liber8 before they can alter the course of history and change the future.

This show is a great little sci-fi gem if you haven’t checked it out now is the time to start and because it deals with time travel there are lots of great books that have similarities.

Turn off the TV and Read: Orphan Black

Orphan Black is a sci-fi series that centers around Sarah, a grifter, who witnesses the suicide of a woman that looks just like her. She picks up the woman's handbag and runs. Instead of solving the mystery of how they can look the same, she is confronted with more mysteries. Taking on the woman's identity she discovers they are clones and that there are more of them out there, living in a wide range of circumstances. As Sarah tries to find out what is going on and who is responsible for it, someone starts picking them off one by one. In a race to find the reason for it all before the killer can get to her, Sarah doesn't know who to trust.

Orphan Black recently received a season two pick-up (YAY) and is a fantastic show especially the acting of Tatiana Maslany as she takes on all the different roles of the clones.

Turn off the TV and Read: Bomb Girls

Bomb Girls explores the lives of four Canadian women working at a munitions factory in Toronto during World War II. The series stars Meg Tilly, Jodi Balfour, Ali Liebert, and Charlotte Hegele. (x)

Turn off the TV and Read: Nashville

Connie Britton stars as aging country star Rayna James as she embarks on a tour with up coming starlet Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere). Things heat up as Juliette tries to take Rayna's place at the top of the country music charts. (x) If you like the show, then some of these books might be working checking out.

Turn off the TV and Read: My Mad Fat Diary

Set in Lincolnshire in 1996, My Mad Fat Diary follows the story of 16 year old, 16 stone Rae, who has just left a psychiatric hospital, where she has spent four months. She begins to reconnect with her best friend, Chloe, who is unaware of Rae's mental health and body image problems, believing she was in Paris for the past four months. Rae attempts to keep this information from her while also trying to impress Chloe's friends Izzy, Archie, Chop and Finn. (x)

Turn off the TV and Read: Alias

Summary from tv.com: Sydney Bristow was recruited as an undergrad to work for SD-6, which she thought was a government agency. However, when her fianc is killed by SD-6 agents, she finds out that SD-6 is actually a counter-government agency. Sydney approaches the CIA and becomes a double agent, which means that she goes on SD-6 missions, but passes the information about her missions to her CIA handler, Vaughn. Sydney's father, Jack Bristow, is also an double agent. Both had a distant relationship for years, but their present situation brings them closer together. Sydney and her father spend the first season trying to foil SD-6's missions and preventing them from getting their hands on what they are determined to get. For years SD-6 has fought against FTL and K-Directorate, two crime organizations that are also in the pursue of various artifacts build by the 15th century scientist and prophet, Milo Rambaldi. However, when a new player referred to as "The Man" comes to town, FTL and K-Directorate are put out of business and SD-6 engages in the pursue of this new mysterious opponent. After eliminating SD-6 and all of the other SD cells, Sydney, Marshall, Dixon, Jack, and Vaughn are now fully working for the CIA.

Turn off the TV and Read: Fringe

This friday is the two-hour finale of Fringe (someone hold me) so a good excuse to use it as this weeks TotTaR try typing that five times fast. Fringe follows the exploits of FBI agent Olivia Dunham, jack-of-all-trades Peter Bishop and institutionalized scientist Dr. Walter Bishop as they work the cases of the Fringe Division, a task force focused on fringe science and paranormal events. They face a rapidly spreading series of unexplained phenomena of the threatening kind, leading to unimaginable discoveries and events.

As a disclaimer some of the books listed relate to things that happen in later seasons, so might be seen as potential spoilers for the show.

Turn off the TV and Read: Downton Abbey

Since the third series is coming to America tonight I thought now would be a good time to recommend some books. Downton Abbey begins in the years leading up to World War I, the drama centers on the Crawley family and their servants. 

Turn off the TV and Read: Dexter

This crime thriller follows Dexter Morgan. Dexter is a forensic blood spatter expert for the Miami Dade Police Department. He is the main support for his sister. He has a steady girlfriend, with two kids who adore him. He also has an active "night life". Based on a code instilled in him by his foster father, Harry, he hunts down people who have escaped justice and makes sure they don't get away with a crime again. (x)

Turn off the TV and Read: Merlin

This BBC series shows the dramatic outcomes of living in a land of myth and a time of magic, putting a new spin on the story of the famous sorcerer Merlin. Set in the Kingdom of Camelot, the story follows young Merlin's dangerous journey as he, a young prince Arthur and other characters come face to face with legendary and fantastical foes and forces.

Turn off the TV and Read: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead, the most watched drama in basic cable history, returns for an exhilarating new season on Sun., Oct. 14 at 9/8c. In this uncertain world, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his band of survivors must not only fight the dead, but also face a whole new fear: the living. A 16 episode season, the series Entertainment Weekly called the "greatest thriller ever produced for television' will air in two parts, with the first eight hours kicking off October 14 and returning February 2013 with the final eight episodes.

In the highly anticipated new season, Rick and his fellow survivors continue to seek refuge in a desolate and post-apocalyptic world and soon discover that there are greater forces to fear than just the walking dead. The struggle to survive has never been so perilous. Season 3 also introduces new characters, including the Governor (David Morrissey) and fan-favorite Michonne (Danai Gurira), along with her zombie pets.

Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, The Walking Dead stars Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Chandler Riggs, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson, IronE Singleton, Melissa McBride, Morrissey and Gurira. The series is executive produced by showruner Glen Mazzara, Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert with Greg Nicotero, Denise Huth and Evan Reilly as co-executive producers.

Turn off the TV and Read: Stargate SG-1

This sequel to the 1994 movie Stargate chronicles the further adventures of the Stargate Command. It turned out that the Goa'uld Ra was only one of many alien System Lords who used the Stargates to conquer much of the universe. When Earth uncovers a working cartouche to decipher the coding system of Earth's stargate, they can now travel anywhere. Earth's military sends out SG teams to explore new planets, find technology, and oppose the Goa'uld. Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson from the movie are part of SG-1. They are joined by Sam Carter, a scientist, and Teal'c, a Jaffa who is convinced the Goa'uld are not gods.

Turn off the TV and Read: Teen Wolf

Teen Wolf revolves around social outcast Scott McCall, a young lacrosse-playing student at Beacon Hills High. His life drastically changes when he is bitten by a werewolf one night, making him a werewolf as well. With the help of his best friend, Stiles, his girlfriend, Allison, and the mysterious werewolf, Derek, he is forced to learn to balance his new found identity among the many dangers that it presents with his teenage life. He must keep his loved ones safe and balance the relationships and secrets he shares with each person around him. The theme of “finding your place” is a prevalent undertone that is mirrored by the pack mentality of werewolves.

Turn off the TV and Read: Supernatural

One of my favorite shows, well technically it used to be one of my favorites, is Supernatural. The show follows the path of two brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles). The Winchesters were an ordinary young family from Kansas before their mother was killed horrifically - burning up, pinned to the ceiling of Sam’s nursery by a supernatural force - when Sam was just a baby. From then, their lives changed.

Their father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), driven by vengeance, made it his mission to hunt down the demon that killed his wife, in the process raising his sons “like warriors”, to hunt down and destroy supernatural evil.

Turn of the TV and Read: Leverage

One of my favorite shows, probably my absolute favorite, is Leverage. This show centers around five people a Hitter, a Hacker, a Thief, a Grifter and a Mastermind. Initially brought together for a one off heist they find that there is a market for helping the little people so to speak that have been wronged and there is no one else to help. As time goes by they find that they're better together than they ever where alone and become a family. It's kind of a modern day Robin Hood where all the stories and heist are ones the writers have researched from real life cases.

Most episodes follow a set story structure: After meeting the client, the Leverage team researches the villains to find a weakness to exploit as part of their con. Each con, either as originally planned or as complications develop, typically requires the specialized skills of all the members of the group. Towards the end of each episode, the villains seem to get the upper hand, only to be outwitted by the Leverage team.

Turn off the TV and Read: Harper's Island

I recently rewatched Harper’s Island on netflix since it’s a very Halloween time show, so I thought why not do this for the week. Harper's island is a murder mystery show where a group of people go a secluded island for a wedding- and for death. It turns into a struggle for survival, where every episode someone is killed and every person is a suspect. At the end of the 13 episodes, all questions are answered and only a few survive. As a warning if you’re thinking of watching, RESIST THE URGE TO LOOK UP ANY SPOILERS, trust me it’s better not to.

My name is Abby Mills and I’ve come home to Harper’s Island. My best friend is getting married to the girl of his dreams but not everything about this trip is a celebration. Seven years ago I left this place after John Wakefield murdered six people. My mother was one of them. Everyone else has moved on, believes the killings are in the past… but I can’t help feel there’s more to come.