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With Canada Day coming up on July 1st, I’d like to say a few words of thanks to important Canadian icons. These Canadians make me proud to be a Canadian myself – in the quirkiest of ways.

If you’re tired of reading black ink on a white page, or black pixels on a white screen, take a break and watch one of Quirk’s recommended movies for book lovers. We all need a break sometimes, but a break doesn’t mean you have to abandon your precious books.

DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989): A film for those who appreciate the power of poetry. An inspirational movie about one man’s attempt to teach his students about the value of literature. Make sure some tissue is nearby.

MATILDA (1996): A film for library fanatics. Our protagonist, Matilda, escapes her troublesome life at home by exploring the world of books through her local library. It is this passion for stories that gives Matilda the courage to stand up to those who don’t treat her (or her school teacher) with the respect and care that she deserves.

SECRET WINDOW (2004): A film for the horror fan. The protagonist, played by Johnny Depp, goes into a spiral of insanity when his written stories become a little too life-like. A creepy thriller about one of the scariest of topics: writing a novel.

CAPOTE (2005): A film for the true crime connoisseur. Truman Capote’s research about a Kansas murder is given new life in this movie adaptation. The writer gets a little too involved with his work, developing an odd friendship with one the killers who is meant to be a character in his book.

MISS POTTER (2006): A film for lovers of children’s literature. This movie tells the behind-the-scenes story of Miss Potter’s struggle to have her book published in an industry largely dominated by men.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011): A film for fans of the modernist writers. The main character, played by Owen Wilson, travels back in time to hang out with the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein during the glorious time in the 1920s when expatriate American writers inhabited Paris.

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Maria Vicente is a literary agent intern living in Ottawa, Canada. She likes coffee, books, snail mail, and magic. You can find her on Twitter (@MsMariaVicente) or check out her website (mariavicente.com)

This weekend, the long-awaited Fast and Furious 6 finally hits the screen. Fans of the franchise can expect plenty of fast-paced action, car chases, explosions, and perhaps a resolution of the sexual tension between Dominic Toretto and Luke Hobbs.

But did you know that this sequel is based on a popular children's book?

To get you pumped for an awesome, pulse-pounding 130 minutes of pure excitement, here are some samples from The Fast and Furious 6 Children's Story and Adventure Book. Because all roads lead to this! (They really don't).

Forget flash cards for a minute–learning words can actually be fun. See, the great thing about the English language is just how flexible, fanciful, adaptable, and extendable it is. Individual words evolve with use, kind of like Pokémon. The entirety of vocabulary gets bigger when it needs to, kind of like a Pokémon deck with an expansion pack. And when writers can’t quite capture the correct word in the wild, they concoct one with syllables from other, older words…kind of like how Pokémon scientists built Mewtwo.

Seriously, and video-game metaphors aside, new words (or neologisms, for those without an Orwellian avoidance of all things non Anglo-Saxon) are a whole bunch of fun (kind of like…never mind). Here’s a few choice coinages from literature and beyond to embiggen your vocabulary.

While watching the Oscars, even other writers take a bathroom break when the winners for Best Screenplay give their speeches. You don’t watch the Oscars to see unfamiliar faces thank their spouses and children and mothers and God, it’s all about the celebrities. But what’s interesting, is just how important writers – and books – are to the Academy.

As a writer, it’s always interesting to see how Hollywood portrays our kind.  I still haven’t seen a movie that shows a writer in her pajamas at three in the afternoon with a sink full of dirty dishes, but there’s hope.

Where do all of these fictional writers get such excellent outfits?

Unforgivable (now playing – limited release) This film, originally released in Belgium last summer, tells the story of a crime writer who moves to an island in Venice.  In a cinematic meet-cute, the writer falls in love with his real estate agent and agrees to purchase this writing oasis on one condition: that she also moves in.

The romance takes a dark turn when the author hires someone to follow his new wife, but doesn’t he look great in that flannel?

Lila, Lila (now playing – limited release) Released in Germany in 2009, this romantic comedy focuses on an unassuming waiter named David who falls for Marie — who claims to fall for writers.  David is defeated, until he purchases a secondhand end-table at a flea market and finds a manuscript hidden in its drawer.  Passing off the novel as his own, David woos Marie and the two fall in love.  But complications arise when Marie secretly submits the manuscript to a publisher and David unknowingly becomes a best-selling author.

Could someone please tell me where these people are who fall for writers?  And grab me one of those excellent suit jackets while you’re at it.