Strange Stories, Part Two

    Ready for some more horror tales? Try these on for size.

    Ash is written by James Herbert. Visiting a secluded stately home that country locals believe to be haunted, paranormal investigator David Ash looks into stories about strange occurrences and makes a shocking discovery beyond anything he has ever encountered.

    Breed is written by Chase Novak. A couple obsessed with their infertility travels to Slovenia to have an unusual and painful procedure that results in horrible consequences they manage to hide until their twins, Adam and Alice, turn ten years old and start asking questions.

    Abandon: a Novel is written by Blake Crouch. Hiring back-country guides, a psychic, and a paranormal photographer to aid their investigation into the bizarre and abrupt disappearances of every citizen from a gold-mining town over a century earlier, a history professor and his journalist daughter embark on the journey aware that the last team that attempted to solve the mystery was never heard from again.

    77 Shadow Street is written by Dean Koontz. Once the center of madness, suicide, mass murder, and whispers of things far worse, the 1800s Gilded Age palace known as the Pendleton, has been re-christened in the 1970s as a luxury apartment building. But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, and elevators plunge into unknown depths.

    American Gods is written by Neil Gaiman. Just released from prison, Shadow encounters Mr. Wednesday, an enigmatic stranger who seems to know a lot about him, and when Mr. Wednesday offers him a job as his bodyguard, Shadow accepts and is plunged into a dark and perilous world.

Strange Stories

    Just in time for the Halloween season, here are some spooky novels selected by Monika for your reading pleasure.

    Soul Trapper: a Novel is written by F.J. Lennon, Rising to legendary underground status as a ghost-hunter in spite of a lack of motivation, Hollywood native Kane Pryce uses a supernaturally charged object to dispatch lost souls, falls in love with a nosy reporter and becomes entangled in the problems of two ghosts.

    Alien Hunter is written by Whitley Strieber. When brilliant police detective Flynn Carroll’s young wife vanishes inexplicably in the middle of the night, his obsessive investigation reveals a string of similar disappearances and draws the attention of secret police Special Agent Diana Glass, whose team invites Carroll into their world of extraordinary challenges and lethal dangers.

    The Darkling is written by R.B. Chesterton. Working for a wealthy family in a 1940’s Alabama community that once provided a secret haven for hideaway movie stars, live-in tutor Mimi attempts to schedule a curriculum for her employer’s new ward, a troubled orphan teen with no memory of her past who harbors a savvy and malicious nature.

    The Temporal Void is written by Peter F. Hamilton. At the center of the galaxy is the Dreaming Void, an artificial black hole that may hold paradise within its walls. When a human named Inigo begins dreaming of what lies within the Void, the word spreads, triggering a religious pilgrimage into the Void and possibly a catastrophic expansion that threatens the peace of the Commonwealth Universe.

    World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War is written by Max Brooks. An account of the decade-long conflict between humankind and hordes of the predatory undead is told from the perspective of dozens of survivors who describe in their own words the epic human battle for survival.

October Birthdays

    Celebrate October by reading up on the lives of celebrities who have birthdays this month.

October 1st: Former President Jimmy Carter:
  1.Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: the Georgia Years, 1924-1974; written by E. Stanly Godbold, a professor of history, it examines the lives of both Carters prior to his election to the presidency
  2.White House Diary; written by the former president, it is an edited and annotated version of the diary he kept during his White House years

October 1st: Singer, actress and author Julie Andrews
  1.Home: a Memoir of My Early Years; written by Andrews and covering her life between birth and Walt Disney’s discovery of her in 1962
  2.Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies; a collection selected by Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton

October 2nd: Musician Sting
  1.Sting, Back on the Beat: a Biography; written by Christopher Sanford, a rock music critic, it traces Sting’s career from a schoolteacher, to his work with The Police, to his successes as a solo artist

October 16th: Actress and author Suzanne Somers
  1.I’m Too Young for this!: the Natural Hormone Solution to Enjoy Perimenopause; written by this talk show host and natural health writer; this is her twenty-fourth book

October 26th: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
  1.Living History, written by Clinton herself about her years in politics, first as a partner in her husband’s career and then as a senator from New York
  2.Bill and Hillary: the Politics of the Personal, details the political partnership and personal relationship of the Clintons

Music Icons that Baby Boomers Will Remember

    Here is a selection of books about several of yesteryear’s music idols that all self-respecting members of the over-fifty generation can identify. They are all available at our library.

    The Bee Gees: the Biography, written by David N. Meyer, is a comprehensive life story about the four Gibb brothers – Maurice, Robin, Barry and Andy, who sold 250 million records over a forty year-career. It includes detailed information about their poverty-ridden childhoods, their musical successes beginning in the 1960s, their interactions with other music personalities, their battles with one another, and their drug addictions. A small selection of black-and-white photos is included in the book.

    Days that I’ll Remember: Spending Time with John Lennon and Yoko Ono is written by Jonathan Cott, who first got to know John and Yoko when he interviewed them when he was the London correspondent for Rolling Stone magazine. This expanded from a professional relationship to one of friendship. Cott is able to provide personal details about the couple as well as his own recollections of the era’s music, politics and culture. A few black-and-white photos are scattered among the text.

    I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon, is written by Toure, a journalist and television personality. Toure uses interviews with Prince’s band members, former girlfriends and music scholars to describe Prince’s unique brand of music based on his perceptions of God and religion.

    Led Zeppelin: the Oral History of the World’s Greatest Rock Band is written by Barney Hoskyns, a prolific music writer whose interviews with some of rock’s most famous musicians, record company executives and recording engineers provide insight into the band’s twelve-year duration. Several black-and-white photos are interspersed throughout the book, along with a small section of color photos.

    Rocks Off: 50 Tracks that tell the Story of the Rolling Stones, written by Bill Janovitz, who himself is a musician as well as a Rolling Stones aficionado. Janovitz’s technique is to use fifty of the Stones songs to relate aspects of their music and their personal lives, over the course of their fifty-year career.

W is for Wasted

    As she nears the end of the alphabet, author Sue Grafton continues to add layers to the character of Kinsey Millhone, accentuating the depths of her personality. Yet again, Kinsey investigates the untimely deaths of others and resolves the mysteries surrounding them. The two deaths in this book are those of a homeless man, R.T. Dace, who perhaps died of natural causes, and Pete Wolinsky, a private investigator with less than sterling ethics who was thought to have been shot as a victim of a robbery.

    Kinsey discovers that Dace is a cousin from her father’s side of the family; Dace, estranged from his children has left an inheritance to Kinsey instead. Mayhem results when the Dace children discover this. Kinsey also becomes involved with Dace’s three homeless friends.

    Meanwhile, Robert Dietz, Kinsey’s former boyfriend who also is a P.I., shows up in town. He has been bilked out of payment for a job done in Reno for Pete Wolinsky. Dietz and Kinsey investigate and discover that Wolinsky was murdered. Thoughtful examination of the clues, skillful interviewing and a lot of activity result in the discovery of a link between the two deaths and the capture of a murderer. The adventure with Kinsey is as enjoyable as ever.

September is National Coupon Month

     Save lots of money this month and all year long when you read these books and use their advice.

     Extreme Couponing: Learn how to be a Savvy Shopper and Save Money... One Coupon at a Time, is written by Joni Meyer-Crothers, one of the stars of the hit TLC television series by the same name. Couponing is a skill that is useful for those people who are well-off financially as well as those struggling to survive. Techniques such as collecting as many coupons as you can, learning the coupon lingo, using a blog to do price matching, and stockpiling your purchases give the reader a shopper’s edge.

     The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, is written by Stephanie Nelson, the founder of CouponMom.com, Nelson recommends planning menus and shopping lists before going out shopping, studying prices and their trends, and surfing the Internet for deals. She discusses whether it’s always better to shop the super centers and wholesale clubs, saving on non-grocery items, deals at the drugstore, and more. Appendices lead the reader to sites to access coupons.

    Savvy Savings: Couponing Secrets from the Stockpiling Moms, is written by Melissa Jennings and Shelley King, who blog at StockpilingMoms.com. They also give tips on stockpiling, coupon strategies, and menu planning; the authors recommend living the frugal life.

    Supershop Like the Coupon Queen: How to Save 50% or More Every Time You Shop is written by Susan Samtur. She presents her Five-Step Supershopping System, which uses such techniques as rewards programs, store cards, using coupons and refunds from websites, and more.

    Pick another Checkout Lane, Honey: Save Big Money and Make the Grocery Aisle your Catwalk!, written by Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler offers all there is to know about coupons and how to use them. Topics include how to obtain them, file them, stockpiling, finding the best time to use them, store policies on their use and learning the lingo.

Lost Girls: an Unsolved American Mystery

    A true crime story with a local link; author Robert Kolker writes of the recently discovered prostitute murders in Oak Beach on Fire Island. Kolker goes beyond the newspaper headlines and articles to delve into the backgrounds of five of the victims; all prostitutes who eschewed working with pimps in favor of independently marketing themselves on Craig’s List. Shannan Gilbert, the first woman to be searched for when she went missing was the reason that the other bodies were discovered; but she was the last to be found and may have accidentally drowned in a marsh while trying to escape. The other four women able to be identified came to metropolitan New York City from other parts of the East Coast to earn their livings. Kolker examines each in turn – Maureen, Melissa, Megan, Amber and Shannan. Each had family members and friends that cared about them. Each had limited education and family history of psychological ills that affected their ability to successfully launch themselves into mainstream American society.

    Kolker also examines the Oak Beach community and the tendency of its residents to keep to themselves. Several of the residents suspect one another of the murders and share their theories with the author. Even the Suffolk County Police Department alters their theories of who the murderer or murderers are. The murders still are not resolved; the reader is left to guess who is responsible and to be amazed at the depth of this tragedy.