Haunting tales for Halloween

Here are some books to get you into the mood for Halloween.

Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley

If you've never read Frankenstein, you need to. This book is nothing like the movies. The story is told in layers. First is the tale of Victor Frankenstein, who is on the run from the creature he created. The next layer tells the story of young Victor and his experiments into finding what creates the spark of life. The inner story tells of the monster Victor creates. Yet the book makes you wonder who the true monster is - the man or the creation. This is a fabulous classic that I feel everyone should read at least once.



I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire
by P.N. Elrod

This book is written like a memoir. It tells the story of Baron Strahd Von Zarovich, his forbidden love, and the hard choices he makes that eventually lead to his being transformed into a vampire. This book is actually part of a series, but I feel it works well as a stand alone book very reminiscent of Dracula. I've also listened to the abridged audio, and I can definitely recommend it.


Kitty and the Midnight Hour
by Carrie Vaughn

This is the first in a series about Kitty the werewolf (she was Kitty before she was bit by a werewolf, so the name is not her fault). Kitty is a DJ for a nighttime talk show called The Midnight Hour. None of her listeners know she is a werewolf. One night she decides to ask her listeners if they believe
in paranormal beings. Then a vampire calls the show to say he does exist, and ends up asking for advise. The next thing you know, Kitty is running a radio program focused on issues in the supernatural community, and her ratings are skyrocketing.

Some people think what she is discussing is fake; others believe it is real. Unfortunately, not all of the paranormal community is happy to have their secret discussed on the radio, and they try to get her to stop - permanently.


World War Z: An Oral History Of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks

This is an amazing book that follows the global spread of a zombie virus and the eventual fight for the survival of mankind. The book is written like a non-fiction: the author's forward tells why he compiled these stories from survivors, each story is told in a different voice, terms have footnotes, etc. It is extremely gritty, eerily true to life (minus the zombies, of course), and extremely well written.

The Dresden Files

I'm a big fan of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. These urban fantasy books are set in Chicago and follow the investigations of one Harry Dresden. Think of Harry as a spell casting Sam Spade whose street informants are pixies and whose bad attitude and sarcasm gets him into lots of trouble. Harry's ad in the yellow pages reads as follows:

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.

Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.

No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment

(excerpt from chapter 1 of Storm Front at Jim-Butcher.com)

Harry is always struggling to make enough money to pay his rent. Not enough people take his ad seriously. Luckily, His steadiest form of income comes from being hired as a paid consultant for the Chicago PD. Most cops think he's a scam artist, but Karin Murphy in Special Investigations has seen enough weird stuff to realize that the world isn't as pretty as we'd like it to be, and some of the creatures from nightmares actually exist.

This series is fantastic. It's dark, gritty, and humorous. The stories are inventive and gripping, the cast of characters are diverse and well fleshed out, and the fantastical elements are set in a very realistic Chicago (this coming from someone whose lived in and around Chicago for the past 17 years).

The thing that truly amazes me is that the books just keep getting better. Normally when a fantasy series reaches book 8, I'm starting to get disappointed. Either the plot gets formulaic, the character's power has grown to deity status, or the storyline has become so convoluted that I need a road map to find my way.

I can happily say the Mr. Butcher has succeeded in avoiding all these pitfalls. Each book is unique and gripping. Throughout the series Harry has grown as a person (and boy, are there some growing pains), but his powers haven't grown out of hand as a result. He merely starts using his brain a little more after realizing that brute force won't always succeed, and he starts building a power base. It's not what you know; it's who you know. Finally, the storyline has branched out through the aforementioned connections, but each branch leads directly back to the main character. It isn't a friend of a friend of a friend of Harry's whose uncle's sister's child suddenly plays an important role in the plot.

So far The Dresden Files consists of 10 books, 6 short stories, 1 graphic novel, and 1 TV spinoff series that unfortunately got canceled.


If you like either hard boiled detectives or gritty urban fantasy, you've got to give The Dresden Files a try. Start with Storm Front, and be prepared to be spellbound.

YouTube Playlist

I added a cool new widget on the blog's sidebar that shows my YouTube playlist. You should check it out. :-)

Included in my playlist are:
Colbert Report - Communist Library Threat
Disney Copyright Law
Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner'
Banned Book Week: I'd Like To Find

and much, much more!

One Book, One Oakton

I'm excited to announce this new program happening at Oakton Community College in February.

Nonfiction that reads like fiction

Here's a great reading list I found in The Book Club Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Reading Group Experience by Diana Loevy called "non-fiction that reads like fiction."

Devil in the White City: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America
by Erik Larson














Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of the New China
by Rachel DeWoskin












In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote













Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer












Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil
by John Berendt














Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages
by Phyllis Rose








The Planets
by Dava Sobel














A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson

Free Alexander McCall Smith Book Online

Alexander McCall Smith, the author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, is writing his first online novel, and he is letting people read it for free!

The book is called Corduroy Mansion. Mr. Smith is issuing a chapter a month in both audio (ITunes) and print (electronic format). They currently have published up to Chapter 14.

The homepage is here.

Chapter 1 (in print) starts here.

Enjoy!

You can even have the chapters sent by email or feed!