Muncie Public Library

 The 16th  and final book I finished in the winter reading challenge was Sprinkle with Murder which is one of my alternates. This is a fun and quick read. This book is about Melanie Cooper  and Angie DeLaura who own a cupcake bakery together. When they bestfriend Tucker tells them he is getting married weird things start to happen. It is up to Melanie to figure out who is the killer before the someone is wrongly convicted. If you enjoy mystery with little blood your should enjoy this book.

 Borrow Sprinkle with Murder

 Sugar Rush by Donna Kauffman

 Summary: When baker extraordinaire Leilani Trusdale left the bustle of New York City for Georgia's sleepy Sugarberry Island, she didn't expect her past to follow. Yet suddenly, her former boss, Baxter Dunne, aka Chef Hot Cakes, the man who taught her everything pastry, wants to film his hit cooking show in her tiny cupcakery. The same Chef Hot Cakes whose molten chocolate brown eyes and sexy British accent made Lani's mouth water and her cheeks blush the color of raspberry filling--stirring all kinds of kitchen gossip, much of which Lani wished was true.

 Borrow Sugar Rush

 On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle

 Summary: Clare Cosi used to manage the historic Village Blend coffeehouse...until she opted for quieter pastures and a more suburban life. But after ten years and a little friendly cajoling from the owner (a fresh pot of Jamaican Blue Mountain was all it took), she's back to the grind. With a sprawling rent-free apartment directly above the Village Blend, her cat Java by her side, and plenty of coffeehouse redecorating ideas, Clare is thrilled to return to work. Until she discovers the assistant manager unconscious in the back of the store, coffee grounds strewn everywhere. Police arrive on the scene to investigate. But when they find no sign of forced entry or foul play, they deem it an accident. Case closed. But Clare is not convinced. And after the police leave, there are a few things she just can't get out of her mind...Why was the trash bin in the wrong place? If this wasn't an accident, is Clare in danger? And...are all detectives this handsome?

 Borrow On What Grounds

 Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

 Summary: Take one amateur sleuth. Mix in some eccentric Minnesota locals. Add a generous dollop of crackling suspense, and you've got the recipe for this delicious new mystery series featuring Hannah Swensen, the red-haired, cookie-baking heroine whose gingersnaps are almost as tart as her mouth and whose penchant for solving crime is definitely stirring things up. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp.

 Borrow Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

Best Wishes,

 The 15th book I finished in the winter reading challenge was “Girl on the Train”. It was an interesting story that was written in different people's perspective. Rachel takes the train every day to London and watches a couple she sees outside of the train at the stop. She comes up with her own story for the couple. Meg was the girl that Rachel was seeing outside the house at the train. Ann is married to Rachel ex-husband. When Meg goes missing Rachel get involved because of what she see a couple days before she went missing.      

 Borrow Girl on the Train

 Other book you may enjoy

 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

 Summary: Amy disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary, and while Nick has not been a model husband, could he -really have killed her? Its soon evident that if Amy is dead, that's the least of the readers worries.

 Borrow Gone Girl

 The Collector by Nora Roberts

 Summary: When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly, the woman with no permanent ties finds herself almost wishing for one. Artist Ashton Archer knows his brother isn't capable of violence--against himself or others. He recruits Lila, the only eyewitness, to help him uncover what happened. Ash longs to paint her as intensely as he hungers to touch her. But their investigation draws them into a rarified circle where priceless antiques are bought, sold, gambled away, and stolen, where what you possess is who you are, and where what you desire becomes a deadly obsession.

 Borrow The Collector

 Losing You by Nicci French

 Summary: It’s Nina Landry’s birthday, and she’s supposed to have her kids ready to leave in a few hours for a Christmas holiday in Florida with her new boyfriend, but her fifteen-year-old daughter Charlie spent the night at a friend’s and hasn’t come home yet. Not by ten a.m., not by eleven. Nina is getting angry---they have a plane to catch, and Charlie hasn’t even bothered to pack. As time passes, though slower and slower by the minute, Nina becomes uneasy. Her anger gives way to worry, and that worry quickly builds into panic.

 By one p.m., she’s wondering, has Charlie run away, or has something far worse happened? And why won’t anyone---not the cops, not Charlie’s friends, not Charlie’s father---take her disappearance seriously?

 As day turns to night on their home of Sandling Island sixty miles from London, and a series of ominous secrets leads Nina from sickening suspicion to deadly certainty, the question becomes less whether she and her daughter will leave the island in time and more whether they’ll ever leave it again.

 Borrow Losing You

Best wishes,

 The 13th book I finished in the winter reading challenge was “Little Men”. It is the 3rd book in the Little Women series. When I picked to read this book I thought it was the second book. None the less it was still a really good book and I enjoyed it more than I did Little Women. It was fun to see what the March’s were up several years after the first book. I also really enjoy all the stories of the mischievous boys that Joy and her husband were trying to tame. If you enjoy stories about mischievous boys and the love the have for one another this is the book for you.

 Borrow Little Men

 Other book you may enjoy

 Little Women by Louisa Alcott

 Summary: “Chronicles the humorous and sentimental fortunes of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.”

 Borrow Little Women

 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

 Summary: "Meek little Mole, willful Ratty, Badger the perennial bachelor, and petulant Toad. Since their first appearance over a hundred years ago in 1908, they've become emblematic archetypes of eccentricity, folly, and friendship. And their misadventures--in gypsy caravans, stolen sports cars, and their beloved Wild Wood--continue to capture readers' imaginations and warm their hearts long after they grow up. Begun as a series of letters from Kenneth Grahame to his son, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS is a timeless tale of animal cunning and human camaraderie"

 Borrow The Wind in the Willows

 Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor

 Summary: “When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.”

 Borrow Shiloh

 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

 Summary: “Black Beauty's story, as told by himself, is the fascinating tale of the life of a horse a hundred years ago, when horses were a part of daily life. Although his early colthood is happy, Black Beauty later tastes the bitterness of cruel handlers and indifferent masters as he passes from hand to hand, progressing from the country to London and back again. This, the most famous horse story ever written, is a must on everyone's reading list.”

 Borrow Black Beauty

Best Wishes,

 The 12th book I finished in the Winter reading challenge is “First Frost” by Sarah Addison Allen. I have like all of Sarah Addison Allen books I have read and this was no exception. I enjoy the magic surrounding the Waverley family. This book is a continuation of Garden Spells. In First Frost you found out what happens to Claire, Tyler, and Sydney 10 years after Garden Spells. Claire is running a candy business with help from Bay will Sydney is finally embracing her Waverley magic doing hair. Claire meet a blast from her mother past who bring disturbing news to her during the craziness before the first frost when that magic apple tree in the garden always blooms and life returns to normal. If you like book with a little magic and family you may enjoy this book.

 Borrow First Frost

 Other books you may enjoy

 Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

 Summary: “The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures. A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants--from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys--except for Claire's rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before. When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire's quiet life is turned upside down--along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy--if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom--or with each other.”

 Borrow Garden Spells

 The Cake Therapist by Judith Fertig

 Summary: "A fiction debut that will leave you wanting seconds, from an award-winning cookbook author. Claire "Neely" O'Neil is a pastry chef of extraordinary talent. Every great chef can taste shimmering, elusive flavors that most of us miss, but Neely can "taste" feelings-cinnamon makes you remember; plum is pleased with itself; orange is a wake-up call. When flavor and feeling give Neely a glimpse of someone's inner self, she can customize her creations to help that person celebrate love, overcome fear, even mourn a devastating loss. Maybe that's why she feels the need to go home to Millcreek Valley at a time when her life seems about to fall apart. The bakery she opens in her hometown is perfect, intimate, just what she's always dreamed of-and yet, as she meets her new customers, Neely has a sense of secrets, some dark, some perhaps with tempting possibilities. A recurring flavor of alarming intensity signals to her perfect palate a long-ago story that must be told. Neely has always been able to help everyone else. Getting to the end of this story may be just what she needs to help herself"-- Provided by publisher.

  Borrow The Cake Therapist

 Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

 Summary: “Orphaned at an early age, Gillian and Sally Owen are raised by an aunt who deals in sorcery. The girls long for the normal life and leave home as soon as they can. Years later tragedy strikes and it is then they realize that magic is their gift, not their affliction. By the author of Illumination Night.”

 Borrow Practical Magic

 When Autumn Leaves by Amy Foster

 Summary: “In the picturesque Pacific coast town of Avening, it's hard not to believe in magic. This is a town where the shoes in the window always fit, where you can buy a love potion at the corner shop, and where local lore seamlessly mixes with the supernatural. And then there's Autumn, Avening's most beloved resident, shopkeeper, and guardian of the Jaen sisterhood. When she receives word she's been promoted within the order, Autumn must undertake the task of selecting her own replacement. But who in Avening is magical enough to take Autumn's place?-- Publisher's description.”

 Borrow When Autumn Leaves

Best Wishes,

 The 11th book I finished in the winter reading challenge is “Books Can Be Deceiving” by Jenn Mckinlay. I really enjoyed this fun little mystery where the main character worked in a library. The main characters are Lindsey who is the director of a small library in Briar Creek and her children library named Beth. Beth is accused of murder when they find her ex boyfriend murdered in dead on the island that he had been renting. With a Sheriff that want to do as little work as possible to pin the murder on Beth it is up to Lindsay to try to find out what really happen. If you like fun quick read mysteries I think you will really enjoy the first book in  “A Library Lover’s mystery” series.

 Borrow Books Can Be Deceiving

 Other books you may enjoy

 Real Murder by Charlaine Harris

 Summary: “Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime-until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims.”

 Borrow Real Murder

 By Book or By Crook by Eva Gates

 Summary: “Seriously determined to rewrite her life, Lucy, leaving her job poring over the rare tomes of literature for the Harvard Library behind, arrives in the Outer Banks where she lands a librarian job at the lighthouse library that seems like a dream come true until theft and murder enter the picture.”

 Borrow By Book or By Crook

 Sew Deadly by Elizabeth Casey

 Summary: “Tori Sinclair, the new librarian in town, finds the local sweetheart dead on her doorstep, and the police think she's good for the murder. Only her friends from the sewing circle are willing to help her figure out the truth behind this untimely death.”

 Borrow Sew Deadly

Best wishes,

 The 10th book I finished in the winter reading challenge was “This Book is Overdue”. If you ever wonder what librarians have been going through with the switch over from the old card catalog to an electronic card catalog this is the book to read. This book goes through the trials of the librarians and how they handled the switch and why library are still relevant in the new technology based world. I found out about different technology that I hadn’t heard about and how librarians are using them to reach out to patron all over the world.

 Borrow This Book is Overdue

 More books you may enjoy:

 Biblio Tech why libraries matter more than ever in the age of Google by John G Palfrey

 Summary: “Libraries today are more important than ever. More than just book repositories, libraries can become bulwarks against some of the most crucial challenges of our age, unequal access to education, jobs, and information. In BiblioTech, educator and technology expert John Palfrey argues that anyone seeking to participate in the 21st century needs to understand how to find and use the vast stores of information available online. And libraries, which play a crucial role in making these skills and information available, are at risk. In order to survive our rapidly modernizing world and dwindling government funding, libraries must make the transition to a digital future as soon as possible-by digitizing print material and ensuring that born-digital material is publicly available online. Not all of these changes will be easy for libraries to implement. But as Palfrey boldly argues, these modifications are vital if we hope to save libraries and, through them, the American democratic ideal.”

 Borrow Biblio Tech

  The World’s Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne

 Summary: “A 67" librarian at the Salt Lake City Public Library, Hanagarne has Tourettes syndrome. Nothing helped until a former U.S. Air Force tech sergeant taught him to control his tics through strength training. Big expectations.”

 Borrow The World’s Strongest Librarian

  When Books Went to War: the stories that helped us win World War II by Molly Manning

 Summary: “When America entered World War II in 1941, we faced an enemy that had banned and burned over 100 million books and caused fearful citizens to hide or destroy many more. Outraged librarians launched a campaign to send free books to American troops and gathered 20 million hardcover donations. In 1943, the War Department and the publishing industry stepped in with an extraordinary program: 120 million small, lightweight paperbacks, for troops to carry in their pockets and their rucksacks, in every theater of war.”

 Borrow When Books Went to War

Best Wishes,

 The 9th book I finished in the winter reading challenge is Little Princess. I watch the movie for this book when I was little and always wanted to read the book. The book had lots of difference from the movie but I like the way the story went. The story centers around Sara Crewe, her father, and the other girl in the school her father sent her. Sara Crewe is a happy child and no matter what happens to her she always has a good attitude. She help bring the other around her up with her stories and ability to create whatever world she wants with her imagination. If you like a good story with trials and tribulation but still having a happy ending this would be a good book for you.

 Borrow Little Princess

 Other books and movies you may enjoy:

 A Little Princess DVD

 Movie adaptation of the book. The book and the movie have some differences but they both work in their own way.

 Borrow Little Princess

 Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

 Summary: “A mix-up involving the greatest magic in the world has tremendous consequences for Liesl, an orphan who has been locked in an attic, Will, an alchemist's runaway apprentice, and Po, a ghost, as they are pursued by friend and foe while making an important journey.”

 Borrow Liesl & Po

 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

 Summary: “When siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to send word to an orphanage for a little boy to help on their land, both their lives are forever changed by an unexpected mistake—an 11-year-old girl named Anne Shirley. A young, imaginative, spunky, red-haired orphan arrives, longing for a real family, friends, and a place to call home. Through a series of lessons and adventures she soon captures the hearts of the Cuthberts and all those around her in the small town of Avonlea. This centennial edition contains images from the critically acclaimed film depicting scenes from the book.”

 Borrow Anne of Green Gables

 Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

 Summary: “Peter Pan teaches three children to fly to Never Never Land, but a jealous fairy betrays them to Captain Hook's pirate band.”

 Borrow Peter Pan

 Heidi by Johanna Spyri

 Summary: “A Swiss orphan is heartbroken when she must leave her beloved grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to school and to care for an invalid girl in the city. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story.”

  Borrow Heidi

Best Wishes,

Again, let me reiterate that my intention with my Winter Reading list was to expand my reading into genres that I don’t normally read. I particularly focused on horror, fantasy, and Sci-fi. From my online sources (goodreads), I was under the impression that The Name of the Wind was a very popular fantasy title. After talking about the book with friends who read a lot of fantasy, I was surprised to learn that they had never heard of it. So how popular is it? I just assumed I was coming late to the party.

Oh, but what a party!  I am certain that this will be one of my favorite reads of 2016. This book is very smart; very meta. This book knows itself. It knows it is telling a story. This book is as much about the plot and characters as it is about storytelling. It is a big thick (700 pages) epic fantasy, so it defiantly falls in line with similar fantasy books, such as Tolkien, but it is different for it is very plain spoken.  It lacks the formal language of Tolkien and Lewis but is still richly detailed and world building, providing geographic information, magic theory, and a money system.

Borrow The Name of the Wind

 More books you might enjoy:

 The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

The Wise Man’s Fear is the continuation of The Name of the Wind. I have not read this yet but it is defiantly on my To-Be-Read list. I am a little anxious about reading it though. The third and last book of the series has not yet been published. What happens if I read The Wise Man’s Fear and I love it, but then I have to wait for the last one.  Tehlu be damned!

Borrow The Wise Man’s Fear

 Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey

Menolly is a fifteen year old girl that lives in her father’s hold, a fishing community built into the rocky shore by the sea. Like everywhere in Pern, hold society values traditions and puts significant emphasis on labor division by gender. But Menolly is not skilled at the traditional crafts of women and instead excels at music, a traditionally male skill. She is forbidden by her father to practice her music. Eventually she sneaks out of the hold and finds refuge with a family of dragons who change her life forever.

Much like The Name of the Wind, Dragonsong centers around a plucky teenager growing up in a harsh though fantastic world. Anne McCaffrey wrote 23 books that take place in the land of Pern, so there is plenty of ground to be covered.

Borrow Dragonsong

 The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried is not a fantasy novel but rather is about a platoon of soldiers out on patrol during the Vietnam War. It is sort of a novel but also resembles a collection of short stories all about the same platoon and told by the character Tim, a character that shares the author’s name. The book is both autobiographical and yet fictionalized. Well what does this book have to do with The Name of the Wind?

The Things They Carried is also very Meta. What is metafiction?

Metafiction is a work of literature that comments on itself and on the act of storytelling. It might use unconventional narrative techniques or break the fourth wall to constantly remind the reader that the story is simply just a story. The Things They Carried and The Name of the Wind both excel at this. The character Tim overlays what makes a good war story. He questions the value of truth in such stories and revels in the futility of describing the Vietnam experience to someone who was not there. The Name of the Wind features many stories within stories and discusses and describes the art of storytelling often criticizing the standard typical plot points and explicitly avoiding predictability. Personally, I find this type of writing to be informative of the author’s choices. It’s funny and very smart writing.

Borrow The Things They Carried

Keep reading,

The 8th book I finished in the winter reading challenge is Far Far Away. This book is an interesting book about a boy named Jeremy Johnson Johnson who can hear ghost. The ghost he hears in Jacob Grimm. Jeremy is known as a strange boy to most of the people in the town because he talks to himself. This book is a story of how the ghost of Jacob Grimm helps Jeremy Johnson Johnson and his friend Ginny tried to find out what is happen with the disappearing children.

 Borrow Far Far Away

 Other books you may enjoy.

 A Monsters Calls by Patrick Ness

“Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill--an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss.”

 Borrow A Monsters Call

 Egg and Spoon by Gregory Magurie

“In this tour de force, master storyteller Gregory Maguire offers a dazzling novel for fantasy lovers of all ages. Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar's army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg, a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena's age. When the two girls' lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and, in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured, Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs.”

 Borrow Egg and Spoon

 Texting the Underworld by Ellen Booraem

“Conor O'Neill faces his cowardice and visits the underworld to bargain with the Lady who can prevent the imminent death of a family member, but first Ashling, the banshee who brought the news, wants to visit his middle school.”

 Borrow Texting the Underworld

Best wishes,

My seventh book I finished in the winter reading challenge is Happily Ever After. This book is a bunch of short stories from the Selection series. This book series is a post-apocalyptic meet the bachelor type of book. The stories are The Queen, The Prince, The Guard, The Favorite, Celeste, The Maid After the One and Where are They Now. I really enjoyed being able to see the different character point of views. I also liked being able to see what some of the selection girls did once they were sent home. You also got to see Maxon parents during they selection.

 Borrow Happily Ever After

 Other books you may enjoy.

 Selection by Kiera Cass 

Selection is the first book in the series. It is the story of Maxon, America, and the rest of the selection girls. The society is set up into a caste system and America Singer is a 5 in this system. She is one of the lowest castes in the selection which is filled with mostly 2’s and 3’s. America and the other selection girls are competing for the crown and Prince Maxon who has to choose one of the girls in the selection.  

 Borrow Selection

 Matched by Allyson Condie

“All her life, Cassia has never had a choice. The Society dictates everything: when and how to play, where to work, where to live, what to eat and wear, when to die, and most importantly to Cassia as she turns 17, who to marry. When she is Matched with her best friend Xander, things couldn't be more perfect. But why did her neighbor Ky's face show up on her match disk as well?”

 Borrow Matched

 Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

“Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood, those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard, a growing Red rebellion, even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong…”

 Borrow Red Queen

 Crewel by Gennifer Albin

“Gifted with the unusual ability to embroider the very fabric of life, sixteen-year-old Adelice is summoned by Manipulation Services to become a Spinster, a move that will separate her from her beloved family and home forever.”

 Borrow Crewel

Best wishes,

I adore Gore Vidal. Whether you agree with his politics or not, no one can deny that behind his sometimes radical views there worked a brilliant determined mind. This new biography by his friend Jay Parini gives us an honest warts-and-all-view of Gore Vidal. Parini comments first hand on Vidal’s character virtues and flaws, his tooth and nail climb to the best seller’s list, his political foibles, and his sexual conquests. This is as much as book about Vidal as it is about the celebrities and enemies he kept and the post WWII generation. Parini provides a critical but loving unraveling like only a friend could.

Borrow Empire of Self

Burr by Gore Vidal

A central theme found in many of Vidal’s narratives is narcissism. No need to read too much into this. Many of his books center around a self-destructive narcissist who is often witty and possessed with vision that takes a strikingly critical view of the world. Who else from America’s history but Aaron Burr could fit such a description? Burr, our 2nd vice president who shot and killed Alexander Hamilton (the guy on the $10 bill), was tried for treason, and self-exiled to Europe, is the character in question of this insightful and magnificently researched historic novel. Through Burr’s eyes we see an alternate view of colonial America, the Revolutionary War, and our founding fathers without the marble and fireworks. He is not only critical and witty but hilarious and compelling. A must read for any fan of historic fiction.

Borrow Burr

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

Do not let this monstrous tome intimidate you. Once you start reading this incredibly complete biography of our most enigmatic president, it is tough to put down. Most of this biography centers on Washington’s personal life with his friends and family as well as his time as a surveyor, soldier, and plantation owner before he became our first president. Washington is out most mysterious president partly due to the mythos surrounding him but also by his own design. Washington’s political genius was his intentional cryptic nature. Chernow looks to Washington’s huge archive of personal letters and attempts to unravel this monumental figure. Chernow shows the reader that Washington was an original American individual who defied class and the status quo. It is a big book for it is as thorough as it is compelling.

Borrow Washington: A Life

Jack’s Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac by Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee

Here Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee have compiled stories and opinions of Jack Kerouac taken from interviews of his closest friends, enemies, lovers, and drinking buddies. Here you will find not only deep poignant thoughts of his literary contemporaries such as Ginsberg and Burroughs but also stories and insight from the hustlers, pick-pockets, and transients who also knew Kerouac and probably inspired him the most. This biography captures a touch of that first person stream-of-thought style that defined most of Kerouac works. The interviews lend themselves to that style making this biography a compilation of stories from behind the road.

Borrow Jack’s Book

Keep reading,

Oh the bildungsroman and long may it reign! The coming of age novel is one of the oldest and celebrated literary genres going as far back as Candide, Jane Eyre, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It also encompasses many modern classics such as Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Joyce’s The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

And kids today think they invented teenage angst!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower told in first person by the main character Charlie as a series of letters to an unnamed recipient through the course of one year of his life. They are brutally honest confessions from someone who is simultaneously afraid of everything and yet brave enough to admit and share everything. He is sensitive and vulnerable, loyal and adventurous. Through his perspective we see his struggles with family drama, drugs, sex, dating, and high school cliques. He gives startling revelations regarding his self-destructive behaviors, traumatic repressed memories, insecurities all with a casual regard and humble intelligence. This is the book that an entire generation fell in love with. It’s like On the Road without the car.

Borrow The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Borrow The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the film adaptation

 Other books you might enjoy:

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

Molly Bolt is a dirt poor lesbian growing up in the south. Along with her iron clad will, she is gifted with keen sense of awareness, beauty, and daring that carries her through her unconventional childhood to the streets of New York City. This book was one of the first novels ever written that celebrated the lesbian experience.

Borrow Rubyfruit Jungle

 The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Originally published in 1967, this book broke ground as an honest, original, and gritty portrayal of a teenager born on the wrong side of the train tracks. S.E. Hinton wrote the book as a teenager. She published it when she was only 18 years old.

Ponyboy and his gang, the greasers have a rivalry with the socs, a group of rich kids who don’t have to play by the rules. Eventually things go too far and Ponyboy has to go on the run.

Borrow The Outsiders

Borrow The Outsiders, the film adaptation

Keep reading,

 My sixth book in the winter reading challenge is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This is a book I wanted to read for a while because of another book series that I read that talked about the book and was set in the town of Sleepy Hollow. I enjoyed this book but was hoping for more about the headless horseman. I was looking for something that would have been a little more intense and scary. Overall the book was good and worth reading.

 Borrow The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

 Other books and a movie you may like:

 Sleepy Hollow DVD

This is a movie adaptation of this book. It stars Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci.

 Borrow Sleepy Hollow

 The Hollow by Jessica Verday

I read this book several years ago and it was the book that made me want to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in the first place. Here is the summary from the Muncie Public library catalog “High-school junior Abbey struggles with the loss of her best friend Kristen, who vanished on a legendary bridge, but her grief is eased by Caspian, an attractive and mysterious stranger she meets in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery.”

 Borrow The Hollow

 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This is a read alike because they have the subject of ghost. Summary from the Muncie Public library catalog “Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.”

 Borrow The Graveyard Book

 The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

This is a read alike because they have the subject of ghost. Summary from the Muncie Public Library catalog “Irish orphans Molly, fourteen, and Kip, ten, travel to England to work as servants in a crumbling manor house where nothing is quite what it seems to be, and soon the siblings are confronted by a mysterious stranger and secrets of the cursed house.”

 Borrow The Night Gardener

 The Ghost’s Grave by Peg Kehret

This is a read alike because they have the subject of ghost. Summary from the Muncie Public Library catalog “Apprehensive about spending the summer in Washington State with his Aunt Ethel when his parents get an overseas job, twelve-year-old Josh soon finds adventure when he meets the ghost of a coal miner.”

 Borrow The Ghost’s Grave

Best Wishes,

While I have read many books that fall into the genre of GLBT fiction, I have never read an actual M/M romance. At last my final vestiture of innocence is lost. Good riddance!

Think of M/M romance as being a mixture of the typical romance novel, complete with hot and steamy descriptions of cominglings between anatomical parts with all the creative euphemisms intermixed with blockbuster action scenes à la Die Hard. It’s thrust and lust meets Lethal Weapons.

A serial killer is terrorizing the D.C. metro area. Several innocent victims are dead along with a few of the special agents assigned to the case. The body count is rising and nobody has a clue to the murderer’s identity, his motivation, or why and how he chooses his victims. The authorities are desperate.  

Special Agent Ty Grady and Special Agent Zane Garrett are assigned to the case and no dissimilar agents could have been paired. Garrett is the ideal agent, meticulous, organized, and by the book. Grady is impulsive, insubordinate, and no stranger to bending the rules. This odd couple nearly kills each other before saving each other from some near death experiences. They say danger creates the strongest bonds. Soon a friendship begins to grow and then the bonding begins to sizzle.

Borrow Cut & Run

 The Persian Boy by Mary Renault

There have been many books about Alexander the Great where many scholars have attempted to unravel this momentous military genius of the ancient world. But none of them have accomplished so sensitive a portrayal as Mary Renault’s biographical novel of Bagoas, the male concubine to Alexander the Great. Through Bagoas’s eyes we see the mighty Alexander in victory and defeat but also as a gifted young man with vision and vulnerabilities.

Borrow The Persian Boy

 A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice

A Density of Souls is the story of four high school friends in present-day New Orleans who are torn apart by envy, passion and a secret murder. Meredith, Brandon, Greg and Stephen quickly discover the fragile boundaries between friendship and betrayal as they enter high school and form new allegiances. Brandon and Greg gain popularity as football jocks and Meredith joins the bulimic in-crowd, while Stephen is treated as a outcast and is the target of homophobia in a school that viciously mocks him. Then two violent deaths disrupt the core of what they once shared. Five years later the friends are drawn back together as new facts about their mutual history are revealed and what was held to be a tragic accident is discovered to be murder. As the true story emerges, other secrets begin to unravel and the casual cruelties of high school develop into acts of violence that threaten on entire city. A Destiny of Souls is a stunning debut novel by Christopher Rice (son of Anne Rice) that lays the darker side of the teenage psyche in modern-day life

Borrow A Density of Souls

 Bound written and directed by the Wackowskis

Corky (Gina Gershon) is an ex-con hired to renovate an apartment next door to Violet (Jennifer Tilly), the moll of a gangster. Corky and Violet quickly succumb to an intense attraction and a heist plan involving mob money is hatched. Their trust and loyalty to each other must prevail in order to successfully beat the mob and escape with their lives.

Borrow Bound

Keep reading,

 It occurred to me that since I’m a librarian, I should talk a little about how you can find these movies (and others). After all, that’s my job! I have personal subscriptions to both Netflix and Hulu, and indeed about 220 of the 400 films came from one of these 2 sources. Hulu, while known mostly for its TV offerings, has an outstanding film library. They have a whole section on Criterion movies; any film buff knows all about the Criterion movie releases. Basically, they package and release very nice DVD and Blu-ray editions of foreign, art, and classic movies. I also found Youtube very helpful. One can find an amazing array of material on there. On Youtube, just search for “_____ full movie”. Or you can also search for them as “_____ full movie English subtitles”. If it’s a foreign movie, you may have to play around with the built-in captioning settings to get the subtitles. It works more often than you’d imagine. Also, when looking for what movies to watch, I did various Google searches for specific types of movies. Examples might be: “Best films from the 1940s”, “Best films from Australia”, “Best film Westerns”, “Best short films”, etc. Someone somewhere has already compiled lists like this, and after comparing 2 or 3 different lists, and specific titles start appearing again and again, you can safely assume the movie is worth your time. And of course, I utilized the film collection here at Muncie Public Library. We have an impressive variety of movies for you to check out.

 So then, the final batch of my 2015 Film Challenge is:

 374. Intolerance – 1916, D. W. Griffith, USA

375. Muriel’s Wedding – 1994, P. J. Hogan, Australia

376. Waste Land – 2010, Lucy Walker, João Jardim & Karen Harley, Brazil

377. Black God, White Devil – 1964, Glauber Rocha, Brazil

378. The White Reindeer – 1952, Erik Blomberg, Finland

379. Three Times – 2005, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan

380. Before Sunrise – 1995, Richard Linklater, USA

381. Before Sunset – 2004, Richard Linklater, USA

382. Before Midnight – 2013, Richard Linklater, USA

383. 7 Boxes – 2012, Juan Carlos Maneglia & Tana Schembori, Paraguay

384. Mother Joan of the Angels – 1961, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Poland

385. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul – 1974, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany

386. Elevator to the Gallows – 1958, Louis Malle, France

387. Capricious Summer – 1968, Jiří Menzel, Czechoslovakia

388. Umkhungo – 2010, Matthew Jankes, South Africa

389. Printed Rainbow – 2006, Gitanjali Rao, India

390. Witness – 1985, Peter Weir, USA

391. Osama – 2003, Siddiq Bartak, Afghanistan

392. Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens – 2015, J. J. Abrams, USA

393. Two Days, One Night – 2014, the Dardennes, Belgium

394. Solaris – 1972, Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR

395. Viva Cuba – 2005, Juan Carlos Cremata, Cuba

396. The Secret in Their Eyes – 2009, Juan José Campanella, Argentina

397. A Christmas Carol – 1938, Edwin L. Marin, USA

398. The Street Fighter – 1974, Shigehiro Ozawa, Japan

399. The Substitute – 1961, Dušan Vukotić, Yugoslavia

400. Dial M for Murder – 1954, Alfred Hitchcock, USA

 It would seem that the library doesn’t own copies of several of the movies I watched this month. I will do my best as A/V librarian to cure this in the near future. For now, check out these 3 from December:

 Elevator to the Gallows

                        Louis Malle is a French director active from the 1950s through 1990s, and his Elevator to the Gallows was his first film. It’s possibly one of the “coolest” movies I’ve seen. It was made in 1958, when France was waking up to the same beatniks and jazz that American kids loved during those years. The movie is about a young couple who decide to kill the girlfriend’s husband, who is also the boyfriend’s boss. The plot leaves you asking why they think they could ever get away with such a crime, but the look and atmosphere of Elevator to the Gallows is amazing. Most of the shots in the movie are like the one represented here. They look like modern-day Caravaggio paintings. Add to this the unreal musical score by Miles Davis, and you have something that really is too cool for the room.  

 Solaris

I have this one friend that is a huge Star Trek nerd. He has accused me several times in the past of not liking sci-fi, and I couldn’t disagree more. I realized what he was really saying is that I do not like Star Trek in particular. This is true; I actually have a very short fuse when it comes to Star Trek.  But I do find many other sci-fi texts a lot of fun, and interesting. Throughout this 365 Film Challenge, one of my newly-discovered favorite filmmakers is Andrei Tarkovsky. His 1972 Solaris is widely-regarded as one of the best sci-fi movies ever. The crew of a Soviet space station over the planet Solaris is experiencing all sorts of odd phenomenon, and a psychologist is dispatched there to try and determine the problem. I won’t reveal the plot, but I will say that what I love about this type of sci-fi is that it’s not about lasers and enemies and other, “Westerns-in-space” types of things that so many mainstream sci-fi is. Solaris is much more existential, and, like all Tarkovsky works, gorgeously photographed.

 Dial M for Murder

Dial M for Murder is one of the films by Hitchcock I’ve not yet seen. This was indeed the 400th and last film I saw in 2015, and in selecting it, I thought that I should have more than one from Hitchcock on the list (I saw Torn Curtain a few months ago). Several of his movies take place in one claustrophobic location. Rope, and Lifeboat are two great examples, with Dial M being another. The movie follows a man who finds that his wife, played by Grace Kelly, is cheating on him, and vows to kill her. The whole movie takes place in their apartment, where we see the murder’s planning, execution (pun intended), and aftermath play out. It’s full of minute details that the viewer has to follow in order to stay with the plot. You wait for the murderer to screw up, and you try and figure out at what point he will ruin his chances at success…or does it all go off without a hitch? You’ll just have to watch to find out.

I might add that Three Times, The White Reindeer, and the new Star Wars movie are all a lot of fun in their own ways. Even though this challenge is over, I’ll still definitely be finding new things in 2016 and beyond.

Thank you for following along on this journey through film. I hope it has encouraged you to look outside of the box to find your new favorite movies. And if you want to talk more about movies, I’d like to suggest our relatively new cinema club here at the library. CineMuncie meets the final Wednesday of the month at 6pm at Carnegie Library (301 E. Jackson St.). I will be your host for a film viewing and discussion afterwards. Themed snacks are included, but feel free to bring your own to share as well. Check out the schedule here:

"Oh sleepy Night Vale, you wondrous and perplexing haven of secret menacing governments, perplexing conspiracies, abductions, and ripples in the space time continuum. Not that is matters because time, doesn't exist. Does it, Night Vale?"

Last week the mailman came earlier than I had hoped, or at least was prepared for. Luckily the garlic and chicken foot I placed on the exterior of all my doors and windows was enough to keep him at bay. He snarled disheartenedly and clawed at my bay window almost ceremoniously before courteously wiping the drool from my bird feeder. He reached into his mailbag, punching a grumbling and unruly parcel before reaching for my package from Amazon and placing it slowly and gently on the ground while firmly holding my gaze with his bloodshot though large eyes. He groaned deeply. I respectfully groaned back. He then quickly crouched on all fours before climbing over my hedge and into my neighbor’s yard.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom from the glow cloud stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. My packaged contained one of the smartest books I have read in a long time.

www.welcometonightvale.com

Borrow Welcome to Night Vale

 Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

Before there were podcasts, there was radio, and before there was Night Vale, there was Lake Webegon. Much like Night Vale, Lake Wobegon is this peaceful little community with reoccurring characters that celebrate the je ne sais quoi of small town American life with plenty of self-deprecating humor.  In this collection author and radio personality, Garrison Keillor has captured some of his best tales from his celebrated radio show.

Borrow Lake Wobegon Days

 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me directed by David Lynch

There is no end to comparisons between Twin Peaks and Night Vale. Both small sleepy little towns on the edge of nowhere and both beset with humorously odd though at times unsettling occurrences. Even some of the regular characters might be seen as interchange able. You all remember Josie, the lady who lives behind the used car lot? You know the one who lives with angels, that officially don’t exist? She seems strangely related to the Log Lady in Twin Peaks. You know, the lady with the log that communicates to her and tells her secrets nobody else could know? The owls are not what they seem.

Borrow Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

 Keep reading,

My fifth book I have read is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. This is a nonfiction book talking about the town of Savannah Georgia. I found the book well written and at time had a hard time remembering that it was a true story. Some of the aspects of the story just seem unbelievable. After reading this book I would love to go and visit Savannah Georgia just to see if it is as much of a party town as he talked about in the book. The author does a good job at describing how the town looks and it sounds like it would be a beautiful city.

Borrow Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

 Other books and a movie you may be interested in.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil DVD

This is the movie adaptation of the book starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack.

Borrow Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

 Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

This book is about the city of Chicago, the World’s Fair, and the mysterious murders going on in the city at the time. It is an interesting tale on how Chicago became the city for the World’s Fair and what they did in order to get it. It also talks about the murder of Holmes and how he attracts the women to his establishment. It is a good book if you enjoy learning about the World's Fair and what it took to create such a large affair.

Borrow Devil in the White City

 God’ll Cut You Down by John Safran

This book is a read alike because they are true crime books featuring vivid description of places and characters as well as incongruous situation, unexpected developments, and storylines that shift like those in well-constructed thrillers. Both absorbing accounts offer riveting reading experiences. The summary from the Muncie Public Library is “After interviewing infamous white supremacist Richard Barrett in Mississippi for a film on race, Safran, a white Jewish Australian documentarian born in that state, learned that Barrett had been murdered by a young black man named Vincent McGee. He returned to investigate. As he shows here, the crime was a lot more complicated than what it first appeared to be: an inversion of the race crimes that dominated the Old South. The book promises to be an impassioned study of race, money, sex, and power, with a touch of humor.”

 Borrow God’ll Cut You Down

Best wishes,