HORROR FOR HALLOWEEN

Cell by Stephen King
Are cell phones responsible for creating a race of flesh-eating zombies—former regular folks who are now rampaging across New England? Those spared, mostly small children, the elderly, and middle-aged Luddites who eschewed cell phones, take up arms and attempt to defend themselves against the senseless destruction.
Graphic artist Clay Riddell is in Boston when the madness begins. On his way back to Maine to check on the safety of his son, he joins forces with other refugees along the way. King demonstrates how an everyday object—the cell phone—can turn us all into zombies.

World War Z by Max Brooks
In first person accounts, various folks tell of their survival of the Zombie War, which pitted humans against a 200 million strong army of zombies. A send-up of political and military policies, which asks “How can you kill the undead?”

Dead lines by Greg Bear
Failed screenwriter picks up a shoot promoting the “Trans”—a new super cell phone, which can also communicate with the dead. Even the dead can hear him now, and they are really annoyed.

Shark trouble by Peter Benchley
“Jaws” author Benchley debunks many myths about sharks, but includes enough hair raising encounters with various marine animals to make it scary enough.

Alive! By Piers Paul Read
A plane carrying a rugby team crashed in the Andes; it was ten weeks before the men were rescued. With little food aboard, they turned to cannibalism.

Laughing corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton
Anita Blake is asked to raise a 300 year old zombie. Because it would require a human sacrifice, she refuses, but when bodies keep turning up, she realizes that someone else took the job.

Monster island : a zombie novel by David Wellington
When a plague hits Manhattan, its citizens are turned into rotting, walking corpses. The fate of the city depends on an army of teenage girls and a former U.N. weapons inspector.

Hot zone: a terrifying true story by Richard Preston
It reads like a bioterrorist thriller, but this is a true story of how a strain of a deadly ebola virus came to the U.S. We are only an airplane ride away from a pandemic.

Serpent and the rainbow: a Harvard scientist’s astonishing journey into the secret societies of Haitian voodoo, zombies, and magic by Wade Davis
An ethnobotanist arrives in Haiti to research two documented cases of zombies and is drawn into the vodoun culture.

RUBY SAYS "HAPPY HALLOWEEN"

BIRD OF THE DAY

On the way to the grocery store Sunday, we spied two adult bald eagles, flying rather low over the road. It was pretty windy, but I assume they were making their way over to the lake about 1/4 mile away.

BIRD OF THE DAY

A flock of cedar waxwings was in the crabapple tree Saturday. When tired of the crabapples, they would swarm to the wild grapes that are growing over the lilac shrub.

THE BIRTH OF ROCK N ROLL: DISCWORLD STYLE

Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
This is a part of the Discworld series. Discworld is a flat, circular planet that rests on the back of four elephants, which are standing on the back of a giant turtle. Author Pratchett takes a not-so-subtle look at the birth of rock ‘n roll, or as it is called here—the Music with Rocks In. A character loosely based on Buddy Holly, destined to die young. Woven in the story are song titles, lyrics, and even a scene from the “Blues Brothers” movie.
How can you not like a series that features a librarian that is a 300 pound orangutan? Its his primary function to keep people from using the books, lest they wear out from all that reading. Some of the songs attempted by the band are “Cavern deep, mountain high,” “There’s a great deal of shaking happening,” “Give me that music with rocks in,” and “Pathway to paradise.”

Some other books to check out:

Last chance to see by Douglas Adams (nonfiction)
Sci fi author tracks down some of the world’s vanishing species—the komodo dragon, baiji dolphin, northern white rhinoceros. The height of irony is when Adams sits down at a banquet at a conference called to save the Chinese river dolphin, while the main course is, you guessed it, one of the endangered dolphins.

Callahan’s key by Spider Robinson
Jake Stonebender moves his family and closest friends in search of a new bar, and on the way accepts an assignment from Nikola Tesla to save the universe. The puns fly fast and furious, and the cast of characters include Jake’s teleporting infant daughter, a talking German Shepherd and Robert Heinlein’s cat, Pixel. A good time is had by all.

A farce to be reckoned with by Roger Zelazny
Azzie Elbub is a bored demon who decides to stage a play, with Renaissance Europe as the backdrop. But Azzie’s nemesis, the Archangel Michael, steps in to prevent a Mongol horde from overrunning Venice. Silly, but lots of fun.

A man without a country by Kurt Vonnegut
Author Vonnegut takes on society in this collection of essays; one reviewer called him “Garrison Keillor with a savage undercurrent.” The humor is exceedingly dark, and the wit sharp.

APPLE TIME

It's time to visit the apple orchard--and make a pie. This recipe is a large pie baked on a jelly roll pan; great if you don't want to bother with crusts for two pies.

Apple Slab Pie
15 servings

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg yolks, beaten
4 tablespoons water
8 apples - peeled, cored and cut into thin wedges
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour sugar, salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix egg yolk and water together and mix into flour until it forms a ball. Roll out to fit the bottom of a 10x15 inch pan.
In a large bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons flour, sugar and cinnamon. Pour filling into pie crust and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2/3 cup brown sugar and 2/3 cup butter. Cut in the butter until crumbly, then sprinkle over apples.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

THIS WEEK: LITERARY FICTION


Brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Oscar is a gentle, somewhat naïve young man, who loves the ladies—the problem is, they do not love him. Dominican men are good dancers, sharp dressers, and outrageous womanizers. But Oscar is an overweight nerd, who reads science fiction and designs computer games.
Oscar’s story is told by his sister Lola, and her sometimes boyfriend Yunior. It is also intertwined with the story of Oscar and Lola’s mother, and her parents, back in the Dominican Republic during the murderous Trujillo regime. The story is at times funny, heartbreaking, horrifying, and eye-opening. This book won a Pulitzer Prize.
If you enjoyed this book, here are some other titles you may want to read.

Known world by Edward P. Jones
Set in Virginia 20 years before the Civil War, this is the story of black slaveowners. Henry was the son of slaves who had bought their freedom, but as soon as he had saved enough money, he bought a slave. When he died, would his wife free the slaves? A troubling look at the cruelty of slavery.

Mambo kings play songs of love by Oscar Hijuelos
The mambo Kings are two Cuban brothers who come to American in 1949, and dream of becoming stars. They eventually appear on “I love Lucy” and tour in their pink bus. Pulitzer Prize winner.

Loving Pedro Infante by Denise Chavez
Tere Avila is in love with Mexican movie star Pedro Infante, who is Elvis and Cary Grant all rolled into one. The author explores feminity and cultural identity, and there are many references to Chicano culture and language.

Nonfiction: Brother, I’m dying by Edwidge Danticat
Haitian-American Danticat learned in the same day that she was pregnant and that her father was dying. A poignant memoir of a family separated and changed.

Angela’s ashes: a memoir by Frank McCourt
A Pulitzer Prize winning book which tells of the brutal childhood of McCourt, whose father regularly drank up the family income. Franks and his siblings went cold, hungry, and some died. His mother was reduced to begging. Yet there is humor midst the poverty, and hope for Frank.

Nonfiction: China men by Maxine Hong Kingston
The story of three generations of men who immigrated to America—their struggles, triumphs, and failures. Kingston weaves fables, ghost stories, legends and memoirs into her tale.

Trujillo: the death of the goat by Bernard Diederich
After reading Junot Diaz’s book, the reader may want to know more about Trujillo and his rule in Santo Domingo. This is the story about his assassination and the reign of terror by his relatives. The era did not end until his sons executed the last of their captives and fled the country with their father’s body and a good portion of the country’s wealth. Not for the squeamish.

Ivy briefs: true tales of a neurotic law student by Martha Kimes

In ten words or less: Wisconsin girl goes to Ivy League law school

The author was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and was at a loss for what to do with her life. She decided to apply to Columbia Law School, and was surprised when she was accepted. She offers up an insider’s view of the pressures of an Ivy League law school. She talks about her favorite jacket, which a boyfriend in Wisconsin made from a road-killed deer. My favorite story is one in which she encounters Madonna in a Manhattan shoe store—she notes that Madonna had dirty socks.

Why bother? Written with a great deal of humor, it is an entertaining read.

Suburban safari: a year on the lawn by Hannah Holmes

In ten words or less: Suburban plants and animals observed for a year.

The author observes the wildlife present in her backyard in Maine. She observes crows, chipmunks, spiders, earthworms, and native and invasive plants. She notes on some of the “bad” things found in the yard—sparrows, starlings, bittersweet, and bamboo. As the seasons progress, she consults ecologists, energy specialists, a biologist, and a botanist for insight on the creatures in her yard. Holmes is a science and travel writer for the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Sierra, and has previously written “The secret life of dust.”
Here’s a sample: “Deer culling is a nasty business. And that’s mainly because we Homo Sapiens are so confused about how close we want to be to Nature, and about what Nature should look like. As a general rule, we focus our adoration and our money on a few creatures that scientists call charismatic megafauna. That’s Latinate for “big cute animals.” Deer qualify.”

Why bother? Anyone who has battled squirrels or weeds will appreciate Holmes’ wit and feel that they have a partner battling the invasive species. I am not, however, about to invite the chipmunks in my yard into my house, as she did.

This week: Graphic Novels, Dying in the gutters

Dying in the gutters (CSI: Crime scene investigation) by Steven Grant
A graphic novel version of the popular tv series set in Las Vegas. In this adventure, Gil and Catherine accompany Catherine’s daughter to a comics convention, where one of the speakers is electrocuted in front of a crowd. Is it professional jealousy? Gil starts to collect evidence. Most of the story is a huge “in joke” with the suspects being comic book artists or writers—fans would recognize their names, I didn’t. The artist and writer captured the feel of the series—viewers will not be disappointed. Also suggested:

Watchmen by Alan Moore
A dark and compelling story featuring a group known as the Crimebusters. Complex characters and plot will appeal to fans of CSI, as will the social and political commentary. Highly acclaimed by critics.

Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins
Michael O’Sullivan, mob hit man, kills a crooked cop. His son, Michael jr., witnessed the event, and now the mob family is looking for the two O’Sullivans. The mobsters kill O’Sullivan’s wife and younger son, and he sets out for revenge. Classic 1930s gangster story.

Torso: a true crime graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis
In the 1930s, body parts were washing up in Lake Erie Sound, and Eliot Ness—fresh from his capture of Al Capone—was hired to find the killer. The author combines facts from the case with speculation about why particular suspects were not pursued. The artwork in this volume combines period photographs and documents in a cinematic style.

The 9/11 Report: a Graphic Adaptation
A power graphic version of the government’s 800 page reports on the activities that lead up to the 9/11 attacks, and how national information and defense systems were overwhelmed. The airline passengers, firefighters, workers in the World Trade Center, and terrorists are depicted.

Also: Snake Eyes by Max Allan Collins (paperback, not graphic)
This is the 8th paperback novel based on the tv series. It is set in the fifth season, and centers on a shoot-out between rival motorcycle gangs. If a reader liked the graphic novel, the paperbacks are not to be missed.

Romance of the Week: Star-crossed Lovers of the Wild West

Silver Lining by Maggie Osborn
The main character, Low Down, is a woman prospector who saves a camp full of men suffering from smallpox. She is rough and dirty, but when the men ask what she would like as a reward, she says a baby. The men draw straws to see who wants to father her child—as there are no volunteers. The preacher insists upon marriage, so Low Down and the handsome Max McCord ride off to meet his family on their ranch. Colorful, old west setting; a heroine that you will root for.
Max rides after Low Down to tell her he loves her, and no longer loves his ex-fiancee. Low Down will shortly tell him she is pregnant. Since they married at the beginning of the book, the story is about misunderstandings, how they are overcome, and how they realize they love each other.
The cover and title give little hint as to the sensuality of the book. It is a “stuff” cover—a silver spoon on a white background. There are a couple of sex scenes, but they are fairly low key—I’d rate them a ‘3’ on a 0-10 scale.
This was a frontier and western romance. The ‘marriage of convenience” plot would be similar, though it could be set in England as a historical, or anywhere as a contemporary romance.
A couple of fiction suggestions: Forgiving by LaVyrle Spencer
Sarah moves west to Deadwood run a newspaper and to search for her missing sister Addie. But her sister is working in the local bordello. Can she convince her sister to reform? Handsome sheriff Noah Campbell is interested in Sarah, but so are the other single men of the town.
High country bride by Linda Lael Miller
Emmeline Harding attempts to flee her past by marrying rancher Rafe McKittrick as a mail order bridge. Rafe is in competition with his two brothers to produce an heir, as the first of the brothers to become a father will inherit the Triple M Ranch.
And two nonfiction: Baby Doe Tabor the madwoman in the cabin by Judy Nolte Temple
Baby Doe Tabor is a larger-than-life character, what at one time was called an “adventuress.” She moved west and married the owner of a silver mine. Lots of local interest in her life, as she was born in Oshkosh.
They saw the elephant: women in the California gold rush by Jo Ann Levy
The author uses letters and journals to tell about the lives of women who went west—actresses, prostitutes, a stagecoach driver, and just ordinary women. They tell of the hardships endured in the perilous journeys, and the rough life.
Also: the all-true travels and adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley; Buffalo girls: a novel by Larry McMurtry; Molly Brown: unraveling the myth by Kristen Iversen

September’s Books

Heather Ingram was a high school teacher in Canada, unhappy in her relationship with the man she lived with. When one of her seventeen-year old students started flirting with her, she began an affair with him. Most of the book is about how she didn’t know that what she did was criminal, although she also slept with another student. It got a little tiresome listening to her “how could I be a sex offender” mantra. You can skip this book. It’s a self-serving exercise that demonstrates that she didn’t really learn anything from her experience.

Risking it all: my student, my lover, my story by Heather Ingram
Our daily meds: how the pharmaceutical companies transformed themselves into slick marketing machines and hooked the nation on prescription drugs by Melody Petersen
Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
The Lincoln lawyer by Michael Connelly
Edwin of the Iron shoes by Marcia Muller

Cell by Stephen King

MYSTERY OF THE WEEK

MYSTERIES: A WALK ON THE DARK SIDE

This week I read "The Weatherman" by Steve Thayer. "The Weatherman" is a mystery that features a strong sense of place (Minneapolis) and three complicated, well-drawn characters. The plot has a serial killer who kills during notable weather events. It is quite violent, and presents some disturbing images.
Readers who enjoy this type of mystery may also like "Flood" by Andrew Vachss. This is the author's first book featuring Burke, the ex-con detective, with no first name who was abandoned as a child. He operates on the shady side of the law. The underworld of New York is the setting, and no maggot is left unturned. The title character, Flood, is a young woman who hires Burke to track down a pedophile. This is a similarly dark and disturbing story, with an atmospheric setting--although the seamy surroundings are no match for the Twin Cities. Burke is an intricate character, and reveals little about himself willingly. Most of Vachss's books deal with child molesters, so they are not for the squeamish.
Another suggestion is "Coffin Dancer" by Jeffery Deaver. Quadriplegic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme must track down a hired killer within 48 hours. Rhyme is a complex character and since he can't move, all the action is in his mind. There is excellent plotting from Deaver, and psychological tension by the bucketful. The Rhyme series is a good choice for a reader who wants characters that are more than superficial adjuncts to the plot, evil bad guys, and lots of suspense. Set in New York City.
For nonfiction, try "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. In this groundbreaking work by Capote, he recreates the brutal murder of a Kansas farm family by two strangers in 1959. He interviewed those involved with the investigation, capture, trial, and eventual execution of the killers. The insight into the minds of the killers, and the re-telling of the crime in a manner that is more literary than crime reporting, should hold readers in a darkly fascinating grip.
Another nonfiction choice is "The Stranger Beside Me" by Ann Rule. The author met Ted Bundy in 1971 when they worked together on a suicide hot line at a Seattle crisis center. When he was suspected of the serial killings of young women, she found it hard to believe that this charming, charismatic young man was a sadistic murderer. Though a grim story, Rule does not dwell on the gruesome--instead continuing in a journalistic style, following Bundy to his death by electrocution in a Florida prison in 1989. The persona of Bundy, and the details of his crime--and how he eluded capture--draws readers in.
Other suggestions: "Winter Prey" by John Sandford; "Kiss the Girls" by James Patterson; "Dead Man Walking: an Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions" by Helen Prejean; and "The Devil's Right Hand Man: the True Story of Serial Killer Robert Charles Browne" by Stephen Michaud.

SHIVER ME TIMBERS!

Here's a word of warning. September is "Talk like a pirate day." So grab your eye patch and your parrot, and board the vessel with the rest of your scurvy mates.

Title: Carry me Home

Author: Sandra Kring

In ten words or less: Coming of age story set in 1940s Wisconsin.

Review:
“Carry Me Home” is set in a small Wisconsin town during the 1940s. Earl “Earwig” Gunderman suffered from a fever as a small child, and as a result of brain damage, never learned to read or write. He helps out at this parents’ grocery store and his protected by his older brother Jimmy. The story begins in 1940, when Jimmy falls in love with Molly, the prettiest girl in town. Earwig’s social life revolves around his family, his dog Lucky, and a younger neighbor Eddie.
When the United States enters the war, Jimmy and many of his friends enlist in the armed forces. Many families in town put up flags in their windows with stars on them—one blue star for each son in the military. Earwig watches the star intently, because he knows that if the star turns gold, it will mean that Jimmy is dead.
In addition to worrying about Jimmy, the war puts stress on the Gundermans in other ways. The ration coupons put a strain on the family store, and Earwig discovers a long hidden secret of his mother’s.
Earwig’s unique voice is similar to that of Christopher, the narrator of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Kring is a Wisconsin author, and “Carry Me Home” is her first novel.

Why bother? Touching story of family members that help each other through difficult times.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Farm Kid: Tales of Growing up in Rural America

Author: Justin Isherwood

In ten words or less: Humorous, thoughtful stories of growing up on a farm.

Review: Farming is not for the faint of heart, writes Justin Isherwood, a fifth generation farmer from Plover, WI. Isherwood , who has received an award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers, grew up on a dairy farm. Being a farm kid in the 1950s guaranteed a life full of chores, adventures, and sometimes peril. The 63 stories in “Farm Kid” focus on the simple pastimes and objects of childhood, such as jackknives, icicles, manure, high-top shoes, and chasing cows.
Though mostly of a lighthearted nature, the tales do venture occasionally into more serious territory, acknowledging the reality of the dangers of farm work. Animal lovers may not appreciate his story of using some of the many farm cats as ammunition in his homemade catapult.
Why bother? Isherwood uses his words as an artist uses color; to create a world so real you can smell the cows. He describes his grandfather, “I remember that look of a grown man so like a child, looking into the fire. On his face the look of the whole crayon box, all its colorations. Wonder. Contentment. Pleasure. Nurture. Peace. Bliss. Contentment. Satisfaction.”
Other books by Isherwood are “ Book of Plough” and “The Farm West of Mars.”

Books for Fall 2008
These are a few of the titles I'm looking forward to reading this fall.

Belzer, Richard and Michael Black. I am not a cop: a novel
Belzer, the comedian and actor from “Homicide: life on the street” and “Law and order: special victims unit” tries his hand at a novel.

Maraniss, David. Rome 1960
The author’s book “Clemente” was excellent—here he combines portraits of notable athletes Rafer Johnson, Wilma Rudolph, Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammed Ali), and Abebe Bikila against the political and social forces of the day.

Theroux, Paul. Ghost train to the Eastern star
Theroux recreates his journey of thirty years ago, travelling from Europe to the Pacific Rim and back.

Winn, Marie. Central Park in the dark: more mysteries of urban wildlife
The happenings of an urban park at night—birds, beasts, and other wildlife are hidden from the daylight but are a universe unto themselves.

Menzies, Gavin. 1434: the year a magnificent Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance
Historian and former British naval officer argues that the Chinese, the most technologically advanced society in the world, sailed from China to Cairo to Florence and back again.

Greenlaw, Linda. Fishermen’s bend
The second in the Jane Bunker mystery series set in Maine.

Yancey, Richard. The highly effective detective goes to the dogs
Naïve, bumbling, and unlicensed detective Teddy Ruzak finds the body of a man outside his door.

Weston, Kath. Traveling light: on the road with America’s poor
Riding the bus across America, and listening to the stories the passengers tell.

Vowell, Sarah. Wordy shipmates
Snarky history nerd investigates the Puritans of seventeenth century New England.

Krakauer, Jon. Hero
Master storyteller Krakauer writes about Pat Tillman, former football player who was killed in the Afghanistan war, and whose death was manipulated by the U.S. government in order to garner support for the war.

JERRY REED DIES AUGUST 31, 2008

"We got a long way to go and a short time to get there" from "Eastbound and down"--Jerry Reed

Why do I watch "Smokey and the Bandit" when I see it on tv? Who knows--a guilty pleasure perhaps?

August’s Books

This month’s books include a collection of cartoons by S. Gross, “I am blind and my dog is dead.” Sam Gross’s cartoons have appeared in National Lampoon, Esquire, Gourmet, and most notably, the New Yorker. They are cartoons of few or no words. A fish with legs emerges from the ocean to see a sign, “No evolving allowed on this beach.”


Winchester, Simon. The man who loved China
Lipman, Elinor. My latest grievance
Johnson-Bennett, Pamela. Cat vs. cat
Collins, Kate. Rose from the dead
Ellis, Richard. Tuna: a love story
Gross, S. I am blind and my dog is dead
Riley, Jess. Driving sideways
Cook, Claire. Summer blowout
Benchley, Peter. Shark trouble
Doctorow, C. Down and out in the Magic Kingdom
Bradbury, Ray. Something wicked this way comes
Coultrip-Davis, D. Flavors of Korea
Schilling, Peter. The end of baseball
Brand-Miller. New glucose revolution shopper’s guide
Turtledove, Harry. Gunpowder empire

Kramer, Julie. Stalking Susan

NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY

Alice Cooper had a concert in Oshkosh last night. Most of the concerts in the series are has-been acts--Herman's Hermits without Herman, one of the Monkees as a solo act. Alice did himself proud--he was looking good (for Alice, that is) and didn't skimp on the show. It wasn't padded out by long rambling intros between songs ( i.e.,"this was a hit in 1968, and knocked the Beatles out of number one"). Started out with "No more Mr. Nice Guy", ended with "School's out," and came out for an encore.

There is something ironic about a guy in his sixties singing, "Eighteen," and "School's out," but I guess his audience never got over their teenage angst.