Hallowe'en Month Books and Other Stuff

It's never a good thing to plan ahead to far what you are planning to read as, I find anyway, that it doesn't always work out that way. However, with that caveat, as I sit here in the study watching the sparrows fighting over the bird seed we put in their little bird house outside the window,.. um, where was I?.. Oh yes, with that caveat, my UK Book Group is picking Horror as the genre for October, it being the month of Hallowe'en and traditional spooky month of the year. I've been looking through the list of books I have in the horror genre on my Goodreads' library and have a couple in mind. I'd like to read two or three horror books in October. So here are a couple of my ideas..

Possible Horror Selections

1. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. One of the classics, that I purchased last year. It was originally published in 1911.











"The story of the Phantom of the Opera, a half-crazed musician hiding in the labyrinth of the famous Paris Opera House and creating a number of strange and mysterious events to further the career of a beautiful young singer, is today regarded as one of the most famous of all horror stories: widely mentioned in the same breath as Frankenstein and Dracula. Yet the fame of this novel, first written by the French journalist turned novelist Gaston Leroux, in 1911, is based almost entirely on the various film versions which have been made over the years. Remarkable performances by two actors, Lon Chaney and Claude Rains, helped to make the Phantom an immortal figure. The original book, however, has been largely ignored, rarely in print, and the first edition (in either French or English) is now a collector's item."

2. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. This is the second book in the Odd Thomas series and I enjoyed the first very much.











"I see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it. Odd Thomas never asked for his special ability. He’s just an ordinary guy trying to live a quiet life in the small desert town of Pico Mundo. Yet he feels an obligation to do right by his otherworldly confidants, and that’s why he’s won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death. But when a childhood friend disappears, Odd discovers something worse than a dead body and embarks on a heart-stopping battle of will and wits with an enemy of exceptional cunning. In the hours to come there can be no innocent bystanders, and every sacrifice can tip the balance between despair and hope."

3. The Bad Seed by William March. This was William March's last novel, published in 1954. He died before he saw it translated into a stage production and also two movies.

"What happens to ordinary families into whose midst a child serial killer is born? This is the question at the center of William march's classic thriller. After its initial publication in 1954, the book went on to become a million–copy bestseller, a wildly successful Broadway show, and a Warner Brothers film. The spine–tingling tale of little Rhoda Penmark had a tremendous impact on the thriller genre and generated a whole perdurable crop of creepy kids. Today, The Bad Seed remains a masterpiece of suspense that's as chilling, intelligent, and timely as ever before."

So there you go, a few ideas. There are some other books I might also consider; The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon, Someone Like You by Roald Dahl, The Guardians by Andrew Pyper, etc. I've a few to choose from on my bookshelves. :)

Great Historical Events

In today's excerpt let's take a look at the First Prez of the US of A.

"The First President.

April 30. - Inauguration of George Washington as President, and John Adams as Vice-President.
John Carroll the first Catholic Bishop in the United States.
First Temperance Society formed in the United States by 200 farmers in Litchfield county, Connecticut.
1790. Laws passed - ordering a census to be taken; to provide for payment of foreign debts; naturalization law; patent law; copyright law; law defining treason and piracy; penalty for both, hanging; status of slavery question settled; State debts, etc.
Congress moved to Philadelphia.
District of Columbia ceded to the United States by Maryland, for the location of the National Government. Oct. 17 - 22. - Harmer defeated by the Indians on the Maumee in Indiana, near Fort Wayne. Gen. Harmer, with a force of 1453 men, attacked the Indians with small detachments of his force, and was twice defeated with great loss.
First rolling mill introduced into the United States.
April 17. - Death of Benjamin Franklin.
May 29. - death of Major-Gen. Israel Putnam at Brookline, Conn., aged 72 years. Gen. Putnam, although an illiterate man and a backwoodsman, was one of the bravest and most truly patriotic Generals in the American Army."

We move on to the first census and other things in the next excerpt.

Science of Common Things

Today's excerpt from Prof. L.G. Gorton discusses mirages.

"What is the mirage and what is its cause? Mirage is the appearance in the air of an erect or inverted image of some distant object which is itself invisible. It is most frequently seen on the water, where it is termed looming, but has also appeared to persons traveling through deserts with such vividness as to make them believe that they saw trees and springs before them in the distance. Captain Scoresby, while cruising in a whaling ship, recognized his father's vessel when distant from him more than thirty miles (and consequently below the horizon) by its inverted image in the air, though he did not previously know it was in that part of the ocean. Mirage is caused by the rays of light from the object being bent differently by different layers of the atmosphere until they are curved so as to strike the eye."

In the next excerpt from Prof. Gorton's scientific encyclopaedic knowledge, we cover twilight (no, not the movie) and sunsets, etc.

The Birth Date Thing 10 November 2011

US Billboard #1 Single 10 November 2011

Someone Like You by Adele. English singer / songwriter, Adele, is one of those artists known just by her first name, a true talent in the music business. Someone Like You was her second US #1 and her first UK #1. It was for her second studio album, 21 and was written by Adele and Dan Wilson of the band, Semisonic.

UK #1 Single 10 November 2011

Read All About It by Professor Green ft. Emeli Sandé. Stephen Paul Manderson, AKA Professor Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, etc. Read All About it was his first UK #1 single.

New York Times #1 Fiction Best Seller 10 November 2011

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. This is the 2nd novel by Nicholas Sparks to be #1 on my birthday, the last one being At First Sight in 2005. It was adapted into a film in 2014, starring James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan.









Pulitzer Prize Winner 2011

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. I've seen it, heard of it, but honestly have no idea what it's about. Part of me thinks it's about the Goon Squad show with Spike Milligan, but I also think that I'm so totally wrong about this. So let's look, eh?








"Jennifer Egan’s spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Although Bennie and Sasha never discover each other’s pasts, the reader does, in intimate detail, along with the secret lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs, over many years, in locales as varied as New York, San Francisco, Naples, and Africa."

So I was totally wrong..

Nobel Prize Laureate 2011

Tomas Transtromer (Sweden). Swedish poet and psychologist Transtromer lived from 1931 to 2015. He was awarded his Nobel Laureate 'because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.'

Hugo Award Winner 2011

Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis. Blackout / All Clear comprise two novels by American author, Connie Willis. They are the most recent of four books and a short story involving time travel from Oxford during the mid-21st century.








Edgar Award Winner 2011

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton. American crime writer Hamilton is one of only two mystery writers to win Edgar Award for both the best novel and best first novel. The Lock Artist was one of his four standalone mysteries. He is also known for his Alex McKnight series.









"Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do better than anyone else. Whether it's a locked door without a key, a padlock with no combination, or even an eight-hundred pound safe ... he can open them all.  It's an unforgivable talent. A talent that will make young Michael a hot commodity with the wrong people and, whether he likes it or not, push him ever close to a life of crime. Until he finally sees his chance to escape, and with one desperate gamble risks everything to come back home to the only person he ever loved, and to unlock the secret that has kept him silent for so long."

Man Booker Prize Winner 2011

The Sense of Ending by Julian Barnes. The Sense of Ending was British author Barnes's eleventh novel.
"The Sense of Ending is narrated by a retired man named Tony Webster, who recalls how he and his clique met Adrian Finn at school and vowed to remain friends for life. When the past catches up with Tony, he reflects on the paths he and his friends have taken."

It was adapted for a film by Ritesh Batra and had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. It stars Michelle Dockerey, Emily Mortimer and Jim Broadbent.
 

Giller Prize Winner 2011

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan. Esi Edugyan was born and raised in Calgary Alberta and raised by Ghanaian immigrant parents. Half-Blood Blues was her second novel.










"The book's dual narrative centers around Sidney "Sid" Griffiths, a journeyman jazz bassist. Griffiths' friend and bandmate, Hieronymus "Hiero" Falk, is caught on the wrong side of 1939 Nazi ideology, and is essentially lost to history. Some of his music does survive, however, and half a century later, fans of Falk discover his forgotten story."

So there you, something to chew on over the upcoming weekend. Have a great one!