Mark your calendars for the Friends of the O’Neal Library annual
book sale!The invitation-only Preview
Party takes place on Thursday, February 19th, then the sale is open
to the public Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.For more information about the Preview Party, click here https://oneallibrary.org/support-friends
The next Books & Beyond Discussion Club will be on
Tuesday, February 24th at 6:30pm.A slight venue change will be in effect as we’ll be meeting in the 2nd
floor Quiet Room.As always, if you’d
rather attend online, register an email address to receive a Zoom link: https://oneallibrary.org/support-friends
Enjoyable:
Golden Omegaverse duology by R. L. Randolph, Gold Rush and
Gold Mine
Gold Rush is book one in a why choose (MMMMF)
omegaverse duology set in the Golden Omegaverse. Part one ends on a
cliffhanger, June's happily ever after is guaranteed in part two.Juniper Walden has lived a life of
quiet obscurity as a Beta and romance author. When one of her novels gains
traction and she's suddenly trapped in a broken elevator with two strangers the
night before her UK book tour, she realizes her future might not be so
clear-cut.
The Poker Bride vividly reconstructs a lost
period of history when the first Chinese sojourners flooded into the country
and left only glimmering traces of their presence scattered across the American
West.
In the spring of 1848, rumors began to spread that gold had
been discovered in a remote spot in the Sacramento Valley. A year later,
newspaper headlines declared "Gold Fever!" as hundreds of thousands
of men and women borrowed money, quit their jobs, and allowed themselves- for
the first time ever-to imagine a future of ease and splendor. In The
Rush, Edward Dolnick brilliantly recounts their treacherous westward
journeys by wagon and on foot and takes us to the frenzied gold fields and the
rowdy cities that sprang from nothing to jam-packed chaos.
In 1897, gold fever sweeps the world. The promise of untold
riches lures thousands of dreamers from all walks of life on a perilous trek
toward fortune, failure—or death. Journey is an immersive
account of the adventures of four English aristocrats and their Irish servant
as they haul across cruel Canadian terrain toward the Klondike gold fields.
It's 1851, and Charlie and Eli Sisters are both brothers and
assassins, boys grown to men in a savage and hostile world. The Sisters
brothers find themselves on a journey through the Northwest, bringing them to
the mountains of Oregon, a dangerous brothel in the small town of Mayfield, and
eventually, the gold rush land of California -- an adventure that tests the
deadly family ties that bind.
In 1978 Canada, a bulldozer digs up a long-lost collection
of 533 nitrate film prints from the early 1900s. Streams free with a valid
library card for residents of cities that subscribe to Kanopy and/or Hoopla.Streams on Tubi with free account.
“A riveting feat of science writing that recasts that
most familiar of celestial objects into something eerily extraordinary, pivotal
to our history, and awesome in the original sense of the word.”—Ed Yong, New
York Times bestselling author of An Immense World
The National Book Award–winning epic chronicle of the
creation of the Panama Canal, a first-rate drama of the bold and brilliant
engineering feat that transformed global trade routes and shaped modern
American history, as told by Pulitzer Prize–winning author and master historian
David McCullough.
In the early 1900s, at the dawn of the “American Century,”
few knew the intoxicating power of greed better than white men on the forefront
of the black gold rush. When oil was discovered in Oklahoma, these counterfeit
tycoons impersonated, defrauded, and murdered Native property owners to snatch
up hundreds of acres of oil-rich land.
Writer and fourth-generation Oklahoman Russell Cobb sets the stage for one such
oilman’s chicanery: Tulsa entrepreneur Charles Page’s campaign for a young
Muscogee boy’s land in Creek County. Problem was, “Tommy Atkins,” the boy in
question, had died years prior—if he ever lived at all. Ghosts of Crook
County traces Tommy’s mythologized life through Page’s relentless
pursuit of his land.
Originally published in 1999, this hasn’t aged well. BAB
reader described it as “boring.”
“A hotbed of activity for far-sighted thinkers and determined doers, the high
technology industry has given rise to a pioneering group of entrepreneurs and
executives which is not only behind today's most innovative technological
advances, but at the forefront of a dynamic new movement in business.”
General Discussion:
CBS 42: “Alabama’s Gold Rush: A Tiny Town Once Worth
Millions”
A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction
that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how
through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in
determining humanity’s fate.
This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and
Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle
a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and
epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. The do the scientific
research, so you don’t have to.
BAB member (ME) shared information and a couple of published
articles about controversies surrounding fanfiction and current evolutions in
the subject.
In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck
called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it
has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of
California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the
intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose
generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous
rivalry of Cain and Abel.
In Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated
storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true
adventure as the paleontologists of the early 19th century puzzled their way
through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we kn ow today.
A rollicking debut novel about a cautious daughter and her
eccentric, estranged mother venturing west in search of buried treasure—and a
way back to each other—before they run out of patience, money, and options.
Seems loosely inspired by the real 2010 hunt for buried treasure as explored in
the Netflix docuseries, Gold & Greed: The Hunt for Fenn’s Treasure (An eccentric man named Forrest Fenn sets off a real-life
treasure hunt when he hides a chest of gold in the Rockies and leaves clues in
a cryptic poem. https://www.netflix.com/title/81636832)
Book and DVD descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten
Tomatoes.
The next Books & Beyond Discussion Group (BAB) meeting
will be Tuesday, January 27 at 6:30pm and the topic up for discussion is gold
rushes.Don’t get too bogged down in
what that means!If you’re looking for
ideas, click here to find the BAB area on our Shelf Care page to see some of the books out on
display at the 2nd floor service desk.
Last week, BAB met for our final chat of 2025 and there was
no assigned topic. I’m always surprised
and pleased at the great variety of information our members bring to the table!
As any reader or listener of murder mysteries can tell you,
poison is one of the most enduring—and popular—weapons of choice for a scheming
murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or
the handle of a door, even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly
do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the
damage they inflict? In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical
history, and true crime, Dr. Neil Bradbury explores this most morbidly
captivating method of murder from a cellular level.
The first in a series of outlandishly clever adventures
featuring the resourceful, fearless literary detective, Thursday Next. In
Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a
reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken
very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get
lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable
offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special
Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters
from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel,
Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy unites
intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.
Celebrating a new generation of bestselling and acclaimed
Black writers, The Black Girl Survives in This One makes space
for Black girls in horror. Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place
Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle
spirits, and face down death. Prepare to be terrified and left breathless by the
pieces in this anthology.
It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce
is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is
dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his
favorite criminal. But when Elizabeth meets Nick, a wedding guest asking for
her help, she finds the thrill of the chase is ignited once again. And when
Nick disappears without a trace, his cagey business partner becomes the gang’s
next stop. It seems the duo have something valuable—something worth killing
for.
December 1952. While the young Queen Elizabeth II
finds her feet as the new monarch, she must also find the right words to
continue the tradition of her late father’s Christmas Day radio broadcast. But
even traditions must evolve with the times, and the queen faces a postwar
Britain hungry for change.
As preparations begin for the royal Christmas at Sandringham
House in Norfolk, old friends—Jack Devereux and Olive Carter—are unexpectedly
reunited by the occasion. Olive, a single mother and aspiring reporter at the
BBC, leaps at the opportunity to cover the holiday celebration, but even a
chance encounter with the queen doesn’t go as planned and Olive wonders if she
will ever be taken seriously.
Jack, a recently widowed chef, reluctantly takes up a new
role in the royal kitchens at Sandringham. Lacking in purpose and direction,
Jack has abandoned his dream to have his own restaurant, but his talents are
soon noticed and while he might not believe in himself, others do, and a chance
encounter with an old friend helps to reignite the spark of his passion and
ambition. As Jack and Olive’s paths continue to cross over the
following five Christmases, they grow ever closer. Yet Olive carries the burden
of a heavy secret that threatens to destroy everything.
Christmas Day, December 1957. As the
nation eagerly awaits the Queen’s first televised Christmas speech, there is
one final gift for the Christmas season to deliver…
An enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous
wedding dresses of the twentieth century—Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown—and the
fascinating women who made it.
At Christmastime, the Sullivans are missing someone dear to
them ... until unexpected guests begin to arrive at their empty brownstone in
Harlem—and they keep coming. And they stay. For twelve long, hard, topsy-turvy,
messy days. But that’s when the Sullivans discover that the moments in life
that defy hope, expectation, or even imagination, might be the best gifts of
all.
Subscribe for weekly reading vlogs and seasonal living
inspiration in the English countryside. I especially enjoy reading golden age
mysteries, classic literature, vintage books and nature writing. Join me as I
share reading vlogs, literary adventures, book hauls and reviews.
Lords and Ladles feature three of Ireland's top chefs -
Derry Clarke, Catherine Fulvio and Paul Flynn - who are challenged to recreate
elaborate menus from different centuries in some of Ireland's grandest Country
Homes.
Ian Fleming. John le Carré. Len Deighton. Mick Herron. The
brilliant plotting of Herron’s twice CWA Dagger Award-winning Slough House
series of spy novels is matched only by his storytelling gift and an ear for
viciously funny political satire.
Crackling with the personalities, conflicts, and ambitions
that transformed the media from something that followed the news to something
that formed it, The Powers That Be is David Halberstam's
forceful account of the rise of modern media as an instrument of political
power, published here with a new introduction by the author.
Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon by Michael
Adams (not available in the JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)
In its seven years on television, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
has earned critical acclaim and a massive cult following among teen viewers.
One of the most distinguishing features of the program is the innovative way
the show's writers play with language: fabricating new words, morphing existing
ones, and throwing usage on its head. The result has been a strikingly resonant
lexicon that reflects the power of both youth culture and television in the
evolution of American slang. Using the show to illustrate how new slang is
formed, transformed, and transmitted, Slayer Slang is one of
those rare books that combines a serious explanation of a pop culture phenomena
with an engrossing read for fans of the show, word geeks, and language
professionals.
Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as
the Planner of Park Slope, designing custom journals for her New York City
clientele. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss.
Knowing the upcoming marriage of Reid Sutherland and his polished fiancée was
doomed to fail is one thing, but weaving a secret word of warning into their
wedding program is another. Meg may have thought no one would spot it, but she
hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid. A year later, Reid has
tracked Meg down to find out how she knew that his meticulously planned future
was about to implode.
Law & Order (tv show)
A BAB member reports that all 25 seasons have dropped for streaming on Hulu! Lives hang in the balance as detectives and prosecutors pursue justice in
New York City. In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious
and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects
until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds
a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of
the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place -- and keep
the worst offenders off the streets.
Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first
century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women
of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who
is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city;
and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish
history. Electrifying and ambitious, The Weight of Ink is
about women separated by centuries—and the choices and sacrifices they must
make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind.
Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is
a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an
acclaimed and beloved author. Called “a tour de force” by the San
Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing
journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew
manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain. When it falls to Hanna Heath, an
Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of
tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment,
wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock its deep
mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers
and ultranationalist fanatics.
When Eugenie Davies is killed by a driver on a quiet London
street, her death is clearly no accident. Someone struck her with a car and
then deliberately ran over her body before driving off, leaving nothing behind
but questions.
What brought Eugenie Davies to London on a rainy autumn night? Why was she
carrying the name of the man who found her body? Who among the many
acquaintances in her complicated and tragic life could have wanted her dead?
And could her murder have some connection to a twenty-eight-year-old musical
wunderkind, a virtuoso violinist who several months earlier suddenly and
inexplicably lost the ability to play a single note? For Detective Inspector
Thomas Lynley, whose own domestic life is about to change radically, these
questions are only the first in an investigation that leads him to walk a fine
line between personal loyalty and professional honor.
As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at
Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It
was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were
constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later,
Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the
first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand
just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest
of their time together.
For fans of Cloud Atlasand Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast
of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity
struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague—a daring and
deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new
voice.
Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair
become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future
without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by
Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience
with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely
revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold
the key to survival for the human race. Told with P. D. James’s trademark
suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The
Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future.
This prequel spinoff from the Yellowstone series follows an
earlier generation of The Duttons as they face a new set of challenges in the
early 20th century, including the rise of Western expansion, Prohibition, and
the Great Depression.
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole
weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change,
showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary
"backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most
astonishing national transformation in modern history.
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading
up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his
busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local
convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and
the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
Built on the testimony of those who worked in Ireland's
notorious Magdalene Laundries, this documentary tells the full, shocking story
of a shameful system, created by the Irish State but supported by all levels of
Irish society, which enslaved over 10,000 women for decades. The film bears
witness to the women's experiences in their own words, before during and after
their time in the laundries, and show how, even today, attempts are being made
to try to silence them. We examine not only why and how the Magdalene
phenomenon arose, but also how it was allowed to continue unchallenged for so
long. At every level - family, parish and state - Irish society, at best,
turned a blind eye; at worst, it supported, facilitated and even profited from
the operation of these institutions, while perpetuating the stigma and shame of
the women imprisoned there.
Journey with The Chieftains to the special places and people
of the home counties that formed the band’s musical soul. Derek Bell, Kevin
Conneff, Martin Fay, Sean Keane, Matt Molloy, and Paddy Moloney tell the tales
of their earliest memories of Irish music. Their thoughtful and often amusing
stories capture the emotion behind the scenes of every performance.
In 1974, while on the way home from a gig, the apolitical Irish
rock group, The Miami Showband, fell into the crosshairs of a Protestant
unionist paramilitary group that planted explosives on their bus when it was
stopped at a fake checkpoint.
A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a
woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she
became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
Bound by Jackson Avenue and Delachaise, Magazine, and
Tchoupitoulas streets, New Orleans’ Irish Channel is a quaint neighborhood
named in honor of the wave of Irish immigrants who first settled there in the
1830s. Then, it was known for its shotgun homes, working-class community, and
the ports and breweries where many residents worked. Today, the Irish Channel
remains a mainly residential neighborhood with a thriving brewery scene and a
number of local hangouts and restaurants.
Item descriptions pulled from Amazon, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB,
and Youtube.
The November meeting for Books & Beyond to chat about
forensics was a novel one for the group…we had a special guest, Dr. Greg Davis,
Chief Coroner/Medical Examiner for Jefferson County!
He shared aspects of his
education, career path, and job with us and it was fascinating!I asked him if there were any movies, tv
shows, books, etc. that got the job right, and he shared a few things.
Coroner to the Stars (2025) (I saw this film at this year's Sidewalk Film Festival in downtown Birmingham and loved it!)
Coroner to the Stars chronicles the extraordinary journey of
Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the former Los Angeles County Chief Medical
Examiner-Coroner whose groundbreaking autopsies forever shaped American
culture. From Marilyn Monroe and Robert Kennedy to Sharon Tate and Natalie
Wood, Noguchi's outspoken expertise pushed forensic science into the
spotlight-even as Hollywood elites and political adversaries sought to silence
him. A Japanese immigrant who unwittingly rose to fame in a city driven by
stardom, Noguchi's fearless pursuit of truth often placed him in the cross
hairs of controversy.
Ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) wants to have his
wealthy wife, Margot (Grace Kelly), murdered so he can get his hands on her
inheritance. When he discovers her affair with Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings),
he comes up with the perfect plan to kill her. He blackmails an old
acquaintance into carrying out the murder, but the carefully orchestrated
set-up goes awry, and Margot stays alive. Now Wendice must frantically scheme
to outwit the police and avoid having his plot detected.
M.A.S.H. (1970) (Dr. Davis specifically mentioned the
surgery scenes in this film as accurately reflecting a full and busy medical
examiners office.)
Based on the novel by Richard Hooker, M*A*S*H follows a
group of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital officers at they perform surgery and
pass the time just miles from the front lines of the Korean Conflict. Led by
Captains Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott
Gould), they add to the chaos and hilarity of the situation.
A few of our group members shared some titles, either in
the meeting during the discussion, or via email afterward.
A killer is stalking the streets of Richmond, Virginia. When
the bodies begin to mount, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is pulled into
a chilling investigation that blends high-stakes forensics with psychological
warfare. Armed with cutting-edge science and unflinching resolve, Scarpetta
must navigate hostile forces both inside and outside the investigation—because
someone isn’t just trying to hide the truth. They’re trying to kill her.
Adelia Aguilar is a rare thing in medieval Europe - a woman
who has trained as a doctor. Her specialty is the study of corpses, a skill
that must be concealed if she is to avoid accusations of witchcraft. But in
Cambridge a child has been murdered, others are disappearing, and King Henry
has called upon a renowned Italian investigator to find the killer - fast. What
the king gets is Adelia, his very own Mistress of the Art of Death.
An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the
strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers (some
willingly, some unwittingly) have been involved in science's boldest strides
and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden
the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the
authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight
800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender
reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making
history in their quiet way.
New York City, 1956: the city is reeling from a string
of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple
Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by
planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over
the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in
desperation to a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical
new technique: psychological profiling.
Christie wouldn't have talked of "forensics" as it
is understood today—most of her work predates the modern developments of
forensics science—but in each tale she harnesses the power of human
observation, ingenuity, and scientific developments of the era. A fascinating,
science-based deep dive, The Science of Murder examines the
use of fingerprints, firearms, handwriting, blood spatter analysis, toxicology,
and more in Christie's beloved works.
Autopsy
and dramatized reconstructions explore the deaths of King Charles II and
Queen Elizabeth I, examining the final days of these British monarchs
through a fusion of investigation and historical reenactment.
The
lives and deaths of King Charles II and Queen Elizabeth I are investigated
in this fusion of cold case investigation and lavish historical drama. A
modern day autopsy is conducted to help determine the cause of death of
these two key British monarchs while the final dying days are brought to
life in emotional dramatic reconstructions.
Frances Glessner Lee, born a socialite to a wealthy and
influential Chicago family in the 1870s, was never meant to have a career, let
alone one steeped in death and depravity. Yet she developed a fascination with
the investigation of violent crimes and made it her life's work. 18 Tiny
Deaths, by official biographer Bruce Goldfarb, delves into Lee's journey
from grandmother without a college degree to leading the scientific
investigation of unexpected death out of the dark confines of centuries-old
techniques and into the light of the modern day.
Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the
Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain
in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s and 1950s she built dollhouse crime
scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual
evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell
dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: pencils
write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crimes are revealed
to those who study the scenes carefully.
Corinne May Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into
every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly
miniatures, which present the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of
prostitution, alcoholism, and adultery. The accompanying line drawings,
specially prepared for this volume, highlight the noteworthy forensic evidence
in each case. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and
interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, presents a captivating
portrait of Lee.
John Waters narrates Susan Marks’ documentary film exploring
the field of murder-scene dioramas, and their originator, who intended them as
training tools for detectives in the 1930s and '40s.
The science of forensic entomology-the application of insect
biology to the investigation of crime-is extremely specialized, combining as it
does an expert knowledge of entomology with keen powers of observation and
deduction. Before his untimely death in 2002, Dr. Erzinclioglu had been a
practitioner for over twenty-five years and was involved in a great number of
investigations, including high-profile cases, where his evidence was critical
to the outcome.
A great admirer of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Erzinclioglu
compares his own techniques with those of his fictional hero, and takes the
reader behind the often gruesome but deeply fascinating scenes of a murder
investigation. This absorbing book ranges over cases from history, prehistory
and mythology to the present day and is as gripping and readable as a good
thriller.
In his classic thriller The Bone Collector, Jeffery Deaver
introduced readers to Lincoln Rhyme-the nation's most renowned investigator and
forensic detective. Now, a new killer inspired by the Bone Collector is on the loose and Rhyme must untangle the twisted web of clues before the
killer targets more victims-or Rhyme himself. The killer's methods are
terrifying. He stalks the basements and underground passageways of New York
City. He tattoos his victims' flesh with cryptic messages, using a tattoo gun
loaded with poison, resulting in an agonizing, painful death. When a connection
is made to the Bone Collector-the serial killer who terrorized New York more
than a decade ago-Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are immediately drawn into the
case.
Forensic pathologist Janis Amatuzio first began recording
the stories told to her by patients, police officers, and other doctors because
she felt that no one spoke for the dead. She believed the real experience of
death, namely the spiritual and otherworldly experiences of those near death
and their loved ones, was ignored by the medical professionals, who thought of
death as simply the cessation of breath. She knew there was more. From the
first experience of a patient in her care dying to the miraculous "appearances"
of loved ones after death, she began recording these experiences. Dr. Amatuzio
found that by telling the story of their death to a loved one, she could help
bring some sense of completion to the grieving family and friends. Written by a
scientist in approachable, nonjudgmental language for anyone who has lost
someone they love, this book offers stories that can't be explained in purely
physical terms.
Title descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.
The next Books & Beyond meeting will be on Tuesday,
November 25 at 6:30pm in the Library’s Conference Room.The topic up for discussion is forensic sciences.There are many topics within
forensics, but I have invited the Jefferson County Medical Examiner to the
meeting to speak about that aspect in particular.
In October, Books & Beyond met to chat about all things
horror. If you aren't ready to give up those spooky books quite yet, read on!
As Darryl Jones shows, the horror genre is huge. Ranging
from vampires, ghosts, and werewolves to mad scientists, Satanists, and
deranged serial killers, the cathartic release of scaring ourselves has made
its appearance in everything from Shakespearean tragedies to internet memes.
Exploring the key tropes of the genre, including its monsters, its
psychological chills, and its love affair with the macabre, this thematic history discusses why horror stories disturb us, and how
society responds to literary and film representations of the gruesome and
taboo.
After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of
matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a
restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama's Gulf Coast, where three
Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. A haunted house story unlike
any other, Michael McDowell's The Elementals (1981) is one of
the finest novels to come out of the horror publishing explosion of the 1970s
and '80s.
Frankie’s Funhouse: Animatronic Horror Romance by Beatrix Hollow (This title not available via the JCLC, but some of the author's other work is available on Hoopla)
Desperation for cash has led me down a rainbow painted
hallway to Frankie’s Funhouse—a children’s gambling casino. Or as my boss likes
to call it, a pizza arcade. The coworkers are strange, the patrons are
disturbing, and the animatronics are possessed. Which I was willing to put up
with until my boss died. Well, he was murdered, actually. Now I have to serve
pizza and birthday cake while thinking about burning down the mall to hide a
body for an animatronic that keeps hitting on me.
The Guy Sure Looks Like Plant Food to Me by Santana Knox (This title is not available via the JCLC, but it is on Amazon.)
This is a killer rom-com, feel-good, magical short
story homage to Little Shop of Horrors about fated love blooming in the most
unexpected of places.
After losing her job and her fiancé and moving back from the
city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the
sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig,
and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up.
Or maybe it’s Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy?
But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow—and Neve’s
secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower
shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . .
and he has a plan for them all.
When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan. comes to stay with his
uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle
Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both magicians! Lewis
is thrilled. At first, watchng magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with
magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman
named Selenna Izard. It seems that Selenna and her husband built a timepiece
into the walls--a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the
Barnavelts can stop it! Adapted to a movie, starring Jack Black as Uncle Jonathan.
Sure, Lily Gefelty is just an average twelve-year-old girl.
But her dad—a normal-enough-seeming guy—just so happens to work for an evil
genius who plans to unleash an army of extremely cranky, stilt-walking,
laser-beam-eyed whales upon the world.
When a young woman clears out her deceased grandmother’s
home in rural North Carolina, she finds long-hidden secrets about a strange
colony of beings in the woods.
In 1630 New England, panic and despair envelops a farmer,
his wife and their children when youngest son Samuel suddenly vanishes. The
family blames Thomasin, the oldest daughter who was watching the boy at the
time of his disappearance. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, twin siblings
Mercy and Jonas suspect Thomasin of witchcraft, testing the clan's faith,
loyalty and love to one another.
In 2016, a new exhibit on the work of visionary director
Guillermo del Toro debuted at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This book focuses
on del Toro’s creative process, including the well-defined themes that he
obsessively returns to in all his films, the journals in which he logs his
ideas, and the vast and inspiring collection of art and pop culture ephemera
that he has amassed at his private “man cave,” Bleak House. This book delivers
an engrossing look into the mind of one of the great creative visionaries of
our time.
After marrying the charming and seductive Sir Thomas Sharpe,
young Edith (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself swept away to his remote gothic
mansion in the English hills. Also living there is Lady Lucille, Thomas'
alluring sister and protector of her family's dark secrets. Able to communicate
with the dead, Edith tries to decipher the mystery behind the ghostly visions
that haunt her new home. As she comes closer to the truth, Edith may learn that
true monsters are made of flesh and blood.
Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a
broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions,
shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if
Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her
well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.
But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester.
Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His
wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies
lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is
he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection
she’s always yearned for.
With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist
sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless
tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t
stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love
triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?
When Lila Beauforte takes up residence in her ancestral
home, the 150-year-old Beauforte House in the Garden District of New Orleans,
she is terrified by ghostly apparitions. The family reluctantly calls Cree
Black for help. Based out of Seattle, Cree, a parapsychologist with a degree
from Harvard, is a "ghost buster." But as Cree gets closer to the
truth, the proverbial skeletons in the closet of the prestigious Beauforte
family come crashing down on her, and she must struggle to keep her own ghosts
at bay.
The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a
perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going
off the rails―the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the
local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself. Beautifully
unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the
classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly
inescapable bonds of family mythology.
Mercer Mann, a popular writer from Camino Island, is back on
the beach, marrying her boyfriend, Thomas, in a seaside ceremony. Bruce Cable,
infamous owner of Bay Books, performs the wedding. Afterward, Bruce tells
Mercer that he has stumbled upon an incredible story. Mercer desperately needs
an idea for her next novel, and Bruce now has one. The true story is about Dark
Isle, a sliver of a barrier island not far off the North Florida coast. It was
settled by freed slaves three hundred years ago, and their descendants lived
there until 1955, when the last one was forced to leave. Something about
the island seriously clouds the dollar signs in the developer’s eyes: the
island is cursed. It has remained uninhabited for nearly a century for some
very real and very troubling reasons. The deep secrets of the past are about to
collide with the enormous ambitions of the present, and the fate of Dark
Isle—and Camino Island, too—hangs in the balance.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
One of our members saw a fun (and funny!) production of
Dracula put on by the Bell Tower Players at East Lake United Methodist Church.
Find more information about their performances here: https://www.eastlakeunitedmethodist.org/btp/
We discussed a novel we couldn’t remember, told from
Bertha’s (Jane Eyre) perspective.Perhaps it is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys?
With Wide Sargasso Sea, her last
and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction’s most
fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane
Eyre. This mesmerizing work introduces us to Antoinette Cosway, a sensual
and protected young woman who is sold into marriage to the prideful Mr.
Rochester. Rhys portrays Cosway amidst a society so driven by hatred, so skewed
in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind.
If you want a long-term, self-paced fun deep dive into
literature, explore the Youtube channel of the Rosenbach Museum in
Philadelphia.There are multi-week,
multi-episode explorations of Dracula, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Pride &
Prejudice, and Sherlock Holmes.Explore
here: https://www.youtube.com/@RosenbachMuseum/playlists
We also discussed how sound effects and music are an
integral part of horror movies.Lots of
fun discussion on this topic!
Every Frame a Painting on Youtube is no longer active but
was a series of video essays about film form.The episode we discussed in the meeting was The Marvel Symphonic
Universe.Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs
Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meets Mitch Brenner (Rod
Taylor) in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. She brings
with her the gift of two love birds and they strike up a romance. One day birds
start attacking children at Mitch's sisters party. A huge assault starts on the
town by attacking birds. This was adapted from a short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife
Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden
next to the camp. This was adapted from a book of the same name by Martin Amis.
Soon after moving into a suburban tract home, Katie (Katie
Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become increasingly disturbed by what
appears to be a supernatural presence. Hoping to capture evidence of it on
film, they set up video cameras in the house but are not prepared for the
terrifying events that follow.
Item descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes. Photo by Stefano Pollio on Unsplash
"Misunderstanding has been a part of The Great Gatsby's story from the very start. Grumbling to his friend Edmund Wilson shortly after the novel was published in April 1925, Fitzgerald declared that "of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one had the slightest idea what the book was about". Fellow writers like Edith Wharton admired it plenty, but as the critic Maureen Corrigan relates in her book So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures, popular reviewers read it as crime fiction, and were decidedly underwhelmed by it at that. Fitzgerald's Latest A Dud, ran a headline in the New York World. The novel achieved only so-so sales, and by the time of the author's death in 1940, copies of a very modest second print run had long since been remaindered.
Gatsby's luck began to change when it was selected as a giveaway by the US military. With World War Two drawing to a close, almost 155,000 copies were distributed in a special Armed Services Edition, creating a new readership overnight. As the 1950s dawned, the flourishing of the American Dream quickened the novel's topicality, and by the 1960s, it was enshrined as a set text. It's since become such a potent force in pop culture that even those who've never read it feel as if they have, helped along, of course, by Hollywood."
For fans of The Grace Year and We Were Liars comes a mesmerizing, can't-put-it-down psychological thriller—a gender-flipped YA Great Gatsby that will linger long after the final line.
Prior takes readers on a guided tour through works of great
literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers
and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good
character and the good life.
A
collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s remarks on his craft, taken from his works
and letters to friends and colleagues—an essential trove of advice for aspiring
writers.
A cultural
historian, Batchelor explains why and how the novel has become part of the
fiber of the American ethos and an important tool in helping readers to better
comprehend their lives and the broader world around them.
Offering a
fresh perspective on what makes Gatsby great - and utterly unusual - So We
Read On takes us into archives, high school classrooms, and even out onto
the Long Island Sound to explore the novel's hidden depths.
Through
his alcoholism and her mental illness, his career lows and her institutional
confinement, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's devotion to each other endured for
over 22 years. Now, for the first time, we have the story of their love in the
couple's own letters.
Both a
literary study and a probing look at an iconic couple's psychological makeup, The
Gatsby Affair offers listeners a bold interpretation of how one of
America's greatest novels was influenced.
Fitzgerald
set his novel in 1922, and Careless People carefully reconstructs the
crucial months during which Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald returned to New York in
the autumn of 1922 - the parties, the drunken weekends at Great Neck, Long
Island, the drives back into the city to the jazz clubs and speakeasies, the
casual intersection of high society and organized crime, and the growth of
celebrity culture of which the Fitzgeralds themselves were the epitome.
The Great Gatsby is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum
opus, exploring themes of decadence, idealism, social stigmas, patriarchal
norms, and the deleterious effects of unencumbered wealth in capitalistic
society, set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.
Bestselling
author Jillian Cantor reimagines and expands on the literary classic in
this atmospheric historical novel told in three women’s alternating voices.
Iin 1939, Scott is living in Hollywood, a virulent alcoholic and deeply in debt. Despite his relationship with gossip columnist Sheila Graham, he remains fiercely loyal to Zelda. In an attempt to fuse together their fractured marriage, Scott arranges a trip to Cuba. After a disastrous first night in Havana, the couple runs off to a beach resort outside the city.
Montauk captures the glamour and extravagance of a
summer by the sea with the story of a woman torn between the life she chose and
the life she desires.
Working from diaries and other primary sources from the
time, Sally Koslow revisits a scandalous love affair in this compelling historical
novel saturated with the color, glitter, magic, and passion of 1930s Hollywood
and London.
In this poignant retelling of The Great Gatsby, set
amongst L.A.’s Black elite, a young veteran finds his way post-war, pulled into
a new world of tantalizing possibilities—and explosive tensions.
Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, Ernest
Hemingway and Hadley Richardson set sail for Paris, where they become the
golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that
includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Though
deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and
fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris.
A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art - as
well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby - Killing Commendatore is
a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.
A critically acclaimed novelist pulls Nick Carraway out of
the shadows and into the spotlight in this "masterful" look into his
life before Gatsby (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author)
While simultaneously remaining true to the original and
adding new information, Sternberg weaves Daisy's perspective and Nick
Carraway's account together, correcting what Daisy knows is inaccurate from her
cousin's novel.
From the number one New York Times best-selling
author, this is a
“sharply stylish” (Boston Globe) book about a young woman in post-Depression
era New York who suddenly finds herself thrust into high society.
Williams brings
the Roaring '20s brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively
listenable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York society, brimming
with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.
Deftly subverting romantic notions about money, power, and
freedom that still stand today, The Gatsby Gambit is a sparkling
homage to, and reinvention of, a world American readers have lionized for
generations.
A sparkling, escapist novel following a young woman entwined
in the opulent lives of her neighbors, set against a backdrop of scandal,
secrets, and a not-so-subtle love triangle.
Nghi Vo’s debut novel reinvents
a classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic,
mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.
film
There are two Great Gatsby films. Robert Redford starred in the 1974 version and Leonardo DiCaprio headlined the 2013 adaptation.
Lucas Schaefer, Scott Anderson, and Thao Lam are the winners
of this year’s Kirkus Prizes, given annually to works of exceptional merit in
the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature.
The winners of the awards were announced Wednesday night
during a ceremony at the TriBeca Rooftop in New York. The event was also livestreamed on
Kirkus’ YouTube channel.
Schaefer won the fiction prize for The Slip, his debut novel about the characters associated with an Austin,
Texas, boxing gym and a 16-year-old boy who goes missing. In a citation, the
prize jurors wrote, “This debut novel fearlessly explores issues of race,
class, sex, and gender through a wildly inventive group of characters and
events…Franzen/Roth/Irving comparisons are earned and deserved.”
The judges for the fiction award were Thérèse Purcell
Nielsen, a Kirkus reviewer and former public librarian; Oscar Villalon, a
journalist and editor of the literary journal ZYZZYVA; and Kirkus
fiction editor Laurie Muchnick.
Anderson took home the nonfiction award for King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation, a history of the 1979 revolution that forever changed
the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. “It’s a masterful and propulsive
account that chronicles a devastatingly transformative series of events whose
aftereffects reverberate to this day,” the judges said in a citation.
This year’s nonfiction jurors were Calvin Crosby, an owner
of the King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City and executive director of the
nonprofit Brain Food Books; Anita Felicelli, the books editor of Alta
Journal and author of the books Chimerica, Love
Songs for a Lost Continent, and How We Know Our Time Travelers;
and Kirkus nonfiction editor John McMurtrie.
Lam won in the young readers’ literature category for Everybelly,
her picture book about a young child who encounters neighbors of different
shapes and sizes at the local swimming pool. In the prize citation, the judges
said, “This joyful celebration of humanity springs to life through masterful,
vibrant collages and text that’s both poignant and witty.”
Judging this year’s young readers’ literature award were
Annette Y. Goldsmith, a librarian and co-founder of “Building a Global Youth
Literature Collection 101”; Erika Long, a librarian, lecturer, and
founder/consultant at Not Yo Mama’s Librarian, LLC; and Kirkus young readers’
editors Mahnaz Dar and Laura Simeon.
The winners of the prizes were chosen from books that
received a starred review from Kirkus during the eligibility period of November
1, 2024 to October 31, 2025: 383 fiction titles, 290 nonfiction titles, and 497
young readers’ titles. The winning authors each received a trophy created by
the London design team of Vezzini & Chen, along with a cash prize of
$50,000. In a statement, Tom Beer, the editor-in-chief of Kirkus,
said, “This year’s Kirkus Prize winners bring us vital messages for our
time—messages about the joys of community, the power of self-transformation,
and the mutability of historical events—all conveyed through exhilarating prose
and pictures.” The Kirkus Prize was first awarded in 2014. Previous winners
include Percival Everett for James, Brian Broome for Punch
Me Up to the Gods, and Harmony Becker for Himawari House.
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