Birthdays are better with books (part 8): Just in time for Halloween!

I love Halloween! I love the atmosphere, the way ordinary streetlights take on a pumpkin tinge, the way the grey clouds seem to hold hostage the light, the way black cats truly begin to slink and spiders come creeping indoors, knowing the cold is just behind. I love the smell and the texture of the fallen leaves, the dying colors that signal the shortening days ahead. I even love candy corn! As I write this afternoon, I have my Halloween playlist streaming into my ears, songs like Rush's "Witch Hunt," Chris de Burgh's "Spanish Train," and Alice Cooper's "He's Back (the man behind the mask)." And what would the festivities be without a book or ten? These are the seasonally appropriate titles living on my e-reader and nightstand.

My museum collection has wanted this title - focusing on famous bones, charnel houses and ossuaries - for a long time. This birthday season, my wonderful sister sent me a gift card to add it to my collection! I'll be rattling bones and turning pages this All Hallow's Eve!

If you've been keeping up with other posts, you know I have a predilection for predators. Considering all of the damage we've done to animals, I thought a book about their dark deeds and plots of revenge might make for some fun reading!

On that same theme, I discovered Animosity when I was doing research for a human-animals course I hope to teach someday. The premise is that animals gain sentience and start wreaking havoc on civilization. I've been disappointed in other "the animals awake" books, so I hope this one turns the tide on the theme!

Also in the graphic novel vein, I've been reading Scooby Apocalypse with equal parts delighted nostalgia and laughter. I'm looking forward to seeing the adventure continue in this second volume!

Feeling like I do about Scooby and company, I could hardly resist a book that claims to spoof the kids in the Mystery Machine! In this novel the Scooby-based gang are all grown up and dealing with the traumas of their pasts. Can't wait to see where it goes!

In a more serious vein (which may actually be scarier!) this book looks at the Salem Witch trials. I borrowed it from the library and fell so in love with the language that I had to own my own copy. Now I can wander back into the past at my leisure!

I usually avoid Patterson and his ilk (I can't trust someone who publishes that many books a year...) but I couldn't help be drawn back to the killer animal
motif! I am pairing his work with that of Luke Phillips, who writes about the "mystery cats" of Britain. His second work re-imagines the Tsavo lions and it's already on my Christmas list!

I know you aren't supposed to be taken in by covers, but the rainbow lines on this VHS style cover reminded me of those rare days when our local library would get in a copy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and I couldn't help but want to know more! I hope the text lives up to the cover art!

This is another one of those books I have wanted for a very long time. This birthday, mom sent me a gift card and I was finally able to add it to the list! It looks at the connection between our national past and our myths and fears. The writing reminds me of one of my favorite texts: Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads so I already have goosebumps!

I only really get into Batman when it focuses on the Joker, so I was excited to see this new series come out. It turns the tables and focuses on Joker as the Redeemer of Gotham and Batman as a pseudo-terrorist (he does cause a great deal of collateral damage!). Issue one was great (it played up the Batman/Joker relationship!) so I am excited to see how it develops!





And I can't conclude this post without recommending my favorite Halloween reads! If you haven't already given them a try, grab yourself a popcorn ball, pour some apple cider, and curl up with one of these!