How to be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books by Jolenta Greenberg & Kristen Meinzer

Jolenta and Kristen are the hosts of the funny and insightful podcast, By the Book.  In each episode, they read a chosen self-help book, spend two weeks living by the book’s guidelines, and then offer their opinions of the book’s premise.  When they had read and lived by 50 different books, they decided to write one of their own.  How to be Fine highlights what they learned from their experiment.  

Their book is divided into three sections: the good things they learned, the things that didn’t work at all or were actually harmful, and the advice they wish they had found in the book but did not.  Kristen and Jolenta are very candid in their critiques, pulling no punches when authors promote unhealthy ideas or perpetuate ugly stereotypes.  They are also very open about their own personal struggles and offer some excellent advice of their own about self-care.  

If you’re drawn to self-help titles, this is a great way to experience 50 books in one.  The authors distill the knowledge into the most important take-away ideas, while sharing their own experiences with a good deal of humor and compassion.

A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis

This book of short stories by Hugo Award winning author Connie Willis is sure to get you in the spirit of the season. She puts a fantastical spin on many cherished holiday traditions, from android Rockettes to high-tech decorations. Willis also pays homage to the classics, pondering what the ghosts from Dickens's A Christmas Carol do in a modern December, and presenting a Christmas mystery that takes cues from both Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. A couple of tales touch on the biblical story, including a trio of contemporary magi cruising the interstate, and a nativity lost in time. Willis' love of holiday movies is also on full display (are you team It's a Wonderful Life or team Miracle on 34th Street?). She even includes her personal advent calendar of movie suggestions.

The stories in A Lot Like Christmas are light fare with just a dash of science fiction and a healthy dose of humor; perfect for listening to while putting up decorations or baking cookies.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: And Other Questions About Dead Bodies by Caitlin Doughty

Author, blogger, YouTube personality, and (most importantly) mortician Caitlin Doughty has compiled a list of the best questions about death that she’s received from kids and answers them in this hilarious book. As a mortician with a degree in medieval history, she answers these questions with science and history in an easy-to-understand matter while touching on her "death positive" movement, in which she believes that we should stop the cultural censorship of death for the betterment of society. All of the odd questions you’ve ever had about death but were too afraid to ask will probably be answered, and if they’re not in this book, she has two others as well. What happens to a body in space? Can I have a Viking funeral? You’ll have to read the book to find out, but fair warning: you probably will laugh out loud!

Doughty narrates the audiobook of this and really brings the book to life. Emphasizing certain words in her sarcastic manner shows you that she’s kidding. Some of the humor may get a little lost in reading the book rather than listening, so if you’re reading it in print or e-book and are unsure--she’s probably kidding.

Devolution by Max Brooks

Amidst the settling ash and chaos following the eruption of Mount Rainier, there is a massacre of a nearby community. Built to be eco-friendly and self-sufficient, Greenloop is already considered “off-the-grid living,” but in the aftermath of the eruption, the tiny town is even more cut off from the rest of Washington. So when, fleeing the fires, a group of Bigfoot – that’s right, BIGFOOT – descend upon the community, all Hell breaks loose.

The whole book takes place after the massacre, and is written as a series of interviews with people connected to the event, along with excerpts from a diary found at the scene. The reporter is able to bring the whole story to life and recreate the gruesome events by blending the interviews and diaries together, along with some real-life accounts of primatologists and anthropologists, like Jane Goodall.

This is is a wonderfully terrifying read that will have you sleeping with the lights on and taking a second look at the treeline the next time you go camping. The audiobook version was spectacular, especially since it is narrated by multiple great voice actors, who do a tremendous job voicing the fear and the anxiety felt by the residents of Greenloop. It’s not like Max Brooks to write sequels, but the cliffhanger at the end of Devolution will leave you begging for a second book. As Halloween approaches, there is no more perfect, scary, “campfire-y” story you’d want to read or listen to than this book. 10 out of 10 on the “scare-the-****-out-of-you” scale!

The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

Spend Election Day with Marva and Duke in this young adult novel about the importance of casting your first vote. Marva has been looking forward to voting in her first General Election, since, well, forever. She is passionate about social justice and has worked hard canvassing and helping to get people to the polls. So when she sees Duke get turned away at her polling place, she considers it her civic duty to make sure his vote is counted. No matter what obstacles get thrown in their way.

This book tackles issues of voter suppression, being a Black teenager in America, grief, social justice, and privilege balanced by Duke and Marva’s developing romance, typical high school struggles, and Marva’s insta-famous cat. Especially recommended for people of all ages feeling burnt out by politics, as well as anyone who loves a cute, quirky rom-com!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This is the story of Nobody Owens (Bod, for short), whose family was killed when he was an infant.  After that early tragedy, Bod spends a relatively happy childhood in a neighboring graveyard with his new family of ghosts and other paranormal creatures.  They teach him the things he will need to function in the world of the living, as well as many of their own secrets.  Bod has many adventures and a few brushes with the danger; after all, not everything that lurks in the graveyard is friendly.  As he approaches adulthood, he will have to confront a very human threat-- the man that murdered his first family is still stalking him, and he will need the help of the graveyard denizens to defeat him.

Bod’s story is both scary and heartwarming, as his found family helps him to grow into a good man.  Neil Gaiman has said that he got the idea for the story while walking in a cemetery and wondering how Kipling’s classic, The Jungle Book, would have been different if set in a graveyard.  Winner of the Newbery Medal in 2009, this is a perfect tale for the Halloween season.

Absolute Carnage by Donny Cates

Someone is going around looking exactly like Eddie Brock, with a Venom-like suit, on a killing spree, taking out anyone who has ever called any of the various symbiotes their host. Though troubling for the world, it’s especially troubling for Eddie Brock, now wanted as a serial killer. Knowing well that the real perpetrator is Kleetus Cassidy, aka Carnage, Brock must team up with Spiderman and what few other heroes will believe he’s innocent, and put a stop to Carnage.

Though DC has more been known to utilize dark and gritty elements in their stories than Marvel, few characters get as twisted as Carnage, and his appearance here is no different. Absolute Carnage is a horror story; that much is obvious from its reliance on the literal dark, along with plenty of violent imagery, overwhelming odds, and a plot to summon an otherworldly abomination to Earth: the source of all of the symbiotes in the universe. Carnage’s ability to take over people’s minds and twist them to his goals adds to the overall sense that Absolute Carnage might have at least partially been inspired by the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, creator of the Cthulhu mythos. The story does suffer from relying on previous storylines, which causes it to lose some of its accessibility, but fans of Venom (and especially of his recent film) will enjoy this tale to thrill.