review

… Captain Trips, a devastating flu virus that wipes out 99% of the American population? This marks the beginning of Stephen King’s epic fantasy/horror novel, The Stand, and let me tell you, this one is a doozy.

…the retro/modern casserole cookbook that has something for everyone? In The Casserole Queens Cookbook by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock, you will find retro 50’s casserole recipes that will have you drooling as you recreate these iconic classics.

… the classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Six or the Dinosaur Cookbook? Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores is just what the title suggests, a compilation of anecdotes collected by Jen Campbell from her own experiences and stories shared by booksellers around the world.

… the cute little baby chicks in the Children’s Department at the Waukegan Public Library? If you have already seen them, then The Natural History of the Chicken will be an extra treat. If you haven’t, you need to check out this DVD, ASAP.

… America being settled by witches? Born Wicked, the first book of Jessica Spotswood’s Cahill Witch Chronicles, is set at the end of the nineteenth century in an alternate history where America was founded by an organization of witches instead of pilgrims.

… chocolate being addictive? The Chocolate Moose Motive* by JoAnna Carl is as addictive as chocolate; you won’t be able to put this book down. Set in Michigan, this book has a little bit of something for everyone. Chocolate – lusciously described, so you’ll be drooling as you read. Murder – did the wife, the father, or the best friend do the dastardly deed?

… the wizards in London? No, this isn’t a new Harry Potter book. Ben Aaronovitch’s Midnight Riot* is set in modern England, but its magic is much darker and grittier, and somehow more realistic, than J. K. Rowling’s style.

… a very simple method to beat these hard economic times, called UWMW? In Money Secrets of the Amish, by Lorilee Craker, you can learn what not only the Amish, but millions of others already know. UWMW – Use it up, Wear it out, Make do or do Without. We waste a lot of money simply because we want instant gratification.

…the supernatural insurance company that uses death threats to coerce you into buying more insurance? Sounds a bit ridiculous, right? But in Bentley Little’s book, The Policy, this is an altogether believable and horrifying premise that plays upon our everyday, adult fears.

… the disfigured, grumpy guy who hates Christmas and doesn’t care much for chocolate either? In my book that would make him an alien, but in Loree Lough’s book, Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska,  you meet the grump himself, Bryce Stone, a former marine who was hurt during the Afghan was.