Top 5 Books with Thanks in the Title

Posted by Dana on 11.05.2010 at 11:56 am

No, no. Thank YOU.

Thanksgiving is one of those truly American holidays. It’s not just the history behind it, but the way we celebrate. Parades? Check. Long weekend? Check. Stuffing our faces with delicious food and wishing we’d worn pants with an elastic waistband? Check.

In the spirit of the season, we’ve got a collection of 5 unique books with Thanks or Thank You in the title. Think of it as one small way to keep things interesting as you stand in the security line at the airport or the line at the mall on Black Friday.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

Thanksgiving is the busiest travel holiday of the year, so who better to serve as your companion than the man who wrote the guidebook to traversing the galaxy? The fourth book in Doug Adams’ classic Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, finds Arthur Dent Back on Earth ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription, the mysterious disappearance of Earth’s dolphins, and the discovery of his battered copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy all conspire to give Arthur the sneaking suspicion that something otherworldly is indeed going on.

Thank You for Smoking: A Novel by Christopher Buckley

Think your family’s smoked turkey is the best around? Think again. Nobody blows smoke like Nick Naylor. He’s a spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies-in other words, a flack for cigarette companies, paid to promote their product on talk and news shows. The problem? He’s so good at his job, so effortlessly unethical, that he’s become a target for both anti-tobacco terrorists and for the FBI. In a country where half the people want to outlaw pleasure and the other want to sell you a disease, what will become of the original Puff Daddy?

Thank You, Jeeves (A Jeeves and Bertie Novel) by P. G. Wodehouse

Your Thanksgiving family drama has nothing on these Brits. Thank You, Jeeves contains four more antic selections from comic genius, P.G. Wodehouse. “A Damsel in Distress” is an early novel about the aristocratic Marshmoreton family-a precursor to the Blandings series. “Leave It to Psmith” is a comedy adventure involving crime and gunplay, and “Mulliner Nights” is a series of stories about the inimitable Mr. Mulliner. Meanwhile, Lord ‘Chuffy’ Chuffnell borrows the services of Jeeves in “Thank You, Jeeves.”

Kanye West Presents Thank You and You’re Welcome by Kanye West

I’m really happy for the other books on this list, and I’mma let them finish, but the oddest book with Thanks or Thank You in the title has to be this one by Kanye West. This book is a quick, visually appealing read that showcases Kanye’s trademark wit, confidence, and swagger (the same found in his lyrics), and shows readers the rules he played by to reach the top. Each tidbit is briefly explained, often with anecdotes from Kanye’s life. This is philosophy at its hippest and pithiest – and an absolute must-have for every Kanye fan. Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged Book Lists, As Hot as it was You Ought to Thank Me, Kanye West, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish, Thank You Death Robot, Thank You for Smoking, Thank You Jeeves

Better World Books Podcast: Daniel Pinchbeck

Posted by Dana on 10.30.2010 at 11:14 am

Daniel Pinchbeck is out there.  Maybe even way out there, depending on where you are, but he is also most definitely a man of action.  As a young man living in New York City and working as a journalist, Daniel faced what he calls a spiritual crisis.  Many people in his situation might have just weathered the storm, maybe taken up yoga or found a hobby like bungee jumping.  But not Daniel.  He wanted answers.

So he went on a journey – both physically and psychically.  The journey led him to Shamanism, psychedelic drugs, Mayan culture and more – and led him to believe (to know – in his words) that these things had meaning, were real and tangible and should and could be applied to the economic and environmental challenges of today . Read more…

Host Dana Barrett interviews Daniel Pinchbeck [ 28:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4904)

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, dana barrett, Daniel Pinchbeck, David Lynch, Ellen Page, Notes from the Edge Times, Sting

Spooky Book of the Day: October 30

Posted by Dana on 10.30.2010 at 9:58 am

We’re back to zombies for today’s pick from Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist:

HANDLING THE UNDEAD by John Ajvide Lindqvist

From the Publisher:

In his new novel, John Ajvide Lindqvist does for zombies what his previous novel, “Let the Right One In, “did for vampires.

Across Stockholm the power grid has gone crazy. In the morgue and in cemeteries, the recently deceased are waking up. One grandfather is alight with hope that his grandson will be returned, but one husband is aghast at what his adored wife has become.

A horror novel that transcends its genre by showing what the return of the dead might really mean to those who loved them.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, Handling the Undead, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Spooky Book of the Day

Spooky Book of the Day: October 29

Posted by Dana on 10.29.2010 at 3:42 pm

I’m going to admit it right up front… I judged this one by it’s cover.  Sounds like fun – creepy fun that is.

JOHN DIES AT THE END by David Wong

From the publisher:

David Wong has updated the Lovecraft tradition and infused it with humor that rather than lessening the horror, increases it dramatically. Every time I set the book down down, I was wary that something really was afoot, that there were creatures I couldn’t see, and that because I suspected this, I was next. Engaging, comic, and terrifying.

– Joe Garden, Features Editor, The Onion

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, David Wong, John Dies at the End, Spooky Book of the Day

Spooky Book of the Day: October 28

Posted by Dana on 10.28.2010 at 3:49 pm

Yup I’m going there.  I have to admit, I haven’t read the books yet, but I do watch True Blood on HBO.  So one of these days I’ll get to the books, and I plan to start at the beginning with this one:

DEAD UNTIL DARK by Charlaine Harris

From the publisher:

“New York Times”-bestselling author Harris has delighted fans with her mystery series featuring small-town waitress-turned-paranormal sleuth Sookie Stackhouse. “Dead Until Dark” is her first novel in the series.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark, Sookie Stackhouse, Spooky Book of the Day, True Blood

Spooky Book of the Day: October 27

Posted by Dana on 10.27.2010 at 2:17 pm

Going back to the classics again to really creep you out.  Warning:  DO NOT READ THIS BOOK ALONE… IN AN OLD, CREEPY HOUSE… WITH A STORM COMING… AND …. well, you get the idea.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson

From the publisher:

The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House” has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror.

It is the story of four seekers who arrive at the notoriously unfriendly Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powersaand soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, Shirley Jackson, Spooky Book of the Day, The Haunting of Hill House

Spooky Book of the Day: October 26

Posted by Dana on 10.26.2010 at 1:18 pm

Those of you who think pictures go with words like cream goes with coffee or white goes with rice will enjoy today’s Spooky Book of the Day:

FOUR COLOR FEAR: FORGOTTEN HORROR COMICS OF THE 1950′S by Greg Sadowski and John Benson

From the publisher:

Of the myriad genres comic books ventured into during its golden age, none was as controversial as or came at a greater cost than horror; the public outrage it incited almost destroyed the entire industry. Yet before the watchdog groups and Congress could intercede, horror books were flying off the newsstands.

During its peak period (1951-54) over fifty titles appeared each month. Apparently there was something perversely irresistible about these graphic excursions into our dark side, and Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single robust and affordable volume. EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror; its complete line has been reprinted numerous times, and deservedly so. But to the average reader there remain unseen quite a batch of genuinely disturbing, compulsive, imaginative, at times even touching, horror stories presented from a variety of visions and perspectives, many of which at their best can stand toe to toe with EC.

All of the better horror companies are represented: Ajax-Farrell, Atlas, Avon, Charlton, Comic Media, Fawcett, Fiction House, Gilmor, Harvey, Quality, Standard, St. John, Story, Superior, Trojan, and Youthful. Artist perennials Jack Cole, Steve Ditko, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Basil Wolverton, and Wallace Wood con- tribute both stories and covers, with many of the forty full-sized covers created by specialists Bernard Baily, L.B. Cole, William Eckgren, and Matt Fox. Editors Benson and Sadowski have sifted through hundreds of rare books to cherry-pick the most compelling scripts and art, and they provide extensive background notes on the artists, writers, and companies involved in their creation.

Digital restoration has been performed with subtlety and restraint, mainly to correct registration and printing errors, with every effort made to retain the flavor of the original comics, and to provide the reader the experience of finding in the attic a bound volume of the finest non-EC horror covers and stories of the pre-code era.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, Four Color Fear, Greg Sadowski, Spooky Book of the Day

Spooky Book of the Day: October 25

Posted by Dana on 10.25.2010 at 1:05 pm

I know, I know – if you’re doing spooky, you have to include Dean Koontz.  But here’s the thing people – there are tons of great spooky books out there and tons of well loved spooky book authors… and I can only do one a day… so sue me.  Today, finally… I bring you Dean Koontz:

PRODIGAL SON by Dean Koontz

From the publisher:

From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the legend, you know only half the truth.

Every city has its secrets. But none as terrible as this. He is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who has traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death.

He arrives in New Orleans as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Deucalion’s path will lead him to cool, tough police detective Carson O’Connor and her devoted partner, Michael Maddison, who are tracking the slayer but will soon discover signs of something far more terrifying: an entire “race” of killers who are much more-and less-than human and, deadliest of all, their deranged, near-immortal maker: Victor Helios-once known as Frankenstein.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, Dean Koontz, Frankenstein, Prodigal Son, S, Spooky Book of the Month

Spooky Book of the Day: October 24

Posted by Dana on 10.24.2010 at 10:04 am

Who doesn’t love Roald Dahl?  Well apparently he was as into the spooky stuff as we are.  He read over 700 stories in order to pick the spookiest 14 featured in this book!

ROALD DAHL’S BOOK OF GHOST STORIES

From the Publisher:

Who better to investigate the literary spirit world than that supreme connoisseur of the unexpected, Roald Dahl? Of the many permutations of the macabre or bizarre, Dahl was always especially fascinated by the classic ghost story. As he relates in the erudite introduction to this volume, he read some 749 supernatural tales at the British Museum Library before selecting the 14 that comprise this anthology. “Spookiness is, after all, the real purpose of the ghost story,” Dahl writes. “It should give you the creeps and disturb your thoughts.” For this superbly disquieting collection, Dahl offers favorite tales by such masterful storytellers as E. F. Benson, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Rosemary Timperley, and Edith Wharton.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, roald dahl, Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories, Spooky Book of the Day

Spooky Book of the Day: October 23

Posted by Dana on 10.23.2010 at 10:23 pm

Today’s pick just came out at the end of August and is getting great reviews for being a “literary/horror mashup that is unsettlingly good.”—USA Today

THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS by Alden Bell

From the publisher:

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can’t remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, Alden Bell, Spooky Book of the Day, The Reapers are the Angels