Searching for Proof?

Well, you aren't going to find it. However, Roger Clarke's Ghosts, a natural history: 500 years of searching for proof, is a fascinating read. It's "a comprehensive, authoritative, and readable history of the evolution of the ghost in western culture, examinging the behavior of the subject in its preferred environment: the stories we tell each other." For me, it has always been about the stories. But here Clarke adds to the stories by revealing how they changed over time, what the real basis of the stories were, and really interesting how class status plays into the whole thing. Even though scientists or upper class people wanted to investigate, they didn't want other people to know of their interests. Whereas, with the middle class it was all out. What I found particularly fascinating was how much science was developed that we use today, that was originally invented to help prove or disprove ghosts! From NYTIMES REVIEW "Roger Clarke tells this and many other gloriously weird stories with real verve, and also a kind of narrative authority that tends to constrain the skeptical voice within". Just in time for next month BOOOOOOO!

Back to New Fiction

Big Shout out to our own Dr. Natalie Dutrow here-she recommended this book to me and I seriously loved it. Not only is Station 11 well written ( check out all the accolades) but it is so compelling I had to "sneak read" it all the time. The author, Emily St. John Mandel, developed ordinary people in an extraordinary circumstance. Perhaps it was so personally intriguing to me because it begins with an actor doing King Lear, my favorite Shakespeare. Lear is an excellent choice thematically as well so watch for that tie in throughout. It is a fast read, she does go back and forth in time but it is not difficult to keep straight. You will however, be much more appreciative of every little thing after you finish this work. Although it would be considered Science Fiction in genre, I find it difficult to define it that strictly. A pandemic has taken out 99% of the population. The story follows the traveling Orchestra which performs music and Shakespear in all the small communities that form after the event. "It is not enough, just to survive". This book is very readable for both teens and adults.It's paperback and published 2014.