1990 adaptation of 'Lord of the Flies' varies from 1954 novel

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading Sir William Golding’s classic novel, “The Lord of the Flies,” and this afternoon, for the first time, I watched the 1990 film adaptation of the novel.
The 1990 movie, which starred Balthazar Getty in the lead role of Ralph, was actually the second film adaptation of the book. The first was released in 1963.
The 1990 movie was entertaining, but as you probably already imagined, it was somewhat different from the book, which was released in 1954.
The most obvious difference was the amount of profanity used in the movie, which seemed to be included to show just how far the boys had degenerated in the absence of adults. The novel included no profanity, as far as I can remember.
The movie also appears to be set during the late 1980s or early 1990s. During one scene, the boys briefly discuss what would be on television at that time of night and make a passing reference to the comedic sitcom “ALF,” which originally aired on NBC from 1986 to 1990.
Also, in the novel, the boys are British, and in the movie, they’re American. At the end of the novel, the boys are rescued by a British naval officer, who appears on the beach with a navy ship just off shore. In the movie, the boys are rescued by what appears to be a U.S. Marine Corps captain, who’s backed up by at least two modern helicopters.
Another big difference had to do with the presence of an adult, Captain Benson, who is initially marooned on the island with the boys. He appears to have been the pilot of the plane they were traveling in before it crashed in the ocean. Benson is injured and the boys try to care for him on the beach before he disappears into the island’s interior. He later appears as “the monster” when some of the boys explore a cave. Benson appears to be accidentally killed during this encounter with the boys, who treat the cave as off limits, thinking that there’s a monster inside. In the novel, the boys misinterpret a dead aviator who lands on the island after parachuting from a plane that’s been shot down. The plane is shot down some time, maybe weeks, after the boys become marooned on the island.
One of the best things about the movie was the casting of actors to play Piggy and the twins Sam and Eric. Danuel Pipoly was spot on as Piggy, and Andrew and Edward Taft were excellent choices as the two twins, who were such a big part of the story.
In the end, this movie was fun to watch, and I enjoyed making comparisons between it and the novel. Do any of you remember seeing this movie when it came out? What did you think about it? Let us know in the comments section below.

This week's list of new movies and new DVDs...

A few weeks ago, I started posting Publishers Weekly’s regular list of best-selling books to give readers a more contemporary, “what’s hot” recommended reading list.
That set me to wondering if I could do something similar each week with movies.
Tonight, I give you for the first time a list of the movies that will open in theatres this week and a list of movies that will be released this week on DVD. (If you’re like me, and quasi-addicted to NetFlix, then this will be a useful guide for what you need to add to your queue.)
Movies that are scheduled to hit theatres this Friday include:
1. Dinner for Schmucks (PG-13): Starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd.
2. Cats and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore (PG): Starring Chris O’Donnell.
3. Charlie St. Cloud (PG-13): Starring Kim Bassinger and Ray Liotta.
4. The Dry Land (R)
5. Get Low (PG-13): Starring Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray.
6. The Extra Man (Not Yet Rated): Starring Kevin Kline.
7. Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel (R): Starring Hugh Hefner.
8. Smash His Camera (Not Yet Rated)
New DVD releases for the week of July 27 include:
1. Clash of the Titans (PG-13): Starring Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes.
2. Repo Men (R): Starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker.
3. Accidents Happen
4. The Art of the Steal
5. Ip Man
6. Operation: Endgame
7. Vincere
In the end, let us know if you get a chance to watch any of the new movies in theatres this week or if you’ve already seen any of the movies that have just been released on DVD. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

The complete list of Sci-Fi novels by Philip K. Dick

On Saturday, I mentioned that I’ve been reading Philip K. Dick’s classic science fiction novel, “Blade Runner,” which is also known by the title of “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”. I followed that with a list of all of the novels that have won the Philip K. Dick Award, which has been given annually since Dick’s death in 1982. (The fact that there’s an award for best sci-fi novel given in Dick’s honor every year goes to show how influential he was in the field.)
Dick published 36 novels during his short lifetime, and many of his novels and short stories have been made into major motion pictures (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, etc., etc.).
Without further ado, here’s a complete list of Dick’s 36 published novels, in order of publication date:
- Gather Yourselves Together, 1950
- Voices from the Street, 1952
- Vulcan’s Hammer, 1953
- Dr. Futurity, 1953
- The Cosmic Puppets, 1953
- Solar Lottery, 1954
- Mary and the Giant, 1954
- The World Jones Made, 1954
- Eye in the Sky, 1955
- The Man Who Japed, 1955
- A Time for George Stavros, 1956
- Pilgrim on the Hill, 1956
- The Broken Bubble, 1956
- Puttering About in a Small Land, 1957
- Nicholas and the Higs, 1958
- Time Out of Joint, 1958
- In Milton Lumky Territory, 1958
- Confessions of a Crap Artist, 1959
- The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike, 1960
- Humpty Dumpty in Oakland, 1960
- The Man in the High Castle, 1961
- We Can Build You, 1962
- Martian Time-Slip, 1962
- Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb, 1963
- The Game-Players of Titan, 1963
- The Simulacra, 1963
- The Crack in Space, 1963
- Now Wait for Last Year, 1963
- Clans of the Alphane Moon, 1964
- The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, 1964
- The Zap Gun, 1964
- The Penultimate Truth, 1964
- Deus Irae, 1964
- The Unteleported Man, 1964
- The Ganymede Takeover, 1965
- Counter-Clock World, 1965
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, 1966
- Nick and the Glimmung, 1966
- Ubik, 1966
- Galactic Pot-Healer, 1968
- A Maze of Death, 1968
- Our Friends from Frolix 9, 1969
- Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, 1970
- A Scanner Darkly, 1973
- Radio Free Albemuth, 1976
- VALIS, 1978
- The Divine Invasion, 1980
- The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, 1981
In the end, I’d like to know if you’ve read any of these novels. If so, what did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

'Outside' magazine recommends five books this month

The August issue of “Outside” arrived at my house this afternoon, and, as always, I flipped immediately to the magazine’s monthly section on recently published (and recommended) books.
This month’s book section made mention of five books that are probably well worth the time it would take to read.
This month’s featured book is “The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival” by John Vaillant (Knopf, $27). This book reports the story of a multi-year hunt for a 500-pound, man-eating tiger that took place in Russia in the late 1990s. Brad Pitt has reportedly optioned the film rights to the story.
In the “Required Reading” section, the magazine’s editors recommended “No Way Down: Life and Death on K2” by New York Times staff writer Graham Bowley (Harper, $26). This book is billed as the definitive tale of “the August 2008 tragedy on Pakistan’s K2, during which missteps and a massive ice fall killed 11.”
Books reviewed in the “By Our Contributors” section included “Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life and Catching the Perfect Wave” by Peter Heller (Free Press, $15), Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth” by James M. Tabor (Random House, $27) and “The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam” by Eliza Griswold (Farrar, Straus and Girous, $27).
“Kook” is the story of a middle-aged man who takes a yearlong surfing trip down the Mexican coast. “Blind Descent” is about the competition between cave divers Bill Stone and Alexander Klimchouk. “The Tenth Parallel” documents the author’s travels from Nigeria to Indonesia.

Jack London wrote 23 novels during his life

I saw on Writer’s Almanac yesterday that it was on July 25, 1897 that 21-year-old Jack London set off for the Klondike Gold Rush.
“He developed scurvy and severe muscle pain, and he didn’t make any money,” the WA article said. “But he was inspired by the adventurous lifestyle and wrote about it. Five years later, his book ‘Call of the Wild’ made him suddenly famous.”
London, pictured at right, is one of my favorite authors, and I can hardly wait until my children get old enough for me to read his stories to them.
London’s most famous novels include “The Call of the Wild” (1903), “White Fang” (1906), “The Sea-Wolf” (1904), “The Iron Heel” (1908) and “Martin Eden” (1909).
In addition, he wrote 18 other novels, including:
- The Cruise of the Dazzler (1902)
- The Daughter of the Snows (1902)
- The Kempton-Wace Letters (1903)
- The Game (1905)
- Burning Daylight (1910)
- Lost Face (1910)
- Adventure (1911)
- The Scarlet Plague (1912)
- A Son of the Sun (1912)
- The Abysmal Brute (1913)
- The Valley of the Moon (1913)
- The Mutiny of the Elsinore (1914)
- The Star Rover (1915)
- The Little Lady of the Big House (1916)
- Jerry of the Islands (1917)
- Michael, Brother of Jerry (1917)
- Hearts of Three (1920)
- The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. (1963)
In the end, I’d be interested to know if any of you have had the chance to read any of these books. If so, what did you think of them? Which would you recommend?

Larsson takes top spot on hardcover fiction list

Another week has come and gone, and we’ve now got a fresh, new Publishers Weekly Best-Sellers List to enjoy. This week, Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” took over the first place spot in hardcover fiction, and Geneen Roth’s “Women, Food and God” assumed the top spot in hardcover nonfiction.
Here are the complete lists in both of those categories as well as the Top 15 best-sellers in the categories of mass market paperbacks and trade paperbacks. Enjoy.

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
2. "Fly Away Home: A Novel" by Jennifer Weiner (Atria)
3. "The Search" by Nora Roberts (Putnam)
4. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam/Amy Einhorn)
5. "Private" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown)
6. "Sizzling Sixteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's)
7. "The Glass Rainbow: A Dave Robicheaux Novel" by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
8. "The Overton Window" by Glenn Beck (Threshold Editions)
9. "Faithful Place: A Novel" by Tana French (Viking Adult)
10. "Live to Tell: A Detective D.D. Warren Novel" by Lisa Gardner (Bantam)
11. "The Passage" by Justin Cronin (Ballantine)
12. "The Lion" by Nelson DeMille (Grand Central Publishing)
13. "Foreign Influence: A Thriller" by Brad Thor (Atria)
14. "Ice Cold: A Rizzoli and Isles Novel" by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)
15. "The Island" by Elin Hilderbrand (L,B/Reagan Arthur Books)

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. "Women Food and God" by Geneen Roth (Scribner)
2. "The Obama Diaries" by Laura Ingraham (Threshold Editions)
3. "Sh t My Dad Says" by Justin Halpern (It Books)
4. "Medium Raw" by Anthony Bourdain (Ecco)
5. "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis (Norton)
6. "War" by Sebastian Junger (Twelve)
7. "Coming Back Stronger" by Drew Brees with Chris Fabry (Tyndale)
8. "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh (Business Plus)
9. "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang" by Chelsea Handler (Grand Central Publishing)
10. "Sliding into Home" by Kendra Wilkinson (Gallery)
11. "In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving" by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy with Sally Jenkins (Holt)
12. "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)
13. "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S.C. Gwynne (Scribner)
14. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch (Hyperion)
15. "Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life" by Sean Payton and Ellis Henican (New American Library)

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
2. "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
3. "Nine Dragons" by Michael Connelly (Vision)
4. "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks (Vision)
5. "Charlie St. Cloud" by Ben Sherwood (Bantam)
6. "Knockout" by Catherine Coulter (Jove)
7. "The Defector" by Daniel Silva (Signet)
8. "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's)
9. "The Neighbor" by Lisa Gardner (Bantam)
10. "Love in the Afternoon" by Lisa Kleypas (St. Martin's)
11. "Chains of Ice" by Christina Dodd (Signet)
12. "McKettricks of Texas: Austin" by Linda Lael Miller (HQN)
13. "Dead and Gone: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel) by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
14. "The Brazen Bride" by Stephanie Laurens (Avon)
15. "Game Over" by Fern Michaels (Zebra)

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
2. "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
3. "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin)
4. "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster)
5. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King (Pocket)
6. "One Day" by David Nicholls (Vintage)
7. "Best Friends Forever" by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press)
8. "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin (Penguin)
9. "Swimsuit" by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (Grand Central Publishing)
10. "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay (St. Martin's Griffin)
11. "The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel" by Garth Stein (Harper)
12. "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese (Vintage)
13. "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler (Gallery)
14. "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler (Vintage)
15. "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Awards?

For the past week or so, I’ve been reading Philip K. Dick’s science fiction classic, “Blade Runner,” aka, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.”
Dick, who died in 1982, is one of the most influential sci-fi writers of all time, and his books and stories are still very popular today.
The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society gives an annual award in Dick’s memory – The Philip K. Dick Award – to recognize the best original paperback published each year in the U.S. (Most of Dick’s books were published as paperback originals.)
The award was first given right after Dick’s death, and since then, a number of authors have received the award. Here’s the complete list of the winners:
1982 – Software by Rudy Rucker
1983 – The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
1984 – Neuromancer by William Gibson
1985 – Dinner at Deviant’s Palace by Tim Powers
1986 – Homunculus by James P. Blaylock
1987 – Strange Toys by Patricia Geary
1988 – 400 Billion Stars by Paul J. McAuley and Wetware by Rudy V.B. Rucker
1989 – Subterranean Gallery by Richard Paul Russo
1990 – Points of Departure by Pat Murphy
1991 – King of Morning, Queen of Day by Ian McDonald
1992 – Through the Heart by Richard Grant
1994 - Mysterium by Robert C. Wilson
1995 – Headcrash by Bruce Bethke
1996 – The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
1997 – The Troika by Stepan Chapman
1998 – 253: A Novel by Geoff Ryman
1999 – Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter
2000 – Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
2001 – Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo
2002 – The Mount: A Novel by Carol Emshwiller
2003 – Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
2004 – Life by Gwyneth A. Jones
2005 – War Surf by M.M. Buckner
2006 – Spin Control by Chris Moriarty
2007 – Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
2008 – Emissaries from the Dead by Adam-Troy Castro and Terminal Mind by David Walton
2009 – Bitter Angels by C.L. Anderson
The nominees for the 2010 award will be announced in January 2011.
In the end, how many of these books have you had a chance to read. (I’ve only read the 1984 winner, “Neuromancer” by William Gibson.) What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

'Eight-Legged Jaws' comes off the list

I scratched another Saturn Award winner for Best Horror Film off my list of movies to watch earlier today when I re-watched the 1989-1990 winner, “Arachnophobia.” (I’ve yet to figure out why there was a combined award for ’89 and ’90.)
“Arachnophobia,” or as I like to call it “The Eight-Legged Jaws Movie,” is about a small California town that becomes infested by a newly discovered and highly venomous spider from the Amazon. The movie stars Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. Daniels plays a big city doctor who has moved to the small town of Canaima, and Goodman plays a dimwitted exterminator who could pass for the brother of Bill Murray’s groundskeeper character in “Caddy Shack.”
This movie is interesting for a number of reasons. It was released in July 1990 and was the first movie released by Hollywood Pictures. Hollywood Pictures is a division of Disney that was created, so that Disney could release more adult-oriented movies.
The movie is also memorable for the hundreds of ugly, fierce looking spiders that appeared in the film. According to the Internet Movie Database, “the small spiders used in the film were Avondale spiders, a harmless species from New Zealand that were provided by Landcare Research in Auckland. Despite their fierce appearance, this spider is docile member of the crab-spider family and are, in fact, harmless to humans. They were not allowed back in New Zealand for quarantine reasons. The giant "spider" used in the film was a species of a bird-eating tarantula, which attains an 8-inch legspan or more. Those types of tarantula are not easy to handle and can give a nasty bite. The spiders in the film were managed and handled by famed entomologist, Steven R. Kutcher."
The movie’s title, “Arachnophobia,” is a reference to the fear of spiders, which is one of the most common phobias. While my wife may claim that I’m an arachnophobe, I say in my defense that I’m not afraid of them, I just have a healthy respect for them. I dislike them with a passion, but have no qualms about approaching them and “retiring” them with the quickness.
From here, it’s on to 1991 winner, “The Silence of the Lambs.” I’ve seen this movie before, but I’ll re-watch it just for the sake of this little project. I also have a copy of the book (written by Thomas Harris), so maybe this will inspire me to finally take the time to read the famous novel.

Sammy Davis Jr. as Beetlejuice would have been just plain weird

I scratched another Saturn Award winner for Best Horror Film off my list earlier tonight, and this time around it was 1988 winner, “Beetlejuice.”
This horror-comedy was released in March 1988 and stars Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Winona Ryder. It was directed by Tim Burton.
For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, it’s about a young married couple who are killed in a car wreck and return to their Connecticut home as a pair of ghosts. Their home is sold to a family from New York City, and the ghost couple decides to try to scare them away. They don’t have much luck, so they decided to call on Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetlejuice), a “bio-exorcist.” Betelgeuse turns out to be more trouble than the family New York, and the married ghosts end up having to figure out a way to send him back to where he came from.
I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of this movie. To me, it’s not very scary or funny. The special effects are too plastic and cartoonish for my taste, and the story is very predictable. It’s no where in the same league as other Saturn Award winners like “The Exorcist,” “The Wicker Man” or “The Lost Boys.”
To me, this movie’s one saving grace is the performance by Michael Keaton, who played Beetlejuice. It’s said that this is Keaton’s favorite role, but he only appears on screen for a little over 17 minutes of the movie’s 92-minute run time. He spent just two weeks filming his part in the movie.
Keaton initially turned the role down, but his manager convinced him to meet with Burton thanks to some behind the scenes work by producer, David Geffen. Interestingly, it’s said that Burton originally wanted Sammy Davis Jr. to play Beetlejuice, but studio execs shot down that idea. (Thank goodness!)
From here, it’s on to 1989/1990 winner, “Arachnophobia,” which stars Jeff Daniels and John Goodman.

Many similarites between 'LOST' and 'Lord of the Flies'

William Golding’s book “Lord of the Flies” is one of those books that has taunted me for years from its place on my bookcase.
I’ve owned a copy of it for a long time, and when it would catch my eye from its place on the shelf, it always seemed to say “What’s the matter, bookworm? You ever going to get around to reading me?”
I’m not sure what prompted me to pick it up last week, but I finally finished reading it a couple of days ago. As expected, it was extremely good and left me regretting that I’d waited so long to experience this classic.
For those of you unfamiliar with the book, it was first released in September 1954, and is the story of a small group of young British boys who survive an plane crash on a deserted island in the Pacific. At first, they elect a leader, but eventually split into two rival groups. The story ends as the stronger of the two groups sets fire to the small island in an effort to track down their former elected leader.
This book surprised me in many ways. First, I was very surprised by the strong supernatural and science fiction-esque elements to the story. The book’s title is a reference to the Greek word for Satan, and, in a way, the devil (or an imagined version of him) is one of the story’s central characters. The story also is thought to take place during a fictionalized World War III.
Secondly, I was very surprised by the many similarities between this book and the television series, “LOST.” I was a big fan of the show and like to think that I am moderatly well versed in the show’s mythos. Here are a few similarities between “LOST” and “Lord of the Flies” that I happened to catch.
- The book and the show center on a group of people who have survived a plane crash and are now marooned on an island in the Pacific.
- The island is inhabited by wild pigs in both the book and the show. Almost immediately, a single character emerges as a hunter (Jack in the book, John Locke on the show) and provides everyone else with meat.
- “Jack” is the name of one of the dominant characters in the book and on the show. In the book, Jack Merridew is one of the older boys and the first to kill a wild boar. On the show, Jack Shepard was a medical doctor who emerged as the show’s central character.
- In the book, after the boys split into two rival groups, Ralph, who is the book’s dominant character, refers to the other group as “The Others.” On the TV show, “The Others” is the name for the mysterious people who were already living on the island prior to the crash that started the series.
- In the book, the boys are scared of some unseen monster that they describe as being some sort of snake-like being. On the show, a giant, snake-like smoke monster inhabits the island and is one of the show’s central mysteries.
Those were just a few of the similarities that jumped right out at me on a first reading. Other fans of “LOST,” who have read “Lord of the Flies,” probably saw others.

National Geographic Traverler’s 'Around theWorld in 80 Books' - Part II

Yesterday, I gave you the first 30 books on National Geographic Traverler’s “Around theWorld in 80 Books” recommended reading list. For those of you who missed yesterday’s post, you might want to read it before reading today’s installment.
In creating this list of classic travel books, the magazine’s editors asked “dozens of travelers (writers, photographers, explorers, editors, and others) to name the books that have most enriched their senses of place and best informed their peregrinations.”
Here are selections 31-80:
31. A House in Bali by Colin McPhee
32. In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler’s Tale
33. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
34. In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
35. In Siberia by Colin Thubron
36. In Trouble Again: A Journey Between Orinoco and the Amazon
37. In Tuscany by Frances Mayes
38. Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman
39. Last Places: A Journey in the North
40. London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
41. Looking for Lovedu: A Woman’s Journey Through Africa by Ann Jones
42. Lords of the Atlas: The Rise and Fall of the House of Glaoua, 1893-1956 by Gavin Maxwell
43. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Bill Bryson
44. Motoring with Mohammed: Journey’s to Yemen and the Red Sea by Eric Hansen
45. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
46. Nomads of Niger by Carol Beckwith
47. Nothing to Declare: Memoris of a Woman Traveling Alone
48. Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart of Guns, Girls and Ganja by Amit Gilboa
49. Old Glory: A Voyage Down the Mississippi by Jonathan Raban
50. The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas by Paul Theroux
51. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
52. The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller
53. The Ponds of Kalambayi by Mike Tidwell
54. The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze and Back in Chinese Time by Simon Winchester
55. Road Fever: A High-Speed Travelogue
56. The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth
57. Roughing It by Mark Twain
58. Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
59. Sahara Unveiled: A Journey Across the Desert by William Langewiesche
60. Sea and Sardinia by D.H. Lawrence
61. Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
62. Serengeti: Natural Order on the African Plain by Chronicle Books LLC Staff
63. Slowly Down the Ganges by Eric Newby
64. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
65. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
66. South Southeast by Steve McCurry
67. Stranger in the Forest: A Foot Across Borneo by Eric Hansen
68. Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica by Sara Wheeler
69. 30 Days in Sydney: A Wildly Distorted Account by Peter Carey
70. This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland by Gretel Ehrlich
71. Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson
72. Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck (pictured above)
73. Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place by Mary Lee Settle
74. Two Towns in Provence by M.F.K. Fisher
75. An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot
76. The Valleys of the Assassins and Other Persian Travels by Freya Stark
77. Vanishing Breed: Photographs of the Cowboy and the West by William Albert Allard
78. Video Night in Kathmandu by Pico Iyer
79. West with the Night by Beryl Markham
80. Where Masks Still Dance: New Guinea by Meg Taylor
Of the above books, how many have you had a chance to read? What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

National Geographic Traveler’s 'Around the World in 80 Books' - Part I

Back on March 27, I gave you National Geographic’s list of 100 Best Adventure Books. A few days ago, a friend of mine e-mailed me a similar list, one called National Geographic Traveler’s “Around the World in 80 Books.”
In creating this list of classic travel books, the magazine’s editors asked “dozens of travelers (writers, photographers, explorers, editors, and others) to name the books that have most enriched their senses of place and best informed their peregrinations. Here are their choices."
1. Amsterdam by Geert Mak
2. Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa
3. Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger
4. Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez
5. Australian Colors: Images of the Outback by Bill Bachman
6. Bad Land: An American Romance by Jonathan Raban
7. Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History by Robert D. Kaplan
8. Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon
9. Brazilian Adventure by Peter Fleming
10. Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey by Isabel Fonseca
11. Chasing Monarchs: Migrating with the Butterflies of Passage by Robert Michael Pyle
12. City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple
13. Cold Beer and Crocodiles: A Bicycle Journey into Australia by Roff Smith
14. Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller
15. Coming into the Country by John McPhee
16. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz
17. Cuba by Elizabeth Newhouse
18. Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source of the Black Sea by Claudio Magris
19. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
20. The Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia by P.F. Kluge
21. The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar by Peter Tyson
22. The Flaneur: A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White
23. A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East by Tiziano Terzani
24. Full Circle: One Man’s Journey by Air, Train, Boat and Occasionally Very Sore Feet Around the 50,000 Miles of the Pacific Rim by Michael Palin
25. Galapagos: Islands Born of Fire by Tui De Roy
26. The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest by Timothy Egan
27. Heidi’s Alp: One Family’s Search for Storybook Europe by Christina Hardyment
28. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
29. Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey by Alison Wearing
30. Hong Kong by Jan Morris
And I’ll stop right there for tonight. Visit the blog tomorrow for the other 50 titles on this interesting list. Of the above books, how many have you had a chance to read? What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Two Saints books among Top 10 in hardcover nonfiction

As most regular visitors to this blog know, I’m a big fan of recommended reading lists. When you stop and think about it, one of the best recommended reading lists out there is updated and published every week: The Publishers Weekly Best-Sellers List.
This list is actually four separate lists, giving titles in four categories – hardcover fiction, hardcover nonfiction, mass market paperbacks and trade paperbacks. If I can remember to do so, I’ll try to publish these lists each week, hopefully on Sunday.
You really can’t go wrong with any of the books on this list. Their massive sales speak for themselves, and if they’re good enough to make this list, then they are probably well worth reading. Here’s this week’s list:

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "The Search" by Nora Roberts (Putnam)
2. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
3. "Private" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown)
4. "Sizzling Sixteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's)
5. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam/Amy Einhorn)
6. "The Overton Window" by Glenn Beck (Threshold Editions)
7. "The Passage" by Justin Cronin (Ballantine)
8. "Foreign Influence: A Thriller" by Brad Thor (Atria)
9. "The Lion" by Nelson DeMille (Grand Central Publishing)
10. "The Island" by Elin Hilderbrand (L,B/Reagan Arthur Books)
11. "Family Ties" by Danielle Steel (Delacorte)
12. "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" by David Mitchell (Random House)
13. "Ice Cold: A Rizzoli and Isles Novel" by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)
14. "Dead in the Family" by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
15. "Undead and Unfinished" by MaryJanice Davidson (Berkley)

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. "Sh*t My Dad Says" by Justin Halpern (It Books)
2. "Coming Back Stronger" by Drew Brees with Chris Fabry (Tyndale)
3. "Sliding into Home" by Kendra Wilkinson (Gallery)
4. "Women Food and God" by Geneen Roth (Scribner)
5. "Medium Raw" by Anthony Bourdain (Ecco)
6. "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh (Business Plus)
7. "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang" by Chelsea Handler (Grand Central Publishing)
8. "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis (Norton)
9. "War" by Sebastian Junger (Twelve)
10. "Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life" by Sean Payton and Ellis Henican (New American Library)
11. "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S.C. Gwynne (Scribner)
12. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch (Hyperion)
13. "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)
14. "Spoken from the Heart" by Laura Bush (Scribner)
15. "The Last Stand" by Nathaniel Philbrick (Viking)

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
2. "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
3. "Knockout" by Catherine Coulter (Jove)
4. "McKettricks of Texas: Austin" by Linda Lael Miller (HQN)
5. "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks (Vision)
6. "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's)
7. "Love in the Afternoon" by Lisa Kleypas (St. Martin's)
8. "Chains of Ice" by Christina Dodd (Signet)
9. "The Neighbor" by Lisa Gardner (Bantam)
10. "The Defector" by Daniel Silva (Signet)
11. "Charlie St. Cloud" by Ben Sherwood (Bantam)
12. "The Darkest Lie" by Gena showalter (HQN)
13. "Game Over" by Fern Michaels (Zebra)
14. "Bonds of Justice" by Nalini Singh (Berkley)
15. "In Other Worlds" by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Berkley)

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
2. "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
3. "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin)
4. "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster)
5. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King (Pocket)
6. "Swimsuit" by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (Grand Central Publishing)
7. "Best Friends Forever" by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press)
8. "One Day" by David Nicholls (Vintage)
9. "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin (Penguin)
10. "The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel" by Garth Stein (Harper)
11. "A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin)
12. "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese (Vintage)
13. "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler (Vintage)
14. "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler (Gallery)
15. "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)
In the end, have you had the chance to read any of these books? What did you think about them and which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Entertainment Weekly’s '20 Scariest Movies of All Time'

Over the past few months, I’ve written quite a bit about the Saturn Award winners for Best Horror Film. During that time, I’ve been trying to watch all of the winners, in order, and I’m about half way through.
A few days ago, someone shot me an e-mail that tipped me off to another cool “recommended viewing list” of horror movies: Entertainment Weekly’s “20 Scariest Movies of All Time.”
Here they are, in no particular order:
1. Carrie
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street
3. An American Werewolf in London
4. Evil Dead
5. Halloween
6. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
7. Jaws
8. Lost Highway
9. Night of the Living Dead
10. Poltergeist
11. Psycho
12. Rosemary’s Baby
13. Seven
14. Silence of the Lambs
15. The Exorcist
16. The Hitcher
17. The Omen
18. The Shining
19. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
20. The Thing
In the end, I’d be interested to know how many of these you’ve seen. What did you think about them and which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Alyssa Milano isn't in 'The Lost Boys'

I scratched another Saturn Award winner for Best Horror Film off my list yesterday, and this time it was the 1987 winner, “The Lost Boys.”
For me, this movie is one of my all-time favorites. I’ve seen the edited-for-TV version dozens of times, and if I’m flipping through the channels and find it on, I usually watch it all the way to the end. (Other movies that I do that with include “Jaws,” “Blade Runner,” “O, Brother. Where Art Thou?” and “Dumb and Dumber.”)
For those of you who’ve never seen “The Lost Boys,” it’s about two teenage brothers who move to Santa Carla, Calif. from Arizona. As they try to fit in to their new town, they soon realize that something’s not right. One thing leads to another, and they eventually find themselves up against a gang of teenage vampires.
This movie was released in July 1987 and features a number of well-known actors, including Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland. “The Lost Boys” was actually the first film that Haim and Feldman appeared in together and marked the start of a number of movies that featured “The Two Coreys.”
And, no, Alyssa Milano doesn’t play “Star” in “The Lost Boys.” That’s actually Jami Gertz, who would go on to star in “Twister” and appear in scores of sitcoms.
And, yes, that is Bill from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” in the role of young vampire, Marko. His real name is Alex Winter.
In the end, I enjoyed watching the theatrical release of this movie, which included a number of scenes that aren’t in the edited-for-TV version.
From here, it’s on to 1988 winner, “Beetlejuice,” which starred Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin and Winona Ryder.

Who can forget 'Brundlefly'?

I scratched another Saturn Award winner for Best Horror Film off my list today, and this time around, it was 1986 winner, “The Fly.”
“The Fly,” which starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, was a remake of the 1958 movie of the same name. I’ve never seen the 1958 version, but I’d seen the edited-for-TV version of the 1986 remake several times.
For those of you who have not seen the 1986 version, it’s about a brilliant scientist, who figures out how to teleport objects between two “telepods.” As you might imagine, such an invention would change the world forever, but there’s only one problem. At first, the scientist, Seth Brundle (played by Goldblum), can only teleport inanimate objects.
Brundle eventually works out how to teleport living objects, but not after a number of unsuccessful (and gross) mishaps with lab animals. One night, after he’s had a little too much wine and an argument with his journalist girlfriend, Brundle decides to test the teleporter on himself. Unfortunately for him, a fly buzzes into the telepod with him just before the door closes, and the computer fuses Brundle’s DNA with that of the fly. From there, things really go down hill as Brundle begins to slowly transform into a man-fly hybrid, which Brundle jokingly calls "Brundlefly." One top of all this, his girlfriend is pregnant with who knows what kind of mutant baby.
This movie was released in August 1986 and was a box office success. It was filmed for around $15 million and made over $60 million. Based on the 1957 short story by British writer George Langelaan, the movie was directed by David Cronenberg. (Cronenberg also directed 1983 Saturn Award winner, “The Dead Zone,” which I blogged about on June 22.)
In the end, I enjoyed rewatching “The Fly,” and I was pleased to read last week that it was announced last September that Cronenberg was planning to remake this film. Given the advances in special effects since 1986, the remake could be very, very cool.
From here, it’s on to 1987 Saturn Award winner, “The Lost Boys,” which happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies. I’ve seen the edited-for-TV version dozens of times, but I can’t say for sure that I’ve seen the theatrical version. Thanks to NetFlix, that’s about to change.

Bram Stoker Award winners for Best Novel

Back on April 29, I gave you one of my all-time favorite recommended reading lists: The Horror Writers Association (HWA) Reading List.
Tonight, I give you a list of all of the horror novels that have received the HWA’s annual Bram Stoker Award. Named for the author of “Dracula,” the Bram Stoker Award was first given in 1987. Awards are given in 12 categories, and any work of horror first published in English is eligible for nomination by HWA members.
Without further ado, here are the winners for best horror novel:
1987 (tie) – Misery by Stephen King
1987 (tie) – Swan Song by Robert McCammon
1988 – The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
1989 – Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
1990 – Mine by Robert McCammon
1991 - Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon
1992 – The Blood of the Lamb by Thomas F. Monteleone
1993 – The Throat by Peter Straub (pictured above)
1994 – Dead in the Water by Nancy Holder
1995 – Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates
1996 – The Green Mile by Stephen King
1997 – Children of the Dusk (Madagascar Manifesto Trilogy) by Janet Berliner
1998 – Bag of Bones by Stephen King
1999 – Mr. X by Peter Straub
2000 – The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon
2001 – American Gods by Neil Gaiman
2002 – The Night Class by Tom Piccirilli
2003 – Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub
2004 – In the Night Room by Peter Straub
2005 (tie) – Creepers by David Morrell
2005 (tie) – Dread In the Beast by Charlee Jacob
2006 – Lisey’s Story by Stephen King
2007 – The Missing by Sarah Langan
2008 – Duma Key by Stephen King
2009 – Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan
Stephen King, the greatest horror writer of our lifetimes, has won the award five times (1987, 1996, 1998, 2006 and 2008), more times than any other writer. King’s friend, Peter Straub, has won the award four times (1993, 1999, 2003 and 2004) and is one of only two authors to have won it back-to-back. Robert McCammon, whom I’ve never read, has won it three times (1987, 1990 and 1991) and is the only other writer to have won it twice in a row. Sarah Langan is the only other author to have won the award more than once (2007 and 2009).
In the end, I’d be interested to know which of these books you’ve had a chance to read. (I’ve italicized those that I’ve read.) What did you think about them and which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Is Sebastian Junger 'The New Hemingway'?

One of my favorite writers is 48-year-old Sebastian Junger, an author and journalist who is best known for his best-selling 1997 book, “The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea.”
Often touted as “The New Hemingway,” Junger, pictured at right, has contributed to scores of magazines over the years, but has only written a few books. Earlier today, I read a review in Outside Magazine of his latest book, “War,” in which he spent nearly a year imbedded with a U.S. Army platoon in the Korengal Valley of eastern Afghanistan.
Here’s a complete list of his books if you’re interested in reading them:
- The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (1997)
- A Death in Belmont (2006)
- Fire (2001)
- War (2010)
In the end, I’d like to know if any of you have ever read any of Junger’s books. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

The 10 Most Terrifying Places on Earth

One of my favorite Web sites is listverse.com, which features an interesting Top 10 list everyday. Not only does this fit in nicely with my natural pull towards best-of lists of all types, but I’ve found the content on the site to be very educational.
Listverse published a list a few days ago that was particularly good. It was called “10 Most Terrifying Places on Earth.” I’m reprinting the list here tonight in homage to my old buddy Robert Oswalt who recently moved to Kansas and now lives close to No. 8 on the list.
Here’s the complete list:
10. Riddle House (Palm Beach County, Fla.)
9. Helltown (formerly Boston Township in Summit County, Ohio)
8. Stull Cemetery (Stull, Kansas, see photo above)
7. The Ridges, aka, Athens Lunatic Asylum (Athens, Ohio)
6. Humberstone and LaNoria (Abandoned mining towns in Chile)
5. Byberry Mental Asylum, aka, Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry (Philadelphia, Penn.)
4. Leap Castle (Ireland)
3. Shades of Death Road (Rural New Jersey)
2. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly Khmer Rouge Security Prison 21 (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
1. The Mines of Paris (Paris, France, not to be confused with the more well-known Catacombs of Paris)
To read the complete article about these places visit: http://listverse.com/2010/07/07/10-most-terrifying-places-on-earth/. This is one of the more interesting lists they’ve published in a while.
In the end, have any of you ever been to these places? If so, what did you think about them and would you ever go back? Let us know in the comments section below.

MLA's '30 Books Every Adult Should Read Before They Die' (meant for yesterday)

This week has been a big one in Monroe County as the City of Monroeville and the Monroe County Heritage Museums celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“TKAM,” as it is acronimicably referred to by locals, was written by Monroeville native, Harper Lee.
Several years ago, Britian’s Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) selected “TKAM” as No. 1 on its list of “30 Books Every Adult Should Read Before They Die.” Here’s the complete list:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. The Bible
3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
4. 1984 by George Orwell
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
8. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
9. His Dark Materials by Philip Putnam
10. Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War
11. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
12. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
13. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
14. Tess of the d’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
15. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
16. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
17. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
18. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
19. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
20. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
21. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
22. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
23. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
24. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
25. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
26. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
27. Middlemarch by George Eliot
28. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
29. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
30. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
In the end, I’d be interested to know how many of these books you’ve read. What did you think about them and which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Men’s Journal '25 Best Beers In America' List

Tonight, I give you the Men’s Journal “25 Best Beers In America” list, which that magazine put together in June. Here’s what the editors of that magazine had to say about the list.
"We put this list together by gathering recommendations from the experts and carefully tasting case after case, on deadline. You, however, have all the Saturdays in the world. Think of this list as a scorecard, with points to debate and notes for inspiration. Which is to say, you’ve got some drinking to do."
Without further ado, here’s the list:
1. Firestone Walker Pale Ale
2. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
3. Stoudt’s Brewing Company’s Stoudt Pils
4. Russian River Brewing Company’s Temptation Ale
5. Avery Brewing Company’s Mephistopheles’ Stout
6. Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s Boont Amber Ale
7. Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Holy Moses White Ale
8. Full Sail Brewing’s Session Lager
9. Rogue Ales Brutal Bitter
10. Bell’s Brewery’s Expedition Stout
11. Southampton Ales and Lagers Double White
12. Smuttynose Brewing Company’s Big A IPA
13. Pennsylvania Brewing Company’s Penn Weizen
14. Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Burning River Pale Ale
15. Brewery Ommegang’s Hennepin
16. Boston Beer Company’s Samuel Adams Black Lager
17. Sprecher Brewing Company’s Sprecher Hefe Weiss
18. Alaskan Brewing Company’s Alaskan Amber
19. Deschutes Brewery’s Broken Top Bock
20. The Lost Abbey’s Avant Garde
21. Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales’ Bam Biere
22. Victory Brewing Company’s St. Victorious Doppelbock
23. Allagash Brewing Company’s Interlude
24. AleSmith Brewing Company’s AleSmith Speedway Stout
25. New Glarus Brewing Company’s Yokel
In the end, I’m pretty sure that I’ve never sampled any of these beers. How many have you tried? Which do you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

The rest of the 'Ghost Hunters' investigation sites

Yesterday, I gave you a list of the places that The Atlantic Paranormal Society investigated during its first two seasons on the air. Tonight, I give you the rest of the locations from seasons three through six. I’ve omitted the various private residences that they’ve investigated during that time.

Season Three:
- Bird Cage Theatre, Tombstone, Ariz.
- Copper Queen Hotel, Bisbee, Ariz.
- O.K. Corral, Tombstone, Ariz.
- West Virginia State Penitentiary, Moundsville, W.V.
- Bucksteep Manor, Washington, Mass.
- Leap Castle, County Offaly, Ireland
- Lisheen Ruins, County Offaly, Ireland
- Viaduct Tavern, London, England
- Hellfire Caves, Buckinghamshire, England
- Keffer Home, Chesapeake, Va.
- General Stanton Inn, Charlestown, R.I.
- USS Lexington, Corpus Christi, Texas
- Warwick City Hall, Warwick, R.I.
- Jim Henson Studios, Los Angeles, Calif.
- Northern State Hospital, Sedro-Woolley, Wash.
- Seattle Underground Tunnels, Seattle, Wash.
- The Presidio, San Francisco, Calif.
- Lullaby Lane Baby Store, San Bruno, Calif.
- Gibbons House, Sammamish, Wash.
- The Moore Theatre, Seattle, Wash.
- St. Matthew’s Church, Prosser, Wash.
- Sprague Mansion, Cranston, R.I.
- Lyceum Restaurant and Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, Mass.

Season Four:
- Fort Mifflin, Philadelphia, Penn.
- Burlington County Jail, Mount Holly, N.J.
- Clapp Memorial Library, Belchertown, Mass.
- The Cashtown Inn, Cashtown, Penn.
- Prospect Place, Trinway, Ohio
- Arnold House, Dayton, Ohio
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Building No. 70
- Ruffstone Tavern, North Providence, R.I.
- Mount Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, N.H.
- The Goldfield Hotel, Goldfield, Nev.
- Old Washoe Club, Virginia City, Nev.
- Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Weston, W.V.
- Palace Theater, Manchester, N.H.
- Colonial House Inn, Cape Cod, Mass.
- Moss Beach Distillery, Moss Beach, Calif.
- The Red Mill, Clinton, N.J.
- Proprietary House, Perth Amboy, N.J.
- Fort Delaware, Pea Patch Island, Del.
- Iron Island Museum, Buffalo, N.Y.
- Slater Mill, Pawtucket, R.I.
- Pettibone Tavern, Simsbury, Conn.
- Hoof Fin Feathers Carriage Inn, North Kingstown, R.I.
- Buffalo Central Terminal, Buffalo, N.Y.
- Seven Sisters Inn, Ocala, Fla.
- Renaissance Vinoy Resort, St. Petersburg, Fla.
- Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, La.
- The Winery at Marjim Manor, Appleton, N.Y.
- Theodore’s & Smith’s Blues Club and Pool Hall, Springfield, Mass.
- Leblanc House, Leominster, Mass.
- USS Hornet, Alameda, Calif.
- McKeeham House, Topsfield, Mass.
- Clovis Avenue Sanitarium, Clovis, Calif.
- The Windward Grille, Essex, Mass.
- Maritime Museum of San Diego ships, Star of India and Berkeley, San Diego, Calif.
- Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Castle, N.H.

Season Five:
- Hannum House, Glen Mills, Penn.
- Betsy Ross House, Philadelphia, Penn.
- Star Island, Portsmouth, N.H.
- Kimball Castle, Gilford, N.H.
- The Mount (Edith Wharton Estate), Lenox, Mass.
- The Cuban Club and Trelles Clinic, Ybor City, Fla.
- Belcourt Castle, Newport, R.I.
- Sacco’s Bowl-Haven, Somerville, Mass.
- Georgia Aquarium Titanic Exhibit, Atlanta, Ga.
- Gaither Plantation, Covington, Ga.
- The Spalding Inn, Whitefield, N.H.
- Essex County Sanitorium, Cedar Grove, N.J.
- Ladouceur House, Blackstone, Mass.
- Brentsville Historical Centre, William County, Va.
- Samuel Mudd House, Waldorf, Md.
- Edgewood Plantation, Charles City, Va.
- Thronbury Farm, Chadds Ford, Penn.
- Lee-Fendall House, Alexandria, Va.
- Essex County Jail, North Caldwell, N.J.
- Union County Courthouse, Elizabeth, N.J.
- MacNeil House, Hopkinton, N.H.
- Church of St. Andrews, Staten Island, N.Y.
- Benton House, Chicago, Ill.
- Isle of Pines, Thousand Islands, N.Y.
- USS Salem, Quincy, Mass.
- Cornwall Jail, Cornwall, Ontario
- Fort Henry, Kingston, Ontario
- Congress Theater, Chicago, Ill.
- Briarhurst Manor, Manitou Springs, Colo.
- Buffalo Bill Museum, Golden, Colo.
- Oakland Hall, Eatonton, Ga.
- Amos Blake House, Fitzwilliam, N.H.
- Arbona Building, Pensacola, Fla.
- Pensacola Lighthouse, Pensacola, Fla.
- Mark Twain House, Hartford, Conn.
- American Legion Post, Willow Grove, Penn.
- Lakehurst Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, N.J.

Season Six:
- Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, Calif.
- Fort Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga, N.Y.
- Paddy O’Reilly’s Pub, New York City
- Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Hartford, Conn.
- Absecon Lighthouse, Atlantic City, N.J.
- Stephen Crane House, Asbury Park, N.J.
- Southern Mansion, Cape May, N.J.
- Preston Castle, Ione, Calif.
- NJ Bar & Grille, Mine Hills, N.J.
- Orleans Inn, Orleans, Mass.
- Norwich State Hospital, Preston, Conn.

In the end, I’d be interested to know if any of you have ever been to any of these places. What did you think of them? Which would you recommend visiting? Let us know in the comments section below.

'Ghost Hunters' have put a lot of miles on their SUVs

One of my favorite television shows is the Syfy Channel’s show, “Ghost Hunters.”
And I’m not one of these johnny-come-lately fans either. I was sitting on my couch in my old house in Monroeville when the very first episode aired on Oct. 6, 2004.
I’m extremely skeptical when it comes to claims of the paranormal, but the show is very entertaining and its “stars” have collected some interesting evidence over the years.
One of the more interesting things about the show has to do with the locations that they’ve investigated. Sometimes, TAPS – short for The Atlantic Paranormal Society, which is based in Rhode Island – investigates places in their own backyard, and at other times, they travel across the country. (The spin-off show Ghost Hunters International even investigates places in other countries.)
Tonight, I give you a list of the places that the TAPS team has investigated during its first two seasons on the air. I’ll give you the rest of the locations from seasons three through six in the coming days. (I’ve omitted the various private residences they’ve investigated during that time.)
Season One:
- Mishler Theater and Railroad Museum, Altoona, Penn.
- Race Rock Lighthouse, New London, Conn.
- Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Penn.
- New Bedford Armory, New Bedford, Mass.
- Topton Tavern, Topton, Penn.
- New Boston Inn, Sandisfield, Mass.

Season Two:
- Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, La.
- Brennan’s Restaurant, New Orleans, La. (My wife and I actually met TAPS investigator Brian Harnois while they were shooting this episode in NO. See photo above.)
- USS North Carolina Museum, Wilmington, N.C.
- Mordecai House, Raleigh, N.C.
- Bradley Playhouse, Putnam, Conn.
- Harris Firehouse, Coventry, R.I.
- Ledge Lighthouse, New London, Conn.
- Merchants House Museum, New York City
- Tanguay House and Sutcliffe House, Springfield, Mass.
- Astor Mansion, Newport, R.I.
- Rolling Hills Asylum, Bethany, N.Y.
- Winchester House, San Jose, Calif.
- RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, Calif.
- Lizzie Borden’s House, Fall River, Mass.
- Mansfield Reformatory, Mansfield, Ohio
- Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs, Ark.
- Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Louisville, Ky.
- Palladium Theatre, Hollison, Mass.
- Valentown Museum, Canandaigua, N.Y.
- Willard Library, Evansville, N.Y.
- Hartford Conservatory, Hartford, Conn.
- St. Augustine Lighthouse, St. Augustine, Fla.
- Domani’s Restaurant, Roselle Park, N.J.
- Old St. Johns County Jail, St. Augustine, Fla.
- Stone Lion Inn, Guthrie, Okla.
- The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colo.
In the end, I’d be interested to know if any of you have ever been to any of these places. What did you think of them? Which would you recommend visiting? Let us know in the comments section below.

You too can be a Lovecraft scholar

H.P. Lovecraft is my favorite writer. I can remember reading him for the first time when I was in the fifth grade and came across a battered comic book version of his short story “The Outsider.” I’ve been hooked ever since.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lovecraft, he wrote horror stories and supernatural fiction for pulp magazines like “Weird Tales” during the 1920s and 1930s. He was largely unknown during his lifetime (1890-1937) and died at age 47 from stomach cancer. In all, he wrote three short novels and about 60 short stories.
A handful of influential writer friends kept his stories in print, and he would go on to heavily influence such modern writers as Stephen King. Today, there is an entire field of literary scholarship devoted to the study of Lovecraft’s supernatural fiction.
Earlier today, I finished reading “The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories.” This book was one of three Lovecraft story collections published by Penguin Books in 2004. (The other two were titled “The Thing on the Doorstep” and “The Call of Cthullu and Other Weird Stories.”)
“The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories” contains 21 of Lovecraft’s most popular stories. Stories in the book include “Polaris,” “The Doom That Came To Sarnath,” “The Terrible Old Man,” “The Tree,” “The Cats of Ulthar,” “From Beyond,” “The Nameless City,” “The Moon-Bog,” “The Other Gods,” “Hypnos,” “The Lurking Fear,” “The Unnamable,” “The Shunned House,” “The Horror at Red Hook,” “In the Vault,” “The Strange High House in the Mist,” “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” “The Silver Key,” Through the Gates of the Silver Key,” The Dreams in the Witch House” and “The Shadow Out of Time.”
Among these, my personal favorites include “The Lurking Fear,” “The Shunned House,” “The Horror at Red Hook,” “The Dreams in the Witch House” and “The Shadow Out of Time.”
This book also contained two Lovecraft stories that I'd never read before: “The Terrible Old Man” and “The Tree.” Lovecraft wrote “The Terrible Old Man” in January 1920, and it was published in the August 1926 edition of “Weird Tales.” “The Tree” was also written in early 1920 and was printed in the 1938 edition of “Weird Tales.”
Another highlight of the book is the insightful introduction by noted Lovecraft scholar and biographer, S.T. Joshi of Seattle, Washington. Joshi also wrote the intros to the other two Penguin Lovecraft collections.

How will 'Fright Night' remake stack up against '85 original?

I scratched another Saturn Award winner for Best Horror Film off my list earlier today when I re-watched 1985 winner, “Fright Night.” I’d seen this movie before, and about half way through, I began to wonder if I even actually had a copy of it here at the house somewhere.
For those of you who’ve never seen this movie, it’s about a teenager named Charlie Brewster, who comes to believe that a vampire has moved into the house next door. None of his family or friends – and later the police – believe him, so he takes it upon himself to rid the neighborhood of this creature of the night. He enlists the help of a late night character actor who plays a vampire hunter on television, and they end up having to save Brewster’s girlfriend, who’s fallen under the vampire’s spell.
This movie is very entertaining and very funny in parts. In many ways, its humor reminded me of 1981 Saturn winner, “A American Werewolf in London.”
“Fright Night” was released in August 1985 and was a surprise box office hit. Its domestic gross was almost $25 million, making it the second-highest grossing film of 1985 behind “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.” (Hmmm. I wonder why that movie didn’t win the Saturn that year.)
According to Wikipedia, it was announced last year that DreamWorks is remaking “Fright Night,” and this remake should appear in theatres in October 2011. Colin Farrell will play the vampire, and Anton Yelchin will play Charlie Brewster. It will be interesting to see how the remake stacks up against the original. I doubt that it will be as funny, but we’ll see.
In the end, I enjoyed rewatching “Fright Night,” and I’m now looking forward to seeing 1986 winner, “The Fly,” which starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.

Hawthorne finished six novels in his lifetime

I read on Writer’s Almanac this week that yesterday (Sunday) was Nathaniel Hawthorne’s birthday.
Hawthorne is probably best known for being the author of “The Scarlet Letter,” and his story, “Young Goodman Brown,” is one of my favorite short stories. Many of you will be familiar with “The Scarlet Letter,” which was made into a popular movie staring Demi Moore back in the 1990s. “The Scarlet Letter” is the story of Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her chest after she gives birth out of wedlock after an adulterous affair.
Hawthorne published six novels during his lifetime and wrote two unfinished novels. His finished novels included “The Scarlet Letter” (1850), “Fanshawe” (1828), “The House of the Seven Gables” (1851), “The Blithedale Romance” (1852), “The Marble Faun” (1860) and “Septimius Felton; or the Elixir of Life” (1872). His unfinished novels included “The Dolliver Romance” (1863) and “Doctor Grimshawe’s Secret: A Romance” (1882).
Many of us get our first dose of Hawthorne when we have to read one of his short stories in our high school literature classes. Some of his best known short stories include the following:
- My Kinsman, Major Molineux (1832)
- Young Goodman Brown (1835)
- The Gray Champion (1835)
- The White Old Maid (1835)
- Wakefield (1835)
- The Ambitious Guest (1835)
- The Minister’s Black Veil (1836)
- The Man of Adamant (1837)
- The Maypole of Merry Mount (1837)
- The Great Carbuncle (1837)
- Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment (1837)
- A Virtuoso’s Collection (1842)
- The Birth-Mark (1843)
- Egotism; of, The Bosom-Serpent (1843)
- The Artist of the Beautiful (1844)
- Rappaccini’s Daughter (1844)
- P.’s Correspondence 91845)
- Ethan Brand (1850)
- Feathertop (1852)
In the end, I’d be interested to know how many of these books or short stories you’ve read. Which did you like? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Most Significant Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, Part II

Last night, I gave you the first 25 books on a recommended reading list published in 2003 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club. That list was called “The Most Significant Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1935-2002,” and tonight, I give you the last 25 books on that list.
Here they are:
26. Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big by John Crowley
32. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
35. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld by Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon by Algis J. Budrys
41. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
49. Timescape by Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
Over the years, I’ve had a chance to read a number of the above books, and I’ve always wanted to read some of the others listed here. Which have you read? What did you think of them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Most Significant Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, Part I

I’ve been a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club for several years now, and I always enjoy reading the latest news about books of this type when their monthly newsletter (and order form) arrives in my mailbox at home.
Back in 2003, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club published a recommended reading list that they called “The Most Significant Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Last 50 years (1935-2002). Tonight, I give you the first 25 books on that list. Check the site tomorrow for books 26-50.
Here’s the first half of the list:
1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer by William Gibson
7. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom by Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight by James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Over the years, I’ve had a chance to read a number of the above books, and I’ve always wanted to read some of the others listed here. Which have you read? What did you think of them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Hemingway was in a class by himself

I read in this morning’s Mobile Press-Register that it was on this day in 1961 that author Ernest Hemingway shot himself to death at his home in Ketchum, Idaho.
There is no doubt that Hemingway was one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, and, all told, he wrote 10 novels, three of which were published after his death.
Hemingway’s novels include, in order of publication:
- The Torrents of Spring (1926)
- The Sun Also Rises (1926)
- A Farewell to Arms (1929)
- To Have and Have Not (1937)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)
- Across the River and Into the Trees (1950)
- The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
- Islands in the Stream (1970)
- The Garden of Eden (1986)
- True at First Light (1999)
Ten nonfiction books are attributed to Hemingway, and all but two of them were published after his death. They include:
- Death in the Afternoon (1932)
- Green Hills of Africa (1935)
- Hemingway: The Wild Years (1962)
- A Moveable Feast (1964)
- By-Line: Ernest Hemingway (1967)
- Ernest Hemingway: Cub Reporter (1970)
- Ernest Hemingway: Selected Letters, 1917-1961 (1981)
- The Dangerous Summer (1985)
- Dateline: Toronto (1985)
- Under Kilimanjaro (2005)
Hemingway’s short stories and other works are contained in a number of collections. Most notable of these is “The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway,” which was published by Scribner in 1987 and contains 49 of Hemingway’s stories plus a number of other works.
In the end, I’d like to know if you’ve read any of these books. What did you think about those that you’ve read? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Never cracked a skull like this before...

I sampled another of this month’s Great American Beer Club selections earlier this week, and this time around, it was Laughing Skull Amber Ale.
This month’s edition of “Beer Expeditions” described it as “one of the South’s favorite craft beers,” saying that it is a “full flavored amber with a crisp, clean finish. This brew has the full spectrum of flavors to delight all palates. Seven malts and two hops provide a firm but subtle finish. Suggested food pairings include BBQ chicken, fish and chips, fried chicken or the crowd’s favorite pizza.”
Brewed and bottled by the Atlanta Brewery, this beer comes in an interesting bottle. Feature a unique skull logo (pictured above), the label reads as follows:
Back from the dead and better than ever! Like a zombie that just won’t die, one of the South’s favorite craft beers is back. This newly reincarnated version of Laughing Skull is a full flavored Amber Ale with a crisp, clean finish that’s sure to clear out the cobwebs. So crack open a Skull. You’ll be glad you did.”