Book Recommendation Alert

Although I am constanly blathering on about some great book I have read, or heard about, or want to read, or saw reviewed, or found and bought, or found and need to buy, or need to find (or so people tell me), I really am reluctant to make generalized recommendations about what people should read. There are just too many books, too many types of readers, and different tastes to think that even a small portion of people will like the same book. And, of course, if I liked it that is likely to be the kiss of death for mass popularity. More likely the book is going to be some weird niche cult item with limited appeal. Mainly limited to me and other trashy/pulpy/mystery/science fiction/slipstream/literary type readers.

So it is with great trepidation that I am going to recommend a book to everyone for the holiday season. No! not a Christmas book. I mean the Halloween season.

I have an annual ritual that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys good stories. Autumn is my favorite time of the year, and every fall, I revisit The October Country by Ray Bradbury. In nineteen weirdly wonderful tales, a master of the short story captures that special place " . . .where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger and midnights stay." You will meet a dwarf obsessed with funhouse mirrors, a man afraid of his own skeleton, a man pursued by the wind, the Crowd that shows up to gawk at every accident, a mother convinced her newborn baby is trying to kill her and many others. Long after you have returned from The October Country, the chill will stay with you.