Ghost Under Foot:

Ghost Under Foot: The Spirit of Mary Bell A True Story of One Family's Haunting By: Kenneth W. Harmon

Non-fiction: Paranormal, 272 pages

Book Count: 41

I quickly picked up this book from the library with only a few minutes to run in and out, and so with a quick glance at the title, I was thinking that it was about the famous story of the Bell Witch, forgetting that the haunted family was named Bell and not the ghost.  But this is the story of a former police officer that becomes fixated on learning more about, and interacting with, the ghost of a young woman that died in the 1880's near his house.   He spends most every day since he finds that his house was haunted filming, taking pictures, trying to communicate with and researching the ghost.  I felt sorry for his family who all were to varying levels less enthused about having a ghost.  Also, according to this book once you die you can become a physic, time traveler, who sneaks into movie theaters.   At the end of the book were some questions that he asked the ghost after finding out that they have all these abilities.  The ghost of Mary Bell doesn’t believe in the existence of Bigfoot, Nessie, vampires, the Amityville Horror or evolution.   But she does believe in aliens, Atlantis, Spontaneous Human Combustion, and God.   Also even people that died a century ago think O.J. did it. 

Scooby-Doo and the Night of the Undead!:

Scooby-Doo and the Night of the Undead! By: Paul Kupperberg
Non-fiction: Manga/Graphic Novel, Mystery, Children's 23 pages

After read yesterday's book and this one, I checked the info in both books to see if they were even made by the same company or if there was a vast difference in the ages of the books.  While yesterday's book used old story lines and art styles and removed all mystery from a mystery series, this one had a plot line much like an episode of the show, a modern look and added a page of info on a mythic creature after each story.  It turns out they were both made by the same company and only a year apart.
This one has a story about zombies and swamp monsters.  The zombie story uses the virus reason for zombies and the swamp monster one references hurricane Katrina.

Scooby-Doo and Those Meddling Kids:

Scooby-Doo and Those Meddling Kids By: John Rozum
Non-fiction: Manga/Graphic novel, Mystery, Children's 23 pages

This book has two Scooby-Doo story lines in it.  One that seams to be taken directly from the old 1970's era show.  However, for some reason it is told in such a way that you know who the bad guy is right from the start.

Vader's Little Princess:

Vader's Little Princess By: Jeffrey Brown
Non-fiction: Manga/Graphic Novel, Humor, Pop Culture 64 pages
Book Count: 40

This is the sequel to Darth Vader and Son and is mostly about Darth with Lei.  Instead of just dealing with their relationship as a father and small child, this book starts with her being little as goes up into her teen-aged years.  It includes her dating Han and being a "rebel" teen.

Inherited Magic:

Inherited Magic By: Jennifer Mccullah
Fiction: YA, Paranormal, E-book

From the info at the end of this book it looks like this is book one in a series.  It is a story of a girl that on her 16th birthday starts getting weird visions of the future and things that are happening right then, but at other locations.  She of course hides this information from her grandmother, who she lives with as her mother is dead and her father is not in her life.  But like many YA books there is a ton of foreshadowing so you know that her grandmother already knows more about what is happening to her then she does.

Seven Ways to Die:

Seven Ways to Die By: William Diehl and Kenneth Atchity
Fiction: Mystery, Paranormal, E-book

This book has two interesting premises: one a person that can communicate with animals working as a detective in New York City, and two serial killer(s) who are killing people in a different way each time as well as making each murder look like the victim died from something besides the real cause of death.  In the actual book it came off as if one of the CSI shows was on HBO, lots of detailed info on forensics and then  unnecessary sex talk/scenes that besides reinforcing how big of a perv some characters are, do nothing for the plot.

The Basement:

The Basement By: Chad P. Brown

Fiction: Paranormal, Short Story, E-book

This story is your basic short horror story, girl goes into a haunted house where a murder took place on a dare, scary things happen.  

Saint Francis of Assisi: A Life Inspired:

Saint Francis of Assisi: A Life Inspired By: Wyatt North
Non-fiction: Biography, Religion, E-book

This is a short biography of St. Francis of Assisi with some info on St. Clair as well as how he influenced Pope Francis and others.  The parts that are a biography of Sts. Francis and Clair are okay, but very limited.  When not recounting the lives of St Francis and his companions the author's voice is overwhelming and preachy. For example, he spends almost more time telling us what he will talk about later then actually talking about a subject.

Halloween Is For Lovers:

Halloween Is For Lovers By: Nate Gubin
Fiction: Paranormal, Humor, Holiday, E-book

In a twist on the classic dead bride story, this is the story of a man that died on his wedding day.  He got cold feet and was going to run away to the west coast when he decided to turn his car back around and get married.  As he was hurrying back to the wedding he crashed his car and dies.  Now he is in the land of the dead in a pointless, boring job when he finds out that on Halloween night, as the veil between the living and the dead is weak, he might be able to go back to tell his ex-fiance that he loves her and he was coming back to her when he died.  

Diary of a Fairy Godmother:

Diary of a Fairy Godmother By: Esme Raji Codell
Fiction: Children's, Sci-fi/Fantasy, NYR 170 pages
Book Count: 39

Hunky Dory was going to be the wickedest witch wherever the four winds blow, and then she learned about fairy Godmothers and started wanting to grant wishes instead of give curses.  From there she goes on an adventure of self discovery that includes references to many of the fairy tales and stories about witches from around the world.  There is also a list of lessens from the school book that witches and fairy Godmothers use at the end of the book, a recipe, and a biography of books dealing with witches and fairy Godmothers.

Holidays in October-

(Not counting Halloween)

*Besides date in no particular order.

Month long:

National Pizza Month

National Popcorn Month

National Pork Month

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

National Dental Hygiene Month

National Diabetes Month

National Down Syndrome Awareness Month

National Infertility Awareness Month

National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

National Lupus Erythematosus Awareness Month

National Physical Therapy Month

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month

World Blindness Awareness Month

Polish American Heritage Month

LGBT History Month

National Arts & Humanities Month

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Pastor/Clergy Appreciation Month

Week Long:

Mental Illness Awareness Week

National Fire Prevention Week

Holidays:

October 1^st

                Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux)

October 2^nd

                Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi

                International Day of Non-Violence

                National Poetry Day

                Feast of the Guardia Angels

                Start of Haji

October 4^th             

                Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

                Yom Kipper

                Start of Eid ul Adha

                World Animal Day

October 5^th

                        International World Teachers' day

October 7^th

                        Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

October 9^th

                        Start of Sukkot

                Leif Erikson Day

October 13^th

                        Columbus Day

October 15^th

                        Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

                Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus (of Avila)

October 16^th

                        Shemini Atzeret

                World Food Day

October 17^th

                        Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch

                        Simchat Torah

October 18^th

                        Feast of St. Luke

October 23^rd

                        Mole Day

October 24^th

                        United Nations Day

October 27^th

                        Navy Day

October 28^th

                        Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude

October 29^th

                        National Frankenstein Day

October 30^th

                        National Candy Corn Day

October 31^st

                        Samhain

                Start of the Day of the Dead

Happy Month of Halloween!!

We at Weird News B.N.I. have decided that we will once again work on making the last three months of the year one great big Super Special Edition full of Holiday cheer, fear, and something that rhymes with cheer and fear and relates to Thanksgiving. . . beer?  Anyway, with Nanowritmo we aren't going to promise too much about Thanksgiving anyway, but for now happy month of Halloween!! (Which some people call October, even though it isn't the 8th month, thanks Caesars!)

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything:

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life By: James Martin, SJ
Non-fiction: religion 406 pages
Book Count: 38

This book is about the spiritual practices of the Jesuits and of course St. Ignatius of Loyola who founded the Jesuits.  It includes information on: the six paths to God, the examen, imaginative prayer/contemplation, lectio divina, centering prayer, the colloquy, how the vows that Jesuits (and other religious orders) take can be useful in anyone's' life, decision making methods, and the contemplative in action.  Peppered throughout the book are also a lot of stories about the author's life, the lives of people that he knows, and  famous Jesuits including a lot of ones about the first members of the society of Jesus. These stories are used as a way of showing how the ideas that he is talking about work in real life, or to give an example of some idea that he is talking about.  And of course there are a number of jokes about the Jesuits like every other book by the author that I have read.

No mid-month books:

FYI: For those of you that know my schedule you will understand that I have not finished any books in the last fortnight so I will have no post until later in the month (hopefully!)

Death Comes to Town:

Death Comes to Town By: K. J. Emrick
Fiction: Mystery, e- book

First, I have to say, if you can talk with dead people, I would think you wouldn't have such a hard time solving murders.  But that is apparently not the case as the main character in this book series can talk to the dead and have visions of what happened to them, but still can not solve the case any faster then non-physic detectives.
Besides her surprisingly unhelpful abilities this story is a normal cozy mystery about a book seller whose friend/ neighbor and ex were killed, and who fears that they are the next on the killers list.  And so they decide to find the killer before they find her.

Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War:

Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War By: Hal Vaughan
Non-fiction: Biography 222 pages
Book Count: 37

This book is a biography of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel dealing largely with her life as it related to WWII, a time that many of her other biographies gloss over. Most do this as she actively tried to hide her activities during the war after it and because many of the files and information about that time were lost, destroyed or ended up in the USSR after the war.   It turns out that the famous French fashion designer was also a spy for the Nazis during WWII.  Although the book points out in many spots that she was an extreme anti-Semite, which they claim is do to her religious upbringing with no reason given why she would be more an anti-Semite  then others with similar upbringing, her spying had little to do with her thoughts on the Nazis as a whole.  She did try to use the laws of France when under the German control to get control of her perfume business back, but that was due to a bad business deal and not because of the religion of the owners.  Largely she was a spy in order to help out her friends and family during the war and because her current lover at the time was a top level German spy.  Besides seeing a part of the life of a famous person that you would never expect, this book does a good job of showing how interconnected many of the top people on both sides of the war were with each other.

Manga and Philosophy:

Manga and Philosophy edited by: Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman
Non-fiction: Manga, Pop Culture, NYR 332 pages
Book Count: 36

Like other books in this series this book is a collection of essays on subjects relating to the title.  Some essays cover the world(s) made by a single manga artist. Some cover types of manga.  Some deal with themes in manga and how they relate to the culture and world that created them.  And some deal with other things that were in some ways connected with manga.  You start this book by reading a manga found in what would be the back of the book in American books, then you flip the book back over to read the essays.

Thoughts of the Cure D'Ars:

Thoughts of the Cure D'Ars By: St. John Vianney Compiled and Arranged by: W.M.B.
Non-fiction: Religion, NYR, 77 pages
Book Count: 35

This book is just a collection of short one the two line quotes from the various writings of St. John Vianney. The topics range from the love of God to not writing unnecessary letters to the editor.  And yes I did read this on the 4th.

The Autobiography of St. Ignatius:

 The Autobiography of St. Ignatius by: St. Ignatius as dictated to Fr. Louis Gonzalez S.J.  ed. by J. F. X. O'Conor, S.J.
Non-fiction: Biography, religion, e-book

Yes, Br. Summit, I did read this a couple of days ago, why do you ask?

This book is a rather short history of the life of St. Ignatius.  It includes major dates and places in his life, but do not include a lot of details on his spiritual life.  It does include details on all the times he tried to get the Spanish Inquisition and other courts to formally charge him with being a heretic, but they kept dropping/ ignoring the charges that people had. (The idea being that if there was an official court ruling that his spiritual exercises were not heretical there would be less rumors being spread around.  But, the idea of someone constantly trying to get the attention of the Spanish Inquisition is just humorous to us.)  It also includes after the book information on the history of the Jesuits in higher education.  (Which was not at all biased like it was written by a bunch of Jesuits. . . pay no attention to all of the S.J.s after people's names on the top of this post.)

The Everyday Catholic's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours:

The Everyday Catholic's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours By: Daria Sockey
Non-fiction: religion, NYR 115 pages
Book Count: 34

This book goes over the basic things you need to know in order to pray the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office.  (As for some reason both the book and digital forms of the breviary don't bother to include this information in them. The book forms even have other books to buy just to know where in the book you should be reading each day.)  It covers: what it is, why pray the hours, resources, a break down of the hours and seasons, and common issues and problems people have with this method of prayer.  As you can tell from the page count this book is a quick read, but it does a good job as a starting point and the listing of resources included is helpful for people that want more information.