'Fight Club', 'Survivor' Author Chuck Palahnuik

Author Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club, Survivor and Beyond Chuck Palahniuk (Ukranian, pronounced 'paula nick') author of Fight Club, Survivor, Rant, Choke, Lullaby and other brief one-word book titles, has earned high marks in literary circles. Read More

Medieval Mystery Books and Authors

Summer Recommended Reading: Medieval Mystery Books and Authors
With summer coming, it's time for bibliophiles to turn their thoughts toward recommended reading lists. Have you been immersed in required reading? Then you need some pleasure reads. How about medieval mysteries like these? Read More

Michigan Pirate Festival in Grand Haven

Ahoy Mates! Beware 'o pirates, but not just in the Caribbean. The 'Brethren of the Great Lakes' sail into Grand Haven for the annual Michigan Pirate Festival in mid August. Join Captain Rosabella, Jackie Sparrow and
Hookah Joe for pirate fun. Joining the aforementioned pirates are Captain Tom Parrothead, Sgt. Tom Osterberg and others cutlass carrying vagabonds. The Brethren of the Great Lakes and Michigan Pirate Festival home base will be Grand Haven's Loutit Library downtown for a week of activities, games, pirate stories, crafts beginning August. Read more...

Onomatopoeia in Works of Fiction: Dickens, Poe, Lewis Carrol

Onomatopoeia: Words that Name Sounds Onomatopoeia (ah-nuh-mah-tuh-pee-uh) is as much fun to say as it is to write. Onomatopoeia comes from the Greek words meaning 'name' and 'I make'. Onomatopoeia is a long word that means 'sound words'; words named for the sounds they make. Read More

Historical Fiction Reading For Tween and Teen Girls

Best Historical Fiction Books for Tween and Teenage Girls Historical fiction is becoming more popular with school aged girls. Here's a list based on my 20+ year teacher career, of the best historical fiction for tween and teenage girls. This list is not exclusively for girls, but girls may be more drawn to it. Read More

Best ABC Books to Teach Children the Alphabet

Best ABC Books to Teach Letters of the Alphabet to Children There are literally hundreds of ABC books to teach letters of the alphabet to children. Authors and illustrators across the genre spectrum have written ABC books for children. Here are my recommendations for best ABC books, based on words and pictures. Read More

Free Printable Tim Burton Alice In Wonderland Through the Looking Glass Disney crafts

Free Printable Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland 2010 Activities and Crafts
In 2010, director Tim Burton gave us his steampunk style vision of Alice in Wonderland, with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Anne Hathoway and Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red and White Queen. And now, oh frabjuous day, we get Alice in Wonderland 2 Through the Looking Glass on Memorial Day, 2016. Here are free printable crafts and activities from Disney movies, cartoon Alice in Wonderland coloring pages and images from Lewis Carroll books. Host your own Gothic Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Tea Party to celebrate Alice in Wonderland 2 Through the Looking Glass! Read More

'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; Dawn of the Dreadfuls' by Seth Grahame-Smith

'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls' Seth Grahame-Smith Tweaks Jane Austen Jane Austen may be the best loved regency female author. Although steeped in Gothic romanticism, Austen championed independent women. Seth Grahame-Smith fans the flame of feminism with hellfire in 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.' Read More

Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men- Gregory Maguire

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West: Gregory Maguire Book Series Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) Son of a Witch (2005) and A Lion Among Men (2008) are revisionist parallel novels by Gregory Maguire that explore the deeper, darker Wizard of Oz books. Note: Gregory Maguire's books contain very mature themes and are best read in high school classes.
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Best Vampire Movies for Twilight Lovers

Best Vampire Movies for Twilight Saga Lovers You bought, read and re-read all the Twilight series and saw both the series' movies. You've redone your room and wardrobe in Gothic vampire. What can you do till Eclipse comes out or Stephanie Meyer writes another book? Read More