You are what you read

How much can you tell about people from the books they say influenced them most? According to the folks at Scholastic Publishing, quite a lot. Their newly launched site, You Are What You Read, was featured recently on ABC's Good Morning America (original video available here), and encourages users to to share their unique personal "bookprints" while checking out the bookprints of such celebrities as Taylor Swift, Bill Gates, and Daniel Radcliffe.

Share your bookprint with other Mastics-Moriches-Shirley community members through this blog! What books have influenced you?

Non-Spooky Ghost Stories

Who says that Halloween reading needs to be frightening and gory? Here are two former bestsellers narrated by the recently-departed, exploring the often taboo topics of death and the afterlife with curiosity and compassion.

The Lovely Bones (2002) by Alice Sebold

The spirit of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon describes her murder, her surprise at her new home in heaven, and her witness to her family's grief, efforts to find the killer, and attempts to come to terms with what has happened.





The Peony Pavilion (2007) by Lisa See
Peony, the cloistered daughter of a wealthy scholar in seventeenth-century China, returns after her death as a well-meaning ghost to haunt her former fiancé, who has married another.

Oh, the Horror!

Looking for some horror books to read this Halloween? Why not give the following a try:

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

Twenty-three interconnected stories chronicle the experiences of people who have answered an ad for an artist's retreat, believing that they will find a peaceful refuge in order to create their individual masterpieces, only to find themselves trapped in a cavernous old theater in which they are kept completely isolated.


Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose. . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.


Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last---revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door---a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .


The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (graphic novel)

Police officer Rick Grimes is shot on the job and wakes up a month later to find that the world that he knows is gone. Zombies have taken over and are killing and eating those who are still alive. He sets out toward Atlanta in the hope that his family is still alive and endures many horrors along the way.


The Terror by Dan Simmons

The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in.

Local History Extravaganza

On Sunday, November 21st, we invite you to join us for our third annual Local History Extravaganza, Our Community, The Way It Was. Back by popular demand, Ken Spooner, songwriter, author, historian and Mastic Beach native will conduct a program based on his newly published book, The Knapps Lived Here.

Journey back in time and relive the history of our community through stories, slides, photos and music. A question and answer period will follow. Don’t miss this great Local History Extravaganza. Refreshments will be served.

A collage of Local History photographs will be available for viewing.
Open to all.

Barnes & Nobles Launches Nook Kids


Barnes & Nobles is announcing the creation of Nook Kids, an e-book service geared to children ages 3-8. Your library offers a similar service, Tumblebooks---free of charge.