Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

The author of Wolf in White Van is back with another creeping, psychological novel.  Jeremy Heldt is a post-high school graduate working in the Video Hut in Nevada, Iowa in the late 1990s. He knows his life is far from glamourous.  It’s just him and his dad since his mom passed away in a car accident six years ago.  He knows he should probably enroll in some classes at the local community college or at least look for a full-time job now that he’s out of school.   Things take an unusual turn when Stephanie Parsons returns a copy of a video and says “there’s something on this one.”  Jeremy forgets about it until the next day when another customer complains about a second tape being “taped over.”  After taking the second tape home to watch it, he decides it’s time to tell his boss, Sarah Jane about the strange tapes. She too takes one of the videos home and then forgets about it for weeks.  But once she watches it, she sees a familiar farm house that leads her to seek out the creator of the films. Stephanie and Jeremy begin their own investigations and the strange videos worm their way into each of their lives.

 John Darnielle claims that he is a man who loves loose ends.  This is true in that there are no nice neat answers in this book.  But the writing creates general feelings of unease and a drowning sense of memory to take the reader down paths of the past.  To a girl whose mother walked away when she five.  To a cultish church with vagrant followers.  To an old farmhouse where unsettling things were recorded and then expertly spliced into rental videos and then forgotten. Darnielle proves yet again that some of the creepiest stories aren’t really horrible at all.  They may only be vaguely menacing.  And that may be enough to make a book stick with you for a very long time. Check out Universal Harvester from the library today.

Snobs by Julian Fellowes

Many of you probably know that Julian Fellowes writes for the beloved English period drama Downton Abbey.  You may even know that he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film Gosford Park in 2002.  But did you know that he used to be an actor?  And that he's also a novelist?  His 2004 novel simply titled Snobs takes a look into a modern day Downton Abbey-type manor house.  But lest you think this book is all "Upstairs vs. Downstairs," let me assure you that it is not.  It is really about how the class system is very much alive and well in England to this day.  And how the aristocracy treats everyone else.  It is a comedy of manners- or perhaps, a lack-there-of.

Snobs is written mostly from the point of view of an actor who was born an aristocrat, and he tells the tale of Edith Lavery and the Broughtons, who hold the seat as to the Marquess of Uckfield.  Edith, who was brought up in an upper-middle class household by a mother who longed to be debutante, is a very attractive blonde who agrees to go along with her mother's plans for coming out and taking an active roll in London's debutante season.  Nearly nine years later, Edith is working a boring desk job and hasn't landed a rich husband- or any husband at all.  While visiting the friends in Sussex, Edith, our narrator and their host Isabel Easton, decide to take a public tour of the nearby manor house Broughton Hall.  The group run into one of the members of the family while on the tour and Charles Broughton (heir to the Marquess and one of England's most eligible bachelors) takes a shine to Edith.  Months later, the narrator and Edith are both invited to join the Eastons at Ascot in London.  The group run into Charles again and the Earl manages to convince Edith to join him for tea.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Charles eventually proposes to Edith and being the pragmatic individual that she is, Edith accepts.  But life as an Earl's wife is hardly what she imagined it would be.  First, there's Charles mother, Lady Uckfield (known affectionately by the ridiculous nickname "Googie"). Lady Uckfield probably hates Edith with a venomous passion but seeing as manners and decorum dictate that she act as if she love Edith, never shows her true feelings.  Googie knows that Edith is not a true aristocrat and that is the one failing that Edith can never make up no matter how hard she tries.  Edith is, and always will be, an outsider.  Then there's the fact that Charles, while a good, loyal, man is rather...boring.  And though Edith plays her part and immerses herself in running flower shows, working with local charities and enjoying life in a grand house, she finds herself to be very unhappy.

Almost a year into their marriage, the Broughtons decide to let a production company film a period drama on the estate.  Our narrator secures a role in the production and is there to witness Edith finally come off the rails.  Throwing all caution and common sense to the wind, Edith begins an affair with the film's handsome leading man, leaves Charles and sets up shop with her new lover in London.  Our poor narrator is then forced to become a sort of go-between for Edith and the Broughton family.

Snobs is a novel about the less glamorous side of the English elite and can be practically summed up in the following quote:

"The English, of all classes as it happens, are addicted to exclusivity.  Leave three Englishmen in a room and they will invent a rule that prevents a fourth joining them."

A delightful read for any who enjoy English history and culture.

Slimed! The Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age by Mathew Klickstein

Did you ever wish you could take the physical challenge to get out of a test? How about wishing for a best friend who would climb through your window? Do you still look above for the slime when someone says "I don't know?" Do you wish you could submit stories for the approval of the midnight society?

Now, you are either confused,or reliving some of the best TV memories from your childhood. If you picked the latter, then Slimed! is the book for you. Mathew Klickstein has gathered interviews from Nickelodeon executives, show runners and actors from the early days, meaning the 1980's and early 1990's. From the people trying to start a network for kids, to the teens starring in the shows, no one is left without a say. And no matter if you dreamed of winning big on Double Dare, or just wishing you could go to Camp Anawanna, no early show is left untouched.

This is definitely for those readers who remember the early days of Nickelodeon, however even if you caught the shows in re-run, or just want to know more about the early days of a growing television channel, Slimed is a must read!

Check out Slimed! @ the library!