Jill Martinson

Beckoning all Halloween and fright fans! If you’re hosting or attending a party this year, it’s the perfect time to start looking for recipes, crafts, and decorating ideas that will help set the ultimate eerie ambience. The following books will spark your creativity and give you plenty of ideas for a dreadfully good time.

Based on the popular movie, “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Cookbook & Entertaining Guide,” with recipes by Kim Laidlaw, crafts by Caroline Hall, and text by Jody Revenson, is ideal for Jack Skellington fans. For recipes, try Sally’s concoction of Worm’s Wort and Frog’s Breath Soup, the Roasted Squash Mummy Tartlets with their leering olive eyes, or the green and gooey Oogie Boogie Lemon Meringue Cupcakes. One of my favorites is the Man-Eating Marshmallow Crispy Wreaths. Beware of their spiked fangs! Decorate your abode with Vampire Protection Parasols and Black-Light Bugs, Spiders, and Scorpions. Be sure to check out The Nightmare Before Christmas movie on DVD, available at the library, too.

The Mitchell family’s “Best of How to Haunt Your House” is well suited for artistic people who enjoy creating their own spooky Halloween displays and decorations. Projects, which range from easy to quite elaborate, can involve painting, using a hot glue gun, soldering, and all sorts of different materials. For the adventurous, make a full-sized mummy or scarecrow. I really like some of the smaller projects like the Forbidden Books. Antiquing plastic vampire bats to use as hinged clasps for the Book of Vampire History is truly clever. The Potion Bottle Collection includes creative containers for Distilled Spider Venom and Goblin’s Teeth. Some of the bottles even glow under black light. This book will really unveil your inner mad scientist.

If you’re wondering which spine-tingling films to watch to set the Halloween mood, check out David J. Skal’s book “Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond.” It covers some of the most iconic classic and modern films, along with color pictures and background stories for each. Dracula, The Shining, Hocus Pocus, there’s something for everyone here.

So, you’ve picked out your film from the “Fright Favorites” book. Now, how are you going to watch it? Head over to Smiley Library’s DVD section for a variety of frightening flicks. Another great option is to use our Kanopy database. Free to those with a Smiley library card, this video streaming service has some outstanding options for scary movies–some familiar and some quite obscure too! Here’s a link where you’ll find Kanopy as well as many other databases: www.akspl.org/elibrary

Festivities wouldn’t be complete without some musical ambience. For your listening pleasure, check out the following CDs: “Fright Night in the House of Horrors,” “Spooky Scary Sounds for Halloween,” or “New Wave Halloween Just Can’t Get Enough.”

Stay tuned, boys and ghouls, for next week’s spooktacular article featuring nightmarish novels by our very own ‘Sanguinary’ Shannon Harris.

Sometimes we get caught up in our own thoughts. Contemplating different viewpoints while working through problems allows us to step back, gain perspective, and reach solutions that may not occur to us on our own. Whether the goal is to improve relationships, become more focused, express ourselves better, or make positive changes in our lives, Smiley Library has an extensive collection of books that offer guidance and wisdom. Here are a few new and popular titles available for checkout.

Research professor at the University of Houston and author of six #1 New York Times best sellers, Dr. Brené Brown’s latest book “Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience” defines human emotions. Fear, curiosity, grief, gratitude–Brown believes that language and being able to name and understand emotions is an important way to give us self-awareness, healing, and connection with one another. She describes over 80 emotions, citing research and sharing stories along the way. The layout is done in a “coffee table book” style, including color pictures, quotes, and diagrams.

Spiritual teacher and author of the bestselling book “The Untethered Soul,” Michael A. Singer’s newest is “Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament.” He explains how resisting uncomfortable things in life causes suffering. As he truthfully says, “No one can make an event that has already happened not have happened” so we should try to accept reality as it is. Exploring consciousness, he helps us realize we are not our thoughts and suggests steps to take to arrive at a place of better understanding and freedom.

Clinical psychologist and popular vlogger Dr. Julie Smith has reached out to millions through her short social media videos on mental health. She expands on these posts now with her first book, “Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?” Touching on common emotions such as pain, grief, fear, and stress, she shares the knowledge and techniques she gained through her work as a psychologist and therapist. She clarifies that her book is not “therapy.” It is meant to give you tools to use as you work through difficulties. Practicing these tools helps build a “toolbox” of skills to use during these challenging times.

Many additional books are available to check out. Others to consider are “Own Your Past Change Your Future: A Not-So-Complicated Approach to Relationships, Mental Health and Wellness” by Dr. John Delony, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times” by Jane Goodall, “Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be” by Tunde Oyeneyin, and “How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question” by Michael Schur.

Remember, not every style of self-help book is for everyone. If you take something positive from it, become more thoughtful after reading it, and it inspires beneficial change in your life, then I think you’ve found a good one.

Women have been inspiring contributors to the world of art throughout history. You’ll find wonderful books in our circulating collection featuring artists such as Frida Kahlo, Faith Ringgold, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Judy Chicago, Berthe Morisot, and Alice Neel. The following titles are the latest additions to this very important and intriguing collection.

Artemisia Gentileschi is known for her dramatic and realistic paintings depicting strong, assertive female characters. Born in Rome, 1593, she was a pupil of her father, a successful painter who studied in Caravaggio’s Baroque style of painting. Much of her art revolved around biblical and mythological themes. “Artemisia Gentileschi” by Sheila Barker covers the life of this fascinating painter while examining the cultural and political backgrounds of the time. An absorbing book with beautiful color reproductions throughout.

“The Women Who Changed Art Forever: Feminist Art – the Graphic Novel” by Valentina Grande and Eva Rossetti offers a unique graphic overview of four artists who brought the struggles and inequality towards women in the art world to light. As the authors state about the artists: “Each made their mark in their own powerful way. Judy Chicago made us reassess the female body, Faith Ringgold taught us that feminism is for everyone, Ana Mendieta pushed the boundaries of identity, while the Guerrilla Girls have taken the fight to the male-dominated museum.” After reading the short backgrounds on these art activists, take a more in-depth look into their lives and art with the following titles: “Judy Chicago: An American Vision” by Edward Lucie-Smith, “Faith Ringgold” by Lisa E. Farrington, or “Guerrilla Girls: The Art of Behaving Badly.”

Maggie Doherty’s “The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s” focuses on poets Anne Sexton and Maxine Kumin, painter Barbara Swan, sculptor Marianna Pineda, and writer Tillie Olsen. These five women were some of the first to receive fellowships to the newly created Institute for Independent Study at Radcliffe College. A requirement for applicants was to have either a doctorate or “the equivalent” in creative achievement. So this group of friends dubbed themselves “the Equivalents.” Opening in 1961, the program was envisioned to help women with children pursue their dreams of becoming scholars and artists. It gave them the support and opportunities to follow their artistic passions. Doherty delves into the friendships, personalities, obstacles, and careers of these women and the progression of feminism in this captivating story.

The next time you visit Smiley Library, please stop by our circulating art collection. These paintings were created by the talented men and women from the Redlands Art Association and are available to check out and take home for six weeks. There is a limit of two pieces of art per checkout. It’s a great way to support our local artists and enjoy a piece of Redlands culture.

Spending more time outdoors has made a positive impact on me, both physically and mentally. It’s restorative to be out walking among the trees, along the coast, or wandering through a new city, learning a little history and admiring its culture. When you’re ready to step out, Smiley Library has a number of new books full of ideas for your outings.

Urban hiking combines the adventure of exploring interesting neighborhoods while enjoying the outdoors. Your journey may take you past historic architecture, colorful murals, shorelines, or town squares. “Urban Hikes Southern California: A Guide to the Area’s Greatest Urban Hiking Adventures” by Robert Inman showcases 41 different hikes along with maps, mileage, and pictures to pique your interest. Walk or take a ride on Angels Flight, the historic funicular railway in downtown Los Angeles featured on the Little Tokyo-Bunker Hill hike. Check out the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge in San Diego while roaming the Bankers Hill-Balboa Park vicinity. Inman even highlights a 5.8 mile loop hike right here in Redlands. If you have yet to walk around the 1897 Victorian mansion Kimberly Crest in Prospect Park, the French chateau cottages of Normandie Court, or look up into the colorful umbrellas above Orange Street Alley, then you should definitely put this on your list. The Redlands hike also references “the magnificent” Smiley Library. We couldn’t agree more.

Our circulating collection contains a variety of hiking guidebooks featuring different locales. These guides are useful resources with comprehensive lists of trails including information such as length, difficulty level, maps, and descriptions of the area. They include treks from easy day hikes to longer back-country trips. Just a few of the areas covered are the San Bernardino Mountains, Palm Springs, Anza Borrego, and the Pacific Crest Trail. Our newest additions would be perfect for experienced hikers and those up for an extended adventure. “Sierra North” and “Sierra South” by Elizabeth Wenk and Mike White take you into the gorgeous Sierra Nevadas of California on overnight to week-long backpacking expeditions. The authors include 80 trips for each book, so there is a wide range of excursions to choose from. My husband and I really enjoy the Bishop Pass trail out of South Lake. Even for day hiking, these useful books will introduce you to one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the West.

Tailored for kids, “Wild Days: Outdoor Play for Young Adventurers” by Richard Irvine is such a fun book to spark ideas for exploring nature. Over 50 activities, crafts, games, and lessons will encourage your kids to engage with the outdoors. Suggestions include stargazing, going on treasure hunts, listening to birdsong, building rope swings, and floating reed boats. This educational guide will entice your child to spend hours of fun in the fresh air.

We have many beautiful public hiking and walking trails available in Redlands. Enjoy the open space of San Timoteo Canyon or Herngt ‘Aki’ Preserve for starters. Information and maps can be found on the following website: www.redlandsconservancy.org/map and handouts of these maps are available at Smiley Library’s reader’s advisory desk. Brochures are also available for walks in the downtown Redlands area. Spotlighting prominent buildings and homes, “A Walking Tour of Historic Redlands” and “A Personality Tour of Historic Redlands” will help you discover Redlands’ past.

Laughter has been shown to have health benefits such as releasing serotonin and endorphins, decreasing stress and boosting the immune system. A hearty laugh can make us feel more positive and resilient. The act of laughing can even burn a few calories, although personally, I would have to be in a constant state of hysterics in order to attain the desired results.

Importantly, humor helps us cope during tough times. With that in mind, take a look at the following books and DVDs. I hope they offer a bright spot in your day.

Comedian, actress, and best-selling author Phoebe Robinson is back with her third book “Please Don’t Sit On My Bed in Your Outside Clothes.” Her personal essays encompass a wide array of subjects including race, her decision to be child-free, and her seriously comedic interactions with her British boyfriend. Written in a conversational style, her book covers important topics with a comic wit.

Known for her popular Instagram series, “The Girl Who’s Never Been on a Nice Date,” Quinta Brunson has gone on to produce and act in BuzzFeed videos and work on “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” In her first book, “She Memes Well,” she shares her early years in Philadelphia, her love of comedy, and her move to Los Angeles. Enjoy her personal stories, the role social media plays in her life, and her rise to celebrity in the comedy world.

Many people became acquainted with the accomplished playwright and actor, Leslie Jordan, from his recurring role on the sitcom, “Will and Grace.” In his new book, “How Y’all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived,” he reflects on life growing up in a southern Baptist family in Tennessee, shares encounters with celebrities like Lady Gaga and Debbie Reynolds, and expresses his surprise at going viral on Instagram at 64. A fun, sweet, and short collection of stories.

Other book titles to consider:

“All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business” by Mel Brooks; “Broken (in the best possible way)” by Jenny Lawson; “Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo” by Jo Koy; “Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside” by Nick Offerman; “The Wreckage of My Presence: Essays” by Casey Wilson, and “Yearbook” by Seth Rogen.

We also have an extensive collection of funny movies on DVD available for checkout like “Forrest Gump,” “Young Frankenstein,” “My Cousin Vinny,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Office Space,” “Duck Soup,” and “Airplane.” I’m certain you’ll find more than one that will put a smile on your face.

Editor’s note: The Library has temporarily suspended in-person services beginning January 18th. All of these great books–and more–can be checked out through our Books-to-Go program by calling, emailing, or using your on-line account. There is no cost to place a book hold.