Available Now:

Through the Flames: Overcoming Disaster Through Compassion, Patience, and Determination
by Allan Lokos
Tarcher Penguin
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

In Through the Flames, Allan Lokos tells the terrifying story of being on board a plane on Christmas Day with his wife, Susanna, when it crashed and exploded in flames. Lokos was severely burned in the accident, and in the days and weeks following the crash, Susanna was told by the many doctors who examined Lokos that he would not survive.

As founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York City, Lokos had spent decades cultivating compassion and non-attachment. Since the plane crash, his Buddhist practice has been mightily tested. In this inspiring account of his against-all-odds recovery, Lokos uses his experience as a window through which to examine the challenge of human suffering in general and addresses the question of how we can thrive in the midst of pain and uncertainty.

In My TBR Stack:

Who Was Dracula? Bram Stoker's Trail of Blood
by Jim Steinmeyer
Tarcher Penguin
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

The acclaimed author of The Last Greatest Magician in the World sleuths out literature’s iconic vampire, uncovering the source material—from folklore and history, to personas including Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman—behind Bram Stoker’s lord of the undead.

Praise for Who Was Dracula?

“A fantastic, well-documented story.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“[A] well-researched and entertaining take on Dracula’s origin story.” —Publishers Weekly

“Who Was Dracula? chronicles the misadventures of Bram Stoker and his numerous friends and colleagues, both famous and obscure, hoping to unearth the recipe for a truly iconic character.” —San Francisco Book Review

“Who Was Dracula? is a book you’ll want to sink your teeth into.” —“The Bookworm Sez”

In My TBR Stack:

Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll
Peter Bebergal
Tarcher Penguin
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

This epic cultural and historical odyssey unearths the full influence of occult traditions on rock and roll—from the Beatles to Black Sabbath—and shows how the marriage between mysticism and music changed our world.

From the hoodoo-inspired sounds of Elvis Presley to the Eastern odysseys of George Harrison, from the dark dalliances of Led Zeppelin to the Masonic imagery of today’s hip-hop scene, the occult has long breathed life into rock and hip-hop—and, indeed, esoteric and supernatural traditions are a key ingredient behind the emergence and development of rock and roll. 

With vivid storytelling and laser-sharp analysis, writer and critic Peter Bebergal illuminates this web of influences to produce the definitive work on how the occult shaped—and saved—popular music.

As Bebergal explains, occult and mystical ideals gave rock and roll its heart and purpose, making rock into more than just backbeat music, but into a cultural revolution of political, spiritual, sexual, and social liberation.

In My TBR Stack:

American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America
Linda S. Godfrey
Tarcher Penguin
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

From pre-Columbian legends to modern-day eyewitness accounts, this comprehensive guide covers the history, sightings and lore surrounding the most mysterious monsters in America—including Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, and more.

Bigfoot, the chupacabra, and thunderbirds aren’t just figments of our overactive imaginations—according to thousands of eyewitnesses, they exist, in every corner of the United States. Throughout America’s history, shocked onlookers have seen unbelievable creatures of every stripe—from sea serpents to apelike beings, giant bats to monkeymen—in every region.

Author, investigator, and creature expert Linda S. Godfrey brings the same fearless reporting she lent to Real Wolfmen to this essential guide, using historical record, present-day news reports, and eyewitness interviews to examine this hidden menagerie of America’s homegrown beasts.

In My TBR Stack:

Dream Weaver: Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison
Gary Wright
Tarcher Penguin
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Music legend Gary Wright reflects on his professional collaboration, friendship, and spiritual journey with “quiet Beatle” George Harrison, and releases for the first time a recording of a song they wrote together.

Best known for his multiplatinum hits “Dream Weaver” and “Love is Alive,” Gary Wright came to prominence as a singer and songwriter during the golden age of rock in the 1970s. What is not as well known to the public, however, is Wright’s spiritual side. At the heart of this memoir is the spiritual conversion and journey that Wright experienced alongside his close friend George Harrison. Until Harrison’s death in 2001, the two spent decades together writing songs, eating Indian fare, talking philosophy, and gardening.

In addition to featuring lyrics to a song cowritten by Wright and George Harrison in 1971, titled “To Discover Yourself,” this memoir includes a cache of never-before-seen photos.

In My TBR Stack:

Ghost Hunter: The Groundbreaking Classic of Paranormal Investigation
Hans Holzer
Tarcher Penguin
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

The prestige edition of the classic, trail-blazing work on ghost hunting will intrigue new fans and longtime devotees alike—part of the new Tarcher Supernatural Library.
 
Fifty years before Paranormal State, Ghost Hunters, and Most Haunted, there was Hans Holzer—a man known as the “Father of the Paranormal.” Holzer pioneered ghost-hunting methods still used today, and brought ghosts and ghost hunting into popular culture in the second half of the twentieth century.
Ghost Hunter presented some of the first-ever case studies of haunting investigations, taken from Holzer’s own practice in the New York City area—ranging from Civil War-era spirits to the tormented ghosts of murder victims.

For devoted ghost-hunting aficionados curious about the practice’s history, there is no better place to start than the first book Hans Holzer wrote, Ghost Hunter.This is the 1963 book that launched his publishing career and gained him international fame.

The first three titles released in Tarcher's Supernatural Library are Ghost Hunter (by Hans Holzer), Romance of Sorcery (by Sax Rohmer) and Isis in America (by Henry Steel Olcott).

In My TBR Stack:

Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World
Gary Lachman
Tarcher Penguin
Trade Paperback


From the publisher's website:

This definitive work on the occult’s “great beast” traces the arc of his controversial life and influence on rock-and-roll giants, from the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath.

When Aleister Crowley died in 1947, he was not an obvious contender for the most enduring pop-culture figure of the next century. But twenty years later, Crowley’s name and image were everywhere. The Beatles put him on the cover of  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Rolling Stones were briefly serious devotees. Today, his visage hangs in goth clubs, occult temples, and college dorm rooms, and his methods of ceremonial magick animate the passions of myriad occultists and spiritual seekers.

Aleister Crowley is more than just a biography of this compelling, controversial, and divisive figure—it’s also a portrait of his unparalleled influence on modern pop culture.

My Favorite Books This Year:

In no particular order:



Mumbai New York Scranton 



Hidden Cities



Lost Cat



Run Brother Run



Overlay



Slow Getting Up

In Stores Now:

There is a God! : 1,001 Heartwarming (and Hilarious) Reasons to Believe
by Richard Smith and Maureen McElheron
Tarcher Penguin
Trade Paperback

From the publisher website:

Excerpt of There is a God

This funny, tender, and inspiring little book offers 1,001 reminders for the faithful—and for doubters, too.

“There is a God!” Who hasn’t uttered these words in response to life’s true miracles? A glorious sunset. Watching your toddler take her first wobbly steps. And that supreme blessing: a hospital gown that closes all the way. In this book, New York Times–bestselling author Richard Smith and Maureen McElheron identify 1,001 miracles that prove that there is in fact a God, including:

- Watching your little girl struggle with an ice-cream cone that appears bigger than she is

- Fireflies on a June night

- Knowing that your ability to explain the difference between hollandaise sauce and béchamel impresses the hell out of your date

There Is a God! will remind you of all the many things that make life wonderful.

Friday Book Review: Hidden Cities by Moses Gates

     I recently finished Hidden Cities by Moses Gates and now I am filled with wanderlust.  I want to throw open heavy manholes and plunk myself into dank sewers and I want to fling caution to the breeze while climbing hand over fist above the city along thin walkways and places not intended for walking.

     Gates presents a world most of us never see even though it is just beyond our myopic vision.  The huge majority of us would never ignore signs telling us "Do Not Enter."  We would much rather be thought boring than to have a misdemeanor trespassing notation on our permanent record.

     This is a book which will grab your sensibility and implore it to act with spontaneity.  It will overload you with the underworld.  You will also never walk across a bridge or into a subway station or stroll past a manhole cover without wondering, "What if...."

     You may have heard of urban exploring before; you may have even considered partaking in a few urban explorations.  Let Moses Gates take you on a few of his adventures with him on these pages.  You can live vicariously through the adventures of a master at his craft.

     Or maybe, just maybe, you will decide to undertake a few adventures of your own.

                                                                                                                             --Book Dude

Hidden Cities: Travels to the Secret Corners of the World's Great Metropolises
by Moses Gates
Tarcher / Penguin
Trade paperback