Vampire stories, it seems, are a clichéd concept that are over-used and boring – not to mention predictable. I try to avoid some vampire books for a fear that I will fall into another story about a sparkling vampire, a love-struck girl, and some mythical creature that is in love with her.

Everyone likes a good mountain. Climbing one and then writing about it makes pretty good non-fiction, too. Author and self-professed smart guy, A.J. Jacobs, needed a harrowing task for his next book—so he set himself a mountain.

Despite its title, Garrison Keillor’s “Life among the Lutherans” is not about religion (either as a screed or preaching) but rather the ways of the Lutherans and their world in the fictional little town of Lake Wobegon, whether it be the trials of Pastor Inqvist, the amusement of the dysfunctional marriage of Clint and Irene Bunsen, or even the funny songs about just being Lutheran. When comparing Lutherans with Episcopalians, one song goes “Henry VIII would marry a woman, And then her head would drop. J. S. Bach had [23] kids, ‘Cause his organ had no stop!”

Boy wins girl. Boy loses girl. Boy wins girl back. As Hollywood continues to prove, there are only so many ways to tell a love story. David Levithan mixes things up in his 2011 book “The Lover’s Dictionary,” which is actually clever if you can forgive him for the cheesy title.

Battles between reason and religion often leave little room for unity or even humor, which can leave some very hurtful scars to believers and frustration from non-believers. And then there’s Penn Jillette, the boisterous half of the magic duo “Penn & Teller,” and his new book “God, No!  Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales.”

Those long, cold nights of winter are just around the corner. Yes, it’s time for hot chocolate, fleece blankets, a fireplace, and a good book. While the wind is blowing outside and the snow is falling, I can be found on my living room floor, curled up next to the furnace vent, reading my all time favorite.

It’s not easy to find good reads these days. Most books we find are cheap paper backs about dirty romances, lousy mysteries, tales from credulous pre-teens who say they saw Heaven, and rabid right-wingers who hate anything new. Fortunately, there are reads out there that are both thrilling and true.

Over the summer, I found myself reading more than I had in a long time. With classes and homework, my pleasure reading during the school year becomes limited.  However, the infinite free time of the summer led me to the library on a nearly daily basis. One book that I found left a lasting impression [...]

The book “Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood,” shows Savo Heleta’s life: an inspiration.

Abuse is the one thing no one wants a child to go through. In “A Child Called It,” an autobiography by David Pelzer, that’s exactly what he has to go through most of his childhood.