Book Character Costume Ideas for Halloween

Dress up, you say? I'd rather read a book. Well, how about a two-for-one? That's right, my friends. Why not read your favorite book and dress up as a character too? Now, we at Delicious Reads have been know for going all out for our book club nights and dressing up in honor of the books we read. As we are approaching Halloween this year, we thought it was time to share with you some of our favorite "looks from books" and some that we'd definitely like to try (as in, we might have to read the book JUST so we can dress like a favorite character).

DIY Poe-Inspired 'Nevermore' Shirt

I am sorry to admit that I am almost never the recipient of my own crafting efforts. I crochet hats for my kids, bake treats for my neighbors, craft up gifts for friends . . . but rarely do I make something for myself to keep.

And in the middle of creating some Halloween decor for my house and costumes for my kids, I realized that I need an awesomely creepy Halloween shirt for myself. I branched out a little from the typical Halloween fare and came up with this t-shirt inspired by one of the creepiest authors I can think of: Mr. Edgar Allan Poe, and an unforgettable line from The Raven.

It was so fast and simple to make, and I love how it turned out. A subtle, spooky, Halloween-appropriate homage to one of America's greatest authors. 

The Martian {Book to Movie}

I read this book last year because there was tons of buzz about it and I had heard good things. So I was glad to hear that they were making it into a movie and wow did they make it fast. It was not your normal type of read but it was really interesting and MacGyverish, but on Mars where one could die at every turn. I am really interested to see what parts they keep and if they add anything to make this entertaining to the masses. I was surprised to see that it is rated PG-13. I would have bet money that it was rated R because of the language in the book but it looks like they might have made some changes to keep the rating down for more people to enjoy.

So get ready to buy your tickets because it's coming out October 2.

9 Books you Need to Read Before Seeing their Movie {Book to Movie 2015, 4th Quarter}

Here are 9 Books you need to read before they become MOVIES!

The books are always better than the movies, so do yourself the favor and start reading them now before their movie comes out!

Book Club Ideas for "Shutter" {by Courtney Almeda}

We were honored to have Courtney Alameda, the author of Shutter, come as a special guest to our Book Club meeting!

 I met Courtney at the Provo Library some years ago. Courtney use to coordinate all the events and author signings at the library so we saw each other frequently and I quickly came to love her and her vibrant personality. Courtney was usually dressed up in a head to toe costume for events and hosting over the top author signings. I knew right when I first saw her dressed as a Grisha (Shadow & Bone reference), that we were kindred book party spirits.

When Courtney told me she was working on publishing her first book I told her,
"...When you get published, I'm throwing you a book party and that's that."

I was true to my word.

Read on to see how I totally freaked out all my members during our meeting!

Delicious Dish: Halloween Black Bat Wings

These sweet and savory BBQ chicken "bat wings" are the perfect dish for your next spooky themed Halloween party or book club.  They look so much like bat wings on something out of a horror movie, your guests will be be doing double and triple takes on these creepy little guys. 

"And Then There Were None" {by Agatha Christie} Book Club Ideas

10 Little Book Club girls 

invited to discuss a book and dine,

They got more than they bargained for 

and then there were Nine...

Rain drummed the window pains like the bony fingers of a legion of persistent specters.  Wind howled around the derelict mansion, and thunder bellowed in the ashen sky.  

Dearth Island was besieged by a tempest.  We little book club girls were about to be tossed on the angry waves, set adrift into a nightmare fresh from the pages of our books.

Ten odd little figurines grimaced from atop the mantelpiece of the dining room.

Huddling together in the drab, dusty, room, we ate our cheery dinner.  There were so many scrumptious delights to enjoy.  

This Cinnamon sugar churro cake was especially divine,
Download the recipe HERE.

We had almost forgotten the foreboding gloom of the evening, when suddenly...

all the lights went out and the house was plunged into complete darkness!

What had just happened?  Did someone forget to pay the electric bill?

Or was this a horrible coincidence of fate???

CRASH

CLATTER

SCREAM!

A loud, deep, deliberate voice sliced through the blackness.

The Voice filled the room and chilled us to the core.

Listen to The Voice and its instructions HERE

We were left in a vast void of spine-tingling silence.  We procured a flashlight.

As the beam of light searched the room,  we were greeted with a shock!

A giant poster depicting a nursery rhyme regarding the gruesome fate of 10 Little Book Club Girls had appeared above the fireplace!  Terror crept into our voices as we read aloud its sing-song verse.

Upon further investigation, we noticed that one of the 10 little dolls was missing as well.

A deadly game was unraveling, and a killer was among us!

The cacophony of confused, fearful voices rose and fell like frantic waves crashing on jagged rocks.  Light flashed, cutting through the din, as every cell phone screen lit up in unison.  

The message: a picture text.  

The words: "Help me."

Kellie, had just sent us all a text.  She had been in the room before the lights went out, hadn't she?  Her absence quickly became apparent to our shocked faces.  

Could we find her in time???

The pedals of the piano led us to the drawing room, where, Kellie's lifeless body lay half underneath the covered piano.  She was beyond help now.  She had been slashed up and down, and the gruesome gashes that tore into her skin looked like...PAPER CUTS!

After scanning the drawing room for any possible clues, we reconvened in the dining room, and noticed something that had not been there before.  A message in a bottle in the center of the table.  The message delivered with it a sinking feeling that we had entered a bad dream from which we would never wake.  We had all come to discuss a murder mystery, not become involved in one.  And yet, here we were, tangled in this macabre web of a sinister intellect.

So many murder weapons....

We read the note aloud, and a clue was given in the form of an anagram.

The answer to the anagram is: KITCHEN STOVE

Lisa solved it in a snap!  She ran to the kitchen stove, threw open the oven, and let out a scream of disgust and terror.  Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" lay inside the gaping oven like a bloody, undercooked book casserole.  

Obviously the murder weapon.

But what's this?!  Lisa found an inscription on the inside the book, 

"If lost, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx."

Lisa's shaking fingers quickly dialed the number.  

In the silence we heard the telltale buzz of a cell phone, and that phone belonged to book club member...Robin!

(this is not Robin but you get the idea)

In a flash of indignant rage, Robin proceeded to confess to her devilish deeds:

"I did it!  I sliced Kellie to ribbons with the very book that she borrowed from me and so thoughtlessly didn’t return in time for book club! Tonight I intended to get even with all of you! I’m tired of loaning my books to all of you book club girls, and not getting them back!"

Let this be a lesson to us book club girls:

After a book should a friend inquire,

Tell her "NO!" and quell that fire.

For loaning out a book so precious,

Can leave one plotting revenge most vicious.

In solving the mystery, Lisa won:

-a hardback copy of "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

-fingernail polish in a skull-shaped bottle

-& murder weapon earrings (bow & arrows)

Download your own bookmark for yourself or your book club
choose from the 5 options or download all five on one page.

1. Bloody page
2. Island at night
3. Red cover
4. Black noose
5. Red noose
6. All bookmarks 

Read our star rating and full book review HERE

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials {Book to Movie}

Are you ready for the second movie to come out? It's almost September 18th.

In the first movie there were so many guys and only one girl. Well now they have added a few more females to the cast. Do you want to know who is engaged and who is dating Britt Robertson? Then read on.

If you need to freshen up on who was in the first movie then check out The Maze Runner post I did last year.

Food Ideas for "Shutter" {by Courtney Alameda}

This month's book club we read the YA Thriller Shutter by Courtney Alameda.

We thought this would be the perfect time of year to read a scary book with Halloween just around the corner. The food table was positively spooky with the bloody table cloth and dry ice fogging over everything.

Book Review for "Shutter" {by Courtney Alameda}

TITLE: Shutter
AUTHOR: Courtney Alameda
PUBLISHER: Feiwel and Friends/Macmillion
NUMBER OF PAGES: 384
YEAR PUBLISHED: 20
READING LEVEL:Young Adult
GENRE: Young Adult Horror!!

SUMMARY: Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat- a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained to destroy corporal and spiritual monsters. She uses her SLR camera to exorcize ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. When a routine ghost hung goes awry, Micheline and her team (including Ryder, the guy she's loved forever) are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. She has seven days or less to exorcise an entity of she and her friends will die.

Shutter Book Bash: We were completely spoiled to have the amazing author, Courtney Alameda join us for the evening! Kelly was our moderator and she did an incredible job bringing Shutter to life! Be sure to check out our Photo Recap of the evening too! (coming soon)

(image source)

Back to School: 5 Ways to Inspire Young Writers

(image source) 

Back to School has come and gone, mothers are done fighting each other at Target to check that three ring binder off their list. The daunting task of Back to School shopping always reminds me of this funny commercial:

20 Must Read Books this Fall!

So many good books are coming out this fall. I am normally more a fan of the Young Adult genre but I have found some others that you might be interested in also. Let's start with those books and end with my favorites. If you want to know more about the book then click on the title and it will take you to it's goodreads synopsis. Click on the author to find more info also.

Here are 20 books for you to get excited about.

NATIONAL READ A BOOK DAY

NATIONAL READ A BOOK DAY!

On August 9th we celebrated National Book Lovers Day but today on September 6th, we celebrate National Read A Book Day which is basically CHRISTMAS for book lovers who want to spend a day reading!

These two days are very similar in nature . The difference would be that today is about everyone, book lovers and non book lovers alike to find a book they would enjoy, find a nice, quiet and relaxing spot and read for a while.

40 Clean Reads for Teens

Ok, I know what you're thinking. Clean reads? Really? It sounds so . . . boring. Ok, we aren't talking about educational books for teens. We are talking about fun, riveting, adventurous novels that teenagers will love (and parents will approve of).

What do I mean by that? I just mean that all of these books I would approve of my daughters and sons reading. If they actually rated books, these would get close to a PG rating (no swearing, sex, drugs, alcohol, or too much violence). Does that mean these books are boring? Heck no! It just means that you or your teen could read these books and not be offended or embarrassed by the content. They would also make great reads for school or teen book clubs.

Below is each cover of the books above with a link to their summary on Amazon. If you notice, I didn't differentiate between books that are for boys or for girls. I've found that about 90% of the books should work for both the male and female audience. Don't judge a book by its cover alone - my brother enjoyed Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson, my son likes The Heist Society by Ally Carter, and I really liked Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. You'll also find that nearly all of these authors keep their books free from anything R-rated so you're pretty save to read other books by these authors too. Also, if you are just looking for books for teen boys (12-18+), check out my post of the Top 24 Books for Teen Boys.

Now the amazing list of clean reads: