The Outsider
Author: Stephen King
Description: An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad. But Maitland has an alibi, and it turns out that his story has incontrovertible evidence of its own. How can two opposing stories be true? What happens to a family when an accusation of this magnitude is delivered? When must reason or rationality be abandoned in order to explain the inexplicable? Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face?
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: A straightforward case of murder concerning a young boy in Georgia becomes everything but ordinary, and the seemingly open and close case takes a dark turn as mysterious supernatural forces arise. The horror crime drama had fans’ skin-crawling and questioning every episode.
Where to Watch: Hulu, Youtube TV, Amazon Prime, HBO Max
Good Omens
Author: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Description: According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter -the world’s only _totally reliable_ guide to the future – the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea. Which means that Armageddon will happen on a Saturday night. There will be seas of fire, rains of fish, the moon turning to blood and the massed armies of Heaven and Hell will sort it out once and for all. Which is a major problem for Crowley, Hell’s most approachable demon and former serpent, and his opposite number and old friend Aziraphale, genuine angel and Soho bookshop owner. They like it down here (or, in Crowley’s case, up here). So they’ve got no alternative but to stop the Four Motorcyclists of the Apocalypse, defeat the marching ranks of the Witchfinder’s army and – somehow – stop it all happening. Above all (or, in Aziraphale’s case, below all) they need to find and kill the Antichrist, currently the most powerful creature on Earth. This is a shame. Because he’s eleven years old, loves his dog even though it’s really a Satanic hellhound under all that hair, really cares about the environment and is the sort of boy anyone would be proud to have as a son. He’s also totally invulnerable, and a nice kid. And if that isn’t enough, they’ve still got Sunday to deal with.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: The show follows the representatives of Hell and Heaven on earth, who must stop the coming end of the world. Having grown comfortable in the human world, they band together to stop the antichrist and Armageddon. It’s a classic tale told many times on-screen but this time it’s more comical and witty.
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Author: Douglas Adams
Description: Dirk Gently has an unshakeable belief in the interconnectedness of all things, but his Holistic Detective Agency mainly succeeds in tracking down missing cats for old ladies. Then Dirk stumbles upon an old friend behaving bizarrely – and he’s drawn into a four-billion-year-old mystery that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction.
Where to Find: Visit lib.fsu.edu and use the Catalog Search feature to look up keywords from the book title. Set your search filters to “ebooks” to narrow down your search results. Use the link provided in the catalog to access the digital content.
About the TV Show: Holistic detective Dirk Gently investigates cases involving the supernatural.
Where to Watch: Hulu
The Underground Railroad
Author: Colson Whitehead
Description: In Whitehead’s ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor—engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.
Where to Find: Visit lib.fsu.edu and use the Catalog Search feature to look up keywords from the book title. Set your search filters to “ebooks” to narrow down your search results. Use the link provided in the catalog to access the digital content.
About the TV Show: After escaping a Georgia plantation, Cora boards a train embarking on a harrowing trip as she seeks true freedom while being hunted by a notorious slave catcher.
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
Description: Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. … The novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of people led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: This series follows Dracula from his origins in Eastern Europe to his battles with Van Helsing’s descendants and beyond. The Count Dracula legend transforms with new tales that flesh out the vampire’s gory crimes—and bring his vulnerability into the light.
Where to Watch: Netflix
The Haunting of Hill House
Author: Shirley Jackson
Description: Dr. Montague, a scientific investigator of ghostly phenomena, has chosen to live for several weeks at Hill House, by repute a place of horror that will brook no human habitation. To check and contribute to his observations, he selects three companions previously unknown to him; two girls, Theo and Eleanor, and Luke, a young man, who is heir to Hill House.
What happens cannot, in fairness, be told. But Dr. Montague’s words were prophetic: ‘A ghost cannot hurt anyone; only the fear of ghosts can be dangerous.’ Whether the ghosts at Hill House caused the fear, or the fear created the ghosts, there were such manifestations as to produce, finally, an ultimate terror that was all too palpable and down-to-earth.
Where to Find: Visit lib.fsu.edu and use the Catalog Search feature to look up keywords from the book title. Set your search filters to “ebooks” to narrow down your search results. Use the link provided in the catalog to access the digital content.
About the TV Show: Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.
Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu
Queen Sugar
Author: Natalie Baszile
Description: A mother-daughter story of reinvention – about an African American woman who unexpectedly inherits a sugarcane farm in Louisiana.
Why exactly Charley Bordelon’s late father left her 800 sprawling acres of sugarcane land in rural Louisiana is as mysterious as it was generous. Recognizing this as a chance to start over, Charley and her 11-year-old daughter, Micah, say good-bye to Los Angeles.
They arrive just in time for growing season but no amount of planning can prepare Charley for a Louisiana that’s mired in the past: as her judgmental but big-hearted grandmother tells her, cane farming is always going to be a white man’s business. As the sweltering summer unfolds, Charley must balance the overwhelming challenges of her farm with the demands of a homesick daughter, a bitter and troubled brother, and the startling desires of her own heart.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: “Queen Sugar” tells the story of the estranged Bordelon siblings in Louisiana. At the center of the family are Nova, a journalist and activist; Charley, the wife and manager of an NBA player; and formerly incarcerated father Ralph Angel, who is searching for redemption. Following a tragedy in the family, the siblings must put their complicated lives aside so that they can come together to run the clan’s struggling sugar cane farm.
Where to Watch: Hulu, Philo, YouTube TV
My Brilliant Friend
Author: Elena Ferrante
Description: The story begins in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets, the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow – and as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge – Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup and Digital copy is available through Catalog Search at lib.fsu.edu
About the TV Show: When the most important friend in her life seems to have disappeared without a trace, Elena Greco, a now-elderly woman immersed in a house full of books, turns on her computer and starts writing the story of their friendship.
Where to Watch: HBO Max
The Luminaries
Author: Eleanor Cattan
Description: It is 1866, and young Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On the stormy night of his arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men who have met in secret to discuss a series of unexplained events: A wealthy man has vanished, a prostitute has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely ornate as the night sky.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: An intricately woven, suspenseful tale of love, murder, magic and revenge set in New Zealand at the height of the 1860s gold rush.
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTube TV, Starz
Game of Thrones
Author: George R.R. Martin
Description: In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the North of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: This show offers mystery, murder, intrigue, drama, laughter and it’s a period piece. It tends to upset people a lot – all those deaths can take a toll on fans. But that hasn’t changed the fact that audiences can’t get enough of the characters and their stories.
Where to Watch: https://fsu.catalog.fcla.edu/permalink.jsp?23FS030810024 FSU has the first season
Hulu, HBOMax, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime
The Turn of the Screw
Author: Henry James
Description: A hauntingly atmospheric and star-studded adaptation of Henry James’ classic gothic horror story. A young, inexperienced governess is hired to look after two small children abandoned by their uncle, following the death of their parents, at his grand country house. Unsettled by glimpses of ghostly figures that only she can see, she quickly believes that something malevolent is stalking the children in her care. She learns that her predecessor and her sinister lover both died under curious circumstances and prior to their death, they spent most of their time with Flora and Miles. Could they be the figures appearing to the new governess? But are appearances everything they seem to be? Are these apparitions truly supernatural or simply products of her overactive imagination? James’ novel is brilliantly brought to life in this evocative drama – full of ambiguity, eeriness and menace.
Where to Watch: Available to stream free with FSU Account
Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison
Author: Piper Kerman
Description: With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424 — one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: When a past crime catches up with her, a privileged New Yorker ends up in a women’s prison, where she quickly makes friends and foes.
Where to Watch: Netflix
The Story of Dr. Dolittle
Author: Hugh Lofting
Description: John Dolittle, MD, is a respected physician and quiet bachelor living with his spinster sister Sarah in the small English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. His love of animals grows over the years and his household menagerie eventually scares off his human clientele, leading to loss of wealth. But after learning the secret of speaking to all animals from his parrot Polynesia, he takes up veterinary practice.
Where to Find: Visit lib.fsu.edu and use the Catalog Search feature to look up keywords from the book title. Set your search filters to “ebooks” to narrow down your search results. Use the link provided in the catalog to access the digital content.
About the Movie: Dr. John Dolittle (Rex Harrison) lives in a small English village where he specializes in caring for and verbally communicating with animals. When Dr. Dolittle is unjustly sent to an insane asylum for freeing a lovesick seal from captivity, his animals and two closest human friends, Matthew Mugg (Anthony Newley) and Tommy Stubbins (William Dix), liberate him. Afterward, they join Emma Fairfax (Samantha Eggar) and set out by boat to find a famed and elusive creature: the Great Pink Sea Snail.
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Amazon Prime, Hulu or DVD at FSU
The Umbrella Academy
Authors: story, Gerard Way ; art, Gabriel Ba ; colors, Dave Stewart ; letters, Nate Piekos.
Description: In an inexplicable worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born by women who had previously shown no signs of pregnancy. Millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven of the children; when asked why, his only explanation was, ‘To save the world.’ These seven children form The Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional family of superheroes with bizarre powers. Their first adventure at the age of ten pits them against an erratic and deadly Eiffel Tower, piloted by the fearsome zombie-robot Gustave Eiffel. Nearly a decade later, the team disbands, but when Hargreeves unexpectedly dies, these disgruntled siblings reunite just in time to save the world once again
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: Seven children born in 1989 to unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before were adopted by mysterious billionaire Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) and developed superpowers. After growing apart, they come together again after their father’s death to deal with a potential global apocalypse.
Where to Watch: Netflix
Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Description: A murder…A tragic accident…Or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: “Big Little Lies” weaves a darkly comedic tale of murder and mischief in the tranquil beachfront town of Monterey, Calif. Amidst doting moms, successful husbands, beautiful children, and stunning homes exists a community fueled by rumors and divided into haves and have-nots, exposing fractured relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and friends and neighbors.
Where to Watch: Hulu, Youtube TV, Amazon Prime, HBO Max
You
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Description: A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: What would you do for love? For a brilliant male bookstore manager who crosses paths with an aspiring female writer, this question is put to the test. A charming yet awkward crush becomes something even more sinister when the writer becomes the manager’s obsession. Using social media and the internet, he uses every tool at his disposal to become close to her, even going so far as to remove any obstacle –including people — that stands in his way of getting to her.
Where to Watch: Netflix
The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Description: The Handmaid’s Tale is not only a radical and brilliant departure for Margaret Atwood, it is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its world, with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid’s Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: Many people know that The Handmaid’s Tale is based on a book. Mostly because of author Margaret Atwood. She is a beloved Canadian treasure and we must protect her at all costs. The book, much like the show focuses on a dystopian world where only certain women can still bear children.
Where to Watch: Hulu
Watchmen
Author: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, John Higgins
Description: This stunning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of superheroes plagued by all too human failings. The concept of the super hero is dissected and inverted as strangely realistic characters are stalked by an unknown assassin. Originally published as a 12 issue series in 1986 and 1987, Watchmen remains one of DC Comics’ most popular graphic novels.
Where to Find: Visit lib.fsu.edu and use the Catalog Search feature to look up keywords from the book title. Set your search filters to “ebooks” to narrow down your search results. Use the link provided in the catalog to access the digital content.
About the TV Show: This isn’t the first time that the Watchmen graphic novel has been adapted for the screen. Fans know about the film by Zack Snyder and how underwhelming it did. This isn’t to say it was a bad film. It was almost shot for shot of the original graphic novel. However, the show has seemed to find it’s own little corner of the world. It doesn’t follow the storyline of the film or the graphic novel it makes its own path. Fans were initially wary of yet another adaptation of this graphic novel but it seems to have made a positive impact.
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Youtube TV, Hulu, Amazon Prime
Looking for Alaska
Author: John Greene
Description: Sixteen-year-old Miles’ first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: Looking for Alaska had a short run but it was a success among audiences for a reason. The show is based on the highly popular teen coming of age novel of the same name. Looking for Alaska was John Green’s first novel, having been published in 2005. The book was originally meant to be a film before being scrapped and turned into a Hulu series.
The book and show follow a young teenage boy who looks for a meaning to his life. He attends boarding school, makes a close group of friends, and even falls in love. A sudden tragedy has him and his friends trying to come to terms with what happened. The show encompasses the emotion, grief, friendship, and teenage love that the book is well known and loved for capturing.
Where to Watch: Hulu
Shadow of Night // A Discovery of Witches
Author: Deborah Harkness
Description: A follow-up to the best-selling A Discovery of Witches finds Oxford scholar and reluctant witch Diana and vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont in Elizabethan London, where Diana seeks a magical tutor and Matthew confronts elements from his past at the same time the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.
Where to Find: Physical copy is available at Strozier for Curbside Pickup.
About the TV Show: The tale of romance translated so well to a TV series that IMDb gave it an 8.1 rating. So far there is only one season to binge but the second season has been confirmed and will follow shortly. So, why do people love this show? It’s a love story and not just any love story – a forbidden love story. What more encouragement do you need?
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Youtube TV, Sling TV
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