Do you dare? I dare you not to fall in love with this charming Christmas romance. Nestled in a bookstore in New York City is a red notebook full of dares.

When her parents leave her for a vacation in Fiji there’s nothing for 15-year-old Lily to do except become a willing participant in her brother’s latest scheme; leave hidden clues to help her find a potential boyfriend. When Dash stumbles upon Lily’s Book of Dares, he can’t help but become mesmerized with its tantalizing clues. He and Lily begin exchanging the book along with their own dares. What follows is a funny, engaging story that is sure to put a smile on your face.

The novel steers away from many cliches, while allowing some room for that holiday fluff we all crave this time of year. Especially if it involves cute boys, dogs, or baking. Dash can be too pretentious at times, which may turn off some readers. Philosophical conversations sprinkled throughout the book are also heavier than expected. Though few and far between, every realization seems to be written as earnestly as the teen characters who speak them. For YA fans, or those looking for a holiday read under the radar, Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares is perfect! There’s even a Netflix miniseries for when you’ve finished!

Humbug! Humbug! Humbug! One of Scrooge’s most memorable lines. However, A Christmas Carol is anything but.          

The story follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy, selfish banker, who is visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Marley. Marley visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve to warn him about the evils of an unloving life. He then explains that three ghosts will come after him: The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. Through these ghosts, Scrooge is able to view himself objectively and the decisions he made which led to him live the life that he does.           

A Christmas Carol was written in 1843, so the language can occasionally trip one up. However, it only enhances the joy of the story. The characters are memorable to the point of being unforgettable. ‘Scrooge’ is now used as an adjective. Being mostly composed of quick vignettes, this keeps things tight and the readers on their toes. Even if you’re already familiar with the story, everyone should read the book at least once!

Writing as a form of therapy. Advice that many of us have heard at some point in our lives, although few have actually taken it. Except Charlie. Charlie Kelmeckis, a fifteen-year-old high school student, writes letters to his ‘Dear Friend’ almost daily.

In these letters we’re privy to his intimate thoughts about teenage life. Charlie brings readers into a world of school, parties, and loyal friends. Including his new best friends, Sam and Patrick, who he meets at the homecoming football game. Sam is gregarious, beautiful, and daring. Patrick, a cool, fun guy ready for anything. Together they teach Charlie to get out of his shell and live.

The source material of The Perks of Being a Wallflower is much grittier than its movie adaptation. Themes such as suicide, child molestation, sexual abuse, and trauma among others are discussed in the novel. However, none of these serious topics are given the proper amount of time they deserve. Sam is the most fleshed out of all the characters.  Charlie seems to barely stand alone as a character, serving instead as a vehicle to other interesting people. The novel is only worth a quick skim, but the epilogue manages to tie everything together, if rather haphazardly.

Have you ever wanted to become more likeable? Wondered why your co-worker always gets the raise she asks for? Or how your buddy seems to talk his way out of speeding tickets? Steven Goldstein’s The Turn-On explains exactly that!

Not to be confused with a self-help book, The Turn-On illustrates the key components to becoming the best version of yourself. This includes the Gateway, Foundation, Clincher and Conscience traits that likeable people possess. Passion, presence and erudition combine to form Captivation, a Gateway trait. Being true to your origins, radiating coolness of temper and being willing to open up creates Authenticity, a key foundational aspect to keep us wanting more. A certain toughness, courage and confidence in oneself, Protectiveness can make or break the package. Finally, Perceptiveness and Compassion are the je ne sais quoi of this equation.

Like most good stories, there is a clear progression from beginning to end in the journey of how and why we like people. Including a playful ‘epilogue’ into how this certain admiration can be lost and sometimes, regained. Goldstein uses clear examples and recognizable names. He also reiterates his key points, always providing a brief but comprehensive chapter summary. Above all, the book demystifies ‘likeability’ as a useful tool, both for understanding how we are affected by it and also how we can affect others in a positive way. This power is truly left to the readers.

Allegories are simple stories about not-so-simple ideas. Perhaps one of the most famous of these is John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. The radical story was penned in a jail cell and went on to become a bedrock to modern Christianity, inspiring theologians such as C.S. Lewis.

The Pilgrim’s Progress follows a young man, Christian, as he travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Along the way, he meets fascinating characters who represent both temptations and guides. There is Evangelist, Charity, Giant Despair, Too Bold and many others. Whether they are placed along his path to hinder or help, they all teach Christian important lessons.

Bunyan’s novel is a true masterpiece. Although the original text is outdated by our standards, it was written to be accessible to every literate person. Simplicity is deceiving. On the surface, it is a quaint adventure story of a man defying all odds. Yet take another glance and it becomes something else entirely, a moving spiritual journey that we must all decide to take or reject.

What you think of when you heart the word ‘blue’? The sky? An ocean? For Kira it is only a word. Her village has only known color for a short time and blue is not one of them. Here, children are left to fend for themselves and the ‘disabled’ are left to die. It’s a tough and draining existence.

When young Kira, who was born with a lame leg, is orphaned, the village women want to send her to the Field to die. However, when it is discovered that she has a gift for weaving, she is spared and taken in by the town’s Council. She must repair the robes of the Singer, the person who sings the history of their world at a yearly ceremony. In addition, she must learn to dye her own threads, a skill her mother never finished teaching her. Kira spends many months learning the names of different plants, when to harvest them, and how to dye every color imaginable. Except blue.

Lowry possesses an astounding ability to take large, abstract ideas and turn them into engaging, captivating stories that we can all enjoy and learn from. Kira lives in a world where scars received in battle are to be revered and admired, but imperfections at birth make people lesser. When we define our own value, we gain control of the narrative. Of our story. And that is exactly what Kira does.

Hippocrates has been quoted as saying, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” But what if someone was trying to poison you? In this novel set in 1943, Rosa Sauer, a young German woman, is forced along with nine other women to serve as one of Hitler’s food tasters. It seems a glamorous job filled with exquisite food and fine delicacies, yet death looms.

Rosa moves from Berlin to live with her in-laws in the village of Gross-Partsch while her husband serves in the war. Here, her posh city ways clash with the reality of a people who live day-to-day. The Wolf’s Lair (the code name of Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia, now Poland) is no better. The women are bussed to the building twice daily, once for breakfast and lunch and then later in the evening for dinner. The story follows these ordinary women through their extraordinary circumstances.

Postorino’s novel was translated from Italian to English, however you would never guess that while reading it. The uncluttered simplicity of the writing is charming. It gives you room to soak up every word and still have time to follow the complex relationships between the characters.  Even so, the thing I admire most is that no one is really the villain. This is especially important in how we view Rosa. At times she can be selfish and even cowardly. There is also no attempt at heroism.  She is not a hero, she is just a woman. That is where the power of this novel lies.

It is important to note that this story was inspired by one of Hitler’s real food tasters, Margot Wölk. At age twenty-five, she was among fifteen women who would taste Hitler’s food in The Wolf’s Lair. Risking death daily. This continued for two and a half years. Wölk was the only taster to survive World War 2. Her service went unattributed until a newspaper interview on her 95^th birthday in 2012. Wölk died at age 97 in 2014.

If fire represents revolution, then Katniss Everdeen is a Phoenix rising from the ashes. After her district is bombed into oblivion, Katniss and her family find themselves hiding out in the peculiar underground labyrinth that is District 13. While living here, she officially takes on the role of “Mockingjay” in exchange for the immunity of Peeta and the other captured tributes. Tensions begin to rise as a revolution is tipping.

A slow burn, Mockingjay delivers on all of the trilogy’s promises and more. Abused by a government that doesn’t care about them, the characters are exactly as you’d imagine real people; traumatized and broken. We are shown a horrific and richly realized world. Katniss refuses to be manipulated by the government even if it costs her her life. And because of that decision – that resistance – other people follow. Katniss Everdeen may not be a real person. Panem may not be a real country and the Capitol may not be a real place, but they don’t have to be. A story doesn’t have to be real if the message is true.

‘Sleepy Hollow’ friendly but high strung schoolmaster Ichabod Crane lives out a tranquil life. However the Headless Horseman still haunts these parts. According to legend he was a German mercenary who lost his head to a cannonball during the Revolutionary War. As Ichabod vies for the hand of heiress Katrina Van Tassel, his rival, ‘Brom Bones’ may not be the only thing standing in his way – or should I say riding?

Many people know of the legend of Sleepy Hollow through the 1999 film adaptation starring Johnny Depp. To truly appreciate the story and its origins you’ll have to refrain from watching the movie until you’ve read the book. If you’ve already watched it – don’t worry! Irving’s telling still holds its merit, it may just seem a little dull compared to the hyped, action-packed adaptations we’re accustomed too.

Sleepy Hollow is written in intricate detail, describing every sight, sound, and smell that might be encountered if one were to visit the this fabled land. The beauty and craftsmanship of the story is remarkable. Most easily found in Washington Irving’s book of Complete Tales, it’s a terrific story for any spooky-loving reader (who may or may not be ready to tackle Stephen King just yet!).

Blood splatter analysis, ballistics, lie-detectors, fingerprinting. It’s all in a day’s work for Edward Oscar Heinrich, the real ‘American Sherlock’.  Solving at least two thousand cases in a career that spanned more than forty years, Heinrich is an unsung hero of Criminology.

This biography is broken into eleven chapters, each with an unsolved case. And in true Sherlock fashion, each of the chapters starts with an excerpt from one of Conan Doyle’s classic stories. Through Heinrich’s cases, we learn how these cases turned into critical moments in the history of criminal investigation and forensics.

Perhaps the most most “Sherlock” case Heinrich ever worked on was the DeAutremont Brothers or the ‘Last Great Train Robbery’. DeAutremont brothers Roy, Ray and Hugh attempted to rob a Southern Pacific Railroad train in 1923. The gang blew up the mail car they were trying to rob  carrying an estimated $40,000, and fled the scene. Heinrich was brought in and given a pair of overalls found by an investigator. He then proceeded to give a detailed description of the suspect. With this description, police were able to track the brothers down. This was the beginning of criminal profiling. 

If Dawson was not busy writing biographies of long-forgotten detectives, then she’d have a solid career as a novelist. The story is engaging, descriptive, and impossible to put down. The amount of research that has gone into this book is astounding. From hundreds of boxes filled with Heinrich’s papers, Dawson gives readers a picture of a man both brilliant and broken. He truly is the American Sherlock.