Mystery in White

Mystery in White December 25, 2017 Agatha Christie may have secured eternal recognition for a classic murder mystery involving a train and copious amounts of snow, but she wasn't the only skilled mystery writer of yesteryear to use those elements in…

NPL Mixtapes: Auditory Apparitions

NPL Mixtapes: Auditory Apparitions October 30, 2017 An NPL curated Halloween inspired playlist with liner notes.  The Halloween tunes keep comin'. When you need some seasonally…

NPL Mixtapes: Library Music

NPL Mixtapes: Library Music June 25, 2018 Chances are good that you’ve heard library music at some point in your life and not known it. And no, library music isn’t the sound of studious…

Supernatural Buchan

Supernatural Buchan February 25, 2018 John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps (and its multiple subsequent film and television versions) is likely the work most closely associated with his name…

The Wine-Dark Sea

The Wine-Dark Sea October 31, 2017 Short stories are one of the best ways to quickly inject some pleasurable fear into your veins this time of year. A master of the short form, Robert…

Watership Down

Watership Down April 26, 2018 The book or the movie? An eternal question always likely to instigate some lively debate, although most folks will probably side more often with the book. And every now and then they’re definitely both worth…

The Red Right Hand

The Red Right Hand December 15, 2016 Unique and frightening, this anomaly of a novel combined mystery and horror to illusory, bewildering effect. If you enjoy vintage mystery fiction,…

Dixie Johnson

Dixie Johnson, Associate

The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror

The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror October 23, 2016 Two standout genre novels of the 30's finally get some overdue recognition. While it would have been preferable for…

Fancies and Goodnights

Fancies and Goodnights August 7, 2016 An unjustly forgotten mid-century satirist infused his tales with fantasy and irony. Actually, I suppose that any work deemed worthy of a New…

The Day of the Triffids

The Day of the Triffids October 29, 2015 You might not expect a novel about killer plants to be thoroughly lacking in over-the-top corniness, but John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids handily pulls it off…

Backcountry Weirdness: Who Fears the Devil?

Backcountry Weirdness: Who Fears the Devil? June 6, 2016 Armed with only his guitar and his wits, a wandering balladeer encounters wonder and terror in the wilds of Appalachia. A quick…

Get Your Gratitude On

Get Your Gratitude On November 5, 2018 It’s the time of year for feeling grateful. But let’s face it: with today’s busy lifestyle, even the best of us can have a tough time tapping into the “attitude of gratitude.” These books from NPL’s collection might…

Did you Miss these Great Books by Women?

Did you Miss these Great Books by Women? November 2, 2018 There are a slew of excellent new books by women that may have come in under your radar. Take a look at the list. Fiction…

Honoring Armistice Day, 100 Years Later

Honoring Armistice Day, 100 Years Later November 10, 2018 This Veteran's Day marks the 100th Anniversary of the signing of the Armistice between the Allied Countries and Germany, ending the hostilities on the Western Front of the War and officially…