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Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had wonderful and safe celebrations…ours, at a friend’s house, featured a magnum of very good Champagne that lasted a mysteriously short period of time shared between six people. (Next year, we’ll have to invest in at least two, or perhaps a  jeroboam…)

I have a New Year’s Day tradition, begun ages ago, of watching “Blackadder” episodes while moving very little. Yesterday I continued this hallowed ritual, sharing it with my mother, who is laid up with a very bad back. I carted the Mini Mavens with me over to my sister’s house and while they read, slept, and played with their younger cousin, my mom was introduced to the glory of Rowan Atkinson’s rubberfaced antics and a very young Hugh Laurie’s foppish splendor as the Prince of Wales (nothing like the Laurie of “House” atall atall.)

Anysleepyafternoonhow, after yesterday’s videofest, today I’m jonesing for new reading material. I do have a few early 2009 releases to recommend to you, before I ask for your recommendations. Here they are:

Entertaining Disasters: A Novel (With Recipes) by Nancy Spiller (Counterpoint): Pay no attention to the Publishers Weekly review that says this is “a static character study of a whining foodie.” It’s a lot more than that, and if Spiller never quite reaches the heights of meaning, it’s because her reach exceeds her grasp — and that’s far better than most of the genre muck on bookstore shelves. Don’t read this one too quickly. It needs patience, so you’ll understand why many of the recipes are bizarre and “unexecutable,” according to PW. There are reasons for that. I look forward to Spiller’s next book.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Baumeister (Penguin): Baumeister is another debut novelist who also happens to be a slow-food aficionado, and she imbues this lovely, Maeve Binchy-esque book with slow-won wisdom. Each chapter is built around an individual’s story and a single ingredient, but all of the characters are attending a remarkable cooking class at a restaurant called Lillian’s (the chef/teacher is the eponymous owner). Think Binchy’s “Scarlet Feather” crossed with Kate Jacobsen’s “The Friday Night Knitting Club.” Perfect book for a cold January evening, preferably with some artisanal hot chocolate close by.

In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe and Essays by Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen, Sue Grafton, Stephen King, … Lisa Scottoline, and Thirteen Others edited by Michael Connelly (William Morrow): I know that one year’s end In/Out list said using periods for emphasis it “OUT,” but then, I’m never really in, so about this book let me say: Just. So. Good. Get it! Read it! Re-read “The Masque of the Red Death.” I defy anyone to find a modern story that’s as evocative and creepy all at once.

What are YOU reading that’s new for 2009? Or looking forward to reading in 2009, new or not?

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It isn’t easy to talk about Frankenstein without lapsing into cliches about green skin, neck bolts, and visible sutures. For 21st-century Americans, Herman Munster lies closer to our conception of Frankenstein than the actual description of what Dr. Victor Frankenstein created in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus.’

Shelley was just 19 when her novel was published, in 1818 — she was a pregnant unwed mother who was basically on the lam with her lover, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Susan Tyler Hitchcock, who holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia, has long been fascinated by the Shelleys, but didn’t become a full-on Frankenstein fanatic until the time she wore a full-face Frankenstein mask in to class on Halloween, hoping to ignite some laughs. Instead, she ignited the liveliest discussion of the semester — and realized she was on to something. Why does Frankenstein fascinate us? Why do we keep watching the Creature (as Shelley called him in her novel)?

In this week’s interview, Hitchcock reveals some of the answers to these questions — and appears with a special guest, too. Her lively responses will, I hope, encourage you to pick up her equally lively book. For more about it, check out this Washington Post review.

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No tricks this week, just a treat for Halloween: we’re giving away free copies of our Book of the Week to the first ten Author Author! readers who write in and tell us their favorite Frankenstein-related anecdote. Maybe you dressed up as Frankenstein for Halloween? Tell us about your costume. Maybe you had a dream that Frankenstein lived in your closet? Maybe Frankenstein really DOES live in your closet… Whatever your angle, share it with us, and we’ll send you a brand new copy of ‘Frankenstein: A Cultural History’ by Susan Tyler Hitchcock.

The easiest way to win is to leave a comment on this post with your anecdote. Don’t worry, your email address will not be published publicly. If your tale is too harrowing for public consumption, then you can drop me an email at thereadingwriter at gmail dot com. If you are a winner, I will email you requesting your mailing address so we can send the book.

Speaking of the book, ‘Frankenstein: A Cultural History’ is a fantastic journey through the nearly two centuries that “the monster” has been with us. Hitchcock told me that it cost a lot to get all of the images — but it was well worth it. Combined with her smart but not stuffy analysis of how Mary Shelley’s creation morphed into an iconic monster, these engravings, photos, and images remind readers why we’re fascinated with technology.

Frankenstein, it seems, is the ultimate (monster) mash-up. Check back on Wednesday and Susan Tyler Hitchcock will tell us all about it in this week’s interview.

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