Our Summer Reading Club theme this year. What could be scary about that? After all, summer is a time to drop in to the library, pick up a good book, fix a snack, and dive into words and tastiness.

Well, later this summer, on August 7th, we have our infamous Fear Factor Food Challenge. No stomach as safe, as we try to gross out your taste buds with real foods from around the world. Let your tongue be very afraid! Pre-registration and a signed parental waiver are required. To register, call 626-744-4766 any time after June 10th.

Okay, so one weird and scary food thing. No problem, right? Well, here are a few strange and tasty food-related stories for summer reading. All kinds of things can be scary, whether it’s zombies or ostrich stampedes, but these are all way out there.

holdmeHold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, is an outrageous tale of fast food and raising the dead. Be sure to read the sequel, Necromancing the Stone. Yes, the title puns are awful [so are the chapter titles], but the books are great. Sam’s mother didn’t want to tell him a few important things when he was growing up…like the possibility that he would grow up to be a powerful and dangerous magician, and that his rivals might want him dead. So she kept him safe by dulling his mind and turning him into kind of a loser, until things change, magic happens, people die, people come back to life, and Sam’s life in the wonderful world of fast food will never be the same.

ironwokjanIron Wok Jan, by Shinji Saijyo, is a manga series about competitive cooking, the hard way. On stage, in front of a zillion people, under time pressure…and you may even have to kill your own ingredients. Never turn your back on a live ostrich, if you plan to cook him. No, really. Seriously, this one is a lot of fun, but also includes traditional Chinese recipes and instructions for making some great dishes. Some are simple, some are complicated. None of them are as scary as an angry ostrich, but few things are.

kissedWho I Kissed, by Janet Gurtler, is a book about guilt and about death by peanut butter. That may sound weird, but some people are so terribly allergic to peanuts that even a trace can be fatal, under the wrong conditions…in this case, a literal kiss of death.

torikoToriko, by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, is a manga series about hunting and killing monsters, in order to turn them into gourmet food ingredients. No, really. We have volume 1 in the collection now and will be getting the rest soon.

gettingGetting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance and Cookery, by Susan Juby. A truly strange book about clique-busting and fending off bullies. And food, of course.

deadrumorDead Is Just a Rumor, by Marlene Perez. This is the fourth book in the series that started with Dead is the New Black, and this time Daisy has a lot of things on her schedule, one of which is some very unusual cooking lessons. Of course, when you live in a town full of psychics, werewolves and other fun folks, any cooking class might be just a tad strange.

yakitateWhile not scary [unless you’re on a low-carb diet], Yakitate!! Japan by Takashi Hashiguchi has all the caloric fun you could possibly want from a manga series. Young Azuma only had one goal in life: to become the best baker in the world. What could possibly go wrong with following your dream? Well, it IS an action comedy about cooking…

So, drop on in and have a bite to read. Just remember…to something out there, you are food.