Phoenix Public Library, Phoenix, AZ. -- September 14, 2009 -- Autumn is just around the corner and the days of vacations and "beach reads" will soon be a pleasant memory.

Kathleen Sullivan, Phoenix Public Library's collection development coordinator, recommends checking out the following books for the big "cool down:"

1. Busy, frugal cooks will want to consult Ellen Brown's "$3 Meals in Minutes: Delicious, Low-Cost Dishes for Your Family That Can Be Prepared in No Time!"

2. Sharon Bowers offers a wonderful inspiration for Halloween parties in "Ghoulish Goodies: Monster Eyeballs, Fudge Fingers, Spidery Cupcakes, and other Frightful Treats."

3. For those who love crafts and live to give personal homemade gifts, Robert Dancik's "Amulets and Talismans" offers simple techniques for creating unique jewelry.

4. "Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures" by Amanda Blake Soule shows how to make gifts that are "green."

5. To wrap your handmade gifts, consider the advice in "Wrapagami: The Art of Fabric Gift Wraps" by Jennifer Playford. Be environmentally friendly by using colorful natural fabrics to create stylish presents.

6. For those who don't like preparing (or giving) gifts "Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays" by Joel Waldfogel offers a serious argument about why gift giving just doesn't make fiscal sense!

7. Rather than stay at home, during the "cool down" Arizonians can begin to enjoy the outdoors again. Charles Liu offers hikes in and near Phoenix in his book "60 Hikes within 60 Miles."

8. Scott S. Warren offers "100 Classic Hikes in Arizona" including the Grand Canyon, Sedona and the Mogollon Rim.

9. For those of us who prefer good fiction, consider Charlaine Harris' "Grave Sight" (the first book in the "Harper Connelly" series). In this mystery, Harris, the creator of the vampire series that has come to television as "True Blood," presents readers with another fascinating heroine. Harper Connelly, surviving being struck by lightning, finds she can locate the dead and relive their final moments.

10. "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" by Patrick Süskind is a story about identity, communication and the morality of the human spirit. "Perfume" explores what happens to a man devoid of his own scent and the emotional meaning that scents may carry.

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Phoenix Public Library is a system of 15 branch libraries and the Burton Barr Central Library. For more information, call 602-262-4636 or visit phoenixpubliclibrary.org. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/phxlibrary.