The Buzz...About Books

I did not embrace Breaking Bad immediately. A television show about a nice chemistry teacher who became a meth cook felt unseemly. Then I borrowed the library's DVD of the first season. I was hooked immediately and have watched obsessively ever since.

How is it going to end? Violently, I'm guessing.

These are library materials to help you make the most of the end of Breaking Bad:

Books:

All Fired Up: Smokin' Hot BBQ Secrets from the South's Best Pitmasters by Troy Black
The Whites and the Schraders sometimes got together for friendly (and sometimes fairly traumatic) family barbecues. You can recreate these occasions in your own home with southern barbecue cookbooks like this one.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chemistry by Ian Guch
The perfect book for Jesse, it will teach even non-idiots all about chemistry. Please use your newfound knowledge for good and not evil.

Deserts: a Very Short Introduction by Nick Middleton
The desert is where Walter begins to build his empire and also where it comes crashing down. This book will tell you all about the diversity of deserts and the lifeforms one may find there (which do not typically include two guys in an RV cooking meth).

Santa Fe, Taos & Albuquerque by Zora O'Neill
• eBook
The show was filmed in and around Albuquerque and it's stunning. If you'd like to see the beautiful sky and sweeping desert views for yourself, this Moon Handbook will help you plan a trip to New Mexico.

Start Your Own Car Wash: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Success by Chris Simeral
Open your own car wash, just like Skyler and Walt. You don't have to use it for money laundering; this book promises to help you generate carloads of cash.

Poetry:

Percy Bysshe Shelley selected and edited by Timothy Webb
Shelley's poem Ozymandias, included in this collection, provided the title to a season five episode.

Leaves of Grass: the Complete 1855 and 1891-2 Editions by Walt Whitman
Gale Boetticher gave a copy of Whitman's classic collection to Walt. Just don't leave it lying around where your snooping relatives will find it.

DVDs:

If you like the show you'll probably want to see it again. If you haven't, you're in for a treat.

The Complete First Season
Mild-mannered Walter White decides that he can solve his family's financial crisis by cooking crystal meth.

The Complete Second Season
Really, Walt? This season Walter does things that make me lose sympathy for him.

The Complete Third Season
Then things get worse.

The Complete Fourth Season
And even worse.

The Fifth Season, Part One
See for yourself just how bad things have gotten as the series wraps up.

Oh, but it has been a great ride and I will miss it.

The photo at the top is of our guest blogger April meeting Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston at TIFF last year. She reports that he is "very nice" and "smells really good–not like Axe".