In the raw

With the cold temps and long nights, there’s no better time to curl up with a book. Fortunately, the Telegraph is chock full of ideas for good reads.

For starters, Telegraph contributor Luke Mehall has done it again, in his latest memoir, Graduating From College Me. If you’ve ever felt torn between hip- hop and Bob Dylan, Mehall brings you the perfect balance of both. In GFCM, an older, wiser Mehall shares some of his most prized stories, which are sure to become a regular bcompanion on your desert or mountain excursions.

Read about the freedom of a total dude’s ad- venture in “Twenty-Four Hours of Vegas;” get swept back to the last time your heart was broken in “The Gobie;” or find redemption in “The Gobie Heals.” And just try to resist Googling a picture of Mehall’s model shoot in the El Cap meadow after reading “The Underwear Story.” Complementing each campfire-worthy tale is a piece of classic Mehall: raw poetry.

Mehall’s fourth memoir is one for the lovers, for the flower children, for hip-hop, and, of course, for the thriving, smiling, rambling dirt- bag. He also just released the ninth volume of The Climbing Zine, a collection of short stories, art and photos from a motley assortment of fellow creative folk. These titles can both be found at Maria’s Bookshop or online at lukemehall.com. In Mehall sign-off lingo, word.

If the fictional world of covert plans, ulterior motives and murderous greed is more your thing, be sure to check out Jeff Mannix’s latest installment of “Murder Ink” this week at durangotelegraph.com.

Mannix saves the best for his last column of the year, with a review of Killing Adonis, the debut novel from Australian writer J.M. Donellan.

Hitting shelves Dec. 16, this book is a must-preorder, with its dark, oft humorous look at family dysfunction at its finest. Come along as home nurse and heroine Freya Miller unravels the fabric of family togetherness and finds a few skeletons in the closet of her rich and famous employers. To find out how it ends ... well, you’ll have to buy the book. (And don’t ask to borrow Jeff’s copy.)