Fall is right around the corner. Soon enough the leaves will turn orange, the nights will get colder and it’ll be time to break out the sweaters. If one of your favorite fall activities is curling up with a good book and a frothy latte, these books will be perfect to add to your lineup.

“The Secret History” by Donna Tartt 

Initially, “The Secret History” will make you feel like you’ve been whisked away into a fall day in Vermont that’s straight out of your dark academia daydreams. What seems like a story about a group of close friends slowly turns into an ominous tale about the darker side of humanity after they commit a murder and struggle to cover it up. The suspense, mystery and unreliable narration of the novel make it a perfect book to get lost in.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling

What better for a fall afternoon than a little nostalgia? The magic, friendship and childlike wonder encapsulated in this novel is hard to beat. The novel is set mostly in the backdrop of the fall and winter seasons. It’s perfect for a bit of light reading and to follow it up — watching the movie with friends makes for a perfect movie night.

An Edgar Allan Poe Short Story 

Starting a novel in your free time can sometimes feel overwhelming during the semester, but instead, you can turn toward a short story collection. Edgar Allan Poe is the perfect author for the fall. His stories are horror classics and are a perfect way to get a little fall reading in without dedicating yourself to an entire novel. Stories like “The Black Cat,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “Ligeia” fit right in with the upcoming Halloween festivities. His work often involves murder, madness and demons while still remaining focused on humanity and the struggle between good and evil. If you’re someone who favors the creepier aspects of the fall, you have to check out Poe’s work.

“The Shining” by Stephen King 

Maybe you’ve seen the film adaptation of “The Shining,” but have you ever read the book? Set at the tail end of fall, this book is perfectly scary and will have you on the edge of your seat. The book is unsettling from the very beginning — overwhelming readers with the inescapable dread of knowing something bad is going to happen, but not when. When Jack and his family move into the Overlook Hotel, they will have to face their inner demons, as well as literal demons. The novel is intense, but if you’re up for a thriller, it’s a must-read.

“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien

What better for a fall day than a fantasy novel? Anything by J.R.R. Tolkien can be perfect for fall. However, if you’re unfamiliar with his books, start with “The Hobbit.” The novel follows Bilbo Baggins as he goes on the adventure of his life and makes many friends along the way. Not only does the novel include battles with wizards, dragons and elves, but also cozy nights spent around a campfire or a crowded dinner table with friends. Its magical plots and settings will whisk you away from the stress of the fall semester.

“The Ex Hex” by Erin Sterling 

Last but not least is a good fall romance. After Vivienne Jones, a witch, gets dumped by her boyfriend, she drunkenly curses him. Nine years later, when her now ex-boyfriend returns to town, the curse takes effect and they have to work together to break it. The book is full of magic, ghosts and fall festivals, and is set in a cozy autumn-esque town. It’s a funny, spooky, “will they/won’t they” romance that’s perfect for fall.

Reading any of these books would be the perfect way to spend a weekend this fall. Whether you’re a horror fan or wanting something a little more lighthearted, this list has something for everyone.

Humans have been smoking in some form or another for thousands of years. Some of the earliest records of smoking tobacco date back to the early Americas around 5000 BC, even though it was initially restricted to religious figures and ceremonies. While it is true that for thousands of years it was unknown whether or not smoking tobacco was cancer-causing, that knowledge didn’t seem to stop many people from moving away from their smoking habits when the correlation with cancer began being published in the 1940s and 1950s. Although it’s been known for years now that smoking cigarettes is dangerous for your health, in a world full of dangerous things, that alone doesn’t seem to deter people. Today, about 12.6 percent of high school students use tobacco in any form, with 7.7 percent of these students using e-cigarettes. This is still a significant drop in nicotine usage when compared to the year 2000, when tobacco usage among high school students sat around 34.5 percent.

One of the major factors that attracts young people to vaping is the fact that they’re colorful and fruit-flavored. But a larger factor of temptation is the current quality of life for people, especially young people, in America. In 2023, the number of school shootings in America reached an all time high at 346 school shootings in a year, meaning nearly one school shooting occurred every day. Young people have also lived through COVID-19, which affected many students’ grades, stress levels and social skills. It’s a well-known fact that there is a correlation between unhealthy levels of stress and turning toward drugs or other unhealthy coping mechanisms to handle your worries. For this reason, telling a teenager that they should stop vaping because it’s not good for their health will most likely not prove to be effective. On top of the stress of coming out of a global pandemic and living in fear of their physical safety at school, the FDA — the very organization putting out public service announcements to curb vaping — is the same organization that lets money-hungry corporations control the guidelines for what is allowed to pass as “food” in this country, and lets the American people eat food that is extremely unhealthy for them.

There have been 68 confirmed deaths due to EVALI, a condition in the lungs caused by vaping, as of February 2020. At the same time, according to the National Institutes of Health, about 300,000 people die from obesity-related health conditions every year. And I’m not bringing up this contrast in fatalities to downplay the seriousness of anyone death due to vaping. There is evidence that proves that it is dangerous for our health, but we need to consider what else the people working so hard to stop young people from vaping are also in charge of. Due to their shadiness surrounding other bad products, if the FDA was in charge of making e-cigarettes, we might not see any public service announcements convincing young people not to vape, just like we don’t see any public service announcements telling young people not to eat junk food or how important it is to exercise. The FDA doesn’t have the public’s health as the top priority when considering many other bad products.

So many things in America are dangerous in one way or another. From e-cigarettes, to driving a car, to eating something from the grocery store, it’s just too difficult to be healthy in this country. The best possible way to curb e-cigarette usage among young people is to create a safer, healthier world for them to grow up in, so they wouldn’t feel the need to turn to drugs to cope.

Ellie Shuart is a junior majoring in English.

Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.

The 9th-annual Mac and Cheese Fest is upcoming this Thursday, March 14, from 6 to 8 p.m., and it’s set to be better than ever before. The festival, which features mac and cheese from two dozen restaurants in the Binghamton area, is a fundraising event for the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra is Broome County’s only professional symphony orchestra. Since being founded in 1955, their mission had been to provide live orchestral music to the area, but in 2017 their mission shifted to include social outreach in its list of goals. Their current mission statement is “building community through the power of live music.”

Ways they build community include their “Family Symphony Sessions” which allow the families of children under 17 to attend a symphony for free, and their “Musical Instrument Drive” which donates used instruments to schools in the area. The Mac and Cheese Fest is a fundraising event that helps make these programs possible.

Event organizer and Binghamton resident Julia Grella O’Connell says that attendees should expect the biggest Mac and Cheese Fest yet.

“The festival is now in its ninth year,” O’Connell wrote in an email. “In the eight previous years, it was held at the Holiday Inn Downtown. This year we are at DoubleTree Hotel in Downtown Binghamton, because it gives us more space, more parking and a better opportunity to host our 24 participating restaurants.”

Restaurants participating in the festival this year include Kampai Japanese Steakhouse, Mooney’s, Big Zues Barbeque, The Brickyard, The Grove, Calzone Bros, Park Diner, Strange Brew, The River Bistro and many more. There have also been vegan options before such as Parlor City Vegan.

When asked about the origins of the event O’Connell recalled when the idea was born.

“The event was born in 2016, when a Philharmonic staff member noted that almost every Binghamton restaurant had mac and cheese on the menu, and that there seemed to be a correspondingly big love for the dish throughout the area,” said O’Connell. “The festival is now in its ninth year and traditionally hosts up to one thousand mac and cheese-loving guests.”

After arriving at the festival and purchasing a ticket, attendees will be allowed to sample mac and cheese from all participating restaurants and will then vote for winners of different categories such as “Most Classic Mac,” “Most Original Mac,” “Judges’ Choice,” “Kids Choice” and “Best of the Fest.” The categories change by the year, giving different restaurants a better chance to show off their mac and cheese strengths.

Past winners include businesses such as Kampai Japanese Steakhouse, which won “Best of the Fest” and “Most Original Mac” in 2023, as well as “Judges’ Choice” and “Most Original Mac” again in 2022 and “Out of the Blue Box” in 2021. Park Diner won “Most Classic Mac” in 2023 and Big Zues Barbeque won “Judges’ Choice,” also in 2023. Having won awards three years in a row, it seems as though “Kampai Japanese Steakhouse” will be the restaurant to beat.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at their website, bingmacfest.com, or at the door using cash or card.

“All you need to bring is an appetite and a love for mac and cheese,” said O’Connell. “It’s a fun night for the whole family.”

This past Thursday, Markets of Broome held their first ever “Sweets and Treats Market,” inviting local bakers and business owners to come and participate. The market was held indoors at the barn-like Broome County Farmers Market location on Upper Front Street and ran from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Vendors lined the walls of the building, and there was a seating area with free drinks where attendees could enjoy the baked goods. While some were regular vendors at the weekly markets held in this location on Saturdays, others were making their appearance for the first time.

The market was an opportunity for smaller dessert businesses to reach more people in the Binghamton area. For Amanda Schmidt, owner of Iced NY, 31 of Kirkwood, New York, this was her first time participating in a Markets of Broome event. Schmidt’s dessert spread consisted of unique, beautifully decorated cookies, with the star of the show being a blue blend of three different kinds of cookies called the “Cookie Monster Cookie.”

“Right now we’re a home bakery based in Kirkwood, New York,” Schmidt said. “Eventually, we want to open a brick-and-mortar and introduce iced coffee, so we called it Iced.”

The market was a success for Schmidt. When asked how her day was going, she explained that she could’ve made even more cookies. She also encouraged readers to take the leap and start their own small businesses if they’ve been considering it.

There were weekly vendors present as well. Maria Ort, owner of Ort Family Farms, 61, residing north of Corning, New York, usually attends the weekly market held on Saturdays. Her display mostly consisted of unique teas and jams, with the jam being called “Niagara Grape Jelly,” made from white grapes instead of the traditional red.

“We grow herbs, we grow fruit, we harvest the crops and we use those crops to make our products, which is a line of jams and jellies, herbal seasonings [and] herbal teas,” Ort said. “We also sell potted plants. We have a special nursery where we sell all edible plants and various fruiting plants.”

There was a wide range of baked goods being sold — the most colorful being those from Gabriella’s Cakes & Co, visiting the market from their store location in Johnson City, New York. Gabriella LoPiccolo Gregory, owner of Gabriella’s Cakes & Co and Co, 28, of Binghamton, New York, attended the Sweets and Treats market after being reached out to by the market themselves.

“We’re like a boutique bakery,” LoPiccolo Gregory said. “We have custom cakes, cupcakes, macarons and gourmet cookies. We also take custom orders for sugar cookies and a variety of things. I think we might be the only frosting, super sweet desserts [at the market].”

None of this would have been possible without the work of the Market Manager and Assistant. Taj Robinson, Farmers Market Assistant, ‘21, was pleased to see the market attracting so much attention.

“The market manager came up with this idea, trying to think of ways to really highlight certain vendors that might not be featured every Saturday,” Robinson said. “On Saturdays, it’s mostly about produce, but we have a lot of bakers and other artisan vendors, so we do artisan markets about four times a year. I had a few people already telling me that this is a great idea and that we should do more, so I’m thinking that we probably will do another one later in the year.”

One of the seasonal artisan markets Robinson mentioned will be coming up this March.

“[The Spring Artisan Market] is an annual market that we do with a lot of different artisans,” said Robinson. “We have bakers. We do jewelry. We do things with beeswax. We make handcrafted decorations. Just a lot of different crafters from around Broome County will come out for the Artisan Market.”

The Spring Artisan Market will be held on March 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. located at 840 Upper Front St. and is a great way to experience the community and support small businesses.

“Madame Web” bombed at the box office, but did it deserve to? This past Wednesday, the latest Sony and Marvel collaboration titled “Madame Web” was released to theaters. The film features Dakota Johnson in the lead role of “Madame Web” as well as Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced and Celeste O’Connor in supporting roles.

The film tells the origin story of the character Cassie, better known as “Madame Web,” who is a clairvoyant partner of Spider-Man’s in the “Spider-Man” comics. The film accomplishes much of what a standard super hero film sets out to do. It was entertaining, suspenseful and featured plenty of super-power fighting sequences, all without being too violent or complicated. What’s interesting though is the overwhelmingly negative response the film received from the public.

The discourse surrounding “Madame Web” on the internet is filled with many people bashing the film and often encouraging others not to watch it. The film even managed to get as low as a 13 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The big question here is, why has the film gotten such overwhelmingly negative reviews? The film has a very talented cast who all gave great performances, the special effects were on par with any other Marvel film and the story itself was an adaptation of a preexisting comic book story like the rest of the successful superhero films. This begs the question — are superhero films going out of style?

The disappointing reception of “Madame Web” wasn’t the only time in the last few years that Sony and Marvel have had a difficult time selling audiences on new movies. “The Marvels,” released by Marvel Studios this past November, landed its spot as the lowest-grossing MCU film of all-time, only making $46 million with its roughly $270 million budget, the fourth-highest budget of any Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film. This could indicate a decrease in audience interest in superhero films, but it could also indicate an unwillingness from audiences to move on from the classic superheroes like the Avengers that Marvel has focused on for so many years and expand their interests onto new, female lead superhero films.

Another question worth considering is, what do current audiences expect from superhero films? It seems that something audiences loved most about the era of the original Avengers in the MCU was how deeply connected they felt to the characters. With most of the characters having had one or more solo-films and multiple combined adventures, the lore and relationships involved in those movies ran incredibly deep, having been built up over the course of years.

The new superhero films being released lacked that level of connection, because most of the films released by Marvel over the years since “Avengers: Endgame” have been about introducing us to new characters to allow the MCU to outlive the original Avengers. The budgets, casting, costuming and writing quality have all remained quite similar across the board.

When comparing superhero films, it’s important not to judge the success of a character’s introduction against the success of an already well-established character. The box office opening for “Captain America: The First Avenger” made about $65 million for the character’s debut film, with the sequel film “Captain America: Civil War” pulling in almost three times that amount at $179 million. When audiences compare Madame Web to a popular superhero film like “Avengers: Endgame,” which made a whopping $357 million at its box office opening, it’s important to remember that those characters were also new once. And “Madame Web’s” projected $24 million opening week isn’t that far off from that of “Captain America: The First Avenger.” It’s important that anybody who’s interested in the film goes and sees it for themselves and doesn’t let the bandwagon of negative reviews stop them from enjoying a great movie.