Category Archives: Books

Tom Mula’s Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol audiobook

Rebecca Swain wrote this review. MARLEY was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And … Continue reading

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Paul Davis’s The Lives & Times of Ebenezer Scrooge

It’s been said that Charles Dickens, by writing A Christmas Carol was more responsible than anyone else for how we conceive Christmas as a holiday: a plump goose, decorated trees, gifts, giving to the poor — all can be found … Continue reading

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John Langstaff, George Emlen & Patrick Swanson’s Celebrate the Winter: Winter Solstice Celebrations for Schools and Communities

Jack here. I was down at Toad Hall listening to Brigid practice with the Quasimodal Orchestra, the busking/street theatre group she’s a member of. (Well, you didn’t think I was the only musician in me household, did you? Shame, shame … Continue reading

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Frank Tieri, J. Calafiore, and Jack Purcell’s Batman: Gotham Underground

The problem with a story arc like Gotham Underground is that, by itself, it doesn’t really get to go anywhere. Instead, it’s tied into and supports the continuity of a larger limited series/crossover event/superhero throwdown, and as such what happens … Continue reading

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Simon R. Green’s Shadows Fall

Somewhere off the beaten path of society and civilization, there lies the mysterious town of Shadows Fall. The elephants’ graveyard of the imagination, it’s where gods and heroes, legends and monsters, myths and childhood companions all go when their time … Continue reading

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Sue Burke’s Dual Memory

I haven’t yet read Sue Burke’s debut Semiosis, which recently received high praise from Jo Walton, who put it on her list of the Top Ten Genre Books of the First Quarter of the Century over at Reactor Mag. It … Continue reading

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Ellis Peters’ The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael

A Morbid Taste For Bones (Warner, 1977) One Corpse Too Many (Warner, 1979) Monk’s Hood (Warner, 1980) St. Peters Fair (Warner, 1981) The Leper of St. Giles (Warner, 1981) The Virgin in the Ice (Warner, 1982) The Sanctuary Sparrow (Warner, … Continue reading

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Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses

During a recent convalescence when I couldn’t get to the library I decided to re-read an old favorite. As with any truly good book, Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses handsomely rewards a second reading. It had been high on my … Continue reading

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Daniel Pinkwater’s Jules, Penny & the Rooster

I don’t read Daniel Pinkwater books with my critic hat on. (Who am I kidding, I don’t read any story like that. If I find myself thinking scholarly thoughts, they had better be about nonfiction.) It’s particularly nice to read … Continue reading

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Nalo Hopkinson’s The New Moon’s Arms

When I read it seventeen years ago, I thought of this as Hopkinson’s most accessible novel. Rereading it, I asked myself why. Perhaps the environment is less strange than her mid- and post-apocalyptic futures in which we experience the worm’s-eye … Continue reading

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