Category Archives: Books

David Downie’s Irreverent Guide to Amsterdam

The first rule of any travel guide is that it be compact enough to fit in a pocket in need be. Even the Rough Guides or Lonely Planet Guides can be far too large to be something that I’d like … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on David Downie’s Irreverent Guide to Amsterdam

Reginald Hill’s A Pinch of Snuff audiobook

I first experienced Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe as played by Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan on decade long television series produced by BBC One. (I’ve never read any of the novels, a condition I really should attend to.) In … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged | Comments Off on Reginald Hill’s A Pinch of Snuff audiobook

Patti Perret’s The Faces of Fantasy

If The Faces of Science Fiction suffered from a shitty printing effort and I’ll say it did, The Faces of Fantasy is quite the opposite with everything did in a manner befitting the subject. Now I’ll admit that over a … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged | Comments Off on Patti Perret’s The Faces of Fantasy

Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn was originally published in 1968, and has never been out of print. There have been innumerable editions; my favorite covers are the original Viking hardcover (inexplicable Peter Max-style titles on a black background) and the original 1969 … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears

Laurie Thayer penned this review. Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears is the third volume of reworked fairy tales brought to us by the editing team of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. As in their previous volumes, Snow White, Blood Red and Black Thorn, White Rose, these … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Black Heart, Ivory Bones

Naomi De Bruyn penned this review. Black Heart, Ivory Bones is the sixth and final volume in the library of stories inspired by classic fairy tales. It all began in 1990 when the award-winning editors realized that they shared a love of … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Black Heart, Ivory Bones

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Silver Birch, Blood Moon

Chuck Lipsig wrote this review. Silver Birch, Blood Moon, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s fifth anthology of modern retelling of fairy tales, is a solid collection. Some of the authors, such as Nancy Kress, Neil Gaiman, and Robin McKinley, are already … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Silver Birch, Blood Moon

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Black Thorn, White Rose

Laurie Thayer penned this review. In Black Thorn, White Rose, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling reteam to bring us a second collection of fairy tales meant for adult readers. As in their previous collection, Snow White, Blood Red, these are not the fairy … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Black Thorn, White Rose

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Black Swan, White Raven

Black Swan, White Raven is the fourth volume in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s fairy tale reclamation effort. Reclamation from what… you might ask? From sweetness, safety and banality, traits infused into once-dark tales to render them palatable for tender sensibilities. … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Black Swan, White Raven

Various Artists’ The Rough Guide to Hungarian Music 

Mention Hungarian music in a sentence and the word gypsy will inevitably follow. But as is the case with stereotypes, that doesn’t give you the whole picture (a lot of it, but not all of it). The Rough Guide to Hungarian Music takes you all through … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Various Artists’ The Rough Guide to Hungarian Music