Category Archives: Books

Various Artists’ Sacred Music of the Moroccan Jews

In 1959, the American author and composer Paul Bowles recorded several hours of religious singing by Jews in two Moroccan cities. These Jewish communities were in transition; having survived World War II, their population had started trickling away to the … Continue reading

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Jilali El Koudia’s Moroccan Folktales

Is the folk tale dying? Will mass media wipe out the oral tradition, replacing that living and evolving heritage with ephemeral entertainment? Jilali El Koudia is afraid so. Born into a rural family in the ancient cultural crossroads of Morocco, … Continue reading

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Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart mysteries

The Ruby in the Smoke certainly doesn’t waste any time in getting our attention: On a cold, fretful afternoon in early October, 1872, a hansom cab drew up outside the offices of Lockhart and Selby, Shipping Agents, in the financial … Continue reading

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Midori Snyder’s hannah’s garden 

Well, I must say I was quite surprised when our Lady Grey asked me to write a review for this charming magazine. I am here as an observer for my Lady of the Winter Court, and I had not anticipated … Continue reading

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Timothy Rice’s May It Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music

Timothy Rice, folk-dancer turned ethnomusicologist, did field work in Bulgaria for his masters degree (1971) and PhD (1977) at the University of Washington. He later hosted gaida (bagpipe) player Kostadin Verimezov and his wife, singer Todora Verimezova, for a residency … Continue reading

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Terry Pratchett’s Wintersmith

Terry Pratchett began his series of Discworld stories for younger readers in 2003, with the marvelous Wee Free Men. There he introduced Tiffany Aching, shepherd’s daughter and witch-in-training. Her adventures continued in A Hat Full of Sky (2004), likewise excellent. … Continue reading

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Tim Pratt’s The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl 

It shouldn’t surprise you that I am a rather finicky reader given how much fiction I get a chance to sample. I have been known to read the beginnings of a half dozen novels without finding one that is of … Continue reading

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Michel W. Perry’s Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings

Many, many books have been written about the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, but Michael Perry attempts, with Untangling Tolkien, to produce the first detailed chronology of the events that take place in The Lord of the Rings. Some … Continue reading

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Iona and Peter Opie’s The Classic Fairy Tales

And this is the merit of [fairy] tales, that by going beyond possibility they enlarge our daily horizon. For a man not given to speculation might as well walk on four legs as on two. A child who does not … Continue reading

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Theodora Goss’ In The Forest of Forgetting

Every book is a grimoire, a witch’s recipe book for summoning thoughts and feelings, travels and transformations. Books of different genres can be used to invoke different seasons: horror for the haunted harvest time of late autumn, mysteries for the … Continue reading

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