Category Archives: Books

J. K. Van Dover’s Making the Detective Story American

The past decade has witnessed a dark flowering of detective stories in genre fiction, from the Harry Dresden series to the more recent “weird-boiled noir” of Paul Tremblay’s The Little Sleep and China Mieville’s The City & the City, not … Continue reading

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Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future

I live in the Pacific Northwest. My awareness of and anxiety about climate change have been heightened by recent events. Particularly the cloud of dense, unhealthy smoke that enveloped the region for weeks on end from wildfires in 2019 and … Continue reading

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An omnibus review of music guides, Rough and otherwise, to folk, world, and opera

Neal Walters and Brian Mansfield’s musicHound Folk Adam McGovern, editor’s musicHound World Simon Broughton’s The Rough Guide to World Music, Volume One Simon Broughton’s The Rough Guide to World Music, Volume Two John Guinn and Les Stone’s The St. James … Continue reading

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Gail Holst-Warhaft’s Road To Rembetika

Judith Gennett wrote this review. Sometime during the late nineties our radio station in Texas received an archival rembetika CD from Rounder Records. It all sounded Greek to me, but then I began to read the lyrics. Pick-pockets, jail, knife … Continue reading

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Rough Guides’ 100 Essential CDs: Digby Fairweather and Brian Priestly’s Jazz, and Sue Steward’s Latin

What a great idea! What a fantastic job! Sit around the house, listen to music and choose the 100 CDs that define a style, and then write about it. Your choice becomes etched in stone, or at least on paper, … Continue reading

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Greta Kelly’s The Seventh Queen

When last we left Askia, things had gone so very wrong for her. Her efforts to protect her people, her lost kingdom had been completely dashed, and she has been captured. Now, at the heart of the power of her … Continue reading

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Daniel Pinkwater’s Crazy in Poughkeepsie

Poughkeepsie has its share of magic, and Daniel Pinkwater will be the best to know, and is also the city’s most famous advocate.  We’ve heard plenty about the marvels of Poughkeepsie in his Adventures of a Dwergish Girl, Adventures of a … Continue reading

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Joe R. Landsdale’s Born For Trouble The Further Adventures of Hap and Leonard

Joe R. Landsdale’s Born For Trouble The Further Adventures of Hap and Leonard is a short story collection by a veteran author featuring his most well known characters. Given the overall success that they have had, it is nice to … Continue reading

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Gareth L. Powell’s Stars and Bones

British SF author Powell has begun a new series called Continuance with the action-packed Stars and Bones. It’s packed not just with action but with some intriguing ideas. Powell has created a universe, an FTL travel concept, and a timeline … Continue reading

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Jeff Evans’ Midsomer Murders: The Making of an English Crime Classic

As I noted in my review of the first set of Midsomer Murders DVDs, which Acorn Media has released here in the States: Midsomer Murders series is based on the novels by Caroline Graham, with scripts written by some of … Continue reading

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