Manga Review: Mao Volumes 3, 4 & 5

Manga Review: Mao Volumes 3, 4 & 5 by Rumiko Takahashi Quick recap: When Nanoka Kiba was a little girl, her parents were killed in a freak car accident. Since then she’s been raised by her kindly grandfather and his odd housekeeper Uozumi. Now, in her third year of middle school, Nanoka hears strange voices… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 3, 4 & 5

Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell edited by Russell Nohelty I hope you’re not tired of Lovecraftian cosmic horror yet, because I’ve got more to come. In this case, it’s an anthology of Cthulhu Mythos-related comics, focused on the “gods” of that cycle, and new critters that fit in with that theme. Despite… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails edited by Mary Francois Rockcastle It is time again to look at Hamline University’s annual literary magazine. This issue is from 2006. It’s dedicated to Frederick Busch, author of Girls, who had visited the university shortly before his death the previous year. The subtitle, borrowed from one… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails

Book Review: Classic American Short Stories

Book Review: Classic American Short Stories compiled by Michael Kelahan This book is more or less exactly what it says in the title, a compilation of short(ish) stories written by American authors, most of which are acknowledged as classics by American Lit professors.  The stories are arranged by author in roughly chronological order from the… Continue reading Book Review: Classic American Short Stories

Book Review: Things That Are

Book Review: Things That Are by Amy Leach “The secret to crypsis is placing yourself among things you look like, but in a scene where no one will expect you, like Willie Nelson with Lithuanian peasants.” Essays are short pieces in which the author attempts to set down their thoughts.  They can be formal or… Continue reading Book Review: Things That Are

Book Review: Infinity Two

Book Review: Infinity Two edited by Robert Hoskins Infinity was a series of paperback science fiction anthologies from Lancer Books in the early 1970s.  Its primary draw was that all the stories were new, not having been previously printed in magazines.  By this point, science fiction writers were allowed to mention sex and other controversial… Continue reading Book Review: Infinity Two

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995.  There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages.  They are not all about… Continue reading Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook

Book Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook edited by Howard Hopkins One of the fun things about fan fiction is the “crossover.”  That’s where two separate fictional worlds are combined in the same story, which is generally impossible in the source material.  Having the Enterprise crew battle the Daleks, Sailor Moon teaming up with the Brady… Continue reading Book Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook