Manga Review: Mao Vols. 21 & 22

Manga Review: Mao Vols. 21 & 22 by Rumiko Takahashi Note: This review will contain spoilers for previous volumes. If you’re new to the series, please consider reading older reviews on this blog. Quick recap: Nanoka Kiba lost her parents in a suspicious accident when she was young. Years later, she learns that the site… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Vols. 21 & 22

Book Review: Dandelion Wine

Book Review: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury The time: Summer, 1928. The place: Green Town, a large rural town in Illinois. Douglas Spaulding has just turned twelve years old, and this will be a summer to remember, the moments captured in time like dandelion wine. This 1957 novel is a collection of vignettes, some previously… Continue reading Book Review: Dandelion Wine

Manga Review: Case Closed Volumes 91-94

Manga Review: Case Closed Volumes 91-94 by Gosho Aoyama Very quick recap: Shin’ichi Kudou (Jimmy Kudo in the dub) is a teen genius detective. He crossed paths with the mysterious Black Organization, criminals that gave him an experimental poison. Instead of killing him as intended, it shrunk him to child size, so he must solve… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed Volumes 91-94

Book Review: The Second If Reader of Science Fiction

Cover by Jack Gaughan.

Book Review: The Second If Reader of Science Fiction edited by Frederik Pohl If was a science fiction magazine that ran from 1952-1974, with its most successful years being under editor Frederik Pohl, winning three consecutive Hugos for Best Professional Magazine 1966-1968. Mr. Pohl has considerately included some stories from before his tenure in his… Continue reading Book Review: The Second If Reader of Science Fiction

Manga Review: Skip-Beat! Volumes 7-8-9

Manga Review: Skip-Beat! Volumes 7-8-9 by Yoshiki Nakamura Note: This review contains spoilers for previous volumes. If you are unfamiliar with the series, you may want to read earlier reviews instead. Quick recap:  Kyoko Mogami dropped out of school and moved to Tokyo to support her beloved Sho as he tried to break into show… Continue reading Manga Review: Skip-Beat! Volumes 7-8-9

Book Review: Mary Poppins Opens the Door

Book Review: Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P.L. Travers It is the Fifth of November (remember, remember) and a foggy day in London town. The fog is particularly thick in the Banks household, where things have gone from Bad to Worse since Mary Poppins left the second time. Indeed, it’s so thick that chronically… Continue reading Book Review: Mary Poppins Opens the Door

Comic Book Review: Space Adventures Volume 2

Cover by Dick Giordano.

Comic Book Review: Space Adventures Volume 2 by various creators Space Adventures, sometimes titled “Science Fiction Space Adventures” or other temporary titles, was a science fiction anthology comic book series published by what would become Charlton Comics starting in 1952. It featured early work by such later famous artists as Dick Giordano and Steve Ditko.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Space Adventures Volume 2

Comic Book Review: Holmes: The Bento Cases

Cover by Myung Hee Kim

Comic Book Review: Holmes: The Bento Cases by various creators Bento Comics was an artist collective that allowed fans to select stories from their members to put together in bespoke anthologies. At conventions, they’d sell themed volumes to demonstrate the concept; I reviewed their Peter Pan anthology some years back. This collection is on the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Holmes: The Bento Cases

Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024

Cover art by Tom Roberts

Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024 edited by Janet Hutchings Despite the cover date, this issue of the venerable mystery story magazine hit newsstands in December 2023, so is the Christmas issue as well as the Sherlock Holmes tribute. I bought this issue and promptly had it buried under a to read pile,… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024

Book Review: The Best of Analog

Cover art by Alex Schomburg.

Book Review: The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova After the death of long-time editor John W. Campbell in 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Fact needed a new person at the helm. The winner of the selection process was Ben Bova (1932-2020), who intended to stay only a few years, those years winding up… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Analog