books

Fantasy Mystery Romance Comics Non-Fiction

Monthly Archive November, 2008

The Terra Cotta Dog

The Terra Cotta Dog (1996) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartaelli In the second Inspector Salvo Montalbano book, Montalbano is called by his friend Gege–the head of local prostitution–to meet, because Gege has something he has been asked to discuss with Montalbano. From here, Montalbano is drawn into organized crime, whether he wants to or […]

Unusual Suspects

Unusual Suspects (2008) edited by Dana Stabenow I own and read Dana Stabenow’s first fantasy/mystery anthology, Powers of Detection and found it a mixed bag. But when I saw Unusual Suspects and saw it had stories from Sharon Shinn & Simon R. Green, I knew I would have to have this anthology. In general, I […]

Hellboy Vol 8: Darkness Calls

Hellboy Vol 8: Darkness Calls (2008) Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo Hellboy is slowly working his way back to the world, after spending six (or however many) years under the sea. But now Hellboy is on his own, separated from B.P.R.D., and Baba Yaga and several others who were taken down are also looking to extract […]

The City of Falling Angels

The City of Falling Angels (2005) John Berendt I loved Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil so when I came across it in paperback, I picked up a copy of City of Falling Angels. And then proceeded to not read it for several years. Part of the problem was because I had no […]

Fables Vol 11: War and Pieces

Fables Vol 11: War and Pieces (2008) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Niko Hearichon, Andrew Peopy So there are added advantages to pre-ordering from Amazon. I got Fables Volume 11 today! It’s very very good. As a matter of fact, I started to panic while I read it, fearing that this was going to […]

The Truth

The Truth (2000) Terry Pratchett I seem to have developed a somewhat insane relationship with Terry Pratchett novels. I’ll read one, remember how awesome they were, then read a whole bunch more, move onto something else, and then at some point pick up a new novel and put of reading it for months and months, […]

Territory

Territory (2007) Emma Bull Matilda is a widow living in Tombstone and working as a typesetter for the paper. Jessie Fox is a horse trainer who ends up in Tombstone after someone tries to steal his horse. In Tombstone Wyatt Earp is consolidating power, including keeping Doc Holliday in town. In Territory we see Tombstone […]

Hellboy Vol 7: The Troll Witch and Others

Hellboy Vol 7: The Troll With and Others (2007) Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, P. Craig Russell This is another collection of shorter stories, and as usual, these collections tend to be my favorites. Though I do have to admit, that from reading Mike Mignola’s introductions to the various Hellboy short stories, I have apparently missed […]

B.P.R.D. Vol 6: The Universal Machine

B.P.R.D. Vol 6: The Universal Machine (2007) Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis Roger is dead. Abe is still lost in his thoughts of his past. And Johann is trying to bring Roger back from the dead. While Kate Corrigan heads off to France in search of a book that may help bring Roger back […]

Hellboy Vol 6: Strange Places

Hellboy Vol 6: Strange Places (2006) Mike Mignola Hellboy was gone for awhile–a couple years. Strange Places tells us where he was during that time. Nowhere good. He travels to Africa to talk to a shaman, gets nailed by an evil undersea witch, spends time hanging out with some dead sailors, and learns some of […]

B.P.R.D. Vol 5: The Black Flame

B.P.R.D. Vol 5: The Black Flame (2006) Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis In the 5th BRPD volume, the frogs released in Plague of Frogs are now appearing everywhere, and wreaking destruction as they go. In the meantime, Roger, who was extra simple last volume, has decided to imprint on Captain Daimio. Needless to say, […]

B.P.R.D. Vol 4: The Dead

B.P.R.D. Vol 4: The Dead (2005) Mike Mignola. John Arcudi, Guy Davis Set in the aftermath of Plague of Frogs, the BPRD has to figure out how to stop the frog monsters, while Abe has become obsessed with his past, and the man he may have been in another life. On top of that the […]

Blue Moon Rising

Blue Moon Rising (1991) Simon R. Green I believe it was Tania who was shocked that I had not read Blue Moon Rising. After all, I love the appalling John Taylor of Nightside, so why hadn’t I read Blue Moon Rising? Especially since I own a used copy of it? Two not very good reasons. […]

The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water (1994) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli After stumbling upon The Fencing Master several years ago, I overcame my reluctance to read books that had been translated into English. I’d somehow gotten it into my head that translated books were literature and my experiences with literature have not always been the […]

Undead and Unwed

Undead and Unwed (2004) MaryJanice Davidson Betsy thought things couldn’t get much worse when she got fired from her job. She soon discovered that was wrong, when she woke up in a coffin (after being smashed by a truck) dressed in pink and wearing her step-mother’s castoff shoes. So, first and foremost Undead and Unwed […]

Spirits that Walk in Shadow

Spirits that Walk in Shadow (2006) Nina Kiriki Hoffman I ordered Spirits that Walk in Shadow, but because it’s a trade paperback instead of a mass market paperback, it got put on a different shelf, and I forgot I had it. But my reading binge while home sick reminded me I had another unread Nina […]

The Silent Strength of Stones

The Silent Strength of Stones (1995) Nina Kiriki Hoffman To get it out of the way, the cover shown here? Awesome. The cover on the used copy I received? Awful. So bad that I kept putting off reading The Silent Strength of Stones even though I love Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s writing. I mean really, a […]