The World According to Color: A Cultural History by James Fox
Most people wouldn’t think of a squashed fly as the gateway to a world of beauty and art, but that was exactly the path art historian James Fox took, describing in the opening pages of The World According to Color (2022), how when he “first started seeing color at the age of six,” after his mother swatted a fly and James:
leaned in to examine the carcass … [It] looked like a precious jewel.
June 7th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Razzmatazz by Christopher Moore
Razzmatazz, Christopher Moore’s fantasy/action/comedy follow-up to Noir, came out in 2022. While I recommend Noir, you don’t need to read it first to enjoy this outing.
It’s 1947, in San Francisco, and Sammy “Two-Toes” Tiffin, bartender and sometime detective, and his group of regulars are still just trying to get by, when Sammy’s friend Eddie “Moo Shoes” Shu brings Sammy to a meeting with Eddie’s Uncle Ho.
June 6th, 2022. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Christopher Moore | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Justin: I’m really between books at the moment. About to start Rise of the Vicious Princess by C.J. Redwine. Weather permitting, I plan to tuck into a few chapters from my backyard hammock. With all the chaos happening in real life at the moment, I am looking forward to the escape of a good book.
Marion: Mudlark by Laura Maiklem is a nonfiction journey, following the author as she explores the flats of a low-tide Thames River, and gathers up historical treasures. (The British edition is called Mudlarking.) I’m meandering through this fascinating read.
June 5th, 2022. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
The People that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The People that Time Forgot (1918) is the second novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ CASPAK trilogy. In the first installment, The Land that Time Forgot, Bowen Tyler gets stranded on Caspak, a lost world where prehistoric animals and subhuman people exist. The story picks up in The People that Time Forgot as Bowen’s friend Tom Billings decides to go looking for him. When Tom lands on Caspak, he doesn’t have much time to search for his friend because it takes all his effort just to survive.
June 3rd, 2022. Kat Hooper and Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Edgar Rice Burroughs | Audio | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!
What is the best book you read in May 2022 and why did you love it? It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF, or even fiction. We just want to share some great reading material.
Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
And don’t forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our Fanlit Faves page and our 5-Star SFF page.
June 2nd, 2022. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 19 comments |
Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
Kingfisher’s Nettle and Bone (2022) was exactly the book I needed to read when I read it, so I am grateful to it and the writer for that. Kingfisher’s original fairy tale is a satisfying read at any time, with characters who engaged my imagination and find original ways to solve their problems.
Marra is a princess, the third daughter of a small kingdom with a deep-water harbor, nestled between two powerful warlike nations,
June 2nd, 2022. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | T. Kingfisher | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
As we noted in an earlier column, fantasy author Patricia McKillip passed away on May 6, 2022. This column is not an obituary; it contains some of my thoughts about her work, mostly THE RIDDLE-MASTER TRILOGY.
Many people mentioned that McKillip was their gateway to fantasy, sometimes the first fantasy book they read (in some cases, even before THE LORD OF THE RINGS). The Riddle-Master of Hed was not the first fantasy book I’d read, but it created an alchemical reaction in me—it inspired me.
June 1st, 2022. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |
Oh, Marion, you say "but dark" as if it were a bad thing! 😂
Hammer Studios is... reborn? I only ever read the "Kane" stories, which I found good but dark. It's a little…
Oh...and the men used the name "The Great Northern Expedition" to throw people off as to their actual destination, even…
Oh, it IS, Marion! It is!
Sorry if I mislead you in this detail, Paul...the voyage by ship was only the first leg of the quintet's…