The Strangest Books, Manuscripts and Other Literary Curiosities from History
Edward Brooke-Hitching
There are some really weird books in the world. Some, like the Voynich Manuscript and the Egyptian Book of the Dead are somewhat familiar. But these are only the tip of the iceberg. Brooke-Hitching examines categories of unique …
Mary Roberts Rinehart
The average writer, especially if he is experienced, is a humble creature, ready to wag his tail at a kind word. It is usually the dilettante who has the superiority complex.
A contemporary of Agatha Christie, Rinehart was as prolific and well-known in her day as “the …
Robin Sloan
Sloan creates the perfect balance of old and new, neither one better than the other. Out of work designer, and now accidental clerk, Clay Jannon lands a strange job manning the third shift at a 24-hour bookstore. While virtually no-one buys the normal used books, a serious of …
The theme-song for those of us who REALLY HATE being interrupted when we’re reading a book:
Guillame de Laubier
WHOA! It’s library porn! Seriously, there are huge center fold out with *drool* spiral staircases, grilled shelves, tromp l’oil ceilings and (oh baby!) rare manuscripts housed in little nooks and alcoves. I think I need to lie down.…
Russell Ash and Brian Lake
Ash and Lake have collected a mass of truly awful, useless and poorly titled books. Many owe their amusement factor to terms that have changed through time: Girls of the Pansy Patrol and The Gay Boys of Old Yale. Others are bizarre simply for …
This month was excellent for books. I found three new novels by some of my favorite authors, plus another couple really excellent titles. I also happened to run across a web page called Stump the Bookseller at Loganberry Books (http://loganberrybooks.com/stump.html). For $2, you can send them a short …
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub and Gary Wolfe speak at the Wisconsin Book Festival last weekend. Hot damn, Neil Gaiman rocks in so many ways. The official title of the talk was something on the lines of “The Evolution of Horror and Fantasy: Genre …
