Form-3 Books

This is my personal favorite book from my childhood. Every night between the ages of two and seven, I coerced my father into reading this to me. Every night. My poor dad, but it really is a fantastic book. I still read it whenever I need something to smile about.

The illustrations are just as amazing as the words.

Word of warning, don't read this in animated tones to very small children. I accidentally made two year old twin girls start crying inconsolably at "And as in oofish thought he stood, a Jabberwok with EYES OF FLAME!" I hope I didn't traumatize them.

Graeme Base has lent a thrilling vision to Lewis Carroll's poem, illustrating the complete poem with seven dioramas -- lush, layered cutouts that are an interesting departure from pop-ups and lift-the-flap books.

It is not the only possible imagery, but it is very entertaining, well engineered and, in my opinion, faithful to the spirit of the text's author.

This is my 2 year old's favorite book. We have read it so many time that he almost has the whole poem memorized!! The illustrations are wonderful for adults and children. I find new things in the pages almost every night. I highly reccomend it.

I LOVE this poem by Lewis Carroll. It is extremely well written and inspires the imagination to soar to new heights. I am a big fan of illustrator Graeme Base. His bright and colorful creatures makes this Lewis Carroll classic a MUST for anyone.

Interesting and informative book. The poetic text has a bit of a story line which makes it more fun than just a "how-to" book. The illustrations which demonstrate each step of the knitting process are clear and simple. There are simple but fun patterns. I also like that is suggests that knitting can be a way to help other people in your community, knitting hats for babies, etc. and ways to donate those things. I bought one for my niece to help reinforce teaching her to knit, and liked it so much I ordered another.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn to knit.

I am not a youth (far from it!) but until I read 'Knitting with Gigi' I had not mastered knitting. I love the rhymes, the easy style and the author's (Gigi's) subtle suggestions for involvement in helping others. In one evening, I was knitting away and loving it. The illustrations are a beautiful complement to a wonderful book for children and their parents to learn/share together. I'd definitely suggest this book as a great gift for the aspiring knitter!

I didn't know how to knit when I bought this kit, and I didn't learn how from it. I found myself, at age 28, completely lost while attempting to understand the basic techniques of slipknots, casting on, and the knit stitch with the diagrams in this book. I love the art and poetry, and I'm sure children will find it helpful for memorization, but for those first few tries they may need an adult on the spot. I know I did! (Thanks, Mom! ^_^)

That aside, the tools included are good quality. I love the bamboo needles and they are now my needle of choice! The yarn doesn't split or knot easily like cheaper yarns do. Overall, worth the money, but only if you have someone there to help the learner understand the diagrams.

This is very good basic book on knitting. I am not a child but it was helpful to me. I look forward to sharing it with the children in my life. Good pictures, good descriptions and directions!!!

Karen Thalacker's KNITTING WITH GIGI comes in both book and pattern box kit complete with yarns which lend well to beginners ages 8 and older who are just getting started - and for many an adult newcomers to knitting. The kit holds yarn, needles, and a softcover book with poems pictures and easy step-by-step directions, making it a perfect gift choice. The hardcover book includes 8 patterns and easy step-by-step instructions which works well for lending libraries.

"silent generation", between the "greatest" & the "boomers".
They can relive raising kids, borrowing from your in-laws, sex 50's style, dealing with the 60's etc., all with the wit & wisdom of Erma Bombeck.
This is more like a memoir, probably the last in a series, that rings true sometimes, of course, with exaggeration to humorous effect.
Not much to complain about here. She is a good writer who started small had an understanding, supportive husband & achieved national celebrity.
If you are of a certain age, you will laugh.

I miss Erma. I really do. I miss her style of writing, her humor and her wit. She is probably the only writer from my childhood that I have read faithfully of. Her columns were the highlight of our day when it appeared in our newspapers. Reading this book is like going down memory lane. I remember some of her stuff, but not all of them. This one is a honest and true look at marriage.

Marriage isn't happily ever after. We spend our lives changing our partners, resisting the changes that life throws our way, staying married through thin and fat, through children, through illness and career changes ~~ through death, death of a father and friend. It's a wonderful little book full of wisdom and insights. I love her chapter titles: A House Morally Divided Cannot Stand Each Other or Living on Love.

She offers insights to her own life and marriage oftentimes, poking fun at herself and her family. She is never mean but instead she is inspiring. She makes you think even while laughing at some of the silly things we all do in our own lives. I have not been married as long as she has but already, I see some of the things she has pointed out such as trying to change your husband.

If you're looking for a wonderful book to read ~~ don't miss this one. It's beautifully written and so poignant in some places. Erma writes about life because she has lived it. Her stories are still true today as they were fourteen years ago.

5-11-06

The chronicle of Erma Bombeck's married life, this is a sweet, funny, and realistic view of timeless marriage.

Ms. Bombeck starts on the wedding day, when she and husband Bill were married by a priest who spoke Latin with a Polish accent. She moves on to their children, their multiple homes, a saddening chapter about her tragic miscarriage, the chronicles of her morality arguments with her kids, and finally, her career.

She spent years as a housewife. But Ms. Bombeck's now famous writing started in a local paper, and she warmly describes how emotionally supportive her husband was when her columns became well-known. Touring can't have helped their marriage much, but apparently they both didn't let it hurt it.

She satirizes her own under-par household skills, the weird little quirks that come in with age, nd the glories of growing old together. She doesn't say anything about that last one, but it glows throughout the book.

Bravo, Erma.

This book is full of wit and one liners from a woman who knows family. I myself only have a husband and no kids but her writing is still hilarious to me. It reminds me of things my own mother used to say in her own funny and sacastic way. When she talk about her husband and his "ways" of packing a suitcase or talking about the kids I laughed out loud while reading in bed and scared my husband. I sure do miss her and only wish she could have spent a little more time on earth to make us laugh. I bet God is having a ball with her in heaven.

I have always enjoyed Erma Bombeck when she had a column, but the children were small and I never had much time to read. Had I gotten a book like this one, I could of breezed through raising children and marriage with much less guilt. It is one of the funniest (because it's so true) books I've ever read. I am now a collector of Erma Bombecks books. Chapters titled,; "How Much Happiness Can We Finance?" The book for me was filled with memories from the 50's and 60's, and how it used to be. I found myself laughing outloud and shaking my head at the humor, yet truthfulness, that Erma shares with her readers. I'm getting two more of her books for Christmas, and am getting several others on auction. If you need a laugh, kick out some of those endorphins that need to come out and lighten you up, don't miss Erma Bombeck's, "Marriage Made in Heaven or too Tired for an Affair." It's fantastic!

Okay, I have to admit that the only reason I picked up this book in the first place is because of all the handsome men on the cover. When I finally got around to reading it, I couldn't put it down!

It's a very amusing, quick read. All I can say is that I wish my social life was half as active and entertaining as Mrs. Leveridge's!

Wow, did she really share a sunrise with Jack Kerouac?

Although most of the book (and the reviews) focus on the marvelous youthful adventures of Brett Leveridge's lovely mother, my favorite part of the book were Brett's personal essays. His observational stories add warmth to a genre that is very often overly sarcastic and bitter.

Brett Leveridge is a terrifically funny writer; his prose is at once witty and engaging, the tales he spins warmly evocative and unforgettable.

Brett Leveridge offers a generous portrait of the delights and dangers of dating, as seen through the wise (but not hard-bitten) eyes of a young woman in the 50's. The fact that this woman is his mother does not distract from his candid appraisals of the motives of men and women during their movie-going, dance-attending searches for companionship.

He creates a remarkable movie in one's head, full of Beat poets, seducing at dawn; confident sons of preachers (whose version of 'going fast' involves way more than the moves of 'third base'); rough men, humbled by her beauty; shy men, sometimes encouraged too far.

All these experiences tie in to Karen's ('Mother's') subtle construction of her dream man; the fidelity and kindness she shows to others during her dates become building blocks for the long-lasting fidelity of her only marriage.

Leveridge's view of human nature in his Mother stories (and in his short essays) is tasteful and respectful, but not conservatively retrograde. Men who might have kept a stash of physique magazines and women who might have had their secret love in the WACS also have their role (an appropriate one, neither cruel nor cold) in this girl's journey to womanhood and marriage.

This is the rare post-modern book that one could safely give to Mom or Dad, while feeling guilty about wanting to keep it for oneself. Play it safe -- buy two.

I picked up Brett Leveridge's new book Men My Mother Dated and thought to myself, "Now who would want to read a book filled with stories about the men someone's mother dated?"

The answer is pretty evident once you begin reading these humorous and wonderfully written stories. It got me to thinking just what types of guys my own mom must have dated and of the different stories all of our mothers could tell regarding the finer points of dating.

My favorite story had to be The Eddie Cantor Six in which Brett recounts the tale of his mother having dated six men who, over the course of two weeks, all took her to see The Eddie Cantor Story at a local movie theater.

The rest of the stories or commentaries, if you will, are just as well written and some are laugh-out-loud hysterical! You simply cannot go wrong with this slim volume of essays by a man with a truly observant eye toward our current state of social affairs. You'll pick it up and won't want to put it down!

Oh...and be sure to check out Brett's Website BRETTnews wherein you will have the opportunity to sign his Guest Book and be asked that all-important question - What Is Your Inseam.

If you know anything about the Peanuts Gang, you cannot help but lve them. In this collection Schulz, has outdone himself again. Anyone seeking a good laugh or a smile brought to a cloudy day should take a look at this.

Here it is, a book which contains all of the Peanuts cartoons created in the year 1991. Some jokes come out flat, but most get smiles, chuckles, or even out-loud laughter for their creativity, orignality..and a good punchline always helps.

Sure, computer-generated strips are the new thing, but you can't really mess with the strip that changed comics...

I could not put this book down. A whole year of this comic is so funny. i know that i can relate to everyone of the penuts gang.

This is a most charming collection of the antics of the round-headed kid we all love. With comics from a year's worth of newspapers, including the Sundays, you'll have enough to read to keep you entertained, over and over again. Not only are the Peanuts Gang funny, but inspiring, touching, sad, and as the title indicates, sometimes even profound. With Linus' wise advice, Lucy's sassy attitude, and Snoopy's admirable imagination, Charles Shulz' creations give us insight to the most enigmatical yet simplest part of our lives: our childhoods. Read the comics once and laugh, but read them again, look into the words more, and see the other emotions buried underneath. Charles Shulz was truly a genius, and the world will miss him.

I enjoyed this so much that I read it in one sitting. I never realized how much more enyoyable the Peanuts strips would be when you read them one after another, rather than one-a-day!

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn is an intersting figure,a moral giant ,Shakespearean in his essence, equalled only by John PaulII and Nelson mandela among recent historical personage. Shamefully,disgustingly ignored by the left, exploited,shamelessly co-opted by the right,cafeteria style[much like JPII} he stradles above both camps,like Gulliver among Lilliputians. This collection, beautifully done considers the whole of the Canon,from stories written in the 1930's ending with his recent prose-poems[which are quite lovely and distinctive} A Large portion of the book are excerpts from THE RED WHEEL, his Magnum Opus,of which only the first two volumes[called Knots by the author] have been translated into English. The Red Wheel has been chewed and spit out by critics,though I cannot see why. It is in the great Russian literay tradition, long and varied and narrative and lovely. The overwhelming Chapter from the Gulag ArchipelagoII,THE ASCENT, is here, as are his major novels, speeches{the Nobel, Harvard and templeton adresses are here}.An essential volume to understand no just the 20th century, but the hole which exists in our post-postmodern world.

The first time I read anything by Solzhenitsyn was when I was given the opportunity to see his Nobel Speech from 1970 and learn of some of the horrors he had seen just because he was a writer. That day he said many things, too, and of all the words he threw into the audience one thing stuck with me. This isn't to say that everything he said didn't hit like a hammer because it did, but one statement, one paragraph, truly redefined the edges of suffering and made me think about what the word writer really meant. While remarking on the Gulags he made the comment:
"A whole national literature remained there, cast into oblivion not only without a grave, but without even underclothes, naked, with a number tagged on to its toe. Russian literature did not cease for a moment, but from the outside it appeared a wasteland! Where a peaceful forest could have grown, there remained, after all the felling, two or three trees overlooked by chance."
This took me by surprise and, reading more and more of his work, I came to understand how close he tiptoed the edge of a potent razor.

In this compendium of work compiled by Erikson and Mahoney, even the most casual of readers will be given a glimpse into a world that they might not even know existed. It mixes the casual with the terrible, the happy with the sad, creating a loom upon which one can truly look into the heart of the writer and see that he is crafting truths. The Gulag Archipelago was perhaps the most amazing of the pieces here, although the Red Wheel and other mentioned pieces are also well worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning is the fact that this book was translated in part by his son, allowing him to keep intact many of the truths he wanted so much to tell, and that many of these words are words that have never been printed in English. This means that the worlds that many people have never seen before, those forged by iron and starvation and by the silence that comes from being crushed by a curtain cast in iron, are on display and should be read and reread because they have meaning.
They are more history than history in many parts and more revolution than most revolutionaries ever dream of becoming. As both an author and a person willing to face expulsion from his country and death by his countrymen he did what few would ever think of doing; he continued to write so that the suffering he saw would never be forgotten.

When I recommend this read, I recommend it on many levels. First, I think it has something to say and, secondly, it managed to touch me as it said it. This peaks volumes on the subject and on the way the author conveys the subject, taking my mind into places too horrible to be fanciful flights of even the most convincing horror writer. Third, it works as a historical medium, reminding us what freedom entails and where all the Russian forces of nature went when their pens fell silent. That, most of all, is a reason to read this: how many pens churned in what was once a forest simply to be silenced?
Powerful is just a word until you see it taking form.

I'm a newcomer to Solzhenitsyn's writings but after reading his One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, I was anxious for more. This Reader provides just the sampling I desired. It is not only valuable from the literary aspect but also from the historical. I gained insight regarding the Bolshevik Revolution, especially the dehumanizing effect of the Soviet regime under Lenin and Stalin. The effect on Solzhenitsyn of imprisonment in the labor camps is truly remarkable and spiritually edifying.

This set is a major step forward to the presentation and understanding of Solzhenitsyn to English speaking readers. It is a process that will still take years, but I suspect this volume will be pivotal.

In the early days, the writer's books were rushed into print with so-so or even poor translations because of their timelineness and importance. His exile to USA happened at the crest of his frame, but the political establishment was post-Watergate mediocority and the literary establishment not up to speed to help; we were not ready for him. Any great writer and/or polemicist is going to be controversial to somebody. And Solzhenitsyn's voice is a shrewd construct made of turning Soviet literary realism against itself, juiced up with a vocabulary simultaneously streetwise, grand, goading. Understand Russian or not, you really need hear him speak sometime. There is really no equivalent figure in English, modern or ancient, here or in Britain. You would have to conceive of Upton Sinclair as an experimental literary giant plus a man of subtle moral dimensions, then put him in the body of the old prize fighter John L. Sullivan, and finally put him on a soapbox with all the scary zeal of an early century 20 labor rabble rouser. The closest personal affinity Solzhenitsyn found in his own fiction (minus core belief, of course) was Lenin. Solzhenitsyn is the anti-Lenin. And even more. To our soundbite culture, he just looks crazy. We prefer our Rooskies to be chummy vodka drinkers with a wink in their eye, or comradely cosmonauts. In our own history we only produced such figures just before and during the civil war era. The experience scorched our national soul with fire for good and doubtless killed some brain cells; we want the benefit of being on the good side of such turbulence, but don't want to look into that well too deeply for those old issues anymore, whatever they may be. We cover the hallowed ground with platitude, and allow a black gospel singer to replicate the pitch for us on public occasion, then back to business. We in this nation are now so far into such denial as to risk a repeat along new fault lines. This sad and tragic process is known as history.

Professors Ericson and Mahoney have emerged in recent years as the key interpreters of the Solzhenitsyn cyclone for us, and let nobody convince you it is not a cyclone. Truth doesn't come easy; come here if you dare. If the headlines are old, the second fiery wind of artistic sophistication, fully schooled by the giants of literary modernism, is still to be experienced. For Solzhenitsyn resembles Tolstoy only in scope; in the great Russian tradition of literary engagement (unlike our consensus seeking) the game is to take such giants on, and Solzhenitsyn does on every level. Ericson and Mahoney here not only do an able job, but a superlative job of explication, choice, and presentation of the writer, fresh as if for the first time (in some sense it is). Each vital and core statement is here, many in new translations, plus new things from the entire career we haven't yet seen in English. Excerpts are made very well; the greater artistic treasures beyond this set are previewed. The volume works for both those coming new to the writer and those of us who have been following him for decades. I was especially gratified to find major doses of Cancer Ward, a great and dense modern novel wrestling with the nuclear core of what went haywire worldwide in century 20. Then Matryona's House -- is this the best story in any language for 200 years, or what? Yeah, Ivan Denisovich seems missing in action -- but that sui generis masterpiece has remained readily available everywhere at all times. Everybody now knows Ivan worldwide, as they also know the term GULAG. So Ivan does not require this volume, though oddly his creator still does.

The editors expand our understanding, but also set out verdicts in concise statement: "Solzhenitsyn is, in truth, a liberal conservative who wants to temper the one-sided modern preoccupation with individual freedom with a salutary reminder of the moral ends that ought to inform responsible human choice." The editors thus make the case that the writer is within, not without, the arena of modern political dialogue (ie., a liberal in the classic sense, not a traditionalist or nationalist). And within that dialogue, one bringing in the lessons of the past, not a mantra for endless "change" running clear off the tracks (like the "Red Wheel" of Soviet communism -- introduced metaphorically in filmic scenario as a burning wagon wheel broke loose early in August 1914). After a lot of misunderstandings still at large, then, it is both safe and sound to let Professors Ericson and Mahoney teach. Here is a writer worth inhabiting for your own lifetime, and may the wind be at your back -- you'll need it to stay ahead of the fire.

Expertly compiled and collaboratively co-edited by Edward E. Erickson, Jr. (Professor Emeritus of English, Calvin College) and Daniel J. Mahoney (Professor of Politics, Assumption College), "The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New And Essential Writings 1947-2005" is a compendium of the literary, philosophical, and political writings of Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn who was born on December 11, 1918 in Kislovodsk, Russia, underwent twenty years of involuntary exile in the West, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, returned to live in Moscow and continue writing his observations and commentaries about the social, ethical, and political issues of our time. Solzhenitsyn is a Nobel laureate whose writings spoke truth to power, whose courage against a totalitarian regime led to his exile from his native country, whose commitment to ethics marginalized him in the democracies of the west, and whose poetry, short stories, novels, essays, and speeches are as relevant today as they were over the past four decades of his controversial career. Reflecting and demonstrating his life's work to date, "The Solzhenitsyn Reader" is a seminal contribution to academic library collections and especially recommended reading for students of Political Science, Russian Studies, European History, and Russian Literature.

Great book with brilliant art pictorial descriptions of weird behavior. I am afraid that all of mine are off the scale. However it id difficult to find a behavior that is not in the book. With the exception of washing the caned food in the water dish like some sort of raccoon.
In the back of the book is an attempt to help you deal with these little (ok maybe big) wierdies.

This is a short book (80 pages) about cats, and the weird things they do. There really isn't a lot of reading involved - this is more of a pictorial. Very good, descriptive pictures portray the things we love about cats the most - their weirdness and individuality (or so you thought until you see this book & realize ALL cats do this stuff!)

For the cat lover - this book is a must! You will thoroughly enjoy this fun loving book! Included is a Kitty Weirdness Scale (KWS) so that you can score your own cat and compare him/her to other cats. One excerpt; 275 points or more "Verify that your animal is not a Tasmanian Devil."

A few of my personal favorites in this book include Laziness, Drinking, Body Language, and (I'm sorry to say it) Barfing. These pictures are the best in describing cats and the (definately weird) things they do!!

Enjoy! I sure did!!

1smileycat :-)

Very interesting, had very good drawings of real live cats. This entertaining piece of mind, had sub-topics and scoring. Most enjoyable for your inner love of cats. Covers most antics of cats, from vainess to drooling. Last, but not least, my personal favorite, the kws scale (kitty weirdness scale). Has a delightful description on every level. I highly reccomend this book.

This is one funny book! I have finally found someone who is as crazy about cats as am I. Missy Dizick clearly knows cats and cat owners. Plus, her art is beautiful!I know that my cats are crazy and that is one thing that I love about them. Dogs are . . . BORING. I recommend this book to all of my cat-loving friends and they tell me that they love it also. Thanks, Missy.

My cats...you should meet them, they're insane. And until I bought this book, I thought that a) I was the only one with odd cats and b) perhaps my perceptions were clouded. No, it's true, my beadspread sucking, flapping and screaming, last pair of pantyhose shredding, gettin' stuck on the roof overnight, fighting with the wrong dogg kitties, all 12 of them, just test really high in the KWS, or Kitty Wierdness Scale. Missy Dizick writes from the perspective of a person who could only have many very wierd cats who shred seedlings, eat wierd stuff, and so on. Even after 30 or so readings, this book still has me rolling on the floor every time. I laugh so hard that my abs are improving just from this book. It's been loaned to so many cat loving friends it's falling apart. You must have this book. Its so funny you won't believe it.

Curlovich, John Michael, Rowe, Michael, and David Thomas Lord. "Triptych of Terror: Chilling Tales by the Masters of Gay Horror", Alyson 2006.

Scary Stuff

While shopping today at a local store in Little Rock, I was amazed to see both Halloween and Christmas decorations all over the store I was in. It's only August and we are already getting ready for the ghouls and the goblins as well as St. Nick. I figured if the stores could get ready for Halloween, so could I so I came home and read "Triptych" and prepared for the oncoming season.
"Triptych" is the combined work of three masters of horror. We have John Michael Curlovich with "A Holy Time for the Dead" about a powerful televangelist whose goal it is to get Halloween back from the spirits and reclaim it as a tool for Christianity. First he must manage to get rid of a closeted young minister and banish him to a church which is haunted. The young minister, however, resists and becomes a powerful adversary. More dark fantasy than horror, it is a story that will completely engross you.
Michael Rowe gives us "In October" and this is the best in the book. It follows a young man in a small northern town which is obsessed with maintaining the status quo. The most powerful person in the town and the biggest name is a preacher who controls the most powerful church in the area. Mikey Childress is harassed and bullied by the townsfolk and his one friend, a Goth girl, tries to protect him. He, one evening, turns to the occult as his method of revenge and what happens afterwards is sheer horror.
David Thomas Lord gives "The Secret of the Fey" which is a cautionary tale that shows how we should be really careful about what we wish for. 63 year old Tom Hogan is in pain over the loss of his longtime partner, Daniel. His grief paralyzes him and e rues growing older in an age when so much emphasis is placed on youth. His life is meaningless until he travels to a gay bar and is smitten by an Adonis and mistakes him as a leprechaun of sorts and wishes him to be his over. Here is a wonderful allegory on the Fountain of Youth with wonderful mysticism and erotic passion. When Tom realizes that he is living in a dream world, he also realizes that his dream is a nightmare and this is just the onset.
These three horror stories are bound t capture the reader. What a fun read this is and one that should not be missed. It is a creative look at the genre of horror writing and very refreshing.

I am not going to rehash the exact details and plots, since the other reviewers have already done this very ably.

I felt that the first piece, A HOLY TIME FOR ALL THE DEAD, was actually dark fantasy rather than horror. I enjoyed it.

The second story, IN OCTOBER, had me going, and I enjoyed it alot. It made me think of some horror movies that I have seen.

But the third piece, THE SECRETS OF THE FEY, was the most powerful, clearly horrific. There was this confusion, and a building sense of dread, leading to the climax. The ending was like a fist in the face for me, and I actually cried at the end of this story, and I rarely do that.

Whoever put together this anthology, I would like to see more, maybe a regular series, a new volume every couple of years.

Michael Rowe's stellar "In October" is the clear star of the three stories of Triptych of Terror. The story follows a young man who lives in a small northern town that's obsessed with the status quo. The town's biggest name is a popular preacher who is over the largest and most influential church in the community.

It is as chilling as it is erotic, passionate as it is calculated. When a mystery force starts killing off Mikey's greatest enemies, the story takes a dark turn that culminates in an ending that hits with disturbing satisfaction.

Thanks to Michael Rowe for taking me into this tale, I didn't want to come out of it!

It is with trembling pleasure that I give you (FINALLY) my review of Triptych of Terror, a horror anthology featuring the works of John Michael Curlovich, Michael Rowe, and David Thomas.


Michael Rowe's "In October" is by far the most enthralling of all three tales. It is delightfully disturbing and dark, with realistic main characters and a well-paced plot line in which readers find themselves drawn into Mikey Childress' world from the very first page. Michael Rowe is the Rembrandt of his genre, painting a mosaic of teenage angst amidst the backdrop of a small town insular high school populace subjugated by pitiless tormentors. His approach is both superbly erotic and chilling, and the ending unquestionably tugs at the heartstrings.



I graciously recommend this anthology. Rowe fans will not be disappointed.

John Michael Curlovich's novella "A Holy Time for All the Dead" leads off the intriguing new queer horror anthology, "Triptych of Terror". The reverend Steven Merchant is the newly appointed rector at the Old Stone Loaves and Fishes Full Gospel Fellowship Church in a run-down industrial town in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. Merchant is fresh out of Baptist seminary, assigned in part to the unglamorous locale because of a pesky homosexual indiscretion at the school. He is charged by the villainous Pastor Jack Cantworthy (an over-the-top antagonist who is equal parts gluttonous and nefarious) with creating a religious uproar over the secularization of Halloween in order to jumpstart the elder pastor's master plan to restore the holiday to its religious roots in honoring the dead. He arrives in run-down Glowney Junction to encounter an oddly-out-of-place cast of oddball characters - from the pedophile Catholic priest across the street, to the blind town business mogul and seminary benefactor affectionately known as the Zipper King, to a pair of decidedly queer-leaning, spiky-haired, eyebrow-pierced teenage boys who talk and act more like street hustlers in West Hollywood than small-town teens in an economically depressed industrial town.

Curlovich crafts a trippy little story about the freedom of sexual expression versus the repression of religious fundamentalism. He incorporates many classic elements of a haunting into the storyline, creating an effective metaphor for the repression of the closet. There are moments of genuinely scary imagery like the little dancing, flesh-ripping gargoyles whose use is quite effective. The author (who has also written some excellent haunted dwelling novels under the name Michael Paine) creates a fascinating protagonist in the Reverend Merchant, believably presenting him as a fully flawed mortal at a crossroads between his sexual orientation and the religion he loves. In the end, "A Holy Time for All the Dead" would have benefited from a novel-length treatment with several of the clichés trimmed down. Curlovich tries admirably to pack too much into too few pages, injecting some incongruous elements that detract somewhat from the storytelling. A Holy Time for the Dead is a haunting, dreamlike overstuffed piece of horror with some decidedly eerie imagery and a memorable spin on a classic story.

In Michael Rowe's superb novella "In October", readers are introduced to Mikey Childress, an outcast teenager living in a small-town Canadian suburb. Mikey's dreams of being loved are juxtaposed against his daily battles with an indifferent father who's dismissive and ashamed of his son's lack of machismo, a faith-obsessed mother who spends more time at church praying than she does loving her only child, and a particularly hateful group of high school bullies who subject him to a torrent of everyday horrors meant to humiliate and break his spirit. Mikey's one friend is Goth gal pal Wroxy, a self-professed white witch who offers an almost maternal love and serves as confidant to his coming out. After a particularly horrific bashing at the hands of notorious bully ring leader Dewey Verbinski and his jock cronies, Mikey turns to the occult and unknowingly calls out to the darkside for protection and revenge against his enemies. That protection arrives in the form of hunky Adrian, an enigmatic bad boy transfer student who materializes one day and takes an instant liking to the young protagonist. In Adrian, Mikey finds stalwart defense and an emotional security he has never known and a sexual awakening he has only dreamed about. But as all keen readers of the supernatural know, one cannot summon the darkside without casting a dark shadow. Soon Mikey's enemies start disappearing, meeting their demise at the hands (and claws, and teeth, and wings, and killer appendages, too!) of a demon who springs forth with equal fury to the homophobia leveled at the teen. As Mikey slowly comes to realize that Adrian may be the embodiment of his own hatred and resentment against those who've persecuted him, the teenager must make a heartbreaking choice between (literally) good and evil.

Rowe creates a masterful work with "In October", embracing the novella format like no writer in recent memory - so well as to fashion a thoroughly satisfying story. His depiction of Mikey's teen angst is dead-on, uncannily capturing the emotional loneliness and physical torments that mark the high school experience certain to resonant with every reader - gay and straight alike - on some level. From the beautifully tender and believable scene in which Mikey admits his homosexuality to a receptive Wroxy to the harrowing roadside gay bashing that leads him to seek out otherworldly intervention, Rowe brings the reader into the experience with a remarkable ability that few writers today possess. It is no small feat that Rowe can make us care so deeply for the characters and a testament to his ability as a writer that he does so within the concise format of an 80+ page novella. "In October" is a deeply-felt metaphorical homage to the horrors of coming out and an unsettling depiction of the straight world in which we do it. Rowe's tale of teenage anguish and loneliness is an exquisitely told cautionary tale, rich in visceral images of horror and the erotic.

"Triptych's" final installment is the devilishly magical "The Secrets of the Fey" by David Thomas Lord, another cautionary tale that reinforces the idea of being careful for what you wish for. Protagonist Tom Hogan is a sixty-three-year-old gay man grieving the loss of his longtime partner, Daniel. Paralyzed by grief, Tom is tired, lonely, and lamenting both the physical and emotional aches and pains of growing older in a gay culture in which youth and beauty are (at least theoretically) synonymous with happiness. His life is on autopilot, filled with meaningless everyday tasks and a select group of friends with whom he does brunch once a week. The narrative begins on Pride Day, with New York City bursting at the seams with the young and pretty. After a post-brunch altercation that sends him off alone to traverse the rainbow-laden cityscape, Tom happens upon a quaint gay bar called Land's End, where he meets the most beautiful man he has ever laid eyes on. Tapping into his Celtic heritage, Tom somehow quickly surmises that the porcelain-skinned redhead is a leprechaun-of-sorts and steals his clothes in some bid to force the granting of a wish. Despite stern warnings from the entrancing Will O'Gull, Tom wishes him to be his lover - one who will never leave him like Daniel did. But wishes always come at a cost, and what follows is an allegorical tale of the price we pay in pursuit of the fountain of youth.

Lord infuses "The Secrets of the Fey" with marvelous doses of mysticism, evoking images of malevolent fairies intermingled with erotic passion. He does a spot-on job chronicling Tom's post-wish transformation and the action moves along at a decent clip, never shortchanging the reader on character development (particularly in the case of Tom's plastic surgeon friend, Drew) or the hot sexual trysts that bookmark Tom's transformation. Lord's got quite a bit of symbolism and themes at work here - from the straightforward observations about the dangers inherent to pursuing youth and beauty at all costs to the less obvious commentary about sexual promiscuity and its ultimate loneliness in gay culture. Although this otherwise delightfully terrifying fable gets bogged down occasionally by Lord's distracting name dropping of New York City landmarks, the novella is quite an effective and chilling read overall. In the end, Lord reminds us that despite living in a culture that tells us otherwise, we can't really have it all, and that there are prices to be paid for discounting those blessings that are right under our noses.

If you want to be successful when you turn green wood or newly cut lumber on your lathe. I recommend purchasing this book and reading it all the way through before you begin your wood turning project. When you use green wood there are different procedures that you need to follow than when you use dried lumber. I had tried to turn some green logs on my lathe and had many problems with wood cracking and was very unhappy with the results. After purchasing this book I learned the reasons why my previous attempts had not been successful. I only wish I had gotten the book at the same time I purchased my new lathe. It is an excellent resource on how to use green logs and newly cut lumber that can add flexibility and save money on wood costs when you use "found wood" and cut the logs yourself.

Great and a must have for all turners. The book is more oriented toward bowl turning but covers a ton on green turning with plenty of pics and diagrams. Michael O`Donnell goes to great length to educate the reader on how wood dries based on where it is cut form the tree.

Great book - great photos - great ideas - great explanations and written so anyone can understand the directions and concepts (even me).

this is a good basic book of how to deal with green wood and also the use of crotchwood. well written and illistrated

As a beginning turner, I searched for books that were both informative and interesting to read. This book approaches turning with 'green' in mind but also has some very good information about wood properties and turning in general. Very much worth buying even if you are an experienced turner.

A perfect little gift for kids who like to color and learn at the same time.

Fantastic. These books are the best I have found to find pictures to use as templets or stencils for designs to paint on silk.

This coloring book is the best animal safari! Your child will see wonderful close-ups of a variety of animals. This coloring experience is what you would hope for in a zoo trip. Along with the detailed animal drawings, a desciption is included at the bottom of each page...just in case your child wants to know many facts about these amazing animals.

The product came quickly. It was exactly as advetised and met expectations. Thank You.

I just purchased these Dover COloring Books for my mother and she loves them. The detail is out of this world and the variety of colors you can use are only limited by your inagination. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!