From the back cover: 'It' is a Psammead, an ancient, ugly and irritable sand fairy the children find one day in a gravel pit. It grants them a wish a day, lasting until sunset. But they soon learn it is very hard to think of really sensible wishes, and each one gets them into unexpected difficulties. Magic, the children find, can be as awkward as it is enticing. Review: After … [Read more...] about Five Children and It by E. Nesbit: B+
Fantasy
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch: A
From the back cover: Mirka Hirschberg is a spunky, strong-willed eleven-year-old who isn't interested in knitting lessons from her stepmother, or how-to-find-a-husband advice from her sister, or you-better-not warnings from her brother. There's only one thing Mirka does want: to fight dragons! But she'll need a sword—and therein lies the tale! Review: Hereville: How Mirka Got … [Read more...] about Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch: A
Garden Sky by Yuko Kuwabara: C+
I reviewed this quasi-BL collection for this week's BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf. The book is divided into two sets of stories that are boring while underway, feature extremely similar characters, and go nowhere in the end. This makes for quite a dull read. You can find that review here. Review copy provided by the publisher. … [Read more...] about Garden Sky by Yuko Kuwabara: C+
Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde: A
From the back cover: A celebrated playwright and poet, Oscar Wilde also penned incomparable nonfiction and fiction—and lovely gem-like fairy tales. Filled with princes and nightingales, mermaids, giants, and kings, his tales carry the mark of his signature irony and subtle eroticism. This volume brings together all the stories found in Wilde's two collections, The Happy Prince … [Read more...] about Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde: A
Silver Diamond 5-7 by Shiho Sugiura: B+
My darling Silver Diamond! How I have missed you! There was almost a year between the releases of volumes four and five, but TOKYOPOP is on the road to recovery (yay!) and the series is now on a quicker release schedule. In volume four, Rakan traveled to the other world in the company of Chigusa, Narushige (and Koh!), and Tohji. Pretty quickly they encountered a group of … [Read more...] about Silver Diamond 5-7 by Shiho Sugiura: B+