The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

4 Stars

Inspiring and superbly illustrated.

Gaiman gave a lovely gift to his daughters with this retelling of Sleeping Beauty. This a fairy tale where the women save the day, the only men that appear and play a role are literally little, dwarves. I like the twist at the end, and while this has violence, it is fairy tale appropriate and therefore suitable for children. I'm considering purchasing the hardcover for my permanent shelf of children's stories because the illustrations are lovely: black and white with highlights of golden and the dust cover is fabulous.

First Eaglet Hatched at Big Bear!

Jackie and Shadow have been taking turns prepping the nest and keeping the eggs warm. The first eaglet started hatching last night and emerged fully this morning, April 14th.

You can WATCH the LIVE CAMERA FEED: https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagle/

Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman

3.5 Stars

Fun twist.

The artwork for this is very good. It manages to capture the fairytale quality and simultaneously express the modernity of the story. As you can imagine, it involves a troll. But what happens is the twist. There is an undercurrent of sexuality and menace, so I'd suggest reading before giving it to a pre-teen.

Funny but Wrong

I read a lot and I interact on Goodreads, but their algorithm for "Recommendations" is really wonky. This is so wrong, not sure what to say other than I hope the reverse recommendation isn't given to readers of It's a Busy, Busy World.

Red Harvest  by Dashiell Hammett is one of the bloodiest books I've read in a long time, and I recently read Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare which is notorious for it's bloodbath. So no. Wrong GR, just wrong.

The Silent Death by Volker Kutscher

4 Stars

"Why shouldn't the Commies and the Nazis bash each other's heads in?" one of them asked. "It would save us a lot of work."

The Silent Death is the second in the Gereon Rath series set during the Interwar Period in Berlin. The period markers between the World Wars are really well done, integrated into the storyline perfectly. 1930 and talkies are taking over the cinema leaving behind one art form for another. The conflict, the change in equipment, and shooting strategies are all touched upon throughout as Rath follows up on a homicide.

Rath has the ambition and personality to create waves and ruffle feathers. His transfer from Vice to Homicide hasn't changed that; he's still rubbing colleagues the wrong way and aggravating his boss, DCI Böhm. Rath gets himself into hot water multiple times, yet manages to find a way to flip the tables. Question is, when will his luck run out?

This is definitely a new favorite series, so I'm glad to see that Goldstein was just released in English (British) translation.

Equoid (Laundry Files, #2.9) by Charles Stross

3 Stars

Bob gets mucky in this one. The most Lovecraftian work I've read by Stross. To be fair, I've only read three short works and one full length novel, but this wins hands down. I've visited Sussex, it seemed like such a nice place, not here. Bucolic charms are twisted into a rather gruesome tale of grotesque glamour.

Do not trust unicorns. If you wish to remain a devotee of the sparkly joyous version of the species, do not read this. Yikes.

The League of Regrettable Sidekicks: Heroic Helpers from Comic Book History! by Jon Morris

3.5 Stars

A quirky collection of odd bits lurking in comic book history.

Zeitgeist abounds with Super-Hip from The Adventures of Bob Hope whose weakness is Lawrence Welk music. Not sure how poor Frobisher from Doctor Who got in here; doesn't seem right. The Doctor's companion can be anything. The oddity of penguin form selection and unexplained yet hinted at sad backstory seems more tragic than regrettable. Just straight up winner for WTF goes to Elf with a Gun from The Defenders, a randomly appearing psycho who kills people and disappears, with no connection to the ongoing plot line of that issue.

There's the unexpectedly hilarious Agatha Detective Agency who partners up with Captain Future. Somehow, Captain Future's secret identity Dr. Andy Bryant gets hooked into helping his girlfriend's aunt by following a case into a Turkish Bath. The things you do for love.

Nameless in Metal Men epitomizes a big problem with women in comic books, or females. Nameless was built by Tin, a member of Metal Men who falls in love with her. Relationship develops, trauma ensues, and in the end she sacrifices herself to save them.

Then there's instances of the not quite thought through to the end before introducing the sidekick, like Comet the Super-Horse who's reincarnated from an ancient Greek centaur and can turn into a human when a comet passes through the solar system. Not a bad idea, right? Until masquerading as bronco rider Bill Starr he dates Supergirl. Hmm...yeah, Supergirl's relationship with Bill becomes problematic when he turns back into Comet. You can love your horse, but you can't love your horse.

This is one of those fun books to leaf through. I plan on giving it as a present because 1) snort-worthy, 2) interesting compilation of just odd lots.