Nothing makes me angrier than when people dismiss creativity as nothing more than a fleeting fancy of mental illness or drug use, because, sometimes, imagination is a natural-born talent nurtured with keen powers of observation. When Tim Burton is off his game, Guillermo del Toro takes up the mantle of the strange but imaginative Hollywood … Continue reading The Shape of Water, by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus →

When I picked up this latest fantasy offering about faraway worlds and magical adventures, I was not expecting so much melancholy. Especially after my previous reading disaster, I was ready for something that would transport and enthrall me in every way the last book did not. I got what I wanted, but I really did … Continue reading The Light Between Worlds, by Laura E. Weymouth →

I cannot remember the last time a fairy tale retelling left me feeling so indifferent. Honestly, if not for this blog, I would have quitted this book halfway through. Of course, it cannot be easy to make a compelling retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, because of its rinse-and-repeat storyline of climbing a tall green … Continue reading Jack the Giant Killer, by Charles de Lint →

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a sucker for Beauty and the Beast tales. So imagine my joy when I found another fairy tale of a beauty learning to love a beast: East of the Sun, West of the Moon. This other tale as old as time has been adapted numerous times … Continue reading Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst →

It’s that time again—to consume all the corny Christmas romances we can lay our cookie-sticky hands on! You know, there was a time where I never would have picked up a book that looked and sounded like Josie Silver’s One Day in December, for the very reasons that many people love Hallmark’s holiday lineup. But … Continue reading One Day in December, by Josie Silver →

Some books stay on my shelf for two reasons: either I’m simply putting them off till I can finish my current read, or it’s just not the right time of year for it. Jeff Guinn’s How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas has been sitting in a corner for years, waiting for the holy alignment of enough … Continue reading How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas, by Jeff Guinn →