Waiting on Wednesday #182: Ex Libris ed. Paula Guran

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Portals to all the knowledge in the world, libraries are also created universes of a multitude of imaginations. Librarians guide us to enlightenment as well as serving as the captains, mages, and gatekeepers who open the doors to delight, speculation, wonder, and terror. Both inspire writers of speculative fiction to pen wonderful tales woven around them. This captivating compilation of science fiction and fantasy short fiction showcases stories of librarians-mysterious curators, heroic bibliognosts, arcane archivists, catalogers of very special collections- and libraries-repositories of arcane wisdom, storehouses of signals from other galaxies, bastions of culture, the last outposts of civilization in a post-apocalyptic world . . . grand adventures and small sagas of the magical places we call libraries and the wizards who staff them! 

Why am I waiting on this one? I love books about libraries and librarians. I worked in a library. A library, pretty much any library, has always been one of my most favorite places in the world. This looks like a good collection of short stories. Paula Guran is an excellent editor.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Beyond the Woods edited by Paula Guran

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Published July 5th 2016
 by Night Shade Books

From Beyond the Woods:Fairy Tales Retold edited by Paula Guran

From the short story "Travels with the Snow Queen" by Kelly Link on page 148:

"You are sick and tired of talking animals, as well as travel. They never say anything that you didn't already know."

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our ever-growing TBR list. Thanks for coming by!

Review: Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran

Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran was published October 2, 2013 by Prime Books. It's a fantastic collection of 18 stories. "Contributions could be new interpretations of old fairy tales or an original story inspired by earlier fairy tales." Among the authors gathered within the pages are Caitlin R. Kiernan, A.C. Wise, Tanith Lee, and Jane Yolen.

Generally speaking, I do enjoy fairy tales, and these were no exception. Of course I did end up with a few favorites though. A few are listed here:
"The Coin of Heart's Desire" by Yoon Ha Lee - The description is so lush I swear you can feel the water.
"Blanchefleur" by Theodora Goss - I really enjoyed watching the Idiot begin to learn that he might be capable of more than he thought.
And what collection would be complete without a story by Jane Yolen "The Spinning Wheel's Tale" - I loved the change of point of view in this retake on a familiar tale and the language. "The story begins with spinning, spinning the wheel,  spinning the curse,  spinning the lies that lie at the heart of a mouth, a castle, a hedge. And of course it all begins with a witch."

If you enjoy fairy tales and retellings at all, you will enjoy this book. It's definitely worth the time to take a look at it. The stories are all well written and interesting. I give this collection 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Teaser Tuesday - Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 
Should Be Reading. 

Rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

From: Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran

Kindle version 12% through 

From "The Spinning Wheel's Tale" by Jane Yolen

"The story begins with spinning, spinning the wheel, spinning the curse, spinning the lies that lie at the heart of a mouth, a castle, a hedge. 

     And of course, it all begins with a witch."

Review: Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre edited by Paula Guran

Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre edited by Paula Guran is an anthology of 18 tales ranging from the simply magical to the horrifying about my favorite holiday. There is an excellent selection of writers. Some of the authors included are Caitlin R. Kiernan, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem.

I really liked all of the stories, but I still had a few favorites. My favorite magical tale was "For the Removal of Unwanted Guests" by A.C. Wise. When a witch moves in unbidden, what would you do?

As for a mysterious story, perhaps you could call, "Long Way Home" by Jonathan Maberry a mystery. A soldier returns home after war on Halloween, but the town is not quite the same.

And for the macabre, Maria V. Snyder's tale, "The Halloween Men," takes place in a city where you must wear a mask every day of the year except Halloween. For an excerpt of this tale you can check out the author's page.

This book is perfect for the Halloween season. I would recommend it in particular for fans of dark fantasy because most of the tales do seem to have a darkness to them. All of the stories are well written.

I give this anthology 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Review: Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations edited by Paula Guran

Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations ed. by Paula Guran is an anthology of short stories wherein strange things happen. Sometimes what's being investigated goes bump in the night; sometimes it's the investigator that is more on the weird side.

Most of the stories have been published elsewhere before this collection. The selection of writers is well and varied. Among them  are Neil Gaiman, Caitlin Kiernan, Patricia Briggs, and Charlaine Harris. You've got everything from Sherlock Holmes to ghostly goings on to demons. None of the stories really stood out more than any of the others for me. They were all good quality writing.

I think this anthology will appeal to people who enjoy urban fantasy, science fiction, or paranormal fiction. It is the latest in the "recent" series of anthologies (Zombies: The Recent Dead, New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, Ghosts: Recent Hauntings). The paperback version of this book just came out April 3, 2013. It is now available both in ebook and paperback format.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in return for my unbiased opinion.

Review: Obsession: Tales of Irresistible Desire - ed. by Paula Guran

 with stories by Joe R. Lansdale, Storm Constantine, Elizabeth Hand, Tanith Lee, Charles de Lint, Stewart O'Nan and more.

The introduction states in part, "We all have experienced obsession at least in its milder form: having a compulsive, even unreasonable (at least in the view of others) idea or emotion. You are totally fixated on something or someone - a sport, video game, junk food, pop singer, film star, collecting something, lover or potential lover, even work - at least temporarily."

But this collection of stories is about darker obsessions. They go further. They are not necessarily relationship oriented or sexual. There are a variety of obsessions explored. From the expected woman who is obsessed with the married man to a muse who inspires obsession and perhaps in turn becomes obsessed, and more. 

All of the stories are well written. And almost all of them take place in a city setting. For that reason you could also consider this anthology to be a dark urban fantasy collection, even though the eras and the locations of the cities in time and space may vary.

My personal favorites were Charles de Lint's "Tallulah" and Tanith Lee's "Nunc Dimitis." Both stories in retrospect were among the lighter of the tales. The Charles de Lint story takes place in Newford his beloved created city that recurs in his work.

All in all this book lives up to its promise to explore the darker side of obsessions. Every story is well written from the modern to the few classics included. I would highly recommend it for fans of urban fantasy, or if you just want to explore the topic of  obsessions. It's well worth your time. 

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars as an outstanding collection of short stories.

It was released May 29, 2012.