I admit it, I buy books for their covers as well as their content, and for the illustrations that interleaf their writing. Look forward to sharing an eclectic selection, old and new.

Hungarian tales

As you know, I'm on a quest to read 1,000 fairy and folk tales, myths and legends, before the decade is out. I recently read two collections of Hungarian stories, one of which is bilingual, which I bought in the ever cherished hope that sooner or later I will master...

Chinese Myths & Legends

As part of my 1000-story readathon, I just enjoyed this collection of Chinese myths and rather fantastical tales, wonderfully illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe. See below for a few samples of her kinetic images. I particularly like the headless woman and the man's...

Czech books

We recently spent ten days in the glorious city of Prague. Among other delights, we found a few fine books, including one to add to the collection of 1000 myths, legends and folk or fairy tales to read in the coming decade, and a book of Czech recipes for my husband...

The magic of books

A beautiful description of what makes books so magical. May all yours be capacious of promise, even as they fit in your coat pocket. It's part of the magic of books that they're such secretive, unimposing objects: small of form and capacious of promise. Source:...

All good publishers have a department of exceptions.

Gabriel Zaid – So Many Books