This book is a collection of two short stories by J. R. R. Tolkien: Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham. Each of the stories reflects Tolkien's efforts to develop a mythology for England and his fascination with the fantastical. Smith is a story about Faery land and the adventures of a mortal, Smith, who finds himself suddenly having access to this magical realm. It is an exploration of the elvin and faery world.

In August 1997 tragedy struck England. Princess Diana, "The People's Princess", was killed in a senseless car accident in Paris. Her death was felt around the world. The Queen focuses on the week following this event and the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, and the newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The queen, and the rest of the royal family, initially react to the news with little interest. By the time of her death, Diana is no longer a member of royalty. She lost her "HRH" status when she divorced Prince Charles. The royal family's only interest is in the fact that she was the mother of the queen's two grandsons. The queen and her family seem to be oblivious to the response that the "commoners" have towards Diana.

This biography provides an insightful, entertaining, and often moving account of the life of one of the twentieth centuries greatest writers. In this book Carpenter covers the specifics of Tolkien's birth and death, family and marriage, careers and living arrangements, and all of the other "technical" details that are expected in a biography. Throughout all of that he weaves in the story of how Tolkien's most famous works, The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, were developed and finally brought to press.

Shadow Over Kiriath is the third book in Karen Hancock's Legend of the Guardian King series. With this book Hancock further demonstrate's her exceptional ability at telling a gripping story in a fantasy setting that feels real and hits home. It raises questions about the nature of evil and even about how much of that evil resides in us. It is an adult story and it deals with adult issues in a very adult way.

Dune is considered by many to be a science-fiction masterpiece. It has been compared to Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings as similar in scope and magnificence. Unfortunately I didn't find it quite so stunning. The story was adequate but not all that intriguing and the characters were fairly stereotypical. It could be that Herbert defined those character types with this work (it was first published in 1965) and since then they've been copied much. Maybe that's why they didn't seem so unique. Because of these issues the book just didn't grab me or hold my interest so instead my mind started wandering and thinking about the between-the-lines stuff.

Every parent of small kids knows that bedtime can be a chore or sometimes even a battle. So we all develop little tricks that help us deal with the situation. In my case it is the boys who are sometimes a challenge when it comes to bedtime. To cope with this we've come up with a game. It started with my oldest son. While tucking him in one night I asked, "Would you like me to tuck you in like a burrito?" That sounded interesting so he said yes. I quickly wrapped the blankets around him with his arms tucked inside. Nice and snug like a burrito. I made the same offer to his younger brother but he declined. He might not have been sure about who was going to eat the burrito. Cautious boy.

A new band, a new sound, and a great CD. End Of Silence is the debut album of the new band Red. If you're looking for fresh new sound with a lot of energy then this is the place to go. The high-powered music is heavily layered with strings, crunchy guitars and in your face background vocals. This is very good stuff.

Till We Have Faces is a wonderful retelling of the ancient Greek mythology of Cupid and Psyche. Lewis didn't simple restate the story but he took elements and modified them to give the story a different cast than the original. In this version Lewis explores themes of love, sacrifice, and the relationships between humans and the divine. Good fiction often prompts the reader to identify himself (or herself, obviously) in the characters of the story and then raises the questions implicitly that are explicitly raised as the character deals with the situations of the narrative. Lewis is a master of this as he wraps us up in the story so completely that we are unaware of the deep and probing questions he's putting to our soul. Seeds that are planted and nourished in our quiet contemplations. As the plants of those questions grow we begin to see the answer and it is fully realized with the plant flowers. Till We Have Faces plants those seeds.