Just having returned from 18 days in the UK two of those spent in jet and bus travel and eight more getting the most out of an eight day Brit Rail pass that we could I must say that even though I have stopped running I feel like I am still running in place. That is how I get some of my best ideas. Those of you who know me know that I sort hang at the margins of the formal academic study of literature. I do this because language and literature study are really sort games which you have to learn the vocabulary (lexicon) if I were presenting at a conference or writing for blue noses.

Well one of the hottest games now in the world of literature is the study of the postcolonial literature of the former European colonies, South Africa, Algeria, Vietnam, or what ever. If you were a young academic then it would be well to focus your study in this area. This is especially true if you want work in something other than the house keeping and food service industries as your ultimate career goal.

That got me thinking as I re-read and loved Rip Van Wrinkle by Washington Irving in this wonderful collection that I was reading perhaps the archetypal work of post colonial literature, old henpecked Rip (a subject of George III), has a few beers with some very serious 120 year old Dutchman as he falls in with them in their the secret Hudson River Valley meeting place.

Twenty years later he wakes up to find he is an American Citizen. I don't but know for sure but, I bet a lot of post colonials feel like that They share with Rip one very large hangover. Well I could go on and play the game further but I think you have the idea, and as a dear friend of mine once said sometimes Philip a little of something goes a long way. So let me get back to this wonderful book , as I urge you to add it to your collections

American Fairy Tales is a collection has something for everyone .It is a collection of American tales, which really serves three publics. First of course the adolescent reader who may miss or only seen fragments of these wonderful stories. Next the eternal Adolescent likes my self at age 55 who loves a good story. It also serves any serious students of children's literature, this medley of stories progresses chronologically across a century, from Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" to Carl Sandburg's "How They Broke Away to Go to the Rootabaga Country." From the Maleficent Witch, Mother Rigby, in Hawthorne's "Feathertop" to the ethereal fairy in "The Lad and Luck's House," Book List had some good things to say about it "A patriotic-looking jacket with blue stars and red stripes adorns this collection of 12 stories drawn from an emergent American literary tradition that includes such characters as bee-men, goose-girls, kings, fairies, and wizards." Editor Neil Philip provides an introductory essay about the "American fairy" tale" and briefly introduces each selection.

I loved the variety of stories and the collection of famous writers, including Hawthorne, Sandburg, Alcott, and Baum. McCurdy's woodcut illustrations give the stories a sense of the past yet still allow plenty of room for fantasy, woodcuts have a haunting timeless look about them. Theses stories are made to read aloud. But it must remembered that because of the time they were written but a few contain language or allusions that now seem politically incorrect. But we must be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. American Fairy Tales is a beautifully Illustrated book you may have to work a bit to find it.

Philip Kaveny, Reviewer

If you love making baskets, or just enjoy looking at them or maybe even collecting them, then this book is a must have book. Law and Taylor have put together the definative book on white oak basket making ( as well as some baskets of other materials). For the accomplished basket maker the photographs and illustrations can serve as inspiration as well as pattern. Reading this book will make you want to grab your ax and head for the woods, and if that isn't possible you will want to get to your local basketry material supplier as soon as possible. This is the best book of its kind that I have seen, the perfect blend of art and history.

The Making of a Mediator is not just for the mediation professional. It offers insights for everyone who has conflicts and conversations that require negotiations. The authors, Lang and Taylor, posit "artistry" as a way to transcend boundaries and find creative solutions for resolving difficulties. They skillfully chart the course from novice to artist with exemplary practice mediation sessions. I found particularly apt their metaphor of a journey that involves the on-going process of reflection, learning, understanding, and exploration.

this is an absorbing mystery (the solution is not telegraphed from the first page) written beautifully. the procedural aspect is realistic. the three main male characters are three dimensional and their interaction feels real. the only problem i have with it is: does the author really think women are this appalling? (second question: is the author really a woman?)

if i hadn't first read the author's third book,'house of women,'in which the female characters are varied, flawed but frequently admirable, i might not have been able to enjoy this book as much as i did. in 'simeon's bride,' the female characters are, with only one exception, horrid. with the exception of the victim, some of whose motivations are not explained, they are not unrealistic, they are well drawn, but they are definitely not women i would want to know. and the author almost seems to present them as the normal run of women. i will say that there is one male character who excels the women in sheer disgusting, contemptible nastiness, so there is some balance between the genders.

nevertheless, this is a book i would recommend. the author writes well, with some wonderful turns of phrase and descriptive passages. the dialogue is enjoyable, too. the plot is as twisty as any mystery reader could want. the secondary characters are well done. atmosphere is well conveyed. for a first novel, it is amazingly good.

This is quite possibly the best series of mysteries I have ever read and I wish Taylor would keep cranking them out. I can't remember reading a book where I was actually "there" for the entire thing--even SIMEON'S BRIDE which was my first experience with Taylor's writing. The characters are human and likeable and the plot never thins nor weakens in any way. I've read this book twice and intend to read it again. Superb!!!

This mystery will please fans of Elizabeth George. The main characters are fleshed out and interest you from the beginning. The plot is very absorbing and the setting in Wales only intensifies the air of "mystery" about it. I enjoyed this mystery immensely and look forward to reading more of Ms. Taylor's books and continuing to get to know DCI McKenna.

Well-plotted mystery with a dark mood and plenty of red herrings. A child is found dead, possibly a suicide, though McKenna suspects murder. One thing is certain, the young boy was sexually assaulted though the folks at the children's reformatory claim that he was sexually active and provoking.

I would give this a higher rating except the Taylor's writing gets preachy implying that social workers don't care a tinker's whatever about abused children. She also perpetuates the myth that gays are pedophiles, peddling the worst homophobic claptrap.

It's well-written and I will give her another chance, but there are several places in this book when her ill-informed polemics made me want to throw it across the room.

The true story of molestation in a Welsh children's home is touched on in Ian McEwen's "Amsterdam." Very dark and gloomy but well-written. You won't find it easy to put down but you might find it depressing. Gays might be offended by the implied inkage of pedophilia and homosexuality.

I have read and enjoyed mrs Taylor's second book. It was good to read more about the main characters, the policemen with out a clue, and the town's people who are naturally reticent and believe it is their duty to keep the police in the dark. I will watch for more episodes to come, as I hope she does not stop now. I especially love the descriptions of the Welsh country and city life.

This is the first Alison Taylor novel I have purchased and likely to be the last. It's hard to believe she has received enough support from her first 2 novels to warrant a third! House of Women is not an easy read. The text does not flow and syntax is ever changing in the character's dialogue so it's difficult to imagine them as real people. A typical paragraph of dialogue begins with a character speaking proper english only to switch to slang expressions a few sentences later. The true essence of the character is probably somewhere in the middle but never quite conveyed. Even the mannerisms described seem to detract from the general mood Ms. Taylor appears to be attempting to create and do nothing to bring the characters alive. Each time I opened this book, hoping it would become progressively better, I found myself becoming distracted or simply skimming over the bad dialogue and choppy scenes just to get a feel for the plot. A third of the way through the book I decided it wasn't worth the struggle to see if the plot was any better than the writing...

This is the first book I've read by Alison Taylor, but probably not the last. She's a very ambitious writer in that she's not afraid to spend a lot of time developing the characters and settings, while throwing in a healthy dose of philosophy, social commentary, and Welsh history. Her characters are wonderfully fleshed out and the reader has the opportunity to watch them become changed as the drama of the novel affects their lives. Each scene of the book is carefully and poetically conveyed. And her thoughts on the human condition; racism, slavery, poverty, addiction, motherhood are all well considered and interesting to read. Alison Taylor does justice to the genre.

Alison Taylor (aka Alison G. Taylor) is in the top three of my favorite mystery writers, but like so many of them, the quality of her writing drops off sharply in this book. In Simeon's Bride, I felt as though I were there-inside the book. In Unsafe Convictions, I wished I were anywhere else and wound up just thumbing through the final chapters, not really caring what happened or who did it. The book is very wordy, and other than the initial fire, totally without action. The graphic description of the fire victim is not necessary to the plot and just wastes pages. The characters are not fleshed out, as they were so very well in her other novels. McKenna is disappointingly wooden and emotionless, a true departure from the other novels. I was hoping we would be given more insights into his life and coping with his divorce, as well as Janet's coming to terms with her abortion. We aren't given much resolution. It's a "whodunnit" and that's about all.

I went to a bit of trouble to get this book. As far as I know, it has never been released in the US which is a dead shame, because Alison Taylor writes the type of hard edged detective stories that there are not enough of in the US.

First, this is not her best book. The one I enjoyed the most was Simeon's Bride.

Second, I enjoyed this book immensely.

Dominated by the scenery of the moors north of Manchester, the same scenery that supposedly inspired Ian Brady and Myra Hindley to murder, the small village of Haughton is rocked when the body of young woman is found in her burning house. Her brutally abusive ex-husband is convicted of the murder and sent to prison. Then evidence appears that does not just suggest that her husband was innocent, but which implicates the police in a frame up of the convicted man.

Michael Mckenna and his group and brought in to investigate the police who are implicated in this miscarriage of justice. But was it a miscarriage? From the reporter who is more interested in selling papers than relating the truth, to the town's reformed bad girl who just wants to put her past behind her to the charismatic, handsome priest who is a major witness, the characters are riveting. The author has been a social worker and her knowledge of the dark corners of human society is obvious here.

The focus in this story is not so much on McKenna and his group who mainly act as a catalyst, but on the inhabitants of Haughton and the pain they inflict on one another and themselves.