Myths and Legends of Japan by F. Hadland Davis

Myths and Legends of Japan by F. Hadland Davis



Continuing with my mythology kick....

...and here's the blurb from the publisher


This handsomely illustrated book includes myths of gods, heroes and warriors; legends of Buddha, Benten and Daikoku; tales of the sea and of Mount Fuji; accounts of superstitions and supernatural beings; and much more. 32 full-page illustrations offer compelling images of Buddha and the Dragon, A Kakemono Ghost, The Jellyfish and the Monkey, The Firefly Battle, Tokoyo and the Sea Serpent and other subjects of these enthralling myths. 32 plates. Many useful appendixes. Index. Bibliography.

Ubik by Philip K. Dick

Ubik by Philip K. Dick

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while. I've been meaning to explore some of Philip K. Dick's books for years now. And it just seemed like it was time. I didn't realize how long ago he wrote. This book was written in 1969. I know, that's not centuries ago, and it isn't ancient by any means. But it is getting close to half a century old. And it takes place in 1992. So at the time it was written by someone trying to imagine the world almost 25 years into the future.

Here's the Publishers blurb:

Philip K. Dick's searing metaphysical comedy of death and salvation is a tour de force of panoramic menace and unfettered slapstick, in which the departed give business advice, shop for their next incarnation, and run the continual risk of dying yet again.

Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural

Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural
by Mary Giraudo Beck, Marvin Oliver (Illustrator)

I'm still reading Labyrinth , but it's a big hardcover, and just not very portable. I like having a book that I can

take to lunch or on the walk to the park with me. So I'll keep reading Labyrinth at home and on the weekends,

but I need a book to take with me to work. Something that I can read little bits of while I wait on a bench somewhere as

my Wife runs errands or visits the *shiver* craft store.

And I think I've got the the perfect one. Shamans and Kushtaka is a 127 page book of nine Tlingit and Haida

(Pacific Northwest Coast Natives) legends. Legends and myths from that culture are some of my favorite.

Here's the oddly short Publisher's Blurb:

"A powerful mix of history and legend dramatizes the values and traditions of Tlingit and Haida societies in Southeast

Alaska."

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

I was very tempted to start the next Hellboy book, but I know I get a bit obsessive sometimes, and variety is the spice of life, right? We picked up the hardcover Labyrinth recently. It was a book that both Sarah and I thought we could read and discuss. She's still got a few books to go before she'd be ready, but she reads a lot faster than I do. So I'm hoping if I start it now she'll be ready about the time I'm done.

Here's the publishers blurb
"July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag.

Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.

In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way."