Mailbag: Christmasbooksapalooza!

I went nuts this past Christmas spending all my money on a stack of virtual books that, much as I would love to, I know I won't finish this year. It is a nice assortment of fiction and non-fiction. Only one's a book I've read before and several are by authors I haven't read yet all.

This is the sequel to the wonderful Goblin Moon (which I reviewed at Black Gate). I already have it, by its original title, The Gnome's Engine, in paperback, but this is cheap and has a couple of short stories set in the same universe.

Another volume of Langdon St. Ives' adventures from one of the creators of steampunk.

I like Stoddard's site a lot and I figured, since I just bought The High House, why not buy the rest? 

More spooky short stories from the author of the good and brutal Charlie Parker spooky crime novels.

A novella from the best American horror writer. The blurb on the back, referring to assassin schools in the Himalayas and a space probe "accidentally" launched into a wormhole were enough to make me hit the "buy now" button.

Keene writer gonzo horror, Charles Rutledge recommends it, and with that cover how long could I really hold off buying it?

I've become interested in 18th and 19th century nautical warfare, so this looked to be a good intro. So far, it's very good.

Napoleon's Vietnam. Bloody, vicious grind for six years, that led the Corsican to call it the "Spanish Ulcer," as it cause a steady erosion of his resources and prestige.

A conflict I'm fascinated by and have never found a book that adequately untangles its complexities for me. At times both a war over real religious beliefs and over which power would hold sway over Germany. A terrible war with consequences that effected Europe for centuries.