Advertisement

How in the heaven's name does one review a calendar?

Well, what's important? The art, I think, and this year's calendar displays some very fine pieces. The calendar itself measures at about 15"x12", so the pictures are nice, large, and clear. Going Postal, the newest work, is represented, as are books such as Monstrous Regiment and The Wee Free Men. The subjects run from the ridiculous to the lovely. August features a fun surf boarding wizard (Sandy Nightingale's "The Bursar's Hitherto Unrealized Talent") while "Tiffany in the Snowy Wood of Shadows" (Jon Sullivan) shows a cold weather scene with Tiffany walking through it, her features utterly delighted by what she sees, making it the perfect Holiday season picture.

I generally rely on free calendars. You know, the ones you pick up at the bank or gas stations, and even the best often have a month where I dig out an over-sized post card of a castle someone sent me and paper clip it over the picture. I won't be doing that this year. The pictures are all well done. The other artists represented here include Les Edwards, John Howe, Paul Kidby, Angelo Rinaldi, Edward Miller, Jackie Morris, David Frankland, Stuart Williams and David Wyatt.

Since the version of this calendar I have is intended for a Canadian/British audience, I get some really nifty dates that I usually don't get to see, such as Coronation Day and St. Stephen's Day. In purple so dark as that you need to hold it next to the lamp to detect it there are other dates. Small God's Even and Patrician's Day and assorted other fun holidays you'd celebrate if you were in Discworld. It also features eclipses and a small dark or white symbol tells you if it is a full or new moon. Several religious days are also represented.

So. It's a humorous calendar with some very pretty moments, with lots of useful information and good size spaces around the dates to carefully write your doctor's appointments in. Fairly good quality paper makes this truly nifty and useful.

Cindy Lynn Speer loves books so much that she's designed most of her life around them, both as a librarian and a writer. Her books aren't due out anywhere soon, but she's trying. You can find her site at www.apenandfire.com.