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keen23's review against another edition
4.0
Some stories were stronger than others. In all, a good read.
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
An anthology of eighteen short stories revolving around a theme of witches and magic.
Series:
"B is for Bigfoot", (Bigfoot Trilogy, 3 published); (Bigfoot, 1 chronological), & Dresden Files: Short Stories, 15
"Great-Grandmother in the Cellar" (Innkeeper's World, 1.5)
The Stories
Diana Peterfreund's "Stray Magic" is so sweet! Peterfreund created a lovely story that really pulled my heartstrings with a seemingly abandoned dog who desperately wants his master back.
Frances Hardinge's "Payment Due" is wicked good! Even short stories can suffer in this economy and Caroline does her best to ensure the bailiff understands how his attitude affects those upon whom he preys.
Garth Nix's "A Handful of Ashes" was excellent! A nice turnaround in which evil is repaid while saving a world. Nix creates an entire world with amazing characters in such a short span of pages.
Holly Black's "Little Gods" is about a teenager's search for belonging and the Beltane celebration she and her new friends attend. It's an eye-opening weekend for Ellery. This was okay. I know Black wanted to make a point, but it was too laid back for me.
Charles de Lint's "Barrio Girls" is both typical and atypical de Lint. I haven't read all of de Lint yet so I may well be wrong. The typical is the kindness Abuelo requires of them to offset the bruja and gain revenge for Pepé. A sweet read by a master.
Tanith Lee's "Felidis" is in the fairytale style, but with a twist. It's sweet.
Neil Gaiman's Witch Work is actually a two-page poem about time, revenge, and hurt.
Ellen Klages's "Education of a Witch" is scary! It was Lizzy's obsession for Maleficient in Sleeping Beauty that prompts Lizzy along the path of magic. And it's her baby sister Rosemary's arrival and need for attention that encourages its use. Klages understands children very well and provides a chilling scenario of vengeance. New parents should read this and pay special attention to their children. Lizzy's feelings are reasonable; it's her child's viewpoint and all that she knows.
Ellen Kushner's "Threefold World" is another excellent story! Set back in time in Finland when it was ruled by Sweden, Kushner uses the conflict of oppressor versus oppressed to create an ambitious character, Elias, who believes that his own Finnish background is nothing to be proud of. He sets off at the end of the school year to earn the money needed for the next year's tuition and it's a Finnish folktale come to life that changes his mind and his life.
Delia Sherman's "Witch in the Wood" is another fairytale combining several different elements from the genre. The prince forced into stag form by day, the evil wizard, and the orphaned young witch who rescues the stag. It's cute.
Patricia A. McKillip's "Which Witch" is not a typical McKillip, lacking her lyrical turns of phrase. I'd have thought more de Lint or Lackey with the witches who form a band, dress artistically, and the urban setting. It is an excellent read and I'd love to see it develop into a series.
Tim Pratt's "Carved Forest" is safety in a cage. Carlos definitely takes a chance in this one when he takes action to rescue his sister and keep her memory alive. Scary with a sweet ending.
M. Rickert's "Burning Castles" was very confusing with a very obscure ending. It's more like the author had an outline that was dashed off and somehow a lot of the details were forgotten. It doesn't encourage me to seek out other works by Rickert.
Isobelle Carmody's "Stone Witch" was excellent! A quest of a test with thrown-in confusions in true fairytale style, albeit with a contemporary twist and a chance for a mutual rescue.
Jane Yolen's "Andersen's Witch" provides a theory as to why Hans Christian Andersen wrote his fairytales and incorporates its own fairytale elements.
Jim Butcher's "B is for Bigfoot" is supposedly the third in the Bigfoot Trilogy, but reads more like it should have been the first. So, I'm confused. It's Harry Dresden's first meeting with River Shoulders, Irwin's dad, and his first meeting with Irwin where he helps him defuse an escalating situation at school.
Peter S. Beagle's "Great-Grandmother in the Cellar" is another good tale incorporating fairytale elements with a short peek into a catastrophe that hits a small family and requires intercession from the dead.
Margo Lanagan's "Crow and Caper, Caper and Crow" is another sweet tale incorporating fairytale elements with a grandmother wanting to grant a grandchild wishes. Lanagan includes the age-old "mother-in-law versus wife" conflict. It reads more like the start of a tale than one complete in itself.
The Cover
The cover has a glowy brown background with a black cauldron at the base pouring forth purple steam with authors' names and, just to ensure that we remember the theme of this collection of short stories, a witch's hat is parked right next to it.
The title reflects the theme as well---it's all Under My Hat.
Series:
"B is for Bigfoot", (Bigfoot Trilogy, 3 published); (Bigfoot, 1 chronological), & Dresden Files: Short Stories, 15
"Great-Grandmother in the Cellar" (Innkeeper's World, 1.5)
The Stories
Diana Peterfreund's "Stray Magic" is so sweet! Peterfreund created a lovely story that really pulled my heartstrings with a seemingly abandoned dog who desperately wants his master back.
Frances Hardinge's "Payment Due" is wicked good! Even short stories can suffer in this economy and Caroline does her best to ensure the bailiff understands how his attitude affects those upon whom he preys.
Garth Nix's "A Handful of Ashes" was excellent! A nice turnaround in which evil is repaid while saving a world. Nix creates an entire world with amazing characters in such a short span of pages.
Holly Black's "Little Gods" is about a teenager's search for belonging and the Beltane celebration she and her new friends attend. It's an eye-opening weekend for Ellery. This was okay. I know Black wanted to make a point, but it was too laid back for me.
Charles de Lint's "Barrio Girls" is both typical and atypical de Lint. I haven't read all of de Lint yet so I may well be wrong. The typical is the kindness Abuelo requires of them to offset the bruja and gain revenge for Pepé. A sweet read by a master.
Tanith Lee's "Felidis" is in the fairytale style, but with a twist. It's sweet.
Neil Gaiman's Witch Work is actually a two-page poem about time, revenge, and hurt.
Ellen Klages's "Education of a Witch" is scary! It was Lizzy's obsession for Maleficient in Sleeping Beauty that prompts Lizzy along the path of magic. And it's her baby sister Rosemary's arrival and need for attention that encourages its use. Klages understands children very well and provides a chilling scenario of vengeance. New parents should read this and pay special attention to their children. Lizzy's feelings are reasonable; it's her child's viewpoint and all that she knows.
Ellen Kushner's "Threefold World" is another excellent story! Set back in time in Finland when it was ruled by Sweden, Kushner uses the conflict of oppressor versus oppressed to create an ambitious character, Elias, who believes that his own Finnish background is nothing to be proud of. He sets off at the end of the school year to earn the money needed for the next year's tuition and it's a Finnish folktale come to life that changes his mind and his life.
Delia Sherman's "Witch in the Wood" is another fairytale combining several different elements from the genre. The prince forced into stag form by day, the evil wizard, and the orphaned young witch who rescues the stag. It's cute.
Patricia A. McKillip's "Which Witch" is not a typical McKillip, lacking her lyrical turns of phrase. I'd have thought more de Lint or Lackey with the witches who form a band, dress artistically, and the urban setting. It is an excellent read and I'd love to see it develop into a series.
Tim Pratt's "Carved Forest" is safety in a cage. Carlos definitely takes a chance in this one when he takes action to rescue his sister and keep her memory alive. Scary with a sweet ending.
M. Rickert's "Burning Castles" was very confusing with a very obscure ending. It's more like the author had an outline that was dashed off and somehow a lot of the details were forgotten. It doesn't encourage me to seek out other works by Rickert.
Isobelle Carmody's "Stone Witch" was excellent! A quest of a test with thrown-in confusions in true fairytale style, albeit with a contemporary twist and a chance for a mutual rescue.
Jane Yolen's "Andersen's Witch" provides a theory as to why Hans Christian Andersen wrote his fairytales and incorporates its own fairytale elements.
Jim Butcher's "B is for Bigfoot" is supposedly the third in the Bigfoot Trilogy, but reads more like it should have been the first. So, I'm confused. It's Harry Dresden's first meeting with River Shoulders, Irwin's dad, and his first meeting with Irwin where he helps him defuse an escalating situation at school.
Peter S. Beagle's "Great-Grandmother in the Cellar" is another good tale incorporating fairytale elements with a short peek into a catastrophe that hits a small family and requires intercession from the dead.
Margo Lanagan's "Crow and Caper, Caper and Crow" is another sweet tale incorporating fairytale elements with a grandmother wanting to grant a grandchild wishes. Lanagan includes the age-old "mother-in-law versus wife" conflict. It reads more like the start of a tale than one complete in itself.
The Cover
The cover has a glowy brown background with a black cauldron at the base pouring forth purple steam with authors' names and, just to ensure that we remember the theme of this collection of short stories, a witch's hat is parked right next to it.
The title reflects the theme as well---it's all Under My Hat.
harleyrae's review against another edition
3.0
In General I am not a huge fan of these types of books. There were some decent stories, but here was also quite a bit that I didn’t like. I think this will be my last book like this for some time. Just not a fan of these types of books.
lsparrow's review against another edition
4.0
a range of witch themed short stories that I really enjoyed.
rollforlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a long-time fan of fantasy short story collections and with names like these on the cover, how could I resist? Under my hat contains a lot of stories, and pleasantly every single one of them was new to me. I often find that modern collections contain quite a few that have been recycled over and over. I'm not sure if they can be found elsewhere or not but they're a great read! Don't be turned off by the book being listed as for children - the stories are full of depth and detail and are really wonderful. Three favourites of mine were A handful of ashes by Garth Nix, B is for bigfoot by Jim Butcher and Great-Grandmother in the cellar by Peter S. Beagle. There were plenty more great stories in here, once again a thoroughly recommended read.
calfaile's review against another edition
3.0
A bunch of stories aimed at a young audience. Of variable quality.
Stray magic: a cute story about a girl at an animal shelter. Enjoyable and I wanted to hear more of their story.
Payment due: a story of revenge. Mostly enjoyable for the cat.
A handful of ashes: a cross between Harry potter and his dark materials. I would definitely enjoy a longer visit to the world he built here
Little gods: a really boring account of a girl's introduction to Wicca.
Barrio girls: an atmospheric story about two best friends. Very sweet.
Felidis: good old-fashioned story about a traveller and a cat-girl.
Witch work: a poem
The education of a witch: a child-eye account of adjusting to a new baby in the house. Nails the feeling of injustice in young children.
Stray magic: a cute story about a girl at an animal shelter. Enjoyable and I wanted to hear more of their story.
Payment due: a story of revenge. Mostly enjoyable for the cat.
A handful of ashes: a cross between Harry potter and his dark materials. I would definitely enjoy a longer visit to the world he built here
Little gods: a really boring account of a girl's introduction to Wicca.
Barrio girls: an atmospheric story about two best friends. Very sweet.
Felidis: good old-fashioned story about a traveller and a cat-girl.
Witch work: a poem
The education of a witch: a child-eye account of adjusting to a new baby in the house. Nails the feeling of injustice in young children.
michalice's review against another edition
3.0
From the moment I saw Under My Hat at a blogger event earlier this year I knew it was a book I had to read. With a mix of authors that we know and love like Holly Black (Little Gods), Garth Nix (A Handful of Ashes), and Neil Gaiman (Witch Work) and to me, some not well know authors.
One of the best things about books from Hot key books, is that they have their own special ring, the Hot Key Ring, on the back of each book. The ring lets you, the reader, know what to expect from each book. Under My Hat has a ring of awesomeness and has got to be my favourite one so far.
It took me a few days to make my way through Under My Hat as I wanted to fully take in the stories for each author and there were a couple that really stuck out and stay in my head even now.
Stray Magic by Diana Peterfreund, is about a magical stray dog looking for its master, that is picked up and put into an animal shelter for adoption.
Payment Due by Frances Hardinge with body swaps and magical furniture, this made for a quick but entertaining read.
Each story brings us into the world of magic, witchcraft and mystery in its own way, and I looked forward to starting each new story wondering what magical thing would allow me to fall into the pages once again. While I would love to keep this book on my shelves ,it has already been claimed by my brother who set his eyes on it the moment I showed it to him. With offerings from authors we all know and love, to ones that are not so familiar, Under My Hat is a perfect read for anyone wanting to sample some work before buying or even collecting all the stories written by our favourite author.
One of the best things about books from Hot key books, is that they have their own special ring, the Hot Key Ring, on the back of each book. The ring lets you, the reader, know what to expect from each book. Under My Hat has a ring of awesomeness and has got to be my favourite one so far.
It took me a few days to make my way through Under My Hat as I wanted to fully take in the stories for each author and there were a couple that really stuck out and stay in my head even now.
Stray Magic by Diana Peterfreund, is about a magical stray dog looking for its master, that is picked up and put into an animal shelter for adoption.
Payment Due by Frances Hardinge with body swaps and magical furniture, this made for a quick but entertaining read.
Each story brings us into the world of magic, witchcraft and mystery in its own way, and I looked forward to starting each new story wondering what magical thing would allow me to fall into the pages once again. While I would love to keep this book on my shelves ,it has already been claimed by my brother who set his eyes on it the moment I showed it to him. With offerings from authors we all know and love, to ones that are not so familiar, Under My Hat is a perfect read for anyone wanting to sample some work before buying or even collecting all the stories written by our favourite author.
sanjastajdohar's review against another edition
5.0
Inventive, captivating, interesting..every story has it's own magic (pun intended :) ). Really glad I stumbled upon this book. Some stories I still think about.
heregrim's review against another edition
3.0
I get these for the Jim Butcher and never has he disappointed! As with all anthologies the stories are hit and miss. Though I must say this one had more hits then misses, well worth the read.