The history of weapons is a fascinating subject, but none more so than the history of swords and their sharp, pointy or bludgeoning cousins. And this book covers most, if not all of it. Starting from the beginning of primitive stone-age weapons, the book spans over 4000 years of history and covers seven different sections: Classical Weapons, Medieval Weapons, Renaissance Weapons, Age of Sabres, Islamic Weapons, Weapons of the Far East and a Wider World of Weapons. What really makes this book pop is how seamlessly it integrates the use and history of weapons with culture. Many weapons carried far more significance as a symbol than as a fighting tool and the book gives some perspective on the different roles these weapons played. The images were taken at the Berman Museum of World History from their 6000-piece collection, and it shows. There are hundreds of images of beautiful swords, each described in detail from its use to its creator.

If you’re getting into the hobby of swords, or you’re just interested in their history and design, this book is made for you. It covers the information in an easy-to-understand way and doesn’t clutter the pages with too much jargon. However, if you’re already into the hobby or you’re a sword connoisseur, the information here might be on the light side for you. As a decorative coffee table book, it’s a must-buy for anyone even remotely interested in swords. – Engela Snyman

Swords, Spears and Maces
by Chuck Wills
Hinkler Books
2014, 160 pages, 9.1 x 11 x 0.7 inches
$12 Buy one on Amazon

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a board game that takes place in a haunted mansion. You and your friends must explore the mansion to discover its dark secrets. But you should tread carefully as one of you might be a traitor.

The game starts out as cooperative, in which players explore the abandoned mansion to find omens, trigger events and pick up items. This continues until the 'Haunt' phase starts. The Haunt is triggered by the omen cards. Every time an omen card is picked up, the player must roll the dice and try to score more than the collective omens currently on the board. If the player fails the Haunt starts and then, depending on the omen, one player will take on the roll of the Spider-Queen, Witch, Demon, Zombie Lord or Werewolf and the rest will fight for survival.

This is a really fun game for anyone interested in horror. It's interesting, different and will always keep you guessing. Every play through the mansion will be different. Couple this with random card picks, twelve characters to choose from and over 50 scenarios you can play, and this game equals great replay value. However, it isn't perfect. The Haunt will sometimes favor one side or the other, which can make it next to impossible to win, so it can be a little unbalanced.

The quality of the game is great. There are six miniatures (all colored), and each has a character's sheet printed on glossed cardboard. The tiles are solid, strikingly eerie and excellent quality. The sliders, which keep track of your stats, is the only drawback. They're not well-fitted and slide off the card pretty easily. It can play up to 6 players (three being the minimum) and plays about 1-2 hours, depending on the amount of players you have. – Engela Snyman

Betrayal at House on the Hill
by Wizards of the Coast
Ages 12 and up, 3-6 players
$34 Buy a copy on Amazon

See more photos at Wink Fun.

Like any epic fictional world, the setting of George RR Martin’s massively successful A Song of Ice and Fire series is rife with a labyrinthine backstory and complex history that drives the story’s action and helps explain some of its characters' deeper motivations. At first blush, The World of Ice and Fire is just a lore book meant to set the record straight on historical events and eras preceding the series. However, through the voice of Maester Yandel, the work’s biased narrator and compiler, Martin, Garcia and Antonsson spawn more questions and greater uncertainty, with the Maester himself even admitting at times his ignorance as to crucial details. There are the necessary elements of rich and plentiful artwork, maps that seem torn and affixed to the page, and disconcertingly intertwined family trees that connect this history to the events of the books and television show. Then there is the attention to the small details, like the use of fancifully script-like fonts in titles, the depiction of heraldry with attribution to certain houses, and especially the dedication by Maester Yandel, “To his most esteemed and gracious lord, Tommen,” with the names of “Robert” and “Joffrey” barely distinguishable and faded underneath Tommen’s name.

As a physical object, The World of Ice and Fire also feels like an artifact plucked from the universe that it describes. To hold this book and read through its pages is to inhabit the world of ice and fire and to be presented with the same kind of piecemeal knowledge of that world with which its characters themselves struggle.

The book’s structure fittingly rambles from the series’ mythical prehistory to the more political historical present. A section on The Seven Kingdoms looks in depth at the various realms and sub-geographies of Westeros in terms of their history, culture and geography. A number of subsequent sections describe the increasingly foreign and exotic locales of Essos and Other Lands. From the obscure myths of the past, to the known present and familiar realms, and then back to more legendary lands, the subject matter’s transition into the known and then back out keeps with some of the overall themes of the series: fantasy threatening the periphery while human foibles form the core. The lineages and family trees appended to the end of the book give a succinct visualization of how the series and its myriad history intertwine.

A Song of Ice and Fire’s fandom has recently reached a critical mass. The viral popularity of the TV series has brought an influx of new readership and more voices to debate the final trajectory of the as-yet unfinished series. Martin’s co-authors, Garcia and Antonsson, gained their expertise through managing the online forums that have served as homes to Game of Thrones fans. Perhaps spurred by the endless theorizing of fans and definitely urged by wild popularity, The World of Ice and Fire is a shift back from this digital realm to a physical and printed object.

The World of Ice and Fire is many things. It is a fictional tome seemingly transported from the fictional world itself, a lavishly illustrated art book to gush over for hours, and a dubiously authoritative account of the history that motivates the series. In a world of social reading and communities of readers whose speculations often preempt the intentions of authors themselves, The World of Ice and Fire uses historical uncertainty to undermine even the savviest of theorizers. When you play the Game of Thrones with George RR Martin, you mettle with the author and the authority, and there are no sure bets. This wonderful book is that truth made manifest. – Stephen Webb

The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and The Game of Thrones
by George R. R. Martin, Elio Garcia, and Linda Antonsson
Bantam
2014, 336 pages, 9.3 x 12.1 x 1.4 inches
$25 Buy one on Amazon

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

“Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man…” wrote Hemingway. It is precisely this Holmes-versus-Moriarty style rivalry that makes Scotland Yard worth an hour or more of your time. At the outset, a player is chosen to be the infamous “Mr. X,” pursued throughout the game by the remaining 1-5 players. The board is an intricate map of London, detailing lines of public transit, but also including fun landmarks, such as Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. The transit routes, however, are the key to winning the game.

Detectives are issued tickets for each type of transit—taxi, bus, or underground (train), which cannot be replenished, and therefore must be used wisely. If less than the full number of detectives are playing, the extra pieces become “bobbies,” after the British slang for police. Bobbies act as shared pieces at the detectives’ collective disposal that don’t need tickets to explore London. Likewise, Mr. X does not need tickets for regular transit. Additionally, he is issued special tickets that allow him extra privileges, like using the ferry or making two moves in one turn. Detectives take turns collaborating and moving their pieces from one station to another, according to the tickets at their disposal. When all of the detectives and bobbies have moved, Mr. X takes his turn, recording his invisible moves on a special notepad. Detectives are allowed to know what type of transit he used, assuming he hasn’t used one of his special tickets. Mr. X only appears on five of the twenty-three turns, lending hide-and-seek anticipation and lots of discussion on where he could be next. The game is over either when Mr. X has been cornered (can make no more moves without bumping into a detective) or captured (a detective lands on his station). Alternatively, if Mr. X evades capture for the full twenty-three turns, he is the victor.

Geared toward the analytical thinker and recommended for children 10+, Scotland Yard is an exciting way to pass a rainy afternoon. Including both cooperative and competitive play, the game even comes with a visor (or hat, depending on your edition) for Mr. X to hide behind as he strategizes. Moreover, as in a real man-hunt, there’s just enough luck involved that either side could gain an unexpected advantage at any moment. If you’re hunting for an edge-of-your-seat challenge for you and your friends, investigate Scotland Yard. – Chloe Quimby

Detectives hunt for the infamous Mr. X in Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard
by Ravensburger
Ages 10 and up, 2-6 players
$29 Buy a copy on Amazon

Thank you Unique Toy Shop for lending us this copy to review!

August 18, 2015

See more photos at Wink.

If you’ve ever been to a Disney theme park, you’ve undoubtedly seen the large posters showcasing some of the popular rides and attractions. Over the past sixty years, what started out as teasers for park guests have evolved into valued works of art. They transition from simple works with minimal design and color of the mid 1950s to finely-detailed full-color masterpieces that perfectly capture the tones and atmospheres of each attraction of the present day.

Poster Art of the Disney Parks compiles Disney theme park attraction posters from around the globe into one volume. The book is oversized for proper viewing of the full-page prints, which are rich in history, color, and detail. Each chapter is broken down into the different lands (Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, etc.) as well as two chapters dedicated to the Disney California Adventure park and the Tokyo DisneySea park.

The tome focuses strongly on the art with minimal text. There are a few paragraphs at the beginning of each chapter and a few captions to accompany the images, but beyond that, it’s an art-lover’s dream. There are so many poster images that even a hard-core fan of the Disney theme parks wouldn’t recognize all of them. Add to that the plethora of sketches, color samples, and poster variants, and you’ve got a 146-page book that is jam-packed with visual treats that will rekindle childhood memories of the Disney theme parks. – Robert Nava

Poster Art of the Disney Parks
by Daniel Handke and Vanessa Hunt
Disney Editions
2012, 144 pages, 11.2 x 14.2 x 0.8 inches
$28 Buy one on Amazon

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Takenoko (which means bamboo shoots in Japanese) is a light, colorful board game in which players take on the role of Japanese court members to take care of a panda and gain points by completing tasks. At the beginning of the game each player is given three cards explaining their tasks. The tasks include cultivating and irrigating plots, growing colorful bamboo, or getting the panda to eat said bamboo. At the end of the game the player with the most points wins. But where Takenoko shines is with the weather element.

The weather die is rolled at the beginning of each turn, and tends to throw all your best laid plans out the door. Experienced or ignorant players can make or break your plans as well, which makes the game a little chaotic. Takenoko is fun and easy to teach, but it can be a little frustrating when you're at the mercy of poor dice rolls. Just go with the flow, do what's in front of you, and you'll have a great time.

The game is beautiful and the components are excellent. The painted miniatures, colorful plots and plastic bamboo shoots make it look like an expensive candy box. It plays about 45-60 minutes and can have up 4 players. The winner of the Golden Geek Award of 2012, it's little wonder why people adore this game so much. – Engela Snyman

Takemoko
by Asmodee
Ages 13 and up, 2-4 players
$33 Buy a copy on Amazon

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Imagine walking down a street in Paris one morning, stumbling upon a rubbish heap, plucking out a cardboard box from the debris, and finding pages of song lyrics, a war medal and a diary written 100 years ago inside the box. This really happened to French artist Barroux, and his tribute to the unknown man behind the diary is the graphic novel, Line of Fire: Diary of an Unknown Soldier (August, September 1914).

Through charcoal drawings, Barroux illustrates the diary's entries from early August, 1914 until the writing abruptly ends one month later. The haunting, dark sketches show the full range of emotions and experiences of this anonymous French soldier just days into the start of the Great War. Renderings depicting fear, sadness, lonesomeness, and hope accompany the brief diary entries. Pages with the soldier's handwriting are also sprinkled throughout the book. Although the name of this soldier remains a mystery, he was a real man that had to say goodbye to a real family and walk into the forests not knowing what lay ahead. Line of Fire is a way to remember that this brave man existed.

Further information about clues from the diary, the multi-media adaptation of Line of Fire and the background of the artist Barroux can be found here. – Carole Rosner

(1914)

Line of Fire: Diary of an Unknown Soldier (August, September 1914)
by Unknown (author), Barroux (illustrator) and Sarah Ardizzone (translator)
Phoenix Yard Books
2014, 96 pages, 7.2 x 9.8 x 0.5 inches (paperback)
$13 Buy one on Amazon

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy gives you a peek behind the curtain into the making of three movies set long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. This beautifully printed book takes the reader from the very first shot of a Star Destroyer coming directly overhead to the very last shot of a celebration on the Forest Moon of Endor. In between, there are rescues, space battles, Jedi training, Jabba the Hutt, speeder bike chases, and lightsaber battles. This is, in other words, Star Wars shot by shot, frame by frame.

Fans will recognize the story beats, of course, but one of the joys of a book like this is seeing what changed between conception and the screen. Certain characters, like Chewbacca and C-3PO, underwent radical revisions even in the course of storyboarding a single movie, while others, like Darth Vader, went through fewer, yet still noticeable changes over the course of a few pages. Likewise, seeing deleted scenes and certain scenes laid out differently from the edited sequence of the finished films bring a sense of joy and re-discovery to fans who have seen these films countless times over the years.

One of the most striking aspects of the book is the sheer variety of pen and ink art styles contained in the storyboards. Color is used sparingly, but stunningly on a few pieces. The storyboards are presented unaltered with stains, notes, re-dos, and all. Commentary from the original artists provides insights and anecdotes of the creative processes that went into creating the movies. Altogether, the book is a veritable course on filmmaking that will be of interest to Star Wars fans, artists, film-makers, and book-lovers alike. – Joel Neff

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy
by J.W. Rinzler (editor)
Harry N. Abrams
2014, 352 pages, 9.5 x 12.2 x 1.2 inches
$30 Buy one on Amazon

Tummple! has been described as reverse Jenga. That seems pretty accurate. Both games share a similar wooden-block aesthetic, and in both games the object is to keep things from falling. The key difference is that in Tummple! you are building.

The game goes like this: A small wooden base is laid out. All subsequent builds are placed on the base or on other pieces. Players take turns rolling a nice big twelve-sided die that will give the rolling player one of five options. The first three involve placing one of the blocks. The block is to be placed on the wide side, the narrow edge, or the end. The other two options are what add a bit of strategy and meanness to Tummple! Players may be required to place a tump. Tumps are little plastic half marbles. The white ones act as blockers. They cannot be touched by any pieces played subsequently. The yellow tumps are even tougher. They render the entire surface area on which they've been placed untouchable. Blocks must be placed flat. And when the player releases the piece, their turn is over. Anytime someone causes pieces to fall, they keep all those pieces as points against them. When all the blocks in the box have been played, the game is over. Add up the blocks you’ve collected. Player with the fewest, wins.

The box says 2-4 players, but you can play with as many people as you can fit around the table. With more people you're likely to have ties, as some people will cause no collapses during their turns. But it's still fun. While taking photos for this review, I discovered there's also something to be said for solitaire play. We have had a good time with this one. It's good for all ages. And you have a cool little abstract sculpture when you're all done.

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Tummple!
by BAXBO
Ages 6 and up, 2-4 players
$25 Buy a copy on Amazon

Fans of DC Comics greats like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash will love this superhero recipe book full of more than 50 fun snacks, meals, desserts, etc. Enjoy tons of easy-to-make themed treats like Batarang Crackers and the Boy Wonder BLT. Each dish is photographed in a fun way with various action figures or cut-outs to represent the characters. This book would come in handy for any birthday or theme party. There are even stencils and cut-outs included in the book to help you along your way. I tried a few of these and found them super easy to make, even though I'm a bit of a novice in the kitchen. One such success that I had was with the Plastic Man Cheesy Fettuccine. The recipe was simple enough, with a sauté of red and yellow peppers, shredded string cheese and pasta. My kids couldn't get enough of it – superheros to the rescue! – Matt MacNabb

Official DC Super Hero Cookbook
by Matthew Mead
Downtown Bookworks
2013, 128 pages, 8 x 9.2 x 1 inches
$13 Buy one on Amazon

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

To address the obvious, strategy games are notorious for taking exhaustive amounts of time to play, but Eight Minute Empire: Legends ($20) streamlines traditional rules to such an extent that it is possible to complete a game in just eight minutes. Or so one would hope. Some degree of agonizing over choices will still slow a game down, but it is entirely possible to complete the game relatively quickly. To the original game Eight Minute Empire, the “Legends” subtitle introduces a pretty standard fantasy setting and artwork. However, we are spared unnecessary lore and backstory. It also adds additional rules to vary game-play while still sticking to the time-sensitive nature suggested in the game’s name.

Setup of the game consists of laying out four island gameboard pieces in any scheme the players desire and player armies occupy the same regions at the outset of the game. Actual combat is minimal and the impetus instead is on maneuvering around regions and islands so as to outnumber opponents at endgame. Each player turn begins with a card being chosen from six which lay face-up and have a scaled price attached to them. Players have limited funds, which do not replenish. As one card is chosen, all cards of higher price slide down the scale and a new card is flipped up to occupy the highest price-point. Players can pay the high price or gamble on cards still being available for a lower price when their next turn comes around. Cards are all unique and give an immediate action and a lasting ability. Actions serve to allow movement, add armies, build a new city, or eliminate an enemy army in a contested region. Abilities continue for the remainder of the game and can increase movement, provide bonus armies, give immunity to attack, or in some way increase endgame victory points. The cards are themed around fantastical creatures and sublime landscape-realms. And all the artwork is exceedingly pretty.

No two games will be alike as there are many upon many slight variations and additional content that can be added to a game, from portals to dragon quests. And, thankfully, this content is included with the base game. The modular game board tile configurations vary the arena and each of the four tiles is two-sided with a different island realm on the reverse. Additionally, if you're anything like me, you can make up some house rules to slightly alter your gaming experience and even if you develop a poor house rule the game will be over in eight minutes. It is as good playing head-to-head as with three or four players. It is a simple game to learn and every beginner should easily become a legendary emperor at least once in less than an hour. Much as I sometimes prefer those more complex and risky board games, the straightforward play of Eight Minute Empires: Legends allows for replay, experimentation and many chances to win. – Stephen Webb

Eight Minute Empire: Legends
by Red Raven Games
Ages 13 and up, 2-4 players
$20 Buy a copy on Amazon

See more photos at Wink Fun.

Imagine all your favourite mythic creatures: pegasus, mermaid, centaur, sphinx, minotaur. Now imagine them laid out on a mortician’s table: dissected, given Latin medical labels, and analyzed in terms of their unique muscular and skeletal makeup. This is what we’re offered in the second part of E. B. Hudspeth’s The Resurrectionist in the section titled The Codex Extinct Animalia.

This intriguing novel does its best to defy categorization. Part One reads like a nonfiction textbook piecing together the biography of controversial 19th-century surgeon Dr. Spenser Black. Through reproduced letters, newspaper clippings and exhibition flyers we chart Black’s life: his early career as a stellar young surgeon, his marriage and the birth of his son; and then his rapid descent into infamy, gaining a reputation as a splicer of anatomies and an eccentric who believed that the creatures from our myths are in fact our evolutionary ancestors. Part Two presents his extensive drawings and writings, though it is left up to the reader to decide whether Black was a visionary or a madman.

The book’s beautifully macabre images capture the imagination instantly, but where Hudspeth really impresses is in the utter believability of Dr. Black’s story. The narrative is furnished with a fictional note from the publishers, and Black’s biography neatly intertwines with real 19th-century events. The Resurrectionist channels the aesthetics of Edgar Allan Poe while playing with form in the manner of Jorge Luis Borges. While the novel’s publisher Quirk Books has given us a wealth of visual treats in the last few years, The Resurrectionist still feels like the most immersive and fully realized book in their catalogue. – Damien McLaughlin

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Spencer Black
by E. B. Hudspeth
Quirk Books
2013, 192 pages, 7.8 x 10.8 x 0.8 inches
$16 Buy a copy on Amazon

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Irotoridori, described as a “color palette puzzle” on the box, is a sudoku board game where the numbers have been replaced with colors. It uses sturdy, plastic bird shaped paint drops and a board shaped like an artist’s palette to add a physical dimension to a brain game. It’s great for solo play or for small groups; I’ve found that while it is safe for elementary school children, it’s middle school ages and up that really enjoy the game.

Inside the Irotoridori box, you’ll find 81 birds, nine of nine colors each, a clip for picking up the birds that looks like a tube of paint, and the board itself. The birds are bright, solid plastic, and have numbers imprinted on the back, just in case you’d like to add a level of difficulty to your game. Along with these game pieces, there is a booklet with 24 puzzles and solutions.

Although the instructions are written entirely in Japanese, if you can play Sudoku (and you can) then you’ll understand this set easily enough. (For anyone who may not be familiar, sudoku is a puzzle system where the goal is to arrange groups of numbers such that there are no repeating numbers in any row, column, or square. Like many puzzles, it is easy to learn to play but becoming a master takes a lifetime.) The printed puzzle booklet uses pictures to show each layout and solution. For those who want the challenge, the Japanese printed inside the box is written at a grade school level with furigana over the kanji to aid in pronunciation and meaning!

Irotoridori is a perfect game for those grey-skied, rainy days when you or your young ones are stuck inside. Set up the board, line up the colours, and have some fun! – Joel Neff

Irotoridori
by Eye-up
Ages 10 and up, 1-3 players
$25 Buy a copy on Amazon

See more photos at Wink Fun.

Reluctant cartoonist Sydney Padua tips us off early in The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer that her graphic novel/history book is probably neither. Instead, she says, it is what she imagines a comic called The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer would look like if it existed, which, for the record, it does. This fuzziness with obvious facts such as authorship and the words one is reading on a page are what give the document that bears Padua’s name one of its many irresistible charms. For Padua, the actual story of the relationship between Lord Bryon’s only legitimate daughter, Ada Lovelace, whose facility with numbers rivaled her father’s gift for words, and Charles Babbage, whose 1837 Analytical Engine is considered the world’s first computer, is only a sturdy armature for several richly illustrated what-might-have-been yarns—embellishments, I hasten to add, that only someone with a love for the truth could have conjured.

For example, we “learn” that on June 5, 1833, while still a teenager, Lovelace met the older Babbage at one of the famous parties he liked to give at his mansion on 1 Dorset Street in London. Now, I’m not sure how much of that last sentence is 100 percent true, but we do know they met, and that Lovelace did eventually translate an 1840 lecture Babbage gave in Turin about his Analytical Engine from its Italian transcription to English, adding copious footnotes of her own that sketched out the if-then statements and other forms of rudimentary programming one would need to know to drive Babbage’s machine, which was never built except in model form.

Later in the book, Lovelace and Babbage demonstrate another of Babbage’s inventions, a mechanical calculator (steam-powered in Padua’s imagination) known as a difference engine, for Queen Victoria. We also encounter a spurious Babbage machine called the New Patent Mechanical Writer, lifted from an 1844, tongue-in-cheek letter he wrote to Punch—in Padua’s book, this imaginary device has its way with a George Eliot novel. Then, after a chapter in which Ada struggles to get her arms around the concept of imaginary quantities, which sends her spiraling into an Alice-in-Wonderland world of judgmental footnotes and juries of Jacquard-loom punch cards, several appendices explain, among other things, how those punch cards work, and how they led to the 80-column IBM punch cards of 1955. In a word, all this makes for fantastic reading, and that is the truth. – Ben Marks

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer
by Sydney Padua
Pantheon
2015, 230 pages, 7.3 x 10.3 x 1.1 inches
$15 Buy one on Amazon

Taschen's retrospective, LeRoy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s, is a big, beautiful book of surf photography from one of the pioneers in the field. An essay by Surfer magazine editor Steve Barilotti traces Grannis' life and work from his start as a hobbyist to his retirement, with plenty of anecdotes, quotes, and history in between. Like many Taschen books, the essay is translated and reprinted in both German and French in the first section of the book. However, different photographs illustrate each version of the essay, making it worth a look even if you don't happen to read the languages.

Once past the introductory essay(s), the book is broken into two main sections: California and Hawaii. The California photos show us long board riders catching tubes and smaller waves, as well as the beach lifestyle. It's these latter photos that make the book so interesting to me. Grannis captured California surfing right as it was entering pop culture. The photos here, of the beach, of the cars, of the rising competitiveness, and of the burgeoning fashion scene act as both history lesson and museum exhibition for a time familiar only through reruns of Gidgit on late night TV.

The Hawaii section follows the same footsteps, only the waves are bigger, the wipeouts more spectacular, the lifestyle more mainstream. The history is present, too, as we see the beginnings of big wave surfing, with helicopter rescues and oh-so-many broken boards. There is, though, a lack of fame and celebrity in this section. There are not as many models or competitions, just lots and lots of people surfing. Maybe it is because Grannis was back to photography as hobby by this time, or maybe it was just a desire to get back to the roots of surfing.

This is a Taschen book. The photo print quality is excellent. The pages are a glossy, heavy paper, and the layout and type easy to navigate. If you've any interest in surfing as a sport or a lifestyle, mid-century pop culture, or just beautiful photography from a master, you'll enjoy this book. – Joel Neff

LeRoy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s
by Steve Barilotti (author) and LeRoy Grannis (photographer)
Taschen
2013, 192 pages, 9.2 x 12.1 x 0.7 inches
$11 Buy one on Amazon

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Sphero 2.0 is a fun interactive robotic sphere that feels more like a creature than a ball. To get started you must first download the Sphero app onto an iOS or android device (with bluetooth), which will become the ball's remote control. Now you can start playing with your Sphero. Take it on a walk, spin it, change its color (ranging from white to exotic tropical greens, blazing red, neon blues, and other vivid hues, all which are best seen in the dark), and adjust the speed of the Sphero so that it can race around (up to 4.5 mph) or move in slow motion (but beginners have to start off at a slower speed and "earn" their ability to roll faster by leveling up). You can download over 25 free apps for your Sphero including lots of games, such as the Rolling Dead, which injects zombies into the actual scenery around you (using the iOS or android camera), which you must escape by throwing fireballs or zooming around.

My Sphero hasn't had any problems or glitches. My only small complaint is that it takes three hours to charge for only one hour of game play. Also, I didn't purchase one of the nubby covers that improves the Sphero's traction (and allows the ball to travel on water!), so when I tried taking my Sphero outside on the driveway its traction gave way and it didn’t move as smoothly as on carpet or wood floors. Regardless, I have really enjoyed playing with Sphero. It comes with two fun mini ramps, a stand, and a charging station. – Ava Trahan

Sphero 2.0
by Sphero
Ages 8 and up
$99 Buy one on Amazon

See more photos at Wink Fun.

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Just the mention of his name triggers a reaction. In 1965 after seeing Roth’s wild customized hot rods, Tom Wolfe spontaneously wrote an Esquire article about him in a new, wigged-out and crazy writing style, New Journalism: "There Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy-Kolored (Thphhhhhh!) Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (Rahghhh!) Around the Bend (Brummmmmmmmmmmmmmm)…" Crazy, man! Although Rat Fink's creator died in 2001, Ed Roth lives on in the hearts and minds of a generation.

There have been a number of books written about Ed Roth, including Confessions of a Rat Fink, which he wrote himself completely in beatnik jive, but I think this book by Pat Ganahl is the best by far. You'll DROOL over the great color photos of all the cars, along with a bolt-by-bolt run down on the construction and components. And they’re all there, from Roth’s modest early '32 Ford hot rods to his later insanely asymmetrical, metal-flaked, bubble-topped show cars, to motorcycles and dragsters. It’s baroque “rolling sculpture,” baby!

Your eyes will BUG OUT over the photos from Roth's own collection of family pics, candid in-progress at-the-shop snapshots and posed publicity stills. Who else could pull off wearing a top hat and tails, or a chromed Nazi helmet, or film director’s beret, or overalls with a lumpy felt Rat Fink hillbilly hat – and always with a crazy smile?

You’ll go WILD reading the real story of working with Revell on the weirdo and custom car models, including interviews with his staff. There’s plenty from artist and Juxtapoz-creator Robert Williams, an early Roth collaborator who did the art for the T- Shirts and print ads. Custom cars and vehicles, models and toys, comics, T-shirts, decals, skateboards, trashcans – with his just-make-it approach, what didn’t Roth create?

And there are lots of great anecdotes on Roth's life. Although he was quite intimidating and took no crap from anyone (and faced down many a Hell’s Angel biker!), Roth was known to be generous, kind-hearted, and he even taught Sunday school in the Mormon Church. No FLIES on him! I think every Roth fan and fink will like this crazy book. Or as Ed Roth said: “Can ya’ dig it?” – Robert Knetzger

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: His Life, Times, Cars and Art
by Pat Ganahl
CarTech
2003, 192 pages, 10.5 x 10.5 x 0.8 inches
$28 Buy one on Amazon