If people describe why they find a book laudable, that can be very useful commentary that can help others decide whether to pursue a book.

The Café award is going to be imperfect. That's pretty much inescapable. And focusing on a single "best" book is pretty limited. I want to know about ALL the excellent books of the year.

But if the award's process helps to sift the wheat from the chaff, and points readers to the better books that were published during the year, then it performs useful work.

Proposal: I'd suggest each voter vote for 3-5 books, and must write at least 3 full sentences about each book in order for their vote to count. Each qualifying vote counts as 1 point. Then at the end, we total the points for each book, but also cut and paste all the supporting mini-reviews together with each book's entry. The result isn't just a bare winning title, but a (hopefully) useful semi-substantiated guide to the better books published during the year.

I like duanebarry's suggestion very much, it may be a little more work for the voters and this years host, but the results would yield much more useful info about the books this year and would most likely ward off Tammany votes as mentioned by Vlad_77 and motown. We would get different perspectives and opinions of the same book and I think that everyone would benefit greatly from this as well as having a much more fair outcome.

Totally agree, and the coming soon Hofsinzer book by Hermetic press...

I like the Essential Sol Stone book. Doesn't that count?

That one came out last year.

Okay. Thanks!

A wild guess if Non Plus Ultra will come out this year it has to be best book 2013!

There's some strong candidates for book of the year.

An Unofficial and Incomplete List of Books on Magic and Its Allied Arts Published in 2013


The lists below contain a total of 178 print* books initially published in 2013.** This inventory does not purport to be exhaustive; additional sources*** and more scrupulous research would yield more titles. All errors and omissions are solely mine. Corrections and additions are encouraged.

No person or entity has endorsed this list, including The Magic Café, its moderators, or the administrator of The 2013 Magic Café Book of the Year Poll. Books enumerated here do not automatically qualify for the poll; final eligibility is determined by the 2013 poll administrator.****


Books Available from Magic Retailers


Alan, James. “Reality Based Magic”
Anonymous (realwork.com). “Cunning Attractions”
Anonymous. “PLF ESP Collection Book”
Arcana, H. “ESP Arcana”
Bannon, John. “High Caliber”
Barnowsky, Larry. “Counting on Deception”
Baukin, Martin. “Cold Reading: The Classic Book of Techniques”
Beam, Steve. “Gourmet Card Magic”
Ben, David. “Slaight: Off Hand”
Biro, Pete. “Funny Stuff”
Biro, Pete. “Memoirs of a Spook Show Ghost”
Bloom, Gaeten. “Full Bloom”
Brewer, Congreave, et. al. “3t: Manual . . . Triple Threat Coin Gimmick” *****
Bruno, Joe. “Anatomy of Misdirection” (revised and updated edition)
Cameron, Douglas. “The Magic of Steven Hamilton”
Carroll, Bob. “The World’s Most Famous Unknown Magician and Ventriloquist”
Cassidy, Bob. “The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy: Volume 2
Cavalli, Paolo, and Tira, Massimo. “The Cavalli Files Part I – Upsilon”
Cavalli, Paolo, and Tira, Massimo. “The Cavalli Files Part II – Omicron”
Cavalli, Paolo, and Tira, Massimo. “The Cavalli Files Part III – Sigma”
Cavalli, Paolo, and Tira, Massimo. “The Cavalli Files Part IV – The Flytrap Experience”
Cavalli, Paolo, and Tira, Massimo. “The Cavalli Files Part V – Notes from the Lord’s Diary”
Caveney, Mike. ‘Mike Caveney Wonders” and “The Conference Illusions”
Charvet, David. “Jarrow: The Humorist Trickster”
Christopher, Dee. “The Knowledge.”
Cohen, Steve, & Kaufman, Richard. “Japan Ingenious”
Deautsch, Yaniv. “Telepathy Report”
Derris, John. “Days of Wine and Magic”
Dobson, Wayne. ‘Look No Hands: Volume 2”
Dobson, Wayne. “Marked for Life.”
Driscoll, Ken. “Inside and Opposite Corner Deck Book”
Edward, Mark. “Silentium”
Edwards, Doug. “Nukes”
Eidem, Roy. “Coins by Roy: Volume 1”
Evans, Eric. “53 Friends: Card Tricks for Everywhere”
Evans, Shawn. “Build Your Own Psychic Calculator”
Evans, Shawn. “Card Through Window”
Evans, Shawn. “Deceptions That Dare to Dazzle and Delight”
Evans, Shawn. “Prestige Pen Projects”
Evans, Shawn. “Real World Card Control Magic”
Fields, Keith. “If Ever a Wiz There Was”
Fields, Keith. “How to Handle Hecklers”
Fischer, John. “Tommy Cooper: Jus’ Like That”
Frailich, Ariel. “Reading Writing”
Fujari, Gabe. “Cardini: The Suave Deceiver Auction Catalog”
Gagnon, Tom, and Field, Matthew. “Too Hot for the Devil”
Geris, Brent. “The Magic Apple Live !”
Giobbi, Roberto. “Art of Switching Decks”
Grant, Jamie. “The Approach: A Complete Guide . . . “
Guastaferro, John. “Discoveries & Deceptions”
Hannibal, Chris. “Bookends”
Harrismatic. “Crimental”
Hass, Lawrence. “Deep Mental Mysteries”
Hatch, Richard. “Taro-San the Fisherman and the Weeping Willow Tree”
Heine, Thomas, & Mees, Rainer. “Do Not Disturb: Thoughts on Heckling”
Heine, Thomas, & Mees, Rainer. “ParaSecrets”
Heine, Thomas, & Mees, Rainer. “Sense and Meaning”
Heine, Thomas, & Mees, Rainer. “A Stack of Thoughts”
Higham, Justin. “Bold and Illogical Card Moves”
Higham, Justin. “Pseudo Cheating Methods and Effects”
Jayashanker, Arvind. “Creative Magic” (Adam Wilber)
Jermay, Luke. “The Story Deck”
Jheff. “Fagin’s Gifts”
Jheff. “Games of the Mind”
Jheff. “Intimental”
Jones, Lewis. “Persona”
Knight, Devin. “How to Rank Your Act on Google”
Knight, Devin. “The $1000 A Day Show Plan for Magicians”
Knight, Devin. “Ten Magic Myths Exposed”
Knight, Devin, & Mann, Al. “Al Mann’s Sensational Boiler Escape”
Knight, Devin. “The Ultimate Headline Prediction”
Kosnitzky, Gary. “Cheppum Panthum”
Landman, Todd. “Episementalogie”
Ladanye, Jason. “Confident Deceptions”
Ledo, George. “Boxes, Cases and Crates.”
Leveridge, Mark. “The Collected Card Magic: Volume 3”
Lorayne, Harry. “Before You Forget”
Lovell, Simon. “Second to None”
Magic Christian “Hofzinser, J.N. Non Plus Ultra”
Manos, Christopher. “Magical Things I Do Do Too !”
Marie, Carol. “Macabre Mansion”
McLeod, Colin. “Divine”
McGough, Owen. “Titanic Forces”
Melville, Leslie. “Magictales 2”
Metcalfe, Dean. “Frankly Disillusioned”
Milgate, Adam. “Real Secrets”
Montana, Bill. “The Bridge 2.0”
Montana, Bill. “The Mental Magic of Bill Montana: Volume 1”
Mulcahy, Colm. “Mathematical Card Magic: 52 New Effects”
Neale, Bob. “Nine Uneasy Pieces”
Neale, Robert, and Hass, Larry. “The Magic of Celebrating Illusion”
Neighbors, David. “The David Neighbors Project: Volume 1”
Oberon, Marc. “Create Your Own Magic System.”
Oberon, Marc. “Way Out”*****
Osborne, Paul. “Airborne Box”
Osborne, Paul. “The Illusion Paradigm”
Osborne, Paul. “Kidtrix”
Ovason, David. “The Book of Magic”
Parker, Fraser. “True Mysteries” (DVD and book)
Petrosian, Sos & Victoria. “All You Need to Know about Quick Change: Part 1
Petrosian, Sos & Victoria. “All You Need to Know about Quick Change: Part 2
Philpott, Chris. “Intimate Mysteries”
Pink, Ran. “T-Rex”
Pradier, Etienne. “Think of a Card”
Rawlins, Chris. “Roulette”
Richman, Michael S. “The Magic House of Babcock”
Ring, Ken, & Romhany, Paul. “Rubber Band Magic”
Robinson, Scott. “Varied Methods”
Salem, Marc, & Mark, Richard. “Cerebrate.”
Sartwell, Crispin. “The Color Change”
Sid Lorraine Hat & Rabbit Club. “17 Secrets”
Sperry, Dan. “The Social Media Magician”
Steinmeyer, Jim. “The Science Behind the Ghost”
Steinmeyer, Jim. “Ensuing Impuzzabilities”
Stolz, Chris, and Titanas. “Illusionary Appearances”
Sum, J.C. “Corporate Illusions Made Easy”
Taylor, Sean. “Moving the Cards”
Taylor, Sean. “Selling the Show”
Trost, Nick. “Nick Trost’s Subtle Card Creations: Volume 4”
Tyler, Jim. “Bamboozlers Volume 3”
Vinuesa, Carlos. “Numbers, Cards . . . and Time”
Volpe, Luca. “Emotional Mentalism: Volume 2”
Volpe, Luca, and Knepper, Kenton. “The Collection: Volume 1”
Volpe, Luca, and Titanus. “Psiuke”*******
Webster, Richard. “Alexander Nelson: Intimate Secrets”
Webster, Richard. “Scryer’s 13”
Webster, Richard. “Scryer’s Band of Readers”
Wissner, Wayne. “Houdini and Gysel”
Witter, David. “Chicago Magic: A History of Stagecraft and Spectacle”





Magic Books Available from Other Purveyors

It’s tempting to dismiss trade books like those listed below (primarily from Amazon.com) as inferior to those published primarily for magicians. Applying this criterion in the past, however, would have slighted estimable works like Scott’s “Discoverie of Witchcraft,” Hoffmann’s “Modern Magic,” Erdnase’s “The Expert at the Card Table,” Elliott’s “Classic Secrets of Magic,” Hay’s “The Amateur Magician’s Handbook,” and Hugard’s and Braue’s “The Royal Road to Card Magic” -- all of which were initially aimed at the general public.

Lulu.com books are included because the winner of the 2012 Magic Café Book of the Year was initially available on lulu.com.


Allen, Jon. “Simple Magic Tricks”
Alpheus, A. “Complete Hypnotism, Mesmerism, Mindreading and Spiritualism”
Anonymous. “Mental Card Tricks”
Barnhart, Norm. “Dazzling Card Tricks”
Barnhart, Norm. “Marvelous Money Tricks”
Barnhart, Norm. “Stunning Stage Tricks”
Barnhart, Norm. “Amazing Magic Tricks: Apprentice Level”
Barnhart, Norm. “Amazing Magic Tricks: Beginner Level”
Barnhart, Norm. “Amazing Magic Tricks: Expert Level”
Barnhart, Norm. “Amazing Magic Tricks: “Master Level”
Berardelli, Mari. “Magic for Everyone”
Brennan, J.H. “The Whisperers: “The Secret History of the Spirit World”
Bruno, Joseph. “Twelve Steps to Creative Magic”
Caris, John. “Dancing Magicians”
Collins, Floyd. Learn Magic.” (lulu.com)
Dancey, Charlie. “Every Trick in the Book”
DeSouza-Coelho, Shawn. “Metamagic”
Dunford, Iain. “Tarography” (lulu.com)
Dunford, Iain. “TPR” (lulu.com)
Drury, Steve. “Mysteriosophy”
Dynamo. “Nothing Is Impossible: My Story”
Ellwood, Taylor. “A Magical Life: The Magical Journey of Taylor Ellwood”
Fass, Charlie. “Top Secret Mr. Illusion Learn Magic Book”
Fincham, Johnny. “Palmistry at Your Fingertips”
Friedman, Ellen, & Whiting, Jim. “A Rabbit Under the Hat”
Frost-Sherratt, Cara. “101 Clever Card Tricks”
Gardner, Martin. Randi, James, & Diaconis, Persi. “Undiluted Hocus-Pocus”
Heald, Henrietta. “William Armstrong: Magician of the North”
Hunter, Nick. “Fun Magic Tricks”
Ivanovich, Chris. Ivanovich’s Little Book of Magic
Janssen, Maurice. “M3ntal Magic”
Jones, James E. “Impromptu Mentalism: Card Effects for Mentalists and Magicians”
Labrecque, Ellen. “Fun Magic Tricks”
Lamont, Peter. “Extraordinary Beliefs”
Lobban, Sean. “A Tall Tale” (lulu.com)
Potter & Potter Auctions. “Rare Conjuring Books: The Collection of Burton S. Sperber
Prevos, Peter. “Perspectives on Magic: Scientific Views of Theatrical Magic”
Royle, Jonathan. “Cold Reading for the Psychic Entertainer
Sacks, Janet. “A Mysterious Case of Magic and Trickery”
Schneider, Al. “Close-Up Troublewit”
Schneider, Al. “Coinucopia”
Schneider, Al. “Dances with Coins”
Schneider, Al. “Fusion”
Stone, Chris. “Hey Presto”
Taplan, Sam, & van Wyk, Hanri. “Card Tricks Tin”
Tilton, Jon, & Hughes, Brandt. “Scam School”
Volpe, Luca. “The Italian Mentalist” (lulu.com)
Wikipedia. “Mentalism, Mentalists, Cold Reading, Derren Brown . . . Stebbins”




*eBooks are excluded.

** Reprints of books published prior to 2013 have been omitted (two examples are Roy Walton’s The Complete Walton and Webster’s and Scryer’s The Black and White Book). Whether reprints or collected works qualify for Book of the Year voting is at the sole discretion of the Magic Café Book of the Year poll administrator.

*** The sources consisted of two independent magic magazines, seven United States magic retailers, one mentalism dealer, two European magic dealers, one magic wholesaler, amazon.com, and lulu.com.

**** For the 2012 rules, see Vlad_77’s Magic Café post at 6:21 a.m., December 31, 2012.

***** Whether this qualifies as a book or as an instruction manual for a utility item is uncertain.

****** At what point, if any, do lecture notes become a book? A decision for the poll administrator.

******* Unlike Sean Lobban’s “A Tall Tale,” which is available only on lulu.com, some lulu.com books like Volpe’s and Titanus’ “Psiuke” and Colin Mulcahy’s Mathematical Card Magic are also available from magic dealers. In these latter cases, a title is shown only on the dealer list.

Great list!

I've started a VOTING thread here:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......um=110#0

Don't forget:

"Japan Ingenious"

Just curious, and Duaneberry, nice idea for multiple voting, have you decided on whether or not to implement a minimum join date and or post count for voting? The Tammany bit has produced more problems and in two cases, led to violations of Café policy.

Slainte,
Vlad

My thoughts on various authors' gaming of the system from the past two years:

1) The award previously just boiled down to a single title announced as The One True Winner, so boosting one book knocked other books out. This year the award process will produce a nominal Winner atop an Annotated Reading List with a giant pile of mini-reviews, which will be organized and re-posted at the end. So gaming the system may put an extra entry onto the List, but it won't knock off any other worthy books.

2) By requiring 3 substantive sentences addressing a book's merit, the bar for shill voters is raised. If authors campaign for votes among their fanbase, those fans will either be too lazy to have their vote count, or they'll be enthused enough about the book to contribute some useful information to the discussion while voting -- and since they're not limited to voting only for their leader's book, they may end up writing a vote for some other book(s) as well, which would benefit the process overall.

So I'm hoping that restructuring things will make the award more useful to the book readers who use it for guidance, while also making it more inherently resistant to folks who might try to game it. But we'll see how it goes. It's an experiment.

Mostly I'm looking forward to the ability to write votes for multiple books, which will allow us to shine the spotlight on some deserving smaller softcovers or histories, which have previously been crowded out by the usual Big Book of Tricks.