What are the books that you are re-reading for 2013?

On my current short list:

The Ostrich Factor-Edmundson

Maximum Entertainment-Weber

One Degree - Guastaferro
Designing Miracles - Ortiz
Power Plays - Powers
Clockwork Apple - Mayhew

The Close Up Magic of Aldo Colombini

Daryl's "For Your Entertainment Pleasure" and "Carneycopia" by John Carney

The Magic of Ascanio Volume One - The Structural Conception of Magic

Frank Garcia's SUPER SUBTLE CARD MIRACLES and Ted Lesley's PARAMIRACLES.

(The title similarities are coincidental!)

John Carney's "Magic By Design". Just started re-reading it again last night.

Scripting Magic by P. McCabe
Approaching Magic by D. Regal

The Complete Works of Derek Dingle
Card Cavalcade
Secrets of Bro. Hamman
Greater Magic
Tarbell
Lou Gallo Underground Man
Fechter
Carneycopia
Book of Secrets
Closeup Card Magic
Quantum Leaps
DeckSterity
Apocalypse
Ibidem
Collected Almanac
Pabular
Randy Wakeman Presents
Secrets Draun from Underground
Arrow a Lifetime of Magic
Vernon Chronicles
Inner Card Trilogy
Ultimate Secrets

Mastering the Art of Magic by Eugene Burger

I re-read it every year.

Wow, you have a busy year of reading ahead of you.

John G

The Complete Works of Derek Dingle
Card Cavalcade
Secrets of Bro. Hamman
Greater Magic
Tarbell
Lou Gallo Underground Man
Fechter
Carneycopia
Book of Secrets
Closeup Card Magic
Quantum Leaps
DeckSterity
Apocalypse
Ibidem
Collected Almanac
Pabular
Randy Wakeman Presents
Secrets Draun from Underground
Arrow a Lifetime of Magic
Vernon Chronicles
Inner Card Trilogy
Ultimate Secrets

John Carney - Carneycopia
Darwin Ortiz - All books including his new one
Card College

Strong Magic

Lord of the Rings. I can't remember how many times I have read this book, at least 50 times. Its truley magical indeed. Tolkien was a magician with the written word.

I read Lord of the Rings every two years without fail Peo. Everytime I read Tolkien - and I am also including The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc. - I always discover something amazing that I miss on all the other readings. Tolkien is finally being studied as a "serious" author in US universities and it is well past time! I did an honors course that covered the LOTR and it was a rewarding seminar. The Lord of the Rings can be read on so many levels it is truly mindboggling. For the seminar, I read Lord of the Rings based upon comments made by Tolkien that it was his great Christian (Catholic) work "first unconsciously, then consciously in the rewriting." Tolkien was a convert to Roman Catholicism in a time when being Catholic in England was not the most welcome thing to be. I am Eastern Orthodox - some call us the sister church of the Catholic Church - and Tolkien is read and recommended by our clergy. Few realize that it was Tolkien who was responsible for C.S. Lewis' conversion to Christianity (Anglicanism) - Lewis had been an agnostic.

The really fun part about reading Tolkien was that he HATED allegory and you will find none in his works. In fact, as much as he admired Lewis, Tolkien did not like The Chronicle of Narnia because Lewis used allegory all through his works. Tolkien once remarked to Lewis that he was uncomfortable with the fact that Lewis "dressed Christ up in a lion skin" when referring to Aslan the Lion who is a direct allegory of Christ in Narnia.

But even as a straightforward work of fantasy, Tolkien's work towers above the rest and virtually all of the fantasy writers since Tolkien, including George R.R. Martin, R.A. Salvatore, Terry Brooks, and many more, have acknowledged that without Tolkien's efforts, their works would have been impossible. Tolkien's work also inspired Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer Fantasy and role playing games in general. I believe it was Piers Anthony who stated that the authors who most influenced him were Tolkien in fantasy and Frank Herbert in science fiction.

When I read The Lord of the Rings, I never want it to end!

I'm a LOTR fanatic as well. I remember I had to sneak the books into my Step-Mom's house when I was there during the week, my mom had me on the weekends. They were very religious and would go threw my drawers and throw away my Pokemon cards because they were the devil. I have my 1987 limited edition version of The Hobbit sitting by me . I reread the trilogy every year.

After many years away from the magic scene I have finally recovered my library of books (don't worry, they've been safely in storage for the last six years or so)... which means that I have a lot to re-read this year!

In terms of what I'm seriously planning on reading properly however I have narrowed it down significantly. With regards to card magic my intention is to really get a good feel for all the mathematical principles that have been established, in particular what has and has not been done with Faro shuffles, and what scope there is for using probability in magic... I am a mathematician specialising in the area of random permutations, and hence the interest there... For those not aware of the links, you might be interested in these threads: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=479918&forum=99&9, http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=44289&forum=99.

So that will obviously encompass bits of Expert Card Technique, The Complete Works of Alex Elmsley, Sonata, Mnemonica, etc. etc....

The two books that I want to return to and study in full however are Coinmagic and David Roth's Expert Coin Magic. Recently I watched my first clip of David Roth erpfromgin g some of his signature pieces. When I'd first read them in Expert CM I'd glossed over them as being inpractical, and I struggled to get the impression of the mystery. However, watching Roth pouring the sound of a tuning fork out of a glass, and then doing the same for a hand full of coins was pure theatre. Then watching his work with a coin box was the second blow, and then it just kept coming.

So whilst I've just re-claimed a library of one hundred and something books... those will be the ones I'm focusing on... at least for now.

Owen

Another book I want to retread is The Card Classics of Ken Krenzel

Mark, I appreciate you mentioning The Ostrich Factor. Reviews can be found at:
http://www.geraldedmundson.com/tof1/TOFReviews.htm

Thanks again! I'm glad you found the book helpful!

Regards,
Gerald