Tom Knapp is the founder, editor, publisher, designer, dishwasher, dog groomer and chief writer for Rambles. He is also a newspaper reporter and freelance writer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he amuses himself playing Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton folk tunes on his fiddle, bodhran, CD player and car stereo. Determined to share (or inflict, depending who you ask) his music in as many ways as he can possibly imagine, he joined forces with author Chet Williamson to form Fire in the Glen, a regionally prominent Irish traditional/Celtic eclectic duo with two CDs and a varied performance schedule under their belts.

A wild Celt by nature (and proudly eccentric), Tom collects swords and other sharp, pre-gunpowder implements of destruction, which he stockpiles against the day the Romans, Saxons or Normans decide to (re)invade. He shares his house with a dog, Morgan; two cats, Puck and Marlowe; a nameless ghost who mostly just lurks in the upstairs hallway; and a very unusual sense of interior design. Although he is well-versed in several brands of computer, he is a proudly devoted Mac head.

His personal website includes photos from Ireland, Scotland, England and Norway, plus Cape Breton in Canada, Walden Pond in the U.S. and Cancun in Mexico; a substantial collection of quotes from famous and esoteric sources; and a wide array of links. He can be reached via e-mail at rhymer@rambles.net.

Editing and publishing Rambles each week keeps Tom plenty busy, but he hasn't let that interfere with his writing. (Yet!) You can see lists of Tom's reviews, interviews and essays by clicking on the menu selections below. Thanks for visiting!

Book reviews by Tom include:


BOOKS

Mario Acevedo
The Nymphos of Rocky Flats

Charles J. Adams III
Cape May Ghost Stories, Book Two

Douglas Adams
The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

Charles Addams
The Charles Addams Mother Goose

Dennis Lee Anderson
Arthur, King

Kevin J. Anderson, editor
Star Wars: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina

Kelley Armstrong
Women of the Otherworld #1: Bitten

P.C. Asbjornsen & Jorgen Moe
A Time for Trolls

Margaret Atwood
The Robber Bride

Avi
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
The Man Who Was Poe

Richard Bach
Illusions

Camille Bacon-Smith
The Face of Time

Kage Baker
Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key

Nancy Baker
The Night Inside
Blood & Chrysanthemums
A Terrible Beauty

L.A. Banks
Vampire Huntress #1: Minion
Vampire Huntress #2: The Awakening
Vampire Huntress #3: The Hunted

Nick Bantock
Kubla Khan

Marius Barbeau
The Golden Phoenix (a.k.a., The Magic Tree & Other Tales)

Bob Barton
The Bear Says North

Anne S. Baumgartner
Ye Gods!

John Baur & Mark Summers
Well Blow Me Down! A Guy's Guide to Talking Like a Pirate

Peter Benchley
Shark Life: True Stories about Sharks & the Sea

Amber Benson & Christopher Golden
The Seven Whistlers

Jody Bergsma
Faerie

Elaine Bergstrom
Nocturne

Holly Black
Tithe
Valiant

Keith Bowen
Among the Amish

Gillian Bradshaw
Hawk of May
Kingdom of Summer
In Winter's Shadow

Herbie Brennan
Faerie Wars

Katharine Briggs
An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies & Other Supernatural Creatures

Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson #1: Moon Called
Mercy Thompson #2: Blood Bound

David Brody
The Fiddler's Fakebook

Max Brooks
The Zombie Survival Guide

Robert Ellis Cahill
Haunted Ships of the North Atlantic

Karen Elizabeth Chaney
New England Remembers: Lizzie Borden

Charles Chapman
Music Essentials: Basic Music Theory for All Instruments

Owen Chase
The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex

Andrea Cheng
Anna the Bookbinder, illustrated by Ted Rand

Frank Chigas
The Damp Chamber & Other Bad Places

Richard Chizmar & Robert Morrish, editors
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween

Catherine Christian
The Pendragon

Joseph A. Citro
Cursed in New England: Stories of Damned Yankees
The Gore
Passing Strange

Ronald D. Cohen, editor
Wasn't That a Time! Firsthand Accounts of the Folk Music Revival

The Complete Works of O'Carolan

Max Allan Collins
Calendar Girl: Sweet & Sexy Pin-ups of the Postwar Era

Eileen Colwell, editor
Folk Tales from Asia for Children Everywhere, Book 1-2

Kim Cool
Ghost Stories of Sarasota
Ghost Stories of Venice

Peter Cooper
Mel Bay's Complete Irish Fiddle Player

Susan Cooper
The Boggart
Victory

David Cordingly
Under the Black Flag

Paul S. Cranford, editor
Cape Breton Musical Heritage Series

William S. Crooker
Pirates of the North Atlantic

William Crooker & Elizabeth Peirce
Saladin: Piracy, Mutiny & Murder on the High Seas

Kevin Crossley-Holland
Arthur, Book I: The Seeing Stone

Jennifer Crusie, editor
Totally Charmed: Demons, Whitelighters & the Power of Three

Bob Curran
A Field Guide to Irish Fairies, illustrated by Andrew Whitsun
The Truth about the Leprechaun

Sheldon Currie
The Glace Bay Miners' Museum

Les Daniels
Yellow Fog

Mike Dash
Batavia's Graveyard

Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, editors
The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest
Sirens & Other Daemon Lovers

Peter David
Howling Mad
Knight Life
One Knight Only
Sir Apropos of Nothing

MaryJanice Davidson
Undead & Unwed
Undead & Unemployed
Undead & Unappreciated

Hubert J. Davis
American Witch Stories

Terry Deary
Horrible Histories: Ireland

Gideon Defoe
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

Tom Deitz
Windmaster's Bane

Charles de Lint
The Blue Girl
A Circle of Cats, illustrated by Charles Vess
Forests of the Heart
A Handful of Coppers
The Hour Before Dawn
Little (Grrl) Lost
Mulengro
The Onion Girl
Promises to Keep
Quicksilver & Shadow
The Road to Lisdoonvarna
Spirits in the Wires
Tapping the Dream Tree
Triskell Tales: 22 Years of Chapbooks
Triskell Tales 2
What the Mouse Found & Other Stories
Widdershins
Wolf Moon

Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol (as told by Patrick Stewart)

Peter Dickinson
The Flight of Dragons

Disaster Science

Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black
The Spiderwick Chronicles #1: The Field Guide
The Spiderwick Chronicles #2: The Seeing Stone
The Spiderwick Chronicles #3: Lucinda's Secret
The Spiderwick Chronicles #4: The Ironwood Tree
The Spiderwick Chronicles #5: The Wrath of Mulgarath

Robyn & Tony DiTocco
The Hero Perseus

Tim Dorsey
Orange Crush
Triggerfish Twist

Roddy Doyle
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Yeats is Dead!, et al

Gardner Dozois
Shadow Twin, with George R.R. Martin & Daniel Abraham

Joan Druett
In the Wake of Madness
She Captains: Heroines & Hellions of the Sea

Kate Dunlay & David Greenberg
Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton

Cassandra Eason
A Complete Guide to Faeries & Magical Beings

Roger Ebert
Your Movie Sucks

Randy Lee Eickhoff
The Destruction of the Inn
The Feast
The Raid
The Sorrows

T.S. Eliot
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, illustrated by Edward Gorey

Jane Espenson, editor
Finding Serenity

Wesley Eure
The Red Wings of Christmas

Eleanor Fairburn
The White Seahorse

Will & Ian Ferguson
How to Be a Canadian

Jasper Fforde
The Big Over Easy
The Fourth Bear

Jim Fitzpatrick
The Book of Conquests
The Silver Arm

Mike Flanagan
It's About Time: How Long History Took

Charles Foran
Carolan's Farewell

C.S. Forester
Hornblower & the Hotspur

Jodie Forrest
The Rhymer & the Ravens

Alan Dean Foster
Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Barry Foy
Field Guide to the Irish Music Session

Brian Froud & Terry Jones
The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins
Strange Stains & Mysterious Smells

Cari Fuchs, editor
Irish Session Tune Book

James Futch & James Newman
Night of the Loving Dead

Neil Gaiman
American Gods
Good Omens, with Terry Pratchett
Two Plays for Voices: Snow Glass Apples, Murder Mysteries

Martin Gardner
The Annotated Night Before Christmas

Elizabeth Garrett
The Sweet Trade

Joyce Glasner
Pirates & Privateers

Parke Godwin
Beloved Exile
Firelord
Robin & the King
Sherwood

Edward Gorey
Amphigorey Again
The Gashlycrumb Tinies or, After the Outing

Peter Gray
The Irish Famine

Lois Greenfield
Breaking Bounds

Linda Greenlaw
All Fishermen are Liars
The Hungry Ocean
The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island

Margaret Peterson Haddix
Just Ella

Tate Hallaway
Tall, Dark & Dead

Winifred Halsey, editor
Heaven & Hell

Laurell K. Hamilton
A Kiss of Shadows

Richard Hamilton
Violet & the Mean & Rotten Pirates

Virginia Hamilton
In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World

Mary Ann Harbar
Gypsy Violin

Charlaine Harris
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead Until Dark
Grave Sight

Kim Harrison
Rachel Morgan #1: Dead Witch Walking
Rachel Morgan #2: The Good, the Bad & the Undead
Rachel Morgan #3: Every Which Way But Dead

Karen Harvey
Oldest Ghosts: St. Augustine Haunts

James A. Hetley
The Summer Country
The Winter Oak

Carl Hiaasen
Basket Case
Skinny Dip
Strip Tease

Brian Hicks
Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste & Her Missing Crew

Benjamin Hoff
The Tao of Pooh

Nina Kiriki Hoffman
The Silent Strength of Stones
The Thread That Binds the Bones

Cecelia Holland
The Kings in Winter

Tom Holt
Expecting Someone Taller
Flying Dutch
Grailblazers
Nothing But Blue Skies
Overtime
Paint Your Dragon
Valhalla

Tanya Huff
The Keeper's Chronicles #1: Summon the Keeper
The Keeper's Chronicles #3: Long Hot Summoning

Stan Hugill
Shanties from the Seven Seas

Cary James
King & Raven

Bill Jessome
Maritime Mysteries & the Ghosts Who Surround Us
More Maritime Mysteries: Everyone Has a Story

Malachy Kearns
Wallup!

Brian Keene
The Conqueror Worms
The Rising
City of the Dead
Dead Sea
Kill Whitey

Conan Kennedy
Ancient Ireland: The User's Guide

Julie Kenner
Carpe Demon

Jackie Kessler
Hell's Belles
The Road to Hell

Ellen Kushner
Thomas the Rhymer

Robert Lacey & Danny Danziger
The Year 1000

Mercedes Lackey
The Fairy Godmother

Jacqueline Langille
Giants Angus McAskill & Anna Swan

Joe R. Lansdale
Zeppelins West

Dave Lapham
Ghosts of St. Augustine
Ancient City Hauntings: More Ghosts of St. Augustine

Jennifer Lata & Mark Rung
The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Being a Groom

Nelson Lauver
The American Story-Teller

Tanith Lee
Piratica

Eddie Lenihan & Carolyn Eve Green
Meeting the Other Crowd: The Fairy Stories of Hidden Ireland

Edmund Lenihan
In Search of Biddy Early

Rebecca Lickiss
Never After

Frank B. Linderman
Old Man Coyote

Denise Little, editor
Twice Upon a Time

Morgan Llywelyn
The Isles of the Blest
The Wind from Hastings

Edward Lodi
The Haunted Violin: True New England Ghost Stories
Nantucket Sleigh-Ride

Janet Lorimer
Master of Shadows

Sara Lorimer
Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas

Amanda Lumry & Laura Hurwitz
Adventures of Riley: Dolphins in Danger
Adventures of Riley: Mission to Madagascar

Natalie MacMaster
Cape Breton Island Fiddle

Liam MacUistin
The Hunt for Diarmaid & Grainne

Joseph McCabe
Hanging Out with the Dream King: Conversations with Neil Gaiman & His Collaborators

Ian McDowell
Merlin's Gift
Mordred's Curse

Martin McGartland
Fifty Dead Men Walking

Alice McGill
Molly Bannaky, illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet

Nancy McKenzie
The Child Queen
The High Queen

Robin McKinley
The Outlaws of Sherwood
Sunshine

Tim McNeese
Myths of Native America

Richelle Mead
Succubus Blues

O.R. Melling
The Druid's Tune
The Hunter's Moon
The Light-Bearer's Daughter
The Summer King

L.A. Meyer
Bloody Jack
Curse of the Blue Tattoo
Under the Jolly Roger
In the Belly of the Bloodhound
Mississippi Jack

Keith Miller
The Book of Flying

James Andrew Mitchell
Body & Soul

Craig Moodie
A Sailor's Valentine
Salt Luck

Christopher Moore
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story
A Dirty Job
Fluke
Island of the Sequined Love Nun
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
The Stupidest Angel
You Suck

Eileen Morgan
Lust, Love & Longing

James Morrow
Only Begotten Daughter

A.S. Mott
Scary Movies

Colin Murphy & Donal O'Dea
The Book of Feckin' Irish Slang That's Great Craic for Cute Hoors & Bowsies

James L. Nelson
Brethren of the Coast #1: The Guardship
Brethren of the Coast #2: The Blackbirder
Reign of Iron

Bruce Nunn
History with a Twist: Unusual Stories from Mr. Nova Scotia Know-It-All

Sheldon Oberman
Island of the Minotaur: Greek Myths of Ancient Crete

Patrick O'Brian
Master & Commander
Post Captain
H.M.S. Surprise
The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune of War
The Ionian Mission
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque

Tomas O'Canainn
Traditional Music in Ireland

Joseph O'Connor
Star of the Sea

Daithi O'Hogain
Irish Superstitions

Vernon Oickle
Ghost Stories of the Maritimes

Iona Opie & Moira Tatem, editors
A Dictionary of Superstitions

Tom Orrell
Not Alone Out Here

Fintan O'Toole
The Ex-Isle of Erin

Mark Oxbrow
Halloween: Pagan Festival to Trick or Treat

Barbara Ann Porte
Beauty & the Serpent: Thirteen Tales of Unnatural Animals

Carole Potter
Knock on Wood

Michael Powell
Back in the Day

Terry Pratchett
The Carpet People
Discworld #1: The Colour of Magic
Discworld #2: The Light Fantastic
Discworld #3: Equal Rites
Discworld #4: Mort
Discworld #6: Wyrd Sisters
Discworld #7: Pyramids
Discworld #9: Eric
Discworld #11: Reaper Man
Discworld #12: Witches Abroad
Discworld #13: Small Gods
Discworld #16: Soul Music
Discworld #18: Maskerade
Discworld #20: Hogfather
Discworld #29: The Wee Free Men
Discworld #31: A Hat Full of Sky
Johnny & the Bomb
Johnny & the Dead
Only You Can Save Mankind

Kathleen Ragan
Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters:
  Heroines in Folktales from Around the World

Robert Rankin
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse

Celia Rees
Pirates!
Sorceress
Witch Child

Kat Richardson
Greywalker

Sandra Riley
Sisters of the Sea

Carol Ann Rinzler
Dictionary of Medical Folklore

Roland Wells Robbins
Discovery at Walden

Trina Robbins
Wild Irish Roses

R. Garcia y Robertson
The Spiral Dance

Spider Robinson
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

David Rose
The Viking Sagas: Godiva

Eric Roth, with Eileen McNamara
The Parting Glass: A Toast to the Traditional Pubs of Ireland

Rona Rustige
Tyendinaga Tales

Patrick Ryan
Shakespeare's Storybook

Sacred Symbols: The Celts

Al Sarrantonio
Hallows Eve

Suza Scalora
The Fairies

Andreas Schroeder
Cheats, Charlatans, & Chicanery

Carol Olivieri Schulte
Ghosts on the Coast of Maine

Michael Scott
The Last of the Fianna

Marcus Sedgwick
My Swordhand is Singing

David J. Seibold & Charles J. Adams III
Shipwrecks & Legends 'Round Cape May

St. John D. Seymour & Harry L. Neligan
True Irish Ghost Stories

Fred & Irwin Silber, editors
Folksinger's Wordbook

George Otto Simms
Brendan the Navigator

Paul Slansky
The George W. Bush Quiz Book

Soodlum's
Irish Ballad Book

Elizabeth George Speare
The Witch of Blackbird Pond

William Browning Spencer
The Ocean & All Its Devices

Nancy Springer
Apocalypse
Fair Peril
Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest

John F. Stavely
Ghosts & Gravestones in St. Augustine, Florida

John Steakley
Vampire$

Lori Stephens, editor
Pirate & Gypsy Girls

Ben Stiller & Janeane Garofalo
Feel This Audiobook

Judith Tarr
Rite of Conquest

Karen E. Taylor
Blood Secrets

Thomas Tessier
Father Panic's Opera Macabre

Bodie & Brock Thoene
The Galway Chronicles #1: Only the River Runs Free
The Galway Chronicles #2: Of Men & of Angels

Brian M. Thomsen & Martin H. Greenberg, editors
The Repentant

Ryan J. Thomson
The Fiddler's Almanac

Rayner Thrower
The Pirate Picture

Rob Thurman
Nightlife

Loreto Todd
A Fire in His Head: Stories of Wandering Aengus

Nigel Tranter
Kenneth
MacBeth the King

Cameron Tuttle
The Paranoid's Pocket Guide

Charles Vess
Ballads

Geoff Wallis & Sue Wilson
The Rough Guide to Irish Music

Gene Weingarten & Gina Barreca
I'm with Stupid:
  One Man. One Woman. 10,000 Years of Misunderstanding Between the Sexes Cleared Right Up

C.D. White
The Broken Sword
Standards Left Ragged

Kim Wilkins
The Autumn Castle

Chet Williamson
The Crow: Clash By Night
Figures in Rain
McKain's Dilemma
The Searchers #1: City of Iron
The Searchers #2: Empire of Dust
Second Chance
The Story of Noichi the Blind

Budge Wilson
A Fiddle for Angus, illustrated by Susan Tooke

David A. Wilson
Ireland, a Bicycle & a Tin Whistle

Terri Windling
The Changeling

Andrew F. Wood
Road Trip America

Elvira Woodruff
Small Beauties

Persia Woolley
Child of the Northern Spring
Queen of the Summer Stars

John Hardy Wright
Sorcery in Salem

Glenn Yeffeth, editor
Five Seasons of Angel
Seven Seasons of Buffy
The Man from Krypton

Jane Yolen
Sherwood
Take Joy: A Book for Writers

Jane Yolen & David Shannon, The Ballad of the Pirate Queens

Jane Yolen & Stephen Mackey, The Fairies' Ring

Jane Yolen & Li Ming, Merlin & the Dragons

Jane Yolen & Charles Mikolaycak, Tam Lin

Jane Yolen & Dennis Nolan, Wings

Jane Yolen & Shulamith Oppenheim, The Fish Prince & Other Stories: Mermen Folk Tales

John Yow
Wyland: 25 Years at Sea

Federico Zeri
Munch: The Scream

Jack Zipes, editor
The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales