"Probably the most famous countertenor of the 20th century – unless you count Frankie Valli – was the wonderful Alfred Deller, a major figure in the revival of original performance techniques for early and Baroque music. When I was a child we had this album,so I grew up thinking everyone knew and loved 'Where The Bee Sucks' and 'We Be Soldiers Three'. The liner notes, at least on the CD version, are woefully inadequate (who wrote what? when? for which play? Did Henry VIII really write 'Greensleeves'?) but the music is lovely. "

"The father of a good friend of mine back in Canada used to own a video store in the VHS days. Once it closed down, he let me pick from a bunch of leftover, discarded movies nobody else wanted, which led me to my VHS copy of this that I still own (with Ronald Reagan on the cover!). Though they’re both great, I prefer this 1964 version to the 1946 version, largely due to its unique focus on the story through the hit men themselves (though I’ve never read Hemingway’s original story)."

"Over the years I’ve collected dozens of how-to and instruction manuals for knitting techniques, but Stitch ‘n Bitch is the one knitting book I come back to time-and-time again. Written by the cofounder of the third-wave feminist magazine BUST, the pages are filled with puns and simple to follow patterns including a skull and crossbone sweater, and the original pussy hat. This was the book that finally helped me learn to fix my mistakes, instead of frantically undoing hours of work. A must have for any practical knitting library."