Book Review: Fragile Things

Book: Fragile Things
Author: Neil Gaiman
Recommend: Great in small doses…

Have you ever had an author that you truly enjoy but only when you are in the right mood? Neil Gaiman is one of those authors for me. I love the stories he creates and the way he writes, but I also find myself relieved when I finish one of his books. I think I am easily burnt out on his stuff for some reason. This book is no exception.

I really like how unique his stories are and the characters he comes up with. Sometimes they get a bit too bizarre, even for me, but I still find them enjoyable. I think in this collection, the one about Susan from the Narnia series hit me rather hard. I thought he was going somewhere completely different than where he went. I’ve always wondered about her and why she had walked away completely. I just wasn’t expecting the author to blame God instead of Susan.

Interesting reads if you are fan of short stories and have enjoyed one of his full length works.

Final Rating:

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Top Ten Tuesday: Authors on my auto-buy list

My top ten artist on my auto buy list. An auto-buy list being a list of authors that you would buy a book from simply because of the author no matter the topic or genre. I can definitely thing of some names for this but I hope I can come up with ten. Many will be easy to guess I think

1. Stephenie Meyer – let’s just get this one out of the way

2. Orson Scott Card – I love everything this man has written with the exception of the Alvin Maker series and that isn’t bad, just not up my alley. I haven’t met a book by him that was badly written.

3. Terry Goodkind – Amazing. That’s all

4. J.K. Rowling – Despite The Casual Vacancy, I really love the way she writes and the characters she creates.

5. Christopher Paolini – As much as the end of Inheritance drove me insane, I love his books and would read anything he’s written.

6. Neil Gaiman – His stuff is amazing. I would start with Neverwhere or Stardust.

7. Rachel Joyce – She’s only got one book out. On the basis of her first book, I’ll buy everything else she writes… Harold Fry is NOT my kind of book but it was amazing.

8. Elizabeth Kostova – Read her second book, The Swan Thieves and you’ll see why she made this list.

9. Arthur Golden – As far as I know, he’s only written one book but that book was amazing. Might not be for everyone though.

10. Thomas Harris – This one is not for everyone. Thomas Harris created Hannibal Lecter. I really enjoy physiological thriller like these books. Monsters don’t scare me. When I am in the mood for a good scare though, these books are some of my go to favorites. Again, this not for everyone. If you don’t handle gore well, don’t pick up this author.

Who is on your top ten must buy list?

Book Review: The Graveyard Book

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Book: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Recommend: This was a fun, short jaunt in the land of the macabre.

I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman. He reminds me of the Tim Burton of literature. His books are always completely unique and quirky with a dark side while still maintaining an overall satisfying experience. This book is no different.

When a toddler unwittingly escapes the murder after him and wanders into a graveyard, he is adopted by the ghosts. They keep him safe and raise him amongst the dead because beyond the graveyard the man who murdered his family is waiting, still seeking the little boy who got away.

While the plot of the book sounds terrifying, it centers more on the boy and his unique childhood. It is funny in places, odd in others and some things never quite get explained. However, instead of it taking away from the story, it adds to it. The easy and frank prose makes for an enjoyable and quick read.

I was trying to find something that I could say that was negative. I try to give at least one thing that might put a reader off the book. The only thing I could come up with for this book is that the topic is a bit strange and might not be for every reader.

If you haven’t journeyed into the worlds of Neil Gaiman this one is a great place to start.

Final Rating:

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Book Review: M is for Magic

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Book: M is for Magic

Author: Neil Gaiman

Recommend: An amusing read  by a great fantasy author.

I’m a big fan of the work of Neil Gaiman so when I found this book of his short stories, I snatched it up. While I didn’t love every single story, most of them were really good.

This book is a collection of shorter works, which is always something I really enjoy reading. Short stories are typically extremely well written and can be a lot more imaginative than longer fiction can be. I think my favorite of this set was a crime story using the characters from nursery rhymes. It was so tongue in cheek but the characters took themselves seriously enough that it remained hilarious instead of coming across as hokey.

The seed of what would become The Graveyard Book is also included in this collection as well as a few others which were all fun to read.

Definitely worth the read if you like his other work. If you’ve never read something by him before, start with Neverwhere before getting into his short stories.

Final Rating:

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I think the movie was actually better than the book- there is a first time for everything

Book: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Recommend: It’s a nice light read with some Burton-like creepiness

I finally picked up a copy of Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I wasn’t aware when I saw the movie that it had started out as a book but when I heard who the author was, I knew I had to check it out. My online library had it available and so I checked it out.

The story is generally close to what is portrayed in the movie but honestly there is a huge dimension missing. Wyborn is not in the book! The whole story with his grandmother is not there at all! I thought that bit of plot added some interest to the character and made Coraline more accessible. I definitely felt his absence. I kept waiting for him to show up but he never did.

The book was a fun read and was decently log enough to tell the story well but not so long that a child would lose interest. It was worth the time it took to read but for once I think that the added characters from the movie and amazing animation did a better job of telling the story than the original text. If you are a fan of the movie, it might be interesting to check out or a fun read before you see it, but for the first time I can think of, I don’t prefer the book over the movie.

Final Rating:

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