LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Ajane, I might have to give some of those recommendations a try, as I miss the fact that I'll never get to read "Coraline" or "Starlight" for the first time again. I do love those of Gaiman's, but they do seem more like fairy tale than adult fantasy fiction to me. Which I love -- I just steered Geek toward others of Gaiman's because I don't know if everyone likes the fairy-tale feel.
No, I haven't, but I love the Hellraiser movies - my boyfriend and I are so invested in Pinhead that we even watch the more recent, admittedly crappy ones. Clive Barker wrote Hellraiser, didn't he? While I'll gladly admit that I'm slightly biased towards fantasy (but hey, I'm working on it! I've got The Gunslinger all ready to go on my nightstand!Originally Posted by AJane
To me Gaiman is like a less-gory Clive Barker.Have you ever read any of Barker's stuff? Imajica is a lengthy read but also has the fantasy/real world balance, as does Weaveworld (my personal favourite). Barker's imagery is more vivid than Gaiman's, though I do think Gaiman's Coraline is superior to Barker's Books of Blood (if we're talking shorter stories - Coraline is more of a novella).
), I am a sucker for horror and usually don't mind alternate universes when they're placed in an overall horror context. So I'll definitely give Barker a go. As for Gaiman, I just learned that Neverwhere takes place in the London underground, which made me want to run to the nearest bookstore and get it, pronto. My relationship to the London underground (that's subway for you Americans
Which reminds me: if any of you share my strange passion, you ought to check out Tunnel Vision by British author Keith Lowe. It deals with a guy who attempts to visit every underground station in London's enormous transportation system. It sounds geeky, and it probably is, but hey, since when is that a bad thing?
Rattus, I loved Stiff! (Full title: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavres; author: Mary Roach.) I've always been fascinated by death, the way that our Western society tries to act as if it doesn't exist. This novel answered a lot of questions I would never actually ask, but I'm glad the author asked them for me. Mary Roach has a great sense of humour, but she's never disrespectful about the corpses she encounters, is she? I must admit, though, as much as I fancy myself to be a tough gal, some of the chapters really shouldn't be read while drinking coffee. I felt nauseous several times. Never gagged, though, which apparently several people have.
Mary Roach has a recent-ish book out about the notion of the soul and the afterlife. I think it's called Spook. I'll definitely pick it up at some point. Non-fiction that is informative, well-written AND funny is hard to come by.
I read it, and I pretty much agree with you -- I prefer Thursday, but this was still enjoyable. It IS going to be a series -- Nursery Crimes. So presumably the "fourth bear" is in relation to the Three Bears of Goldilocks fame.
God, that post was a long time ago.
Anyway, just informing fellow Fforde fans, that Fourth Bear book is due out next month.
http://www.jasperfforde.com/nextbook.html
Speaking of Gaiman:
According to imdb, there's a movie adaption of Stardust in the making, to be released in 2007. The cast is pretty impressive - Robert de Niro, my personal favourite Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, the lovely Rubert Everett, and current it girl Sienna Miller. Here's the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486655/
Any thoughts?
I'm just about finished My cat Spit McGee by Willie Morris, the author of My Dog Skip. I enjoy nothing more than reading about the journey from ailurophobe to ailurophile. I'm reading it at the same time I'm finishing off King's Oak by Anne Rivers Siddons, which is irritating the hell out of me. I find the protagonist repugnant and I've always thought enormous numbers of metaphors to be a poor substitute for a good story. But I've gotten this far and I DID pay 50 cents for it, so finish it I shall.
I'm excited!God, that post was a long time ago.
Anyway, just informing fellow Fforde fans, that Fourth Bear book is due out next month.
http://www.jasperfforde.com/nextbook.html
There's supposed to be a new Thursday Next book next year.
Gosh, it's been a while since I've been in here to report on my summer reading! I finished Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte, a sort of swashbuckling adventure set in 17th century Spain, a few weeks ago.
Now, I'm about two hundred pages from finishing Sharon Kaye Penman's marvelous When Christ and His Saints Slept about the battle for the English crown in the 12th century. This is the first of a trilogy about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane. I've read four others by Penman, but this one has been on my shelf for about ten years waiting for the right time. I recommended Penman to a friend and she picked this one. I figured I'd better read it too. When you recommend a 700+ page book to someone, it had better be good! It's been probably ten years since I read my last Penman book - probably The Sunne in Splendour, about Richard III. For those who love historical fiction, I highly recommend this authorShe's a wonderful storyteller and a meticulous researcher.
Count me as another who has Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell waiting on a bookshelf! I don't know if I can wait until winter, so it might be read in the heat of summer.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
A Point of Law by John Maddox Roberts - a mystery that takes place during the later years of the Roman Republic
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Now I know why I didn't read the whole Chronicles of Barsetshire when I was younger. The other books have not been easy to find. Thanks to the internet I hope to read all 6 volumes this time.
Posting Permissions
154Likes
Reply With Quote