Books. Always a weakness.

[graculus]

Books on my bedside table at the moment:

Coraline by Neil Gaiman - a creepy little story, as befits the author, about a child (the eponymous Coraline) who finds herself hunting for her parents in a world where the people all have big shiny black buttons for eyes. And there's a cat the characterisation of which clearly demonstrates the man knows cats, since the cat works on the basis that it doesn't need to have a name because it knows who it is and people only have names because they don't.

Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones - loved the previous book (Dark Lord of Derkholm, all about a world full of magic where tourists who wreck everything come on visits), so I was really happy when I picked this up on Ebay. Which is a bad bad place I should never go because I end up buying stuff.

Devil's Bargain by Rachel Caine - well, I have to read something while I'm waiting for Windfall to come out... ;)

The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones - yes, I am a DMJ fan and am not ashamed to admit it. I think the only book of hers that I've read and didn't like, in fact didn't even make it all the way through, was A Tale of Time City. Other than that I think she rocks.

And I just read Silverfin by Charlie Higson, but I think that'll be going onto Ebay soon since while I thought it was good, I can't see me re-reading it. I have the first Jonathan Stroud book on order because I'm a sucker for cheap paperbacks of stuff I want to read (and I admit that I'm just as weak when it comes to Amazon as I am Ebay) but most of the stuff I want to read is not out yet, damnit: Windfall, the final book of the Tamir Triad (The Oracle's Queen), which probably won't be worth the seemingly interminable wait and The Charnel Prince by Gregory Keyes.

Comments

[jennixen.livejournal.com]

Ohh, a fellow DWJ fan! :D
I've loved her since I was a teen, her books are just so well written and with such imagination that I'm constantly amazed.
They also seem to fit me perfectly, for some reason. :)
I just LOVE them! :D

And I'm going to read Coraline one of these days...
I love Neil Gaiman too. :)

[graculus.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I'd not heard of DWJ until very recently and have pretty much absorbed everything I could get my hands on in a matter of months.

How I managed to miss her when I was younger, I have no idea, considering the amount of books I've read since almost before I can remember, but imagine my pleasure in finding such a good author with so many good books I've not come across before! :)

And I'm really enjoying Coraline at the moment, I hope it continues to be this good...

[khek.livejournal.com]

Diana Wynne Jones! My favorite!

I liked Coraline too...but he is odd. There's a picture book he wrote called The Wolves in the Walls which is similar. Very odd.

I just started Inkspell. It's not grabbing me the way Inkheart did. I'm hoping that will change within the next couple chapters.

Hmm. Time to go reread Conrad's Fate. I don't think I truly appreciated it the first time around.

[mer1973.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to get Coraline someday. It's a good story, but I balked at the price when it first came out. Have you read DWJ's Tough Guide to Fantasyland yet? It really should be read as a companion book to Dark Lord.

While I'm one the subject of British writers, Anansi Boys had a character using hair mayonnaise. I've already asked British type person, and she didn't know. Can you explain it? I could just google it, but I think it'll lose something cultural if I do it.