A few weeks ago I picked up Neil Gaiman’s new book Odd and the Frost Giants, a short little tale written for World Book Day. Then I pretty much forgot about it. Earlier this week I happened to spot it and threw it in my bag for some lunchtime reading. I was hooked! I finished it later that night. It’s a charming tale of Norse mythology, definitely suitable for younger readers. I loved the humour of the writing – especially the dialogue between the gods – and the way Gaiman created such distinct personalities. The story doesn’t shy away from “grown-up” issues though, like how Odd’s father met his mother and how Loki isn’t always a nice guy. And I really like that Odd wins not because he’s the biggest or the strongest, but because he thinks and observes and knows how to read people. It’s a really good story.

It really put me in the mood to re-read American Gods… but my copy is missing! Did I lend it to any of you? I can’t remember.

Sweet! Just got this month’s Kinokuniya newsletter, and it looks like Neil Gaiman’s coming out in May. I just RSVPed for myself and the Snook to meet him. I suggest you do the same if you’re a fan!

I changed schools in 7th grade, and I can remember going to “Reading” class (in retrospect, how weird that we had a “reading” class!) on the first day. The teacher explained that the class was in the middle of a big project in which they had to read a book and then do all sorts of activities on it. Then she gave me the two choices: The Westing Game (which she’d described as “challenging”), and a novelization of Charles in Charge. I’M NOT EVEN KIDDING. I picked The Westing Game without knowing anything about it. (Later I discovered to my horror that I couldn’t see a single other person in the class reading it. And that will tell you a lot about the Lakeland school system.) Anyway, I LOVED the book. I thought Turtle was so cool, and I wanted to be just like her. I also developed a secret lasting desire to learn shorthand, because I was sure it would come in SUPER HANDY someday. I didn’t figure the mystery out ahead of time though, but then again I never do. I really need to re-read it one of these days…

As I’ve finished all the books you guys recommended last winter, I figured it was time for some new reading material. Next in the queue are:

• Atonement by Ian McEwan. I’ve been reading the film reviews with interest, and I noticed that most of them made a big deal about how it’s okay, but the book is SO MUCH better. It was Kevin‘s review that really sealed it for me though, so I headed over to Dymocks to pick up a copy. They had about 500 of them, and they all had Duck Face plastered on the cover.

  Me: Excuse me… Do you have any copies of Atonement that DON’T have Keira Knightley on the cover?
  Staff Member: Yeah, I’ve got some hidden here behind the counter.

  She really did. So now I’ve got it, but I’m finding it hard to make much headway. Not that it’s boring or anything; it’s just that every time I start reading it, I zonk out within ten minutes. I’ve heard there are some war scenes in it later, so I’m hoping it’ll pick up soon.

• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke. The Snook and I both enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, so when I saw that her next book was now available in paperback, I had to get it.
• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. That suggestion came directly from this AskMeFi question, where someone asked for books similar to Jonathan Strange, books that are really dense with detail and often mash genres together. I don’t really know anything about this book other than it was a movie with Sean Connery (which I haven’t seen), but it was universally praised so I’m going to give it a go.

Have you read anything good lately?

I’ve just finished reading Clive Barker’s Abarat. I picked it up at the St. Barney’s Fair book sale for $1.50 last winter. I knew nothing about it and the cover was pretty boring (in fact, the font on my copy made me think it was called “Ararat” until I actually cracked it open), but I remembered enjoying Barker’s The Thief of Always so I thought I might give it a shot. I’m glad I did. It was great! Well, except for the first chapter. I understand that it’ll probably pay off later, but man, it’s completely different in tone to everything else that comes afterwards. It felt very “Wizard of Earthsea” (i.e. BORING) to me, so it was a relief to turn the page and meet Candy Quackenbush from good ol’ Chickentown, Minnesota. The story reminds me of Labyrinth and Alice in Wonderland, and it’s got some extremely memorable characters. In fact, one of my only complaints is that it introduces so many of them, and oftentimes Candy’s only with that person for a chapter or two. That got a bit frustrating and repetitive. I was so glad to see John Mischief and his brothers return to the tale. (I want a John Mischief action figure. Seriously.) So there I was, grooving on the story and not having any idea where it was going to go, when suddenly — it ended. Whaaaat? Yep, the last, like, twenty pages of my copy were just appendix. What the hell? So I go to the Internet, and it turns out that this is the first book in a SERIES OF FIVE. I feel a bit sucked in. Nowhere on my copy did it indicate that this was a series! And while I did enjoy it, I’m a little annoyed that I’m now hooked for four more books (only one of which has actually been published so far). But anyway, if you like fantasy but you find a lot of it boring and humourless, this is a great story.

Dumbledore is gay. Interesting! I especially like Rowling’s astute observation that the fanfic world is going to go nuts over this news.