Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book

This was a fantastic book. I had read just one other book by Gaiman prior to picking up The Graveyard Book. The book was American Gods and that was almost 6 years ago. I recommended it to everybody I knew and I am doing the exact same thing with The Graveyard Book.

After reading a synopsis of the book in late September—just prior to the books release—I marked it as a 'to-read' in my Good Reads book list. During one of our weekly trips to the library a couple of weeks ago, I picked The Graveyard Book for JQ to read. I thought he might enjoy it and I was reading Dead Until Dark at the time. He flew through it. I had no choice but to put DUD down and read TGB as soon as he was finished. I wanted to be able to talk about the book with him while it was still fresh for both of us. Right after I started the book I found out it was the named the 2009 Newbery Medal winner. Well deserved if you ask me.

Simple and brilliant. Written for teens but great for adults. JQ and I read it back-to-back in a handful of days. It's riveting and a must read for anyone with a lively imagination. Now if we could just get to the theater to see Coraline.

6 comments:

Lisa said...

Hi Pixie:
I read American Gods and it scared me! Isnt that weird? I had to read it for a book club and I just couldn't think of anything to contribute because I was too scared to finish it!!!

I love the new look of your site, btw!!

Lisa Armsweat said...

I love that it won the Newberry Award. These are cool times we're living in, at least in a literary sense. :)

Cupcake Blonde said...

I am going to have to read this. Your glowing reviews here and on Goodreads has convinced me! :) And I'll read Coraline too. At least I can read them since I can't see the movie. :)

Iron Fist said...

a friend recently loaned me all the Sandman graphic novels and have been churning through them. Simply fantastic storytelling and if you're a fan of Gaiman they are not to be overlooked.

Holly {ArtistMotherTeacher} said...

Leezer—That's crazy. What scared you about it?

Cruel Shoes—Indeed.

Vegas Princess—Do it! Do it!

Iron Fist—I started Watchmen last night. I've added Sandman to my list.

Lisa Armsweat said...

Watchmen is pretty excellent, but it is dense; meaning, make sure you are paying close attention or you'll miss some things. Also, did you know there are symbols and codes in most of the frames? Apparently! I never figured it out, though... I don't feel smart enough. I plan to try again sometime when I finally get my own copy.

V for Vendetta is, in my mind, Alan Moore's best book. I still have a lot of his work to read, though, but damn. It still messes with my head whenever I think about it.

And finally....SANDMAN! Welcome to my college life! All I cared about between 1993-1997 was Sandman. I still have all my T-shirts and posters, and my Sandman graphic novels are right on the My Favorite Books shelf in the living room (next to Catcher in the Rye, Talisman and Stephenie Meyer's stuff). I can't wait for you to read it! You'll be sucked in to that world... and wonder why the hell no one has ever tried to make a movie about the Endless. I, for one, hope they never DO, because they wouldn't get it right. Anyway, YOU'LL SEE. I am positive you are going to love it. :) :)