15 Books recommended by Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book.
Neil Gaiman
Book Recommendations
Archer's Goon
Archer's Goon
Diana Wynne Jones
Juvenile FictionThe trouble started when howard sykes came home from school and found the "goon" sitting in the kitchen. he said he'd been sent by archer. but who was archer? it had to do with the 2,000 words that howard's author father had failed to deliver.it soon became clear not only that archer wanted those words, but that his wizard siblings, hathaway, dillian, shine, torquil, erskine, and venturus, would also go to any lengths to get them.although each wizard ruled a section of the town, he or she was a prisoner
“She was the best writer of magical children's fiction of our generation. I don't know if this is the best of her novels, but it's my favourite.”
— Source
Bizarre Romance
Bizarre Romance
Audrey Niffenegger,Eddie Campbell
Internationally bestselling author of the time traveler’s wife, audrey niffenegger, and graphic artist eddie campbell, of such seminal works as from hell by alan moore, collaborate on a wonderfully bizarre collection that celebrates and satirizes love of all kinds. with 16 different stories told through illustrated prose or comic panels, the couple explores the idiosyncratic nature of relationships in a variety of genres from fractured fairy tales to historical fiction to paper dolls. with niffenegger’s sharp, imaginative prose and campbell’s diverse comic styles, bizarre romance is the debut collection by
“It's a wonderful book!”
Dec 7, 2020 — Source
“On a distant planet, far in the future, Earth Colonists rule the world as the gods of the Hindu Pantheon. One of their number becomes Buddha to fight them. A mixture of religion and adventure and science fiction.”
— Source
The Jew of Malta
The Jew of Malta
Christopher Marlowe,H. Havelock Ellis
JewsThe spirit of machiavelli presides over the jew of malta, in which the title character relentlessly plots to maintain and extend his political influence and wealth. a paragon of remorseless evil, barabas befriends and betrays the turkish invaders and native maltese alike, incites a duel between the suitors for his daughter's hand, and takes lethal revenge upon a convent of nuns.both tragedy and farce, this masterpiece of elizabethan theater reflects the social and political complexities of its age. christopher marlowe's dramatic hybrid resonates with racial tension, religious conflict, and political
“I'd been reading and there's just a line in it where these evil Jews meet and they compare evil that theyve done.”
Mar 28, 2019 — Source
The Man Who Was Thursday
The Man Who Was Thursday
G.K. Chesterton,Jonathan Lethem,José Laurênio de Mello
G. k. chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century london who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory.as jonathan lethem remarks in his introduction, the real characters are the ideas. chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. this wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if
“A police agent infiltrates the high council of anarchists in this glorious nightmare romp.”
— Source
The 13 Clocks
The 13 Clocks
James Thurber,Marc Simont
FictionHow can anyone describe this book? it isn't a parable, a fairy story, or a poem, but rather a mixture of all three. it is beautiful and it is comic. it is philosophical and it is cheery. what we suppose we are trying fumblingly to say is, in a word, that it is thurber.there are only a few reasons why everybody has always wanted to read this kind of story: if you have always wanted to love a princess; if you always wanted to be a prince; if you always
“I was told they would bring The Thirteen Clocks back into print if I wrote the introduction to it. I was like, “Yes, I’m writing the introduction to it.””
Mar 28, 2019 — Source
London Labour and the London Poor
London Labour and the London Poor
Henry Mayhew,Victor E. Neuburg
HistoryLondon labour and the london poor originated in a series of articles, later published in four volumes, written for the morning chronicle in 1849 and 1850 when journalist henry mayhew was at the height of his career. mayhew aimed simply to report the realities of the poor from a compassionate and practical outlook. this penetrating selection shows how well he succeeded: the underprivileged of london become extraordinarily and often shockingly alive.
“Like a big mad Dickens novel that just keeps going. Real life interviews with the Victorian working poor.”
— Source
Shadow & Claw
Shadow & Claw
Gene Wolfe
FictionThe shadow of the torturer is the tale of young severian, an apprentice in the guild of torturers on the world called urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim.the claw of the conciliator continues the saga of severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny.the book of the new sun is unanimously acclaimed as gene wolfe's most remarkable work, hailed as
“The best science fiction novel of the last century. A four volume book about memory and truth.”
— Source
Horns
Horns
Joe Hill
FictionIgnatius perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. he woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples.at first ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. he had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, merrin williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. a mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing
“An immensely powerful writer. This, his second novel, is about a man who wakes up after a bad night with horns pushing out of his forehead.”
— Source
Views
Views
Roger Dean
The first two volumes chronicling the unique art and design of roger dean met with huge critical and popular success. views (1975) went straight to number one in the sunday times bestseller list and went on to sell over a million copies. magnetic storm (1984) sold over 650,000 copies. these new editions, reworked to accompany the publication of the third book in the trilogy, dragon's dream, showcase the instantly recognizable work of roger dean. views showcases the first seven years of roger dean's work after his graduation from the royal
“Just loved it.”
Mar 28, 2019 — Source
Lud-in-the-Mist
Lud-in-the-Mist
Douglas A. Anderson,Hope Mirrlees,Neil Gaiman
FictionLud-in-the-mist, the capital city of the small country dorimare, is a port at the confluence of two rivers, the dapple and the dawl. the dapple has its origin beyond the debatable hills to the west of lud-in-the-mist, in fairyland. in the days of duke aubrey, some centuries earlier, fairy things had been looked upon with reverence, and fairy fruit was brought down the dapple and enjoyed by the people of dorimare. but after duke aubrey had been expelled from dorimare by the burghers, the eating of fairy fruit came to
“My favourite fairy tale/detective novel/history/fantasy.”
— Source
Bleak House
Bleak House
Charles Dickens,Hablot Knight Browne,Nicola Bradbury
FictionBleak house opens in the twilight of foggy london, where fog grips the city most densely in the court of chancery. the obscure case of jarndyce and jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of esther summerson and the secrets of her origin, the sleuthing of detective inspector bucket and the fate of jo the crossing-sweeper, these are some of the lives dickens invokes to portray london society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done. bleak house, in its atmosphere, symbolism and
“From the highest in the land to the lowest, the court of Chancery destroys lives. A wonderful read even if you don't like Spontaneous Human Combustion.”
— Source
Alec
Alec
Eddie Campbell
For the first time ever, the pioneering autobiographical comics of master cartoonist eddie campbell (from hell) are collected in a single volume brilliantly observed and profoundly expressed, the alec stories present a version of campbell's own life, filtered through the alter ego of "alec macgarry." over many years, we witness alec's (and eddie's) progression "from beer to wine" - wild nights at the pub, existential despair, the hunt for love, the quest for art, becoming a "responsible breadwinner," feeling lost at his own movie premiere, and much more eddie's outlandish
“The best autobiography in comics form ever done, perhaps because that wasn't what he was trying to do.”
— Source
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling
FictionThe jungle book key characters are mowgli, a boy raised by wolves and sher khan, biggest tiger in india. as baloo the sleepy brown bear, bagheera the cunning black panther, kaa the python, and his other animal friends teach their beloved “man-cub” the ways of the jungle, mowgli gains the strength and wisdom he needs for his frightful fight with shere khan, the tiger who robbed him of his human family. but there are also the tales of rikki-tikki-tavi the mongoose and his “great war” against the vicious cobras nag
“Which is a kid in a jungle being brought up by wild animals and teaching him the things that wild animals know, so I would have to have a kid in a graveyard being taught the things that dead people know.”
Mar 28, 2019 — Source
The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic
Terry Pratchett
Discworld (Imaginary place)Alternate cover edition can be found here. on a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. there's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course the edge on the planet...
“This book is mentioned in the Tim blog podcast”
Mar 28, 2019 — Source
