Books!

[Purple Wyrm]

In honor of the season, I've decided it's time to finally read Dracula!

Make sure not to miss Dracula's Guest. It's the original first chapter which was cut before publication and later published as a stand alone short story.

[Athena]

Oh yea! You're in for quite a ride, do enjoy. I can recommend another Neil Gaiman, "Sandman: The Dream Hunters". Not part of his main Sandman series despite the title. It's a take on the fox spirit - human interaction from Japanese tales. In this case the fox is the female and the human, a monk, is male. Illustrated by Yoshi-taka Amano. I had to split the first name to get it past auto 4 letter word sensor

It was quite a ride indeed! (so much so that i read it in about 4 days )

I'll have to check that out, it sounds interesting!

[Mélusine]

When someone says "Saint-Exupéry" I immediately thought "The Little Prince", but he wrote other things, and oh dear it's beautiful.

[urbicande]

When someone says "Saint-Exupéry" I immediately thought "The Little Prince", but he wrote other things, and oh dear it's beautiful.

He wrote many, many things!

Fun fact:  Le Petit Prince was mostly written here on Long Island!

[Iceea]

I'm going to mention, put in a plug for, one of my favorite authors, Julie Czerneda. She has written several dozen SciFi novels that are excellent. And she has a fantasy trilogy going on also. To me her ability to create alien worlds and aliens that are so totally acceptable and believable is her best feature. Her stories and plot lines are pretty good also. "A Thousand Words for Stranger" is a good place to start. But they are all very good. Enjoy
 

[urbicande]

There's a new John Crowley novel coming out in 2 weeks!

[Sunflower]

There's a new John Crowley novel coming out in 2 weeks!

*Instantly runs to join the queue outside John Crowley's publisher*

I was not a huge fan of his Aegypt series -- a little too long and diffuse for me -- but I adored "Little, Big" and think his short stories are wonderful.  So full of nostalgia and melancholy.

[heiteru]

I finished reading "The Tale of a Time Being" by Ruth Ozeki. I can't say that I read the book in one breath, but I enjoyed every moment of reading, stretching it in time (time is one of the important story lines). And in the epilogue it reminded me very much "As Simple as Snow" by Gregory Galloway - one of my favorite books ever.

[GunmanRex]

This may not be a nice cultured, fiction novel that set the genre, but I've been reading "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. It is a non-fiction novel about the life of Henrietta Lacks and the immortal cell line which has become a bedrock for the medical advances since WWII. The novel raises important questions about class and race ethics in science and medicine.

[October Sky]

Oh yea! You're in for quite a ride, do enjoy. I can recommend another Neil Gaiman, "Sandman: The Dream Hunters". Not part of his main Sandman series despite the title. It's a take on the fox spirit - human interaction from Japanese tales. In this case the fox is the female and the human, a monk, is male. Illustrated by Yoshi-taka Amano. I had to split the first name to get it past auto 4 letter word sensor

I'm assuming its some sort of spinoff?  I'll have to check it out at some point, I'm really enjoying the main series.
Speaking of Sandman spinoffs, Death: The High Cost of Living is also really good and can be read by itself if youd like.  There are a few shoutouts to things from the main series but with the obvious exception of everyone's favorite perky goth none of the characters show up

[Purple Wyrm]

I'm assuming its some sort of spinoff?  I'll have to check it out at some point, I'm really enjoying the main series.
Speaking of Sandman spinoffs, Death: The High Cost of Living is also really good and can be read by itself if youd like.  There are a few shoutouts to things from the main series but with the obvious exception of everyone's favorite perky goth none of the characters show up

Yes, that's a great one! (the sequel "The Time of your Life" sadly isn't as good)

A movie version has been in development hell for years, which is perhaps a good thing.

[Iceea]

I'm assuming its some sort of spinoff?  I'll have to check it out at some point, I'm really enjoying the main series.
Speaking of Sandman spinoffs, Death: The High Cost of Living is also really good and can be read by itself if youd like.  There are a few shoutouts to things from the main series but with the obvious exception of everyone's favorite perky goth none of the characters show up

Hmm, I'm not sure it's a spinoff per se, just more inspired Gaiman, "Weird is what Gaiman does best", As Luth noted. I've also been reading the Kamisama Kiss manga another fox spirit human interaction. But in the style of most manga a bit much over done. Gaiman's is much more sparse and and pointed.

[Lazy8]

Finished Dracula. Nothing particularly unexpected, but I'm making this book the bare minimum standard that I expect modern-day writers to live up to when it comes to the treatment of the female characters. Dated or not, if a nineteenth-century Victorian horror novel manages to 1) have better female-female friendships than your "progressive feminist" story, and 2) gives its Designated Victim a more active role in the plot than your "strong female character", you are doing it wrong and need to go back to Writing Female Characters 101.

(...I might've read a few Really Bad Things lately. My bar is kinda low right now.)

Now, on to working my way through The Turn of the Screw!

[Róisín]

The Turn of the Screw is hard work, but well worth the trouble. You might be amused by the work of Brian O'Nolan/Flann O'Brien, both his novels and the satirical essays he wrote as Myles na gCopaleen. Funny and touching in parts, weirdly philosophical, and full of amazing words and interesting use of language. Oh, and Keats and Shelley jokes.

[Purple Wyrm]

I have a terrible habit of confusing Henry James (Turn of the Screw) with M. R. James (A whole mess of really creepy ghost stories). Had led to some very confusing conversations!