M Is For Magic

One of my favourite authors of all time is Neil Gaiman. I've read almost everything that he's written and if I haven't, it's on my to-read list. I recently read two books by him and loved them both. The first was M Is For Magic, a book of short stories, and the second was InterWorld, which he wrote with Michael Reaves, which I don't think I'll review even though I loved it. It's just that it was a rather complex book and I feel it would be difficult to review. And I'm lazy. So what?

M Is For Magic by Neil Gaiman

Summary (from the back of the book and I'm using @ signs for bullets, because that's the best thing I can find and for some reason, I can't make a bulleted list. It's weird): Master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a breathtaking collection of tales for younger readers that may chill or amuse, but that always embrace the unexpected:

@ Humpty Dumpty's sister hires a private detective to investigate her brother's death.

@ A teenage boy who has trouble talking to girls finds himself at a rather unusual party.

@ A boy raised in a graveyard makes a discovery, and confronts the much more troubling world of the living.

Review: Have you ever read a book where it's so good and so realistic that even though it's fantasy, you wonder, "Did this really happen?" No? Guess you're going book shopping then, huh?

There's a certain story in this book, that's called, "The Price," where the main character is an adult male author and the way it's written, that little voice in the back of your head whispers, "This sounds like it really happened, this sounds real," despite the fact that the logical little voice in your head is saying much more loudly, "There's no way this really happened."

Something I loved about the book was that even though that particular story was serious, there were others that had funny moments. And the author can turn a phrase like no one else. There's one part where he's describing a character, whose brothers call him the Runt. He writes "The Runt was a thin ten-year-old, small, with a runny nose and a blank expression. If you were to try to pick him out of a group of boys, you'd be wrong. He'd be the other one. Over at the side. The one your eye slipped over."

I loved that, but I'm not even sure why. It just made me laugh. And, okay, I'm easily amused at times, but still. It was funny.

Conclusion: Well, this is no surprise, but I loved it. I loved that these weren't stories written for kids, even though it's an ages ten and up book. Instead, they're stories he thought younger readers would like. I've actually read some of them in other books. Like I said, Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors and a large chunk of my favourite books are by him. M Is For Magic is no exception. Ask me if I think you should read it. "Should we read this, Laina?" (I'm putting words in your mouths here.) "Well? Should we?"

Yes, people, you should read this. You should read this as soon as it's humanly possible to do so, and then go and tell your best friend about it, it's that good.

Well, I think that's about it for now, so... leave a comment if you want and come back soon to see what's happening around here. Til then, happy reading.