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The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel | Neil Gaiman
A major new work from "a writer to make readers rejoice" (Minneapolis Star Tribune)a moving story of memory, magic, and survivalSussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettiemagical, comforting, wise beyond her yearspromised to protect him, no matter what.A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.
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jackilynn
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5 out of 8 so far.

I am trying so hard to get the whole set but I keep getting sent the wrong covers. Just need Fragile Things, Smoke & Mirrors, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane to finish out the set.

Being a book collector & looking for specific covers/editions is hard sometimes.

18 likes1 stack add
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BarkingMadRead
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emz711 Yess! One of my faves 3mo
TheBookHippie I‘ve no idea what arrived but two things are now coming Saturday!!! What an adventure!!! 3mo
See All 8 Comments
TheBookHippie @BarkingMadRead okay, should be two things there now two boxes two different days 😅🤦🏻‍♀️😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 3mo
TheBookHippie Then two more 🫣🙄 3mo
BarkingMadRead @TheBookHippie there are two here now 😍 3mo
TheBookHippie @BarkingMadRead it‘s like a game 🤦🏻‍♀️😵‍💫😅🤣🤣🤣🤣 3mo
AllDebooks This book, this author 🩵 3mo
36 likes8 comments
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Balibee146
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Next up this has been languishing on my #kindle for years

Booksblanketsandahotbeverage I enjoyed this one but my mom @Pamgardens hated it, lol. At least it‘s a short story. 4mo
43 likes1 stack add1 comment
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keithlafo
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Pickpick

A masterpiece of storytelling, with enough emotional heft to break your heart, creepy passages that make your skin crawl, and characters you won‘t soon forget. Might be my favorite of Gaiman‘s books.

Darklunarose I really want to read this book! 4mo
16 likes1 comment
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Robotswithpersonality
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Mehso-so

Wistful. Horrifying and charming by turns. As I've come to expect from this author, there's inventive fantasy elements which come at the price of including images I sincerely hope won't show up in my nightmares. Can't help feeling there's something missing, maybe just wanted more time with certain characters, spent in the world built? Might just be a tone thing with Gaiman that doesn't match personal preference. ⚠️Suicide, body horror, child abuse

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RaeLovesToRead
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Today I went to see this at the theatre. The staging was incredible, and they had the WORLD'S CREEPIEST PUPPET MONSTER!!! 😱😱 Highly recommend.

I was hoping to read the book before the play, but I just haven't had time. Will read it soon, but need to find it first... 🤔

Embarrassingly, I have it in hardback, which shows how long I've been meaning to read it.

(Oh... and holographic bookmark merch 😊)

BekaReid So jealous! But glad you were able to see it! This is one of my favorite books! 9mo
LaraReads How awesome! And such a good book! 9mo
BarbaraJean Ohhhhh, a play of this sounds fantastic!! Now I'm really hoping they bring a production to the US someday... 9mo
See All 7 Comments
Leniverse Really envious of that theatre experience! The book is great. I remember it had me teary eyed and upset while reading it on the coach, I had to put it away until I got home. 😆 9mo
DaveGreen7777 You had me at “world‘s creepiest puppet monsters”!!! 😱😱😱 9mo
RaeLovesToRead @BekaReid @LaraReads @BarbaraJean @Leniverse @DaveGreen7777 I'm looking forward to the book now. There were a couple of bits that got me in the feels. The Flea puppet was INCREDIBLE... it was controlled by like 6 people and was terrifying!!!! 9mo
Branwen Wow! I had no idea this had been made into a theater production! 😱 So cool! 9mo
70 likes1 stack add7 comments
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RaeLovesToRead
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#bookspinbingo for July @TheAromaofBooks 😁

Done from the train off the top of my head. I will substitute in random books if I finish any / there are repeats.

Update: JUNE!!!!!! It's for June!!!! Oh my days 😶‍🌫️

Clwojick I know the year is going by quickly, but it‘s only June! 😂☀️😎 10mo
RaeLovesToRead @Clwojick Gaaaaaahhhhh omg you are right 🙈🙈🙈 10mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 10mo
52 likes3 comments
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JuliaTheBookNerd
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#150-225Pages 🌊💙 #MayMontage 🥳💐♊️

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

Eggs The Gaiman Collection👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 10mo
fredamans I chose the same. Wicked book! 10mo
AvidReader25 This collection! 😍 10mo
50 likes1 stack add3 comments
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KCofKaysville
Pickpick

A really good short fantasy mixed with chidhood memories.

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KCofKaysville
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Finally reading one that I missed a few years ago.

Zoes_Human Love this one! 10mo
KCofKaysville @Zoes_Human Tnat‘s good to know! 10mo
41 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Shawna
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I need to read this one!! 11mo
Eggs I enjoyed this book 🖤📖💙 11mo
fredamans My favorite Gaiman book! 11mo
25 likes3 comments
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Jgacreations
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Mehso-so

It was ok. Not great not bad.

LoverOfLearning I felt the same! 11mo
22 likes1 comment
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bookaddict30
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Pickpick

Rating: 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was my first time reading a book by Neil Gaiman so i wasnt sure what to expect but i have to say i did really enjoy this one more then i thought i would. The Characters were so interesting, intriguing and enjoyable to read about, Lettie and The Old Man were definately my favorites. Loved learning about their backstory.

pilardib Gaiman is one of my favorite authors! I recommend his books for children too. Coraline is great. 13mo
bookaddict30 @pilardib That's great to hear 😊. Yes I loved Coraline when I read it a few years ago. 13mo
12 likes2 comments
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bookaddict30
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Currently Reading
Genre: Fantasy
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother.

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Tamra
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A repeat for me and it‘s just as wonderful. Still magical, enchanting, and creepy, but not in a cheesy way otherwise it wouldn‘t be for me. Gaiman is one of the few authors who can narrate well!

What‘s funny is I can hear the characters voices from Good Omens in it!

This is a great selection for an October read.💛🖤🧡

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bianka
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Mehso-so

‘nothing's ever the same," she said. "be it a second later or a hundred years. it's always churning and roiling. and people change as much as oceans.‘ ; 3.25/5

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NataliePatalie
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1. The Poughkeepsie Tapes!!! 😭
2. I don't read a lot of fantasy, but the first that came to mind was The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
3. Black, purple, orange! 🖤💜🧡

@Eggs @Blueberry #WondrousWednesday

Eggs Thanks for joining in 🖤💜🧡 1y
11 likes1 comment
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velocis
Pickpick

Short and sweet and a good novel to start with when getting back into reading. I've also started looking at this book in terms of how parts of it are put together from a writer's perspective because watching the sandman by gaiman on netflix inspired me enough to attempt to write something.

Billypar Glad you signed up - welcome to Litsy! If you're looking for users to follow, you can find other Reading Envy listeners from this post I made in honor of Jenny: https://litsy.com/p/ckEzSEdkUDRD There was also a bookclub I participated in with so many great people: #nyrbbookclub And the same goes for a group that organizes seasonal readalongs, currently doing one for Halloween #FearfulFall Hope you enjoy checking everything out! 📚📚📚 1y
5 likes1 comment
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ElizaMarie
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Pickpick

It took a little bit to get into, but once I did... I loved the story. Loved the fantasy and just loved the beauty of it.

#PennyAPage +2.37
#ReadMyRoom @AkashaVampie @jb72 @Bookworm54 @AsYouWish @CocoReads
#DoubleSpin #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaOfBooks

jb72 Great job! I really enjoyed this story too. 1y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 1y
28 likes2 comments
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ElizaMarie
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💙💚 I really miss this! The other day I saw this child be just utterly excited in a restaurant. Like the best thing in the world! This joy is something I need to consistently remind myself that is all around us. 💙❤️

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ElizaMarie
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This is my #DoubleSpin ( @TheAromaOfBooks ) book :) I love Neil Gaiman, but... I have heard some mixed reviews on this one... Fingers crossed, this is something I will enjoy

ManyWordsLater This opened my mind to a new way of looking at the memories. 1y
TheAromaofBooks I have mixed feelings on Gaiman's writing in general. This one is still on my TBR, but he doesn't always work for me. 1y
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ElizaMarie @TheAromaofBooks, I get what you are saying. I have a love/hate (mostly love) relationship with Gaiman. This one I felt was done beautifully. But took me a little bit to get “into“ it. 1y
ElizaMarie @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Ooo, I can send it to you. Do you have a copy? If not, I definitely would love to pass this one along to you! 1y
ElizaMarie @ManyWordsLater Yes! I think there were a lot of beautiful moments in this book. 1y
36 likes1 stack add6 comments
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DGRachel
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Pickpick

This book is fantastical, bittersweet, creepy, and absolutely brilliant. Neil Gaiman‘s prose is beautiful and captivating. He‘s also one of only a few authors who narrate their own books well. I only regret having waited so long to read it.

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Bookworm04
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Pickpick
Andrew65 Great 👏👏👏 1y
38 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Bookworm04
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Anybody else ???

36 likes1 comment
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Kris10H
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Bailedbailed

I hate to say this, because I have a soft spot for Gaiman, but I just could not get through this. I put in a good effort, I think, and made it about halfway through. It gave me Coraline + The Witches (Dahl), but not in a good way. 🤷‍♀️

fredamans 😕 This is my favorite of his. 2y
17 likes1 comment
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bookishbitch
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Pickpick

Trigger warning for suicide. I've actually already read this. But I love Neil Gaimans voice as a narrator so here we are. This has some terrifying imagery. Supernatural horror for sure.

fredamans My favorite of his. 2y
Kris10H The description of pulling the worm out of the foot...🤮 I can handle most things, but 🪱... no. 2y
bookishbitch @Kris10H Yes! So gross! 2y
25 likes3 comments
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EmilieGR
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Pickpick

This was a beautiful little story. I enjoyed Gaiman‘s illustration of childhood and found the setting and era evocative.

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Branwen
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#AlphabetGame #LetterO
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Using another Gaiman book for this game! 😄📚💕 I liked this one a lot, though I wish it had been longer!

Kitta I picked this for O too! 2y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thank you for playing 📚 2y
Branwen @Kitta That's awesome! 💕📚💕 2y
50 likes3 comments
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RobES
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Pickpick

I ended up really enjoying this; I was very unsure at the start, it is very surreal and I didn't really get it, but by the end I fully embraced it and loved it. In an odd way it portrays childhood as an adult looking back, not in a tangible way but in a misty memory way. It also isn't for kids, although I have passed it on to my 15 year old son as we are going to see the National Theatre production. I think it would be ok for a mature teen.

Nebklvr I still have questions about the ending 2y
RobES @Nebklvr me too!!! Did Lettie ever 'return'? Did he ever go back to the farm again??? 2y
Nebklvr Was it his funeral? 2y
RobES @Nebklvr ohhhhhh! I did not get that! 🤯 2y
Nebklvr Not sure i did either!! Just confused. 2y
25 likes5 comments
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Kitta
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I love Neil Gaiman and this was no exception! It‘s a beautiful dreamlike story about a man remembering his childhood.

#alphabetgame #letterO @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thank you for playing! 📚 2y
13 likes1 comment
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RobES
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Road trip read ... really not sure what to make of this one .... 😕

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TheIntrovertedDodoBird
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Pickpick

To this very day, this quirky fable leaves me with a profound sense of inquietude. Gaiman dazzles with his hauntingly beautiful prose, deep-seated angsty theme & spine-tingling malaise. You'll sleepwalk your way through this book, transported into the unfathomable depths of Gaiman's brilliantly twisted imagination. Childhood is often penned as a beguiling, magical experience, but Gaiman defies this trope exquisitely. He's a bona fide genius!

Eggs Absolutely 2y
60 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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BarbaraJean
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“Nobody actually looks like what they really are on the inside. You don‘t. I don‘t. People are much more complicated than that. It‘s true of everybody.”

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JuliaTheBookNerd
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I Love all things Neil Gaiman 🥰

#ByYourFavoriteAuthor ❤️ #BookMoods 😊📚

#BookNerd 🤓💙📚

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Perfect 🖤📚 2y
Eggs 👏🏻👏🏻I love Neverwhere❤️ 2y
46 likes2 comments
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LoverOfLearning
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Mehso-so

Listened to this one on Audiobook pretty decent production I would say.

Overall not my ideal genre of book but it kept my interest. I definitely thought this book would be more of a mystery but it was more fantasy and plot building. A middle of the road type of book for me no major wow moments.

I think there's also a movie being filmed for this. I'd be interested in seeing it.

3.5 stars.

48 likes1 stack add
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LoverOfLearning
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What an odd book so far. I can't tell if I hate it or if I'll love it. I've never read a dark fantasy book before. But it's a short listen so I'll continue with it.

It tells the story of a man who returns to Sussex for a funeral and then finds himself driving "randomly" to the scenes of his childhood. He is drawn to the Hempstock farmhouse wherein, he remembers, there lived three generations of powerful and mysterious Hempstock women.

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NikkiKey94
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Pickpick

This was chosen by my book club this month and it was a fun quick read! It was my first book by Gaiman since I usually read thrillers but I did enjoy it. I am very open to reading others books by him!

15 likes1 stack add
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AvidReader25
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Pickpick

This one was way creepier than I remembered. But I love the way he perfectly conveys how childhood can feel overwhelming. We talk about how childhood is magical, but sometimes being a kid is scary. Things can feel out of your control & confusing. Gaiman captures that perfectly. Memories made in childhood make a deep impression and help shape us. Plus the Hempstock women are a delight. I hadn‘t realized how many of his other books they pop up in!

fredamans My favorite Gaiman book! 😊 2y
AvidReader25 @fredamans it‘s in my top three! 2y
fredamans @AvidReader25 What are your other two? 2y
42 likes3 comments
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actualdisneyprincess
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The next one as I continue my determined effort to conquer the piles of books I have bought. 😍 #theoceanattheendofthelane #neilgaiman

CaitlinR I love this book! One of the VERY few novels that I reread. 2y
Sharpeipup Where are you? That ceiling hints of a gorgeous building! 2y
actualdisneyprincess @Sharpeipup At work! I work in a library that was built in 1927! 😍 2y
actualdisneyprincess @CaitlinR I‘m SO enjoying it!!! 😍 Gaiman‘s writing style is just sheer magic. 2y
22 likes4 comments
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SusanLee
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This was my first Gaiman read and I was blown away by his prose! I‘ve enjoyed it a lot! Btw, the ocean here is actually a #lake 😅
#savvysettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Eggs Great choice👏🏻👍🏼 Gaiman is a genre all his own 💗 (edited) 2y
Cindyelizavaz I enjoyed this a lot! 2y
14 likes3 comments
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LapReader
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Check this out! So Spoilt. Thanks @ju.ca.no The tagged book is stunning and is based on my friend‘s family farm. You have wonderful taste. I hope you and your man had a wonderful Valentines together.

LapReader I loved the wrapping paper too. I reused it to wrap my Valentine‘s presents to my love. 2y
ju.ca.no How cool that it is based on your friend‘s farm 😱😍 2y
52 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Centique
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Pickpick

When in doubt, Neil Gaiman.
That‘s an aphorism I just invented. 😂 This is my third Neil Gaiman and I just get pulled in to his world so fast. What starts as a bittersweet tale of a lonely little boy turns into a creepy modern fairytale. To me Gaiman blends middle grade story telling with adult elements with just the right touch. A mix of childhood and adulthood like vodka jellies or something! Totally diabolically fun.

GingerAntics What a gorgeous cover!!! 2y
wanderinglynn I totally adopt your aphorism. When I don‘t know what else to read or am in a reading slump, I often return to London Below. 2y
Littlewolf1 I have never seen that cover before… And I love this book so much. 2y
See All 10 Comments
Centique @GingerAntics @Littlewolf1 this copy is from the UK publisher Headline. It is pretty! 2y
Centique @wanderinglynn I love London Below too and I‘ve just discovered there is more to read after Neverwhere 😍 2y
wanderinglynn Yes, there‘s a short story, How the Marquis Got His Coat Back. And Gaiman has commented a couple times that he‘d like to return to the world of London Below. 🤞🏻 for another book! 2y
readordierachel Totally agree, loved this one! 2y
GingerAntics @wanderinglynn that would be AWESOME!!! I love London Below!!! 2y
RohitSawant This book was such a joy. I'm looking forward to rereading it in the near future. Glad to hear you enjoyed it! 2y
Reggie Totally agree that this is totally an adult fairytale. I loved it. 2y
81 likes10 comments
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TracyReadsBooks
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Kenneth Oppel, great MG/YA author, posted pictures of his favorite signed books on Twitter & asked people to share theirs. I love the idea & thought it would be perfect to do on Litsy!

This book was an unexpected, wonderful gift from my brother-in-law & it‘s my absolute favorite.😍

Want to share your stories? I‘ll try to post weekly & I‘d love to hear about your favorite signed books/author encounters!

#FavoriteSignedBooks @TracyReadsBooks

TrishB Fab idea! Off to have a look 😁 2y
DrexEdit Fantastic! I'm off to see if I've got any signed copies around! 2y
30 likes2 comments
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rmaclean4
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Pickpick

A sweet short fantasy that I have been meaning to read for years! Enjoyable, but time will tell if it is memorable. Has a distinct YA tone to the writing.

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Akauffmann
Pickpick

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Christyco125
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Pickpick

End of the year rush to get my reading posts in for 2021. Magical realism is not a go-to genre for me but I had a pretty good run of luck with my choices this year. Loved this 🥰😍 Neil Gaiman as the reader was also quite surprisingly great. #audio #christyread #TouchOfMagic