Holy Crap - I met Neil Gaiman!

We are very excited

Kayso, on June 21, I turned 30. The Beau threw me a party - there was punch and pie - and my Florida parents surprised me : it was awesome. But, the day before something even more awesome happened: The Beau drove me like 5 hours to Saratoga Springs so we could see Neil Gaiman speak. That's right, beyotches...I met Neil Gaiman. We are totally best friends now.  Here's how it went down:

Neil's (Because we are close personal friends now I'm going to refer to him as Neil - because we are clearly on a first name basis. Deal with it.)Anyway, Neil's new book The Ocean at the End of the Lane just came out. He was doing his "last" book signing tour, and one of the stops was in Saratoga Springs, hosted by Northshire Books. Neil came out and was interviewed by Joe Donahue of the Book Show - but I'm not sure if it aired yet.
Neil talked about the new book and his inspiration for it. He talked about how he was writing it for his wife, Amanda Palmer, when she was away and he missed her. He hadn't planned on it being a novel, but it just kept growing. This was really interesting to hear, because just maybe a day or two before, I'd read Amanda's take on the book. Her version is slightly more personal and emotional, which is cool. Kind of neat to hear them both talk about it from their own point of view.

Cooler than you

  Then Neil read a selection from his book. Very cool to hear him read it; he's a great audiobook reader but in person he was awesome. He also read (because Donahue happened to have a ARC copy of the book) a selection from Fortunately, the Milk his next children's book coming out in September. That was cute and funny, and I can't wait to get that as well.

After that he talked a little more candidly about why it's his last tour: so get this, there were 1500 people in Saratoga to hear him speak, and I would guess that about half or more stayed and waited in line to get their books personally signed. That's a butt load of signing. We waited in line for about 3 hours, and we were not the last people. Imagine signing books and trying to be cheerful to fawning strangers for upwards of 4 hours. How exhausting! Gaiman said that he loves it, but it's too much to do such large events, so he plans on doing more ninja signings in the future - like Twittery flash-mob type things. But he also said he loves reading to an audience so he won't stop doing that.

So back to the signing part, like I said, we waited a long time. We talked with a guy who is planning on taking a road trip based on Gaiman's novel American Gods. We saw lots of cool t-shirts. We saw Neil sign a ukelele. Neil was signing in sort of an assembly line and you could tell that he was tired, but that he was trying to talk to everyone at least a little. There were like 6 employees laying out the books and pushing them to him. There was a lady who was wrangling different colored sharpies. It was intense. Then it was my turn. I was all nervous, because I wanted to say something cool, but I'm usually a fangirl dork and I end up sounding like a herb. But he was cool and smiled at me and I told him I put his quotes up in my library all the time and he goes: "You're a librarian? I love librarians! They're my people!" and he cheered for librarians a little. I swooned and was all: "We love you too!" So now Neil and Amanda and I are all married and living happily ever after. Or not, but either way, I got my book signed and it was awesome :-)

Yes, he signed everyone's with a heart, but ours was obviously a love connection...

               

Me looking 12, Neil smiling at my sparkling wit, and the Sharpie wrangler

           My book review of Ocean at the End of the Lane will be coming soon. For other Gaiman reviews by me, go here.      For Neil's website, go here. For his Twitter, go here.                     

Stardust: film review

• Based on the book Stardust by Neil Gaiman
  
• Directed by Matthew Vaughn
• Written by Neil Gaiman and Jane Goldman
• Paramount Pictures (2007)
• PG-13
• 128 Minutes
• I saw this movie on August 11

Okay, my lovelies. As I mentioned I was thinking about starting to review movies I saw based on books I have read. So, here goes.
As you may remember, I reviewed Stardust here, and gave it the esteemed bee Seal of Approval.
First off: visuals. This movie was extremely good looking. Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Charlie Cox. Remember how I said I hoped Danes looked like she did in Polish Wedding? She did, but better. Not to mention Mark Strong, who plays Septimus (I like the bad boys, sue me). All the settings are very cool, and the magic is represented by sort of jets of light. Awesome. Also, when the star (Danes) shines the effect is very cool. Oh, and the flying pirate ship helmed by Robert DeNiro (do you think his friends call him Bobby?) was well done and DeNiro was funny if a little Baron Munchausen.
Second: the adaptation. Now, when I watch a movie based on a book I loved I try to look at it separately as it's own work rather than tirelessly comparing. The story in the film is changed somewhat from the book, but I thought the changes brought some interesting ideas and very cool action. The narrator of the movie is Ian McKellen (who I sort of wish was my grandfather) and to be honest, I could have used a little more of him. Gaiman's narration in the book was witty, smart and incredibly sharp. I would have liked to hear a little more of that.
Overall, I really liked it. I laughed and smiled and got a little mushy. Definite warm fuzzies. For more info about the film go here. For some reviews go try Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Also, I highly recommend Gaiman's blog. He has talked a lot about the adaptation and various other extremely interesting things. You have to love a man whose nickname is Scary Trousers. Also, we have the animated adaptation of Coraline to look forward to sometime in 2008.
So, that's it for our first movie review! Just another service brought to you by your friendly local booknerd!

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st ed edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380977281
• ISBN-13: 978-0380977284
• I finished this book on Mar. 18

Okay, so I'm a big fan of the Neil Gaiman stuff I've read before, like Sandman and Coraline. I also happen to heart his blog. He's cool and funny and links to neat stuff, in addition to saying something during scrotum-gate about loving librarians.
So, being the flaming nerd that I am I felt it only prudent to read more of his stuff (the good news is, he's written approximately a bajillion things). I interlibrary loaned a bunch of his books, and Stardust happened to be the first thing to arrive (there's another one waiting for me as we speak, which makes my day). Guys, two pages in I was in love. There's many reasons, so here goes. Number one, the design of the book is great (though I've since learned there are illustrated copies, I do not have one of those). The pages are that cool uneven rough cut which I find oddly satisfying. The author and title info are in a weird place, which is also neat. I also love chapters that have descriptive names, and I double love ones that are titled "In which..." and then cryptically detail what happens in said chapter. love. it.
So, besides all that stuff we have a funny, sweet and captivating little fairy tale. Tristan makes an impossible promise to the most beautiful girl in town and sets off into the land of Faerie to retrieve a star for her. The good news is: he finds the star (who is a young woman like creature) the bad news is, he's about six months walk from home and trying to bring an obstinate star with a broken leg back with him. There are also other story lines that of course come flawlessly together in the end. There are some ghosts, many people changing into other things and back again and even the mysterious unknown lineage of several characters, so, basically, all the components of a great fairy tale. Not to mention that Gaiman's prose is funny, weird and perfect. Reading this pasted a goofy smile on my face and gave me the warm fuzzies. I can't wait to read more of his books.
I have since learned that they are making this into a movie. I hope it will be good, though it seems like the story has been changed marginally. Claire Danes plays the star, so that's cool, I imagine she should look like she did in Polish Wedding, and looks like she will, so I'm psyched about that.

Booknerd Boutique 7/2/13

Hey there! I'd like to introduce a new feature on the blog. Booknerd Boutique - these entries will be weekly (or so) collections of cool nerdy links that I have found through the week. Author stuff, news about new books, film adaptations, that kind of thing. Or, you know...whatever I feel like...because it's my blog (insert evil laugh here).

• First up: in series new: True Blood season 6 has started, the show based on Charlaine Harris's super successful Southern Vampire series. Also, the 13th and last Sookie book has come out recently: Dead Ever After I'll be picking that one up soon, so you can expect a review this month.
• Under the Dome - the CBS television adaptation of Stephen King's 2009 novel started up last week. After I watch a few more episodes I'll cook up a review/snarky comments for y'all regarding that. You can watch it: here.
• Enjoy two snippets of video clips of a lengthy Stephen King interview - one on his compulsion to write: here. And one calling him Walt Disney's evil twin: here.
• Three Neil Gaiman tidbits for you: New Sandman cover has been released, check it out: here. My review of Sandman: Dream Hunters: here. Gaiman's novel American God is going to be a 6 (!!) season show on HBO, that article: here. My American Gods review: here. And, even cooler: Neil Gaiman's 8 rules for writing. Enjoy those: here. 

Not sure what kind of photo to put, so yeah, I decided on a pig reading the newspaper. 

You enjoy that.

Enjoy! and Happy 4th of July everyone!

Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano

Hardcover: 126 pages
Publisher: Vertigo; 1st ed edition (November 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1563895730
ISBN-13: 978-1563895739
List Price: unknown

The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman is a series of graphic novels about Morpheus or Dream. I have read two books in this series. They are interesting, but I am usually feeling that I would like more of the character Dream.
This is sort of love tale/Chinese fable. It is not a traditional graphic novel, I would call it a picture book. Mostly it is text on one page and illustrations on the other. Some of the illustrations cover both pages. The story is about a magic fox who falls in love with a monk. She tries to protect the monk from death by asking Dream for help. Then the monk realized what has happened and goes to rescue her. The story is very sweet and interesting and the characters of the monk and fox are interesting. I am left, once again, trying to root for the union of man and fox in my head. We all know it's not going to happen, but I'm all 'C'mon....' Either way the story is neat.
The illustrations are very beautiful if a little more abstract than I would sometimes like. They are colorful and definitely add a lot to the story.
This might be a good book for someone to introduce themselves to the Sandman books, but it is not entirely like the rest.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (September 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060515198
• ISBN-13: 978-0060515195
• List Price: $7.99
• I finished this book on September 11

So, my lovelies, another tasty Gaiman book. Amazon calls this a companion piece to American Gods. I'll buy that, however, it's a totally stand alone story in it's own right.
Mr. Nancy (who was in AG) is actually an incarnation of Anansi, a rather jaunty spider god. This book is about his son Fat Charlie who, in the course of the first few chapters, finds out that his father has died, his father was a god, and he has a brother. How's that for a shocker? Also, extra points to Mr. Gaiman for throwing in karaoke, wax fruit, and a literal barrel of monkeys.
As you may remember, I raved over the chocolate covered cherry sweet Stardust (and also the movie, here). This one, while equally amazing, was really more like a savory four course dinner. There were several interesting characters, an awesome, twisty plot and lots of little jokes. I really thought Charlie's inner thoughts were really funny, especially those about Rosie's mom. Ooooh, also fantastic chapter titles. For example: Chapter Five: In which we examine the many consequences of the morning after. Love!!
As I have mentioned ad nauseam: Gaiman has a fantastic blog/website, which you may look at: here. You may also read more about this book and American Gods at wikipedia, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

• Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (April 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380789035
• ISBN-13: 978-0380789030
• List Price: $7.99
• I finished this book on June 18

Okay my lovelies, I just returned this evening from Florida trip number one. This week will be busy (finishing the challenge plus celebrating my birthday and my new niece) and then I will be leaving for more Florida nonsense on the 24th. My personal shenanigans aside, I still found time to finish this book (feels like I have been reading it forever, though). American Gods fills my mythology spot in the challenge, which is quickly drawing to a close.
So, imagine that Gods from just about every different belief system in the world are hanging out in America. Now imagine if they were going to war. Yeah - ouch. Now imagine if you find yourself in the middle like Shadow, our downtrodden hero. Shadow is just about to get out of jail when he finds out that he's getting out early because (insert The Price Is Right loosing noise here) his wife died. Worse yet: she died while she was giving someone else road head (seriously? who does that?! Have people not read Thinner? Jesus Christmas!) Anywho: an understandably despondent Shadow takes a job with a mysterious and shady character named Mr. Wednesday. Is he a god? Yes sir. Does he draw Shadow into a web of intrigue that opens Shadow's eyes to various things? Indeed. Also, Shadow's dead slut wife stays dead but hangs around occasionally lending a (rotting) hand and spitting out maggots. Awesome.
For me, this story was somehow simple and super involved at the same time. There was a lot of characters coming back being more important than you thought originally which I appreciate. I always like when things you learned about before become nice and significant later on. This book also made me wish that I knew more about various mythologies, so you can look forward to me reading some more myths in the future. Check out the info about the book and all the different gods involved. I also liked a lot of the characters - there were endearing crotchety old gods and cool ladies (did I mention that a guy got swallowed by a certain god's lady-parts? yikes stripes!). I also really liked Shadow. He was a very realistic guy in a totally crazy situation and I have a big crush on him -but not as big as the crush I have on Mr. Gaiman. Coincidentally - I recommend reading his blog, because it's super enjoyable.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean

Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (July 2, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0380977788
ISBN-13: 978-0380977789
List Price: $15. 99

I read this little book the other night, and I must admit that I had to sit up to finish it so I could know whether or not this book had a happy ending. The reading level for this book is listed at about 9 - 12 but I must confess that this gore loving scary movie junkie totally got the creepies from it.
Little Coraline is very smart, very bored, and very ignored by her parents. As you can probably guess this a bad combination and she gets into trouble. She finds a door to another version of her apartment with another version of her parents, who are waiting to make her theirs. Except they have buttons for eyes. That's right buttons for eyes. Does that give anyone the heebie jeebies other than me? Yikes. Anyway, they keep getting creepier and creepier until Coraline has to fight her way out.
In a related note why can't my cats talk like the one in this book? They would be more interesting, even if they only said 'feed me'.
I also found from some preliminary poking that this is going to be an animated movie with Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. I have some problems with this. I know DF is really cute and talented but does she have to be in every child role ever? I also would like to see her tackle some older parts because I think she could really pull it off. Oooh, sorry, this is a book blog. But you can probably expect that I will talk about movies made from books I've read, just to let you know. But I think that the movie could be really cool, so I'll be sure to keep you updated.
This book was cool and creepy and definitely worth the short time it took to read.

Once Upon a Time Challenge

Okay, my lovelies. Your esteemed nerd has been invited to join a challenge. I'm so excited! The Once Upon a Time challenge is to read books that of the following genres: fantasy, fairy tales, mythology and folklore. And, of course, since the challenge ends in June ( the 21, in fact, this bloggers' birthday - coincidentally) Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Well, this girl loves a challenge, and this girl loves her fantasy, so: I'm totally in.
Here's some of the books I plan on reading for the challenge, but of course, I am open to suggestions:
In no particular order:
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
Strange Happenings by Avi
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Subtle Knife/Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
and of course:
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
knowing me, I will come up with others. I'm going to start tucking into these after I finish some of the Dresden Files books.
For more info on my nice new friends check out the the Once Upon a Time Challenge and Stainless Steel Droppings.