Neverwhere and Beyond Retrospective & Winners

neverwhereToday is the last day of November, signaling the close of my Neverwhere and Beyond month. Despite the burnout I felt toward the end of the month, I am so glad that I came up with the idea and followed through on it. I had wanted to do more, but given the circumstances of my job and home life, I am pleased with what I did accomplish. I have found that I enjoy Neil Gaiman’s writing more than I hoped that I would.

Here are links to the reviews of the novels I did read this month.  I’m listing them in the order I read them.  Interestingly enough, that is also the order in which I liked them, too.

The Graveyard Book

Neverwhere

Coraline

Stardust

Although Stardust is at the bottom of this list, please do not take that to mean I didn’t like it.  I found it as good or better than most of the other books I’ve read this year.  There is no doubt that I will remember the characters and their stories for a long time to come.  I truly think that I would have liked it even better had I not been on a Neil Gaiman binge. LOL!

For once, I’d like to announce the winners of my contest on schedule.  I know, I’m shocked myself…

First, let me announce the last two winners of my WWNR bookmarks: Sandy and Pam R.  Congratulations!  Sandy, I have your address, but Pam, I need yours.

Now for the Neverwhere and Beyond prizes:

Individual Coraline Bookmarks

I will send email notifications to all of my Coraline bookmark winners.  Suffice to say, if you entered the contest, you almost probably  won a bookmark.

Coraline Bookmark for you and 50 for your local library

Amanda from A Bookshelf Monstrosity! I think that it’s appropriate that a librarian-to-be wins this prize. :)  Please send me your address and the address of your library of choice, I’ll send them on their way.  I will of course let your library know that you sent them your way. :)

Neil Gaiman Poster

Zia from My Life in Not So Many Words!  Congratulations!  I have your address, so I’ll be ordering the poster and sending it your way.

Coraline DVDs

1 each for Piroska and Micheal Herdegen!  Congratulations to both of you!  I have both of your addresses, so I’ll package the DVDs up and send them to you this week.

Grand Prize Winner (1 of each of the books I read or planned to read)

Jill from Rhapsody in Books!  Congratulations, Jill!  Please send me your address.  I don’t think I have it yet.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Neverwhere and Beyond.  It was a great month!

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November 30, 2009 | Filed Under Neverwhere and Beyond | 8 Comments 

Too Much of a Good Thing?

neverwhereYes, I do think that there can be too much of a good thing. While reading Stardust, I figured out that reading four books might be too much to ask of any author. There was no reason for me not to connect with Tristran or Yvaine that I can think of, but I didn’t. I really think that I ran into author fatigue. It makes sense, too. I’m not much of a series reader because of similar reasons. I need something new. I’ll even take that a step further. I get tired of stand-alone books within the same genre or time period as well. From what I’ve been able to gather on Twitter, I’m not alone in this.

When I first conceived of Neverwhere and Beyond month, I decided that I would read Neverwhere, American Gods, Stardust, The Graveyard Book, Coraline, and Fragile Things. To date, I’ve read all by American Gods and Fragile Things. I had been saving American Gods for last because I’ve heard it is amazing. Fragile Things get’s iffier reviews overall, so I fear that reading it might put me full-fledged into a Neil Gaiman funk. I don’t want that. Also, I don’t want overload to take away from my reading experience with American Gods. More than anything else, I want to be in full-on anticipation mode when I pick up that book.  I don’t want that to change.

So, I think I’m going to hold off reading those until later to give myself some time and space. This will also be a lesson learned for next year. I’m hoping to make October or November a spotlight month for a new-to-me author. I enjoyed my spotlight on Erika Mailman in 2008 and I have enjoyed Neil Gaiman this year. Going forward, I might spread it out over two months or just select fewer books. The key thing is to keep things interesting.

Leave a comment to this post for a chance to win one of the last two WWNR (I decided in the end that “What Would Neil Read” was better than WWND) bookmarks I’ve made. I promise to publish the pictures this weekend. If you leave a comment you can also enter to win one of the many prizes available during Neverwhere and Beyond Month. Use code: N&B-2Much.

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November 25, 2009 | Filed Under Books, Neverwhere and Beyond | 15 Comments 

#212 ~ Neverwhere

Cover of Neverwhere

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neverwhere is the story of Richard, a good man who seems to be meandering through his life without much of his own purpose or direction.  He is engaged to Jessica, an almost domineering woman who is happy to treat him as if he isn’t good enough for her.  Richard seems readily oblivious to her personality until he finds a bloody, beaten young woman lying on a London street on the way to a dinner with Jessica’s boss.  When he takes the decision to pick this unknown girl up and take her to his apartment where she can be safe, Jessica is furious and ends their engagement.  He had no idea at the time that there would be such dangerous and complicated implications resulting from his decision to be a Good Samaritan.  Whether Richard took his fiance’s threat seriously, bringing Door back to his apartment alters his life forever.  Door was from the London Below and as a result of his involvement with her and the two bounty hunters from Below, Richard is no longer a part of the London Above.  Nor is he fully a part of Door’s world.  He needs to shake himself out of his sluggish approach to life in order to survive.

I am the type of person who loves to delight in the mayhem caused by the bad guys.  It’s nearly a love to hate type of situation.  Not every dark character makes me feel this way, though.  The miscreant must be  crafty, intelligent, and have just a tad bit of an advantage over the hero or heroine.  These are the malfeasants that force the hero or heroine to reach deep within themselves to rise to the occasion.  As with The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman proves in Neverwhere that he is a master at bringing to live some of the most wonderful villains.  Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemaar, London Below’s most talented assassins tasked with the the apprehension and murder of Door, were nothing short of a delight for me.  They kept Richard, Door, and Hunter on their toes and always kept a step ahead of them.  Their cocky impatience brought a smile to my face and their dialog was in many ways the highlight of this novel for me.

The more I think ab0ut Neverwhere, the more I compare it to the basic storyline of the movie “The Wizard of Oz.”

  • After taking action to help or protect someone else, both Richard and Dorothy find themselves in an unfamiliar world whose rules are foreign and oftentimes frightening.
  • Both novels include a small band of the most unlikely characters with their own motivations on the same dangerous quest at the request of a magical entity.
  • All Richard and Dorothy want is to go back home.

While there isn’t always a direct connection between Dorothy and Richard, they both are forced to face their greatest fears from both the outside world and within themselves in order to survive these foreign worlds and keep any hope of ever returning home, a place they never fully appreciated in the first place.  Without forcibly being removed from their comfort zones, they never would have  lived up to their full potential.  Dorothy would have spent her life on the farm dreaming of those better places over the rainbow while Richard would have continued to go through the motions of his life.  Richard and Dorothy needed their journeys.  It was their salvation.

neverwhereThis novel is the first book I’ve ever owned by Neil Gaiman. It was gifted to my by the lovely Jena from Muse Book Reviews. She sent it to me along with a copy of American Gods in hopes that I could get his autograph. Unfortunately, that never happened, but I treasured the book nonetheless. Now, I can also say that I treasure the story as well.  I have found this month that I’m not too old for the fantastical.

To enter for a chance to win the prizes for this theme month, leave a comment here and then go to the Neverwhere and Beyond page and use the following code: N&B-R2.

Other Reviews

Just A Reading Fool

If you’ve reviewed this novel, please let me now and I’ll add a link to your review, too!

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November 16, 2009 | Filed Under Neverwhere and Beyond, book review, fiction, male author | 19 Comments 

WWND Bookmark Winners

neverwhereThanks to everyone who wished Neil Gaiman a happy birthday on the 10th.  I’ve drawn the winners of the as-of-yet-still-in-the-dream-phase WWND bookmarks and ALA Coraline bookmarks:

Zia from My Life in Not So Many Words

Amy from Ramblings of a Librarian Assitant

Congratulations, Ladies!  I hope to have those bookmarks designed and posted online for my Sunday Salon post.  I’ll get them sent to you in the mail as soon as I can.  Please email me with your mailing address and we’re good to go!

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November 12, 2009 | Filed Under Neverwhere and Beyond | 5 Comments 

They Say It’s Your Birthday, Neil!

birthdaycakeToday is “The Neil’s” birthday!

Here at The Literate Housewife Review, we wish Neil Gaiman the happiest of days.  I have only read two of his books as of today (The Graveyard Book and Neverwhere – review coming Friday).  I’m looking forward to even more in the month ahead.

In celebration of this momentous day, two lucky people who leave a comment within the next 24 hours wishing our man of the month a happy birthday will win a Coraline bookmark (see prizes post) as well as a hand made “WWND” (What Would Neil Do) bookmark that I’m making.  I don’t have the prototypes completed, but I think they’ll be appropriate for the author and subject matter. LOL!

All those who leave comments on this post can also enter for the big drawing (again, see prizes post) at the end of the month.  The code is N&B-HB.

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November 10, 2009 | Filed Under Neverwhere and Beyond | 18 Comments 

TSS ~ Neverwhere and Beyond Prizes

The Sunday Salon.com

neverwhereI’m finally and truly back in the swing of things and getting geared up for this month’s theme:  Neverwhere and Beyond.  I announced it on Monday and will have a full week of coverage next week.  I promised a post about the prizes and I think they’re pretty darn exciting.

Instead of holding several different contests throughout the month, I’m going to give out all of the prizes on December 1st.  I’ve created a separate page for signing up using Mr. Linky.  You can go there for the logistics, but you’ll basically get one entry per comment per any post that displays the Neverwhere and Beyond graphic and a bolded code number at the bottom.  Check out my introductory post for its code.  I’ve updated that post.  I’ll use the code number to identify the post and then verify that the winner did leave a comment before awarding a prize.  Verifying only the winning entries will be easier than verifying each entry.  This is a trial to see if this seems to work well for everyone.  Please feel free to let me know what you think via email.

Without any further ado, here they are the prizes up for grabs during Neverwhere and Beyond month:

1 Coraline bookmark (25 winners)

I ordered these bookmarks from the American Library Association because I thought they were adorable.  They come in packs of 100.   I wanted to include a picture here, but the image is funky from the ALA’s website.  Here is a picture:

coralinebookmark

51 Coraline bookmarks  (one for the winner and 50 for the public library of the winner’s choice)

1 Neil Gaiman poster (1 winner)

This poster is from the ALA as well.  Here is picture:

NeilGaimanPoster

1 Copy of the 3D version of the movie Coraline (2 winners)

Cover of Coraline DVD

Grand Prize:  A collection of each of the Neil Gaiman books I review this month (1 winner)

Jennifer from Book Club Girl has graciously provided a copy of each of the Neil Gaiman books I’m reviewing this month!  Thank you so much, Jennifer!  This collection will include (covers may vary):

The Graveyard Book

Cover of The Graveyard Book

Neverwhere

Cover of Neverwhere

American Gods

Cover of Ameican Gods

Stardust

Cover of Stardust

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders

Cover of Fragile Things

Coraline

Cover of Coraline

To enter for a chance to win these prizes, go to the Neverwhere and Beyond page and use the following code: N&B-P.
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November 8, 2009 | Filed Under Neverwhere and Beyond, book giveaway | 11 Comments 

Neverwhere and Beyond: The Literate Housewife Discovers Neil Gaiman

neverwhere

Until I made plans to attend the National Book Festival in 2008, I had never heard of Neil Gaiman.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  Emily, one of the girls’ baby sitters read them The Day I Swapped My Dad for a Goldfish before then, but that doesn’t count because I wasn’t paying attention.  Sometimes the damnedest things happen when you’re not paying attention. Others like Jena and my husband were so excited that he was going to be there.  In fact, Jena ordered me a copy of Neverwhere and herself a copy of American Gods in hopes of getting his autograph.  I was excited to get his autograph because Jena was excited.  Then I discovered something about Neil Gaiman that made me freak out ever so little.  Ever since I became a Tori Amos fan, I wondered who “Neil” was.  Thanks to the power of the Internet and Wikipedia, I found out that Neil Gaiman is THE NEIL!  If I remember correctly, I discovered this the night before the festival because I was hoping to have something intelligent to say to him.  It took me quite some time and an odd look from Danny to veto the idea of bringing my liner notes from “Little Earthquakes” so he could sign them.  I’m shameless, I know.

Neil was at the festival promoting his Newberry Award winning novel, The Graveyard Book.  He was speaking when Danny and I arrived on site.  We walked near that tent, but we really couldn’t hear what he was saying.  Besides, why would I be all that interested in a children’s book anyway?  Yeah, the damnedest things happen when you make assumptions, too.  Honestly though, I was very intent on getting to the Fiction tent for Philippa Gregory.  Regular readers will not be surprised by that one bit…

After listening to Philippa, which I loved, Danny and I headed over to the book signing area.  Being a NBF virgin, I happily assumed I’d get most of the autographs I wanted, Neil’s, Salman Rushdie’s, James McBride’s, and Philippa’s with little problem. I was wrong.  Very wrong.  We first went to Neil’s line and I was shocked by how many snakes there were in his queue.  He had initially agreed to signing books for an hour or an hour and a half.  Because there were so many people wanting to meet him, he agreed to extend his book signing until the end of the festival.  Even though Danny waited in his line while I got smart and got in Philippa’s, we never did get his autograph.  I was impressed by him as a person all the same.

Photo by Philippe Matsas

Photo by Philippe Matsas

Later on, our beloved Dewey passed away.  She was a huge Neil Gaiman fan.  I’m not sure how it came about, but those involved with the movie “Coraline” sent Dewey’s family a box of memorabilia.  When her husband posted about the box, he mentioned that he wished that Neil knew how much his wife loved him.  I wish I could link to this, but her site is no longer available.   Neil left a comment on his post and I will never forget that.  It was then that I decided I needed to make reading his work a priority. So many people think he’s a brilliant writer.  From the little I have observed of him, I think he’s a wonderful human being.

After learning that his birthday is in November (11/10 to be exact), I decided that I would dedicate November of 2009 to his work.  Since I had never read any of his work, I could easily devote an entire month to reading his novels.  I originally planned to post only Neil Gaiman-specific content this month, but I’m not sure how practical that is.  “Neverwhere and Beyond” will, however, most definitely be my theme for the month.  I will be reading and reviewing the following books:

The Graveyard Book (finished early)
Neverwhere
American Gods
Fragile Things
Stardust
Coraline

I will also be reading the following to my daughters this month:

Crazy Hair
The Dangerous Alphabet
The Day I Swapped My Dad for a Goldfish
Blueberry Girl

I cannot tell you how excited I am now that November is here!  Tuesday I’ll post a little more about how others are getting involved in Neverwhere and Beyond and, of course, prizes.  If you haven’t already gotten to know this author, why not join me?

*******

To enter for a chance to win these prizes, go to the Neverwhere and Beyond page and use the following code: N&B-I.

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November 2, 2009 | Filed Under Books, Neverwhere and Beyond | 27 Comments 

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