Reading in Reykjavík

I read the first three books of Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series last year, after coming across an irresistibly priced boxed set of them in a charity shop. I loved them. I couldn't really say which was my favourite, but I knew I wanted more and the ending of Abhorsen suggested there were more, so I did my research and got my mother to buy a copy of Goldenhand for me on one of her trips abroad. I then came across a second-hand copy of this book, Across the Wall , a collection of short stories by Nix, and knowing it contained a story that takes place between Abhorsen and Goldenhand , I promptly bought it. However, it took me a while to start reading it. The stories are a varied collection and only the first, "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case" is an Old Kingdom story, so it was a fun introduction to Nix's other writing. Nix seems to be first and foremost a children's and young adult writer, and from what I've read about him, the Old Kingdom ...

I'm only counting this as half a book, as it's really a short story (there is also a novel, but I haven't read that). The only reason I'm writing about it at all is that it's such a poignant, though-provoking story. Actually, this isn't going to be a review, let alone a reading journal entry, because I tried to write down some non-spoilery reading thoughts about this story, and ended up with what amounted to a very spoilery summary, so rather than ruin the story for someone, I simply will leave off here with two questions: I remember watching, long ago, a movie or TV show episode about a similar experiment, but one that ends quite differently, with the Charlie-esque character going insane, escaping his body and going digital. If anyone remember such a movie/TV show, I would like to know the title of it. Note that I may be mashing up two different films here, so vague is my memory of this. Secondly, if you have read both the novel and the short story: does ...

Originally published in April 2005, on my original 52 Books blog. I just finished reading this collection of short stories and poetry by Neil Gaiman. Previously, I had read Stardust , Neverwhere , American Gods , Good Omens (collaboration with Terry Pratchett) and the Sandman comics and enjoyed all of them, as well as his illustrated children’s books, Coraline and The Wolves in the Walls . (I don't have the book with me, so there may be some errors in the story titles below.) The stories and poems in this collection are mostly fantasy, and in fact there are stories for lovers of just about any subgenre of fantasy. You will find humorous stories (Chivalry, Bay Wolf, Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar), dark stories (Only the end of the world again, The White Road), supernatural stories (The wedding present, The daughter of owls, Black cat), weird stories (Eaten alive, The facts in the disappearance of Miss Finch), folkloric stories (Troll bridge, The white road, Snow, glass, apples), d...

Originally published in February 2005, in 2 parts. Book 52 in my first 52 books challenge. Edited out some stuff unrelated to the review. Author: Jhumpa Lahiri Year publishe d: 1999 Pages: 198 Genre: Literature, short stories Where got: Second hand This book had been waiting on my TBR shelf for nearly a year when I finally read it. I had forgotten about it until I visited the Lonely Planet online forum, the Thorn Tree, like I do 2-3 times a week. On the Women’s Branch there was a book discussion going on, and the original poster and several others highly recommended this book. I thought, “Hey, I have this!” and decided there and then that it was about time I read it. Looking over the list of books in the 52 books challenge, I realised I had not read any short stories, so it was perfect to end the challenge with this short story collection. It won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 2000. Reading progress: I have been reading 1-2 stories from Interpreter of Maladies per ...

Halloween is tomorrow, and since most of my readers are located in the USA, where it is celebrated in a big way, I decided to recommend some spooky short stories to get into the Halloween mood. They are all fairly short and would, I think, be perfect for reading aloud to a group on Halloween. Much as I would have liked to include The Willows or The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood, they are simply too long to be read aloud in one session. I basically made a random choice of stories by Poe, James and King, because they have all written some really scary stuff. I have tried to include some variety, so you will find a mixture of horror, suspense, scary and creepy stories, some paranormal or supernatural, some psychological, others fantastical. I make no claims as to their being the best of anything, merely that they would make good Halloween reading. “Oh Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M. R. James. Ghost story. The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs. Magic. A hoary old clas...

About 10 years ago, as I waited in a Canadian airport lounge for my flight to be announced, I found some unused Canadian currency in my pockets and went to browse in the airport stores to find something on which to spend the money. I chose a small bottle of Canadian maple syrup, and then decided to get a book to read on the plane. Among all the usual bestsellers and other typical airport books, I found a small shelf of Canadian literature and gave it a browse. One of the books I picked up had a whimsical image on the front, of a block of small shops. The title was Home from the Vinyl Café and the author was Stuart McLean. I opened the book and found myself engrossed in reading a story of a hapless husband charged with cooking the turkey for the family's Christmas meal and running into all sorts of difficulties, starting with forgetting to buy the turkey. I promptly bought the book and read most of the short stories therein on the flight home, with frequent giggles and stifled laug...

Year published: 1995 Genre: Fiction, short stories Setting & time: USA (and Mexico), mostly the south, 1940s to 1990s This is my fifth and final read for the From the Stacks challenge. Ellen Gilchrist has been writing short stories about the indomitable Rhoda Manning for most of her career as a writer and the stories in this book are collected from previous short story collections, with excerpts from one novel. They are arranged in chronological order so that they form a collection of sketches of Rhoda's life from the age of 10 until she is a grandmother in her fifties. The stories are not always consistent with details of Rhoda's family and the chronology of her life, which is probably due to the fact that the stories were written over a period of 15 years and were never meant to be read together. Of the stories, the ones I found the most entertaining were the ones about Rhoda's childhood and teens. She has a spirit of rebelliousness and a streak of independence a...

Angela Carter was a brilliant short story writer and often used mythological or folk tale themes in her stories. Years ago I read another collection of her stories, Fireworks: Nine profane pieces , as part of a course on modern British literature, and was captivated by her use of language and the interweaving of folk tale elements and feminist themes into a rich web full of mystery and magic realism. The stories in this collection are all variations on folk tales, with the exception of one story which owes more to modern vampire mythology. As the title suggests, there is a take on the Bluebeard story. Other folk tales readers may recognise are “Beauty and the Beast”, “Puss-in-Boots”, "Snow White" and “Little Red Riding Hood”. Carter reworks these stories into tales about strong, smart and, for the most part, resourceful women who know how to turn men’s desires to their advantage (for the most part: the protagonist of “The Bloody Chamber” doesn’t have a clue). Most of the sto...