Gaiman/Midas - it's all the same to me. Everything the guy touches seems to turn to gold. I mean, he has pioneered a modern style of comic book writing, he stretches the boundaries of children's fiction, has co-produced an awarded winning film (based on a comic book he created!) and has a silky way of putting words onto a page. He has even written an episode of Doctor Who! Working my way through the recent World Book Day top 100 books, it was a no brainer which one to read next. The Graveyard Book is one that provides a sort of transition between children's and adult fiction - it appeals to both, in plot, style and presentation. Neil Gaiman writes what he ...  Read the complete review

PLOT The man Jack has a job to do and a whole family to kill. After finishing off the mother, father and eldest child he realises that their son is not in the crib he should be in. Having learnt how to walk at barely older than 1 years old he has escaped and gone for a midnight walk to the local graveyard, where the man Jack follows him to. However, having had his whole family just killed, and with a killer on his trail the residence of the graveyard decide to take in the toddler and he is adopted into one of the resident family to ensure his safety. The family in question are of course ghosts. Nobody Owens (Bod) is a young boy growing up in the ...  Read the complete review

This is another book from www.bookcrossing.com. It was in a bookring/ray and I decided to join it. You could say I was very stupid, based on the fact that I happened to have signed up on about 20 bookrings/rays, and that means I have to stop what ever book I'm currently reading and read that so that I can keep it on its travels. I ended up having 3 books, which were in either bookrings or book rays, and so I desperately needed to finish them! Neil Gaiman is a really good author and is an inspiration to everyone. But only last year, I had never came across such a name and an author. I have to thank one of you guys, because after watching "Stardust" ...  Read the complete review

I first saw this book when it was in hardback and couldn't wait for it to be released in paperback. The front cover and even the title make it look like it should be THE book every child wants to read. Then when I read the first chapter I thought I might change my mind. The horror of the murder of Nobody Owen's family, complete with gory descriptions of the bloody knife, was surely enough to give children nightmares. However, the children I shared this book with assured me they were not scared at all (just me then!) After this initial grab-the-reader opening, the story settles down a bit and you learn about Bod, as he is known, growing up in the graveyard and ...  Read the complete review

In the darkness, was a knife. Neil Gaiman's dark, witty and fantastically written children's book begins, as all children's books should, with a knife, and a murder. Well, more than one murder. It starts out with a young boy who, after escaping (as a toddler) the murder of his family by the mysterious Jack, crawls into a graveyard and is raised by ghosts. The book is divided into small episodes of the boy's life, growing up, meeting new people, getting into all kinds of adventures and everything building up to the final confrontation which will shape his future life forever. Nobody Owens, the protagonist, is aided by his guardian and mentor Silas, ...  Read the complete review