Category Archives: Gothic/Horror

Book Reviews, Fantasy, Gothic/Horror, Mystery, Short Stories

Fragile Things Group Read, Week Four

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(Cave Girl, by Frank Frazetta)

Fear not, you are in the right place. Trust me, the image of the savage beauty is indeed relevant for this week’s discussion of the assigned stories for the group read of Neil Gaiman’s short story collection, Fragile Things.

Last week’s reading was my journey through the darkness, as that section of the book is among my least favorite. And yet all told there were things in 3 of the 4 selections that I really liked and not surprisingly the discussion for last week’s selections was rich and rewarding. As an avowed Neil Gaiman fan it was fun to actually explore some of his stories that just don’t do it for me and it was equally enjoyable to see how some of those stories stood out to the other readers. This joint reading experience has been a rewarding part of my September and I hope it has been for everyone else as well. And we have one more month of Gaiman short story conversations.

Life is Good.

Consider this your OSW: Obligatory Spoiler Warning.

Let’s talk short fiction.

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Book Reviews, Fantasy, Gothic/Horror, Mystery, Short Stories

Fragile Things Group Read, Week Three

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I am a fan of Neil Gaiman. If you’ve been around this blog for any length of time, that much is obvious. But I am a fan of him because of his work, not a fan of his work simply because it is written by Neil Gaiman. That is an important distinction. There is (gasp!) work that Neil Gaiman has done that I am not a fan of, for one reason or another. His collaboration with Michael Reaves, Interworld, comes to mind. As do some of the short stories in his collections Angels and Visitations, Smoke and Mirrors, and this one too.

While I do not understand it when anyone says that Neil Gaiman is a “bad writer” (a position I find indefensible) I do understand completely when people say that they cannot connect with him or his stories. I understand that when I read some of his short stories that do nothing for me. I understand it even more when his short stories make me angry (you’ll have to wait for a coming week to find out about that). This week’s selections are far from my favorites. I will readily admit that in my normal re-readings of Fragile Things I often skip these altogether. I am truly hoping I am a rare exception in this and that some of you liked these and will talk them up. If not, please know that the collection does turn around. There are great stories to come. And if you did like these, don’t be shy, tell us all why that is the case.

Do I have to remind you that there might be spoilers ahead? Yes I do, because I want to be a conscientious blogger.

And here we go.

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Book Reviews, Fantasy, Gothic/Horror, Mystery

Storm Front Group Read, Part 1

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“My ad looks like this:”

HARRY DRESDEN–WIZARD

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment

“You’d be surprised how many people call just to ask me if I’m serious”.





When I was tossing around group read ideas with friends for the R.I.P Challenge, my friend Jeff mentioned that he really wanted to give Jim Butcher a try. I have said many times that it is pitiful for me to have worked in the city which Jim Butcher calls home for over a decade and not have read one of Butcher’s novels. A number of us experienced the work of Patrick Rothfuss for the first time earlier this year and in a couple of different venues recently he has sung the praises of Jim Butcher’s Dresden books.

Just like fellow bloggers get enticed by the books that other bloggers like, it is easy to be tempted by the books loved by our favorite authors, new and old.

And so here we are, just finished with the first section of Jim Butcher’s first Dresden Files book, Storm Front. While Storm Front does not have the depth of other recent group reads (Dune, The Way of Kings), it is a refreshingly fun, fast-paced novel and I am glad we are reading it together.

As with all group reads, spoilers may be present in the posts and comments.

You’ve been warned. 🙂

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Book Reviews, Fantasy, Gothic/Horror, Mystery

Fragile Things Group Read, Week 2

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“It seemed like a fine title for a book of short stories. There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts.”

As dawn breaks on this chilly (almost) Autumn Sunday, I sit here with a contented smile on my face, ready to put the finishing touches on Week 2 of our group discussion of Neil Gaiman’s short story collection, Fragile Things. We had a great discussion last week which has me even more excited about this week’s four selected stories.

By way of spoiling my forthcoming thoughts on the four stories for this week, there were no misses for me in this week’s grouping either. I like them to varying degrees, but all were stories I enjoyed the first time I read them and I enjoy them even more now.

And speaking of “spoiling”, the Fragile Things Group Read encourages an in-depth discussion of the stories in question, so spoilers will be present in the posts of participants, to varying degrees, and also in the discussion.

Enough preamble, let’s talk Gaiman!

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Book Reviews, Fantasy, Gothic/Horror, Mystery, Poetry, Short Stories

Fragile Things Group Read, Week 1

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“I think…that I would rather recollect a life mis-spent on fragile things, than spent avoiding moral debt.”

“Stories, like people and butterflies and songbirds’ eggs and human hearts and dreams, are also fragile things, made up of nothing stronger than twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks…But some stories, small, simple ones about setting out on adventures or people doing wonders, tales of miracles and monsters, have outlasted all the people who told them, and some have outlasted the lands in which they were created.”

It is my great pleasure to be hosting a group read of Neil Gaiman’s short story collection, Fragile Things. 32 stories (including the Introduction and its special surprise)–Four stories each week for Eight weeks. I like the symmetry of that. I also like that it is a manageable task set amidst all that one has to fit into a 24 hour day. Short stories are best savored slowly, a lesson I have yet to properly learn, being a person who tends to gobble them up like sweets.

The expectations are few: read the stories and share whatever you want about them, good or bad, simple or profound, erudite or concise. The idea is not to limit yourself to non-spoiler conversation, so I’ll caution those who follow along here and elsewhere. If you plan to experience these stories for yourself it may be best to do so before reading these posts.

For those who are participating and those who have read these stories before and those who just feel inspired because of the conversation, please share whatever you so choose. I look forward to talking Neil Gaiman with you over the next eight Sundays.

Let us begin.

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