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Tag: Neil Gaiman

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Cover art illustrated by Dave McKean

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Pages: 201 pages (Lyra’s Books Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 31,000 words

Published: 2nd July 2002 by Harper Collins


Coraline is the best book by Neil Gaiman that I’ve read. And maybe, all this time, I might have picked the wrong Neil Gaiman books to read.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Oct 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Oct 2022

Hello all, and welcome to my Spooky October monthly wrap-up where I had been reading books within the horror genre.   I did make a couple of changes to my reading list for the month, and was also not able to read as many titles as I wanted to as one of these changes resulted in chonker of a story which surprisingly turned out to be much better than I’ve anticipated.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Best Reads of 2021

TS’s Best Reads of 2021

This is my journey in books for 2021!

Hi everyone, TS here!  Firstly, I’d like to acknowledge that I’ve been inconsistent in my blogging/reviewing on Novel Notions this year.   I couldn’t find the energy or will or brain-power as I found myself in a new expanded role at work that has a challenging learning curve, and discovered that I enjoy cooking and baking (even embarked on sourdough) so much that I started spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

I did manage to meet my reading challenge of 100 books this year regardless, and it’s probably the most diverse year of reading that I’ve had in my entire life.   While fantasy remains my favourite genre for its sense of wonder, I found myself gravitating a lot towards mysteries this year, and also reading a lot more non-fiction.

I’ve decided to organise my best reads of 2021 a bit differently from prior years, somewhat thematically instead of the usual parameters and rankings.

And we’ll start with….

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Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman


The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Ocean at the End of the Lane was the very first Gaiman book I ever read. I’ve sense read nearly everything he’s written, and have discovered that my favorite way to ingest his stories is via audio when he reads the books himself. His voice is divine, and I’ve found that listening to him tell his own stories adds to the magic for me. So what better way to revisit the novel that first charmed me into reading his work than by trying it on audio? It was the right decision. I was once again transported into this nameless boy’s childhood adventures, and Gaiman’s voice merely added to the charm of the tale.

“Words save our lives, sometimes.”

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American Gods

American Gods

American GodsAmerican Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mythology has always entranced me. Greek or Egyptian, Norse or Celtic, any myth I’ve ever come across has interested me, especially considering what each myth says about the culture it stems from and how said culture sees the world. Myths are man’s way of explaining the world and its phenomena to himself. How the world was created, why there are droughts and floods, how the tiger got its stripes or the elephant its trunk, are all things that man has attempted to explain through myths.

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