Welcome to Litsy!

I have been on a real short story kick all year long & one of my favorites was my reread of Gaiman's “Fragile Things.“ I wrote in a post several months ago about gems such as “A Study In Emerald,“ “October In the Chair,“ “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless etc,“ “Closing Time,“ “Bitter Grounds,“ “Instructions,“ “Feeders & Eaters,“ “How To Talk To Girls at Parties“ & “The Monarch of the Glen.“ These remain among the best I have read this year.

I read this in 2018 but had forgotten a lot of the pieces. I'm so happy that I revisited it as it is packed full with truly wonderful stories such as “A Study In Emerald,“ “October In the Chair,“ “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless etc,“ “Closing Time,“ “Bitter Grounds,“ “Instructions,“ “Feeders & Eaters,“ “How To Talk To Girls at Parties“ & “The Monarch of the Glen.“ Of the 4 story collections read this year this is def tied with Butler's as a fave

This Gaiman collection has been a good companion this morning while I wait for my individuals procedure to finish.

Very good book, short fictions, some for keepsakes, I recommend it.

📚 Tagged, Food: A Love Story/Jim Gaffigan, The Five/Hallie Rubenhold, From A Certain Point of View: A New Hope/Various Authors
✒ Alan Dean Foster, Philip Jose Farmer
📺 Friends 📽 The Fellowship of The Ring, The Fifth Element, The Frighteners, and Fright Night (1985)
🎙 Fleetwood Mac, The Fray
🎶 Flash(Queen), For Those About To Rock(AC/DC), Fire of Unknown Origin(Blue Oyster Cult)
#manicmonday #LetterF @CBee

Delightful time last night with my cousin taking in the words of Neil Gaiman! And managed to snag a signed copy of Fragile Things

Finished reading on 02 May 2021.

1. Yes, but usually genre stuff. Literary short stories tend to be a bit too stuffy for me.

2. Not anything official, just talking books on the podcast with Peter. I think a club needs more than two people. 😁

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView Thanks for the tag @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm

I love my #JolabokaflodSwap treats and the wrapping was so attractive! Loved the holographic print with the lime green ribbon! I can‘t wait to put my feet up and read while decadent milk chocolate melts in my mouth!!! Thank you @Mccall0113 so much for sleuthing out some books that I‘ve been dying to read! Now which to start!?!?

I think that I may be incapable of not adoring Gaiman...I LOVED this. During a stressful semester, I often turn to short stories and Gaiman never fails me. These stories are darker, so if that‘s not your jam, I get it. I loved October in the Chair the most. I didn‘t want it to end. Thank you, Neil, for being my literary equivalent to a warm bubble bath.

This is my pick for the #12ColoursOfChristmas EVERGREEN which i‘ve put aside as some comfort reading over the holiday break. I‘ve been so anxious at work lately, the familiarity of a neils writing will do good! +11

I wonder if Neil Gaiman was going through a bit darker time in his life while writing this. Some of the stories seemed a bit darker than his writing usually is. 🤔

I enjoed this a lot! All the stories were great. Some were just a bit more twisted than others. All in all guaranteed Gaiman.👍

I recently re-read Gaiman's Fragile Things, with “How to Talk to Girls at Parties“ which was turned into a movie so unlike the story, it's a wonder anyone paid rights for it. I suppose there are works you try not to pay rights for, and works you pay rights for, even if the result is devoid of any resemblance to the original.

#7days7books Day Five 🔮

We present here seven books that will remain in our minds, because they touched us so much, changed us. No further comments!

Thanks for the tag, @Eyelit !

@CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian , would you like to get on this train if you haven't already? 🚂

"Deep rumbles of thunder accompanied Shadow on his journey south: the storm grumbled, the wind howled, and the lightning made huge shadows across the sky, and in their company Shadow slowly began to feel less alone."

Neil Gaiman's words always always ALWAYS make me feel better and help ease anxiety! ???

#catsoflitsy #littenkitten #roxas

Okay, I didn‘t actually finish this book. I got about halfway through and couldn‘t finish. TOO DISTURBING. I‘ve liked all I‘ve read of Neil Gaiman (Graveyard Book, Stardust, Good Omens, Neverwhere), so I was kind of shocked at how disturbing these stories were. Seriously. The only story I liked was October in the Chair.

Reply here or tag me @Mandigolightly ! 📚 💜 📚

One more for #AuthorAMonth. I've read this one before and loved it, but I think I liked it even more on audiobook. It kept me great company for all the baking I had done for Thanksgiving.

@Soubhiville

This is a collection of stories and poems, from dark, twisty, bizarre, magical, to Twilight-zonish. Some I like, a few are confusing (for me), others unsatisfying because I feel they can be developed into a full length novel. Love Gaiman‘s imagination and writing. My favourites- A Study In Emerald, October In The Chair, Closing Time, The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch, How To Talk To Girls At Parties.
#AuthorAMonth

I hope to read #AShortStory or two this week from this collection by Neil Gaiman.

#GratefulReads @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

My #WeeklyForecast, I should finish Negative Gravity this week, it may be only 160 pages but I‘m taking lots of notes. Sadly not in print anymore so it‘s either fork out a fortune for a second hand copy or take notes from this library copy. I also hope to make some progress with the Neil Gaiman short story collection, and see if Demi Moore‘s memoir is as good as the reviews I‘ve read suggest.

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen

🍁Hope to finish the tagged book.
🍁Reread Neverwhere. Will read from this illustrated edition as it contains How The Marquis Got His Coat Back, which I‘ve not read and wasn‘t in the original novel.
🍁 Read the other three for #NFNov 🤞

#bookreport
✅ Dracula
✅ The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down #NFNov
✅ Cinnamon (impromptu read)
✅ Ten Days In A Madhouse #SerialReader #NFNov

Still reading the tagged book, a collection of short stories.

I was genuinely pleased to read this. Short fiction can be such a mixed bag, but I find that I‘m increasingly obsessed with it, and obviously Neil Gaiman is an absolute master at it

Monarch of the Glen: I haven‘t read American Gods yet, and I feel like I would probably have gotten more out of it if I had, but it was still so solid and moving. Plus I was glad to see the return of Smith and Alice. 4/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

Inventing Aladdin: Moving and thought provoking and perfect. I loved this one 5/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

Sunbird: You could really see where this one was going, but it didn‘t take away from how enjoyable the story was 4/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

The Day The Saucers Came: light and funny, reminded me a lot of a child wiggling out of something 3/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

How to talk to girls at parties: vaguely trite but a lot of fun 3/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

Pages From a Journal Found in a Shoebox... : lovely story about longing and travel and Americana, I thought 4/5 ⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

Goliath: As far as I‘m concerned, this is the perfect short story. I love the narrative style here, love the jarring way the story buffers and starts over, and the bittersweet way it ends

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

In the End: had a lovely circular feel to it, and reminded me a bit of Good Omens

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

Diseasemaker‘s Croup: so-so story-wise but I liked the medical-journal style here

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 3

@Reggie have you been tagged yet? Just post a cover you love, each day for 7 days. No explanation needed; use the hashtags 😊

Feeders and Eaters: Pretty good, in that creepy old lady way, and it had quite a solid ending...but then added something random at the end that didn‘t seem to fit 3/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot: super fresh, great ambiance for such a start-stop style 5/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

My Life: Eh, I think this is another one that‘s just...meant for a different target demographic. 1/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

How Do You Think It Feels?: this one was likable because it was so unlikable. I enjoyed that contrast 4/5⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

Instructions: it was so-so, but I kind of felt like it wasn‘t saying anything 2/5 ⭐️

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)

The Problem of Susan: The whole reason I picked this book up was to read this story, and it was definitely not what I expected. In the intro, Gaiman talked about wanting to write something that was as problematic as Lewis‘s treatment of Susan and he certainly achieved that. I‘m left not knowing whether I like it or not

(Fragile Things is a short story collection, and that‘s always weird for review, so I‘m rating each story separately)