I'm so happy Coraline is so high on the list. my dad was telling me to read it since I was a kid and I kept putting it off until I picked it up in my school library and just started reading it. I don't read too much because of my insanely short attention span but this was one of few books I won't hesitate to read more than once.
My version of Good Omens has an interview with Prattchet and Gaiman and they actually specified that they couldn’t even remember which parts of the book were written by whom-they would do a relay where Gaiman wrote a scene, called up Prattchet and he would continue that, and so on. Gaiman did write a lot of the children’s sections, but everything else was a 50:50 according to them.
I love good omens and Coraline I’ve always been a lover of dark children’s literature and dark humour in general! Thanks for the video as I can add more books to my TBR list
Literally about halfway through his catalogue right now. Started ocean at the end of the lane today. I have a soft spot for the graveyard book, and absolutely love American Gods but Coraline is a classic!
Wow, this has gotta be like a sign or something. Literally just bought a copy of American Gods yesterday! My first foray into Gaiman's work; thought I'd hit The Big One right out the gate. Fantasy just really isn't usually my thing, but Gaiman is such a big name I just had to give him a try. Here's hoping I like it!
Oh I do hope you enjoy it! I struggle with high fantasy these days as well. But what has always kept me enjoying Gaiman is that he's more urban fantasy/fairy tale/mythology. This keeps things more experimental and strange.
@@WillowTalksBooks Yeah, the softer, lower fantasy I can get into a little easier. Coincidentally, I'm actually in the middle of The Once and Future King right now. Once I wrap that up, I'mma roll right into Gaiman.
Odd and the Frost Giants was originally a World Book Day £1 book which is why it was reissued. Stardust was originally a four part comic illustrated by Charles Vess. But in prose with illustrations rather than comic style. I've never read it without the illustrations but I don't think it would be as enjoyable without. The first short story collection might have been Angels and Visitations but it wasn't reprinted for whatever reasons. Most if not all of the stories from Angels and Visitations are in the other collections. Nicholas Was is exactly 100(?) words created originally as a Christmas card. Good Omens isn't split so linearly between the two authors, they both wrote throughout the book. Neverwhere was originally a six part BBC TV series which didn't really have the budget so Gaiman wrote the novel to make up for it. I am so old 🤣 Gaiman was a huge influence on me too, and I was around to know the stories behind and to have bought the original versions of some of them. Sandman was complete when I discovered it as a student, but only just... My top books would be different, but I love children's books. Sorry for the essay, I enjoyed the video and thought you might want to know some of the history.
Wow thanks for the history lesson! (That sounds like sarcasm; it's not). I definitely knew and then forgot about the origins of Neverwhere but the rest was all new and very interesting!
Absolutely love your channel man! I was unsure where to start with Mr. Gaiman. I suppose I will go big and start with American Gods! Also, love that hair and nail paint!
What do you think of the American Gods television show? I really liked the first season, and then it kind of gradually went downhill. I’m curious how similar it is to the book, as I might want to give the book a try.
As I make my way through Gaiman's works, my favorite is still Coraline. It's dark, whimsical, spooky, quirky, morbid, and fun. I don't know which I love more, the book or the movie. Probably just love them equally because they are both awesome.
For a kids' book/YA with a similar vibe to Coraline can I recommend Poison by Chris Wooding? It's a brilliant, creepy, meta fairy tale that blew my tiny preteen mind and really stands up (I think) but no one ever seems to have heard of it. :( Storm Thief by the same author is also a great teen dystopian, gothic, tech-punk alternate history with a fantastic concept. :)
Oohhh, if you enjoy Norse mythology-inspired things you should read the Tales from the Wyrd Museum trilogy by Robin Jarvis! It's a middle grade horror series which gets pretty dark, if I remember rightly. I read it when I was a kid and really enjoyed it, though I have a feeling there might be some problematic content I didn't pick up on back then. If you have/do read it I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!
The only Gaiman I’ve read is Ocean at the End of the Lane. I thought it was decent, not great. Good to know it’s a middle of the road Gaiman and there’s better out there (which I suspected, tbh). American Gods sounds like a book that would be terrible in the hands of a lesser writer. The fact that he makes it work is fascinating to me.
Ocean is perfectly middle-of-the-road for sure. What makes American Gods work is the fact that it confidently blends his knowledge of world mythology with this dark and meandering road trip across the US. The only downside is that Shadow is a painfully bland protagonist, which is actually an ongoing problem with Gaiman. His protags are such lacklustre people.
I have a weird relationship with Neil Gaiman's books. Some of them I absolutely adore, some of them seriously weirded me out and some others set me in such a strange mood that I had to stop reading for a while. All in all, I do love his books (and his voice, lol) I haven't read that many yet but he's definitely a favourite.
It’s interesting hearing your take on why the Stardust movie is better than the book. The book is one of my favorites by Gaiman and I don’t like the movie at all. I read the book first so maybe that’s related.
The first book of his i read was stardust, silly me. I had gotten it to read to my 4yr old because i loved the movie before. Luckily she couldn't read so it was easy to skip over that sex scene. I just finished American Gods though and loved it 😊.
Stardust was my fist Neil Gaiman book in my late teens. The misogyny was pretty awful but still it got me enough understanding of Gaimans writing that i still read the other ones because this dreamy fairytale “vibe”.
The misogyny in that book feels off considering how progressive he is in everything else. So much great trans and nonbinary representation in the Sandman comics. Still, characters don’t have to be likeable!
Thank you for the video. American Gods is a fantastic read. Watched a few of the TV show and the pace was different and too many changes. For a fan of the book I cannot recommend the show.
Top notch list. I won't disagree with any of your rankings, though there are a few I haven't read yet. And if I'm being completely honest, CDI kind of soured me on The Graveyard Book a little bit.
Gosh, I made this video like 25 years ago so I have no idea what I said, but I've always had my issues with her. She wrote a song about trans people that hasn't aged well. She's big on Patreon despite being rich and having an even richer husband. On the flip side, I also really loved her book. It was a huge inspiration for me. And I've enjoyed a lot of her music, and her body-positivity advocacy. As you can tell I'm conflicted lol
@@WillowTalksBooks oh oh she's one of those. ( TERF types?) On Wikipedia I found her body positivity attitude that's why I was curious.. I guess you win some you lose some.
I don't think she's a TERF. I think she wrote a song that was critical of transitioning twenty years ago and likely feels differently now, but I've also personally seen (via social media) the damage that song did to some trans people. So I remain very conflicted when it comes to her.
Sometimes. Actually, the stories in Fragile Things are a bit more that kind of speed/atmosphere. Smoke and Mirrors is more dark and twisted fairy tales. There's one about a jack-in-a-box that really chilled my bones.
How you gon say “it’s written by a white man” dude YOU ARE A WHITE MAN 🤣🤣🤣 stop allowing your bias love for being gay affect how you interpret a good story You can be gay and not be offended by story telling it’s not “homophobic” just cause it paints a narrative or character in a particular light . It’s apart of the story you really missed the whole point of Neil’s writing I think you read books from a gay pov instead of just reading it neutral Everything doesn’t have to affirm or align with your lifestyle for it to be a good story Try rereading those stories from a point of view of a non bias neutral being and not as a queer man
I'm so happy Coraline is so high on the list. my dad was telling me to read it since I was a kid and I kept putting it off until I picked it up in my school library and just started reading it. I don't read too much because of my insanely short attention span but this was one of few books I won't hesitate to read more than once.
Short attention spans are frustrating, I know, bit I'm glad to hear you love Coraline as much as I do. And your dad has good taste!
My version of Good Omens has an interview with Prattchet and Gaiman and they actually specified that they couldn’t even remember which parts of the book were written by whom-they would do a relay where Gaiman wrote a scene, called up Prattchet and he would continue that, and so on. Gaiman did write a lot of the children’s sections, but everything else was a 50:50 according to them.
I love good omens and Coraline I’ve always been a lover of dark children’s literature and dark humour in general! Thanks for the video as I can add more books to my TBR list
Love this video! Excellent work
Literally about halfway through his catalogue right now. Started ocean at the end of the lane today. I have a soft spot for the graveyard book, and absolutely love American Gods but Coraline is a classic!
Wow, this has gotta be like a sign or something. Literally just bought a copy of American Gods yesterday! My first foray into Gaiman's work; thought I'd hit The Big One right out the gate. Fantasy just really isn't usually my thing, but Gaiman is such a big name I just had to give him a try. Here's hoping I like it!
Oh I do hope you enjoy it! I struggle with high fantasy these days as well. But what has always kept me enjoying Gaiman is that he's more urban fantasy/fairy tale/mythology. This keeps things more experimental and strange.
@@WillowTalksBooks Yeah, the softer, lower fantasy I can get into a little easier. Coincidentally, I'm actually in the middle of The Once and Future King right now. Once I wrap that up, I'mma roll right into Gaiman.
Hi. I’m just getting into Neil Gaiman. Tried Good Omens but had to turn it back in. But will get it again. Great video.
Odd and the Frost Giants was originally a World Book Day £1 book which is why it was reissued. Stardust was originally a four part comic illustrated by Charles Vess. But in prose with illustrations rather than comic style. I've never read it without the illustrations but I don't think it would be as enjoyable without. The first short story collection might have been Angels and Visitations but it wasn't reprinted for whatever reasons. Most if not all of the stories from Angels and Visitations are in the other collections. Nicholas Was is exactly 100(?) words created originally as a Christmas card. Good Omens isn't split so linearly between the two authors, they both wrote throughout the book. Neverwhere was originally a six part BBC TV series which didn't really have the budget so Gaiman wrote the novel to make up for it. I am so old 🤣 Gaiman was a huge influence on me too, and I was around to know the stories behind and to have bought the original versions of some of them. Sandman was complete when I discovered it as a student, but only just... My top books would be different, but I love children's books. Sorry for the essay, I enjoyed the video and thought you might want to know some of the history.
Wow thanks for the history lesson! (That sounds like sarcasm; it's not). I definitely knew and then forgot about the origins of Neverwhere but the rest was all new and very interesting!
Thank you for this video, very informative ❤️
You’re very welcome!
Keep your eye out for BBC Sounds repeating the radio drama of Good Omens. Lovely cameo of Gaiman and Pratchett playing the policemen.
Oh that's a great tip, thank you!
Absolutely love your channel man! I was unsure where to start with Mr. Gaiman. I suppose I will go big and start with American Gods!
Also, love that hair and nail paint!
Thank you so much! And American Gods is such a great place to start. I'll be jealous! Enjoy.
I own a copy of both Norse mythology and the gospel of Loki and I can say I love them both
Coralline is absolutely beautiful, it's perfect. Adored it as a kid
Yeyyyy new video!👏🏽💗
What do you think of the American Gods television show? I really liked the first season, and then it kind of gradually went downhill. I’m curious how similar it is to the book, as I might want to give the book a try.
As I make my way through Gaiman's works, my favorite is still Coraline. It's dark, whimsical, spooky, quirky, morbid, and fun. I don't know which I love more, the book or the movie. Probably just love them equally because they are both awesome.
For a kids' book/YA with a similar vibe to Coraline can I recommend Poison by Chris Wooding? It's a brilliant, creepy, meta fairy tale that blew my tiny preteen mind and really stands up (I think) but no one ever seems to have heard of it. :( Storm Thief by the same author is also a great teen dystopian, gothic, tech-punk alternate history with a fantastic concept. :)
Oohhh, if you enjoy Norse mythology-inspired things you should read the Tales from the Wyrd Museum trilogy by Robin Jarvis! It's a middle grade horror series which gets pretty dark, if I remember rightly. I read it when I was a kid and really enjoyed it, though I have a feeling there might be some problematic content I didn't pick up on back then. If you have/do read it I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!
The only Gaiman I’ve read is Ocean at the End of the Lane. I thought it was decent, not great. Good to know it’s a middle of the road Gaiman and there’s better out there (which I suspected, tbh). American Gods sounds like a book that would be terrible in the hands of a lesser writer. The fact that he makes it work is fascinating to me.
Ocean is perfectly middle-of-the-road for sure. What makes American Gods work is the fact that it confidently blends his knowledge of world mythology with this dark and meandering road trip across the US. The only downside is that Shadow is a painfully bland protagonist, which is actually an ongoing problem with Gaiman. His protags are such lacklustre people.
@@WillowTalksBooks He seems to lean into the protagonist-as-story-vessel tactic
I have a weird relationship with Neil Gaiman's books. Some of them I absolutely adore, some of them seriously weirded me out and some others set me in such a strange mood that I had to stop reading for a while. All in all, I do love his books (and his voice, lol) I haven't read that many yet but he's definitely a favourite.
Is there something with him and mice?
Who knows. Mice are nice tho
Are there any other authors that are similar to Gaiman that you would recommend?
V.E. Schwab is the first that jumps to mind. And Haruki Murakami isn't dissimilar in many ways.
@@WillowTalksBooks thanks for the suggestions
It’s interesting hearing your take on why the Stardust movie is better than the book. The book is one of my favorites by Gaiman and I don’t like the movie at all. I read the book first so maybe that’s related.
The first book of his i read was stardust, silly me. I had gotten it to read to my 4yr old because i loved the movie before. Luckily she couldn't read so it was easy to skip over that sex scene. I just finished American Gods though and loved it 😊.
Perfect top 5. American Gods will forever be one of my all time favs.
Glad you agree! And same for me. I'll always return to American Gods and his short stories. Masterpieces.
I really liked Anansi boys, American Gods is really good and reading good omens rn
Stardust was my fist Neil Gaiman book in my late teens. The misogyny was pretty awful but still it got me enough understanding of Gaimans writing that i still read the other ones because this dreamy fairytale “vibe”.
The misogyny in that book feels off considering how progressive he is in everything else. So much great trans and nonbinary representation in the Sandman comics. Still, characters don’t have to be likeable!
I'm interested in a video about your experiences as a teacher, are you still a teacher?
If that's something people are interested in, I'll happily make it! But no, I'm not a teacher anymore. I'm a full-time blogger and freelance writer.
just picked up neverwhere from the library a few days ago, now i’m even more excited to read it!
You're in for a wonderful time! The world of that book is magical.
A year late but oh my gods i love neverwhere! Completely got me back into reading
Thank you for the video. American Gods is a fantastic read. Watched a few of the TV show and the pace was different and too many changes. For a fan of the book I cannot recommend the show.
I watched season 1 and liked it well enough. Peter Stormare and Ian McShane were great casting choices. But the show is certainly not the book.
"Mr Wednesday, pretty obvious who that God is" ya of course (quickly Googles the character)
Top notch list. I won't disagree with any of your rankings, though there are a few I haven't read yet. And if I'm being completely honest, CDI kind of soured me on The Graveyard Book a little bit.
What's wrong with Amanda Palmer? Just curious. Cos I know nothing.
Gosh, I made this video like 25 years ago so I have no idea what I said, but I've always had my issues with her. She wrote a song about trans people that hasn't aged well. She's big on Patreon despite being rich and having an even richer husband. On the flip side, I also really loved her book. It was a huge inspiration for me. And I've enjoyed a lot of her music, and her body-positivity advocacy. As you can tell I'm conflicted lol
@@WillowTalksBooks oh oh she's one of those. ( TERF types?)
On Wikipedia I found her body positivity attitude that's why I was curious..
I guess you win some you lose some.
I don't think she's a TERF. I think she wrote a song that was critical of transitioning twenty years ago and likely feels differently now, but I've also personally seen (via social media) the damage that song did to some trans people. So I remain very conflicted when it comes to her.
@@WillowTalksBooks I got the picture now. Thank you.
Well, thanks for the spoilers on Ocean at the End of the Lane -_-
You’re welcome :)
How many bloody books has he written?
idk a few
Is American gods easy to read? Or it’s more catered for ppl who are on a very high reading level
le soylent grin
You're so handsome omg shockey shock
Hahaha thanks buttercup 💜
I was not the biggest fan of American Gods but I wanna give Neil Gaimen another chance so I'm thinking of picking up smoke and mirrors 😀
The epilogue of American Gods where he goes back to the town with the lake was my favourite part of the book. Is smoke and mirrors more like that?
Sometimes. Actually, the stories in Fragile Things are a bit more that kind of speed/atmosphere. Smoke and Mirrors is more dark and twisted fairy tales. There's one about a jack-in-a-box that really chilled my bones.
@@WillowTalksBooks cool twisted fairy tales sounds like something I would enjoy :)
@@Ali94749 I really hope you do!
How you gon say “it’s written by a white man” dude YOU ARE A WHITE MAN 🤣🤣🤣 stop allowing your bias love for being gay affect how you interpret a good story
You can be gay and not be offended by story telling it’s not “homophobic” just cause it paints a narrative or character in a particular light . It’s apart of the story you really missed the whole point of Neil’s writing I think you read books from a gay pov instead of just reading it neutral
Everything doesn’t have to affirm or align with your lifestyle for it to be a good story
Try rereading those stories from a point of view of a non bias neutral being and not as a queer man
I’m not reading all that but I’m not gay, I’m trans
Bullseye
@@WillowTalksBooks They actually have fair criticism, who would've thought, might be a good read for you who knows 😀
@@WillowTalksBooks You are mentally ill