Booklists: suggested reading

 

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Alex Awards - Anansi Boys
If You Like Neil Gaiman Booklist

 

If you like fast paced books that cross genres ( Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction for example), packed with literary & mythical allusions, with engaging and strong characters, dark overtones tinged with humor . . .

 

• Anansi Boys
  Author: Gaiman, Neil
  Publisher: Morrow $ 26.95 ISBN: 006051518x Date: 2005
  Kirkus PW Booklist
  Alex Award
  Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spirit of rebellion able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. When he dies on a karaoke stage, things get very interesting for Charlie.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars | Legendary Characters | Speculative Fiction for the Reluctant | Adult Books for Teens
  Updated 8.15.05

These are adult titles suggested for teens - not all books are suitable for all readers. Please use your judgement when considering these titles.

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.

 

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• Running With the Demon
  Brooks, Terry
  Fawcett Books Date: 1997-09 $ 25.95 ISBN: 0345379624 Date: 1997
  Publishers Weekly
  In a sleepy steel-mill town, the ultimate battle between Good and Evil is about to begin. The brewing conflict draws John Ross, a Knight of the Word, to town. Nightmares tell him that an ancient horror is coming. Caught between them is Nest Freemark, a 14-year-old-girl with the gift. Now the future of humanity depends upon a man haunted by his dreams and a gifted young girl--two who will discover what survives when hope and innocence are shattered forever.
• Land of Laughs
  Author: Carroll, Jonathan
  Publisher: Viking $ 10.95 ISBN: 0670417556 Date: 1980
  Thomas Abbey doesn't know what he wants in life, or in his relationship with the intense Saxony Gardner. Nothing in his life has touched him so deeply, though, as the magical children's novels of Marshall France, who died at 44. Thomas and Saxony arrive in France's hometown in Missouri to write his biography, and slowly begin to see that the magic of Marshall France extends far beyond the printed page.
  Updated 5.22.06
• Widdershins
  Author: De Lint, Charles
  Publisher: Tor $ 27.95 ISBN: 0765312859 Date: 2006
  Booklist
  Introduced in the first Newford story, "Timeskip," Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell's story is finally being told in this stand-alone novel of fairy courts set in shopping malls and the Bohemian street scene of Newford's Crowsea area.
  Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy | Adult Books for Young Adults
  Updated 3.16.06
• Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
  Author: Gaiman, Neil and Terry Pratchett
  Publisher: Workman $ 18.95 ISBN: 0894808532 Date: 1990
  Two manic British guys, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, present an irresistible story of the world's end, in the tradition of Douglas Adams and Monty Python meeting Stephen King. The Apocalypse has never been funnier.
  Updated 5.22.06
• Neverwhere
  Author: Gaiman, Neil
  Publisher: Avon $ 24 ISBN: 0380973634 Date: 1997
  Kirkus
  A masterful work of dark, haunting power by the author of the bestselling graphic novel The Sandman. The day after Richard Mayhew rescues a young girl he finds bleeding on the sidewalk, his life is radically changed. He finds himself living in an underworld that exists in a subterranean labyrinth beneath London.
  Updated 5.24.06
• Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
  Author: Gaiman, Neil
  Publisher: Avon $ 24 ISBN: 0380973642 Date: 1998
  Kirkus
  A mesmerizing collection of short stories that combines rare mythic power with profound human insight, from the bestselling author of Neverwhere.
  Updated 5.24.06
• Stardust
  Author: Gaiman, Neil
  Publisher: Avon $ 22 ISBN: 0380977281 Date:1999
  BL PW Kirkus
  From the extraordinary imagination of Neil Gaiman - bestselling author of Neverwhere - comes a haunting fable of love, duty and magical lands.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars
• American Gods
  Author: Gaiman, Neil
  Publisher: Avon $ 26 ISBN: 0380973650 Date: 2001
  Kirkus LJ
  Alex Award
  A master of inventive fiction pens the story of an ex-con who is offered a job as a bodyguard for Mr. Wednesday, a trickster and a rogue. Shadow soon learns that his role in the man's schemes are far more dangerous and dark than he could have ever imagined.
  Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars
• The Tooth Fairy
  Author: Joyce, Graham
  Publisher: Tor Books $ 22.95 ISBN: 031286261X Date: 1998
  BL Kirkus PW
  The award-winning author of Requiem returns with a blackly comic, disturbingly erotic tale of an ordinary boy named Sam - and the unearthly being only he can see. Is she real - or is she just a figment of his turbulent imagination? All Sam knows, as he grows from childhood to adolescence, is that she is never very far away.
  Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars | All Stars | Legendary Characters
• Dark Sister
  Author: Joyce, Graham
  Publisher: Tor $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312866321 Date: 1999
  PW BL
  Alex and Maggie think they live in an ordinary townhouse, until they discover a diary containing secret Wiccan herb-lore - and awaken a malevolent force they can't control.
  Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars
• Eyes of the Dragon
  Author: King, Stephen
  Publisher: Viking $ 21.95 ISBN: 067081458x Date: 1987
  Stephen King takes the classic fairy-tale form and transforms it into a captivating tale of archetypal heroes and sweeping adventures, of dragons and princes and evil wizards.
  Updated 5.24.06
• The Lies of Locke Lamora
  Author: Lynch, Scott
  Publisher: Spectra $ 23 ISBN: 0553804677 Date: 2006
  Booklist
  Debut author Lynch pens a witty and fast-paced narrative that is nearly as much of a con as the wily schemes of its hero.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts | Adult Books for Teens
  Updated 5.4.06
• Sunshine
  Author: McKinley, Robin
  Publisher: Berkeley $ 23.95 ISBN: 0425191788 Date: 2003
  PW
  Unfortunately, she wasn't alone. She never heard them coming. Of course she wouldn't, when they're vampires. A new direction for an already successful fantasy author.
  Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars | Adult Books For Teens
  Updated 10.2.03
• Monstrous Regiment
  Author: Pratchett, Terry
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 006001315X Date: 2003
  PW
  The 29th entry in Pratchett's internationally bestselling Discworld series explores the art of war and the brave women who wage it.
  Suggested Reading: If You Like Douglas Adams
  Updated 9.08.03
• The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
  Author: Rankin, Robert
  Publisher: Gollancz $ 9.95 (paper) ISBN: 0575074019 Date: 2004
  PW
  Toy Town...now older, bigger, and certainly not wiser. The Old Rich, who have made their millions from the royalties on their world-famous nursery rhymes, are being murdered. One by one. Horribly. A psychopath is on the loose. He must be stopped at any cost. It's a job for toy Town's only detective--but he's missing, leaving only Eddie Bear, and his bestest friend Jack, to track down the mad killer. A hilarious, very irreverent fantasy from the cult creator of Web Site Story, The Sprouts of Wrath, and the five-book Brentford Trilogy. - Publisher Marketing
  Suggested Reading: If You Like Douglas Adams | Rhyming Stars
  Updated 1.21.04
• Celestial Dogs
  Author: Russell, Jay S.
  Publisher: St Martins $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312150768 Date: 1997
  In the 1960s, Marty was the teen heartthrob of TV's "Salt & Pepper". Now Marty is in his 40s and P.I. work is his gig. When some subhuman begins eviscerating street girls, Marty finds himself caught in an investigation that will take him to the absolute bottom of Hollywood--only to discover that he's been there before, when he thought he was at the top. Series includes: Burning Bright and Greed and Stuff
  Updated 5.16.06
• Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy
  Author: Sarrantonio, Al (ed)
  Publisher: Roc $ 24.95 ISBN: 0451459776 Date: 2004
  PW
  This daring, all-new anthology showcases some of the genre's biggest names and best newcomers--and sets the standard for fantasy in the 21st century. Included are new stories by Neil Gaiman, Harry Turtledove, and more.
  Suggested Reading: Adult Books for Teens
  Updated 5.17.04