Neil Gaiman reading list

[Basement]

Dear peeps,

I have a confession; I haven't read very much Neil Gaiman.

Yes, I know, sacrilege.

I have read Coraline, Neverwhere, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Good Omens (well, duh!) and I seem to remember being lent a compilation of short stories which I'm sure was by Gaiman, but I'm damned if I can remember any details at all.

So, could I please ask for suggestions for a reading list of Gaiman's work? Whether chronological or grouped by theme, I don't mind but I would like to read everything that he's written. I feel a bit of a fraud for being excited to see Neil at the Memorial but not having read much of his work...

Thank you all!

[chrisboote]

Graveyard Book - this is what Tiffany books would be like if Neil wrote them
American Gods - probably his best novel, what happens if the old European gods migrated to America with their people?
Anansi Boys - written for Lenny Henry to play, the story of a man who discovers that his dad was a god, and that he has a twin brother he doesn't remember
Trigger Warning/Smoke and Mirrors/Fragile Things/Angels and Visitations and M is for Magic - all excellent short story collections, also including poetry, prose, thought experiments ... very good intro to Neil. I find it impossible to pick a favourite
Stardust - if you've seen the film (and my left foot IN the film) this is the book it came from - slightly better story, slightly less satisfying end than the film
And then there's Sandman - could take you a LONG time to read it all, truly one of the greatest graphic novel series ever, the one that got me to appreciate graphic novels not just as art, but as storytelling

You can also read 'Study in Emerald' and 'Calendar of tales' online
http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/ex ... merald.pdf
http://www.acalendaroftales.com/ (the one with the ducks is the best)

[chrisboote]

Oh, and if you have time look for youtubes of him telling stories (the one about having a British passport is particularly fine)
And listen to him reading anything - he is an amazing reader
Calendar of Tales has him reading all 12

[Basement]

Graveyard Book - this is what Tiffany books would be like if Neil wrote them
American Gods - probably his best novel, what happens if the old European gods migrated to America with their people?
Anansi Boys - written for Lenny Henry to play, the story of a man who discovers that his dad was a god, and that he has a twin brother he doesn't remember
Trigger Warning/Smoke and Mirrors/Fragile Things/Angels and Visitations and M is for Magic - all excellent short story collections, also including poetry, prose, thought experiments ... very good intro to Neil. I find it impossible to pick a favourite
Stardust - if you've seen the film (and my left foot IN the film) this is the book it came from - slightly better story, slightly less satisfying end than the film
And then there's Sandman - could take you a LONG time to read it all, truly one of the greatest graphic novel series ever, the one that got me to appreciate graphic novels not just as art, but as storytelling

You can also read 'Study in Emerald' and 'Calendar of tales' online
http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/ex ... merald.pdf
http://www.acalendaroftales.com/ (the one with the ducks is the best)

Muchas gracias, Chris!

And "Smoke and Mirrors" is ringing a small, silver bell.

[Grace Speaker]

I also have to confess to not having read much Neil Gaiman . . . well I've only actually read Good Omens, if the embarrassing truth be told, ** hangs head in shame ** so this is really helpful to me too

Am off to do a spot of my favourite type of shopping . . . stuff shoes and handbags, and don't even mention Ikea unless you want a poke in the eyeball, it's book shopping for me

[Molokov]

For the whimsy factor, I'd also throw in his books for younger readers (starting at the eldest and going down):

Odd and the Frost Giants
The Wolves in the Walls
Fortunately, The Milk. (I got both the UK and US editions as they have different illustrators. SO and I also read them simultaneously - one of us out loud - and noticed a few subtle wording differences between them too).
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
Instructions
Blueberry Girl
The Dangerous Alphabet
Chu's Day
Chu's First Day at School
Chu's Day at the Beach

plus everything Chris said above about the novels & short story collections (and Sandman) is good too
I have a few other comics Neil has written, but none come close to the Sandman saga. (Plus although I love Dave McKean's cover art, I don't really think it works as actual comic panels, so e.g. Signal and Noise was hard to read)

[Whos Wee Dug]

And there is the novelette, The Sleeper and the Spindle which is quite good.

[chrisboote]

And there is the novelette, The Sleeper and the Spindle which is quite good.

Another novelette, The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains is also available standalone, on DVD with a string quartet accompaniment and watercolours, or in Trigger Warnings

[DavidAHarvey]

I used to think I hadn't read much by Neil either until I set out to rectify the deficiency and rediscovered several short stories that I'd read and loved from fanzines and other collections.

Open Culture has quite a collection of links to things by Neil
http://www.openculture.com/2015/08/17-s ... mself.html
and he is quite generous about putting stuff up on his websites too
http://www.neilgaiman.com/Cool_Stuff and http://www.mousecircus.com/extras.aspx

Fortunately the Milk has a special place in my heart. Not only is it lots and lots of fun, but we were privileged to see it read by Neil and friends live on stage with Chris Ridell drawing new illustrations during the reading.