What dreams may come

I’ve always been fascinated by mythologies of the world. They reflect the psyche that made us who we are today. And when good writers such as Neil Gaiman and Sherrilyn Kenyon are able to use the reader’s knowledge of mythology to weave a completely new story, you’re assured of quite a few hours of riveted reading. When I was in high school, my sister used to bring borrowed Sandman graphic novels home but I never read through them since in my intellectually snobbish days I just thought of them as “comics”. It was only when I started working for a publishing company and a colleague lent me her copy of American Gods that I discovered the appeal of Neil Gaiman. For a few hours, he draws you into a world so unlike your own that you find yourself both repulsed and fascinated by it. These are worlds you like to visit and explore but are glad you can leave after putting the book down. He’s the kind of writer I want to sit down with and talk shop over a cup of coffee. I’d love to get the chance to pick his brain, literally, and wade through it’s dark, twisted mess. And who wouldn’t? This is a guy after all whose book is prefaced by someone who says people become writers for the opportunity to become god makers.

Bite me

I really don’t know what’s so sexy about vampires. They’re pale, have sunken eyes, have a faint whiff of the undead and most important, they drink blood. But ever since I discovered Anne Rice, vampires had seemed to me the epitome of the dark, mysterious man we find irresistible because our mamas warned us against them. I think I’m the only one in unShelved who’s managed to resist the lure of Twilight but that’s because I’ve got a full band of Dark Hunters who would beat Edward’s sorry, vagina-repulsed ass any time, anywhere. These guys are not vampires per se, but that’s the beauty of this series. Sherrilyn Kenyon has borrowed from ancient mythology to create an intriguing 4th dimension to our world. My favorite in the series will have to be Acheron, I mean seriously, a literal god of 6’6″ walking the earth as some goth lord saving humans at the cost of his soul – who wouldn’t hit that? But sorry, girls, this one I’m keeping. You’re all welcome to the rest of the Dark Hunters though, who are just as lean, mean and supernaturally gorgeous.

Meet me after Twilight

I was stuck at the Vienna airport for over 14 hours, some time in which they lost my luggage (thank you, Austrian Airlines!). I had stupidly packed all my books in the bags I checked in (which is, incidentally, why I now own a phone with an e-book reader), thinking we would be apart for a maximum of 5 hours. I wouldn’t see them again till 8 days later. Anyhoo, stuck at the airport, twiddling my thumbs, I decided to check out the bookshop. Now this was two years ago, at the height of Twilight mania. No, not yet to the heights Robert Pattinson has brought it but enough so that every bookstore I had stumbled upon boasted having the complete collection in stock. So while I grit my teeth, trying not to roll my eyes at every shiny, black covered book I saw, I found these two books from the Dark Crescent Sisterhood series from Anna Windsor. I don’t remember now if I bought these just to spite Stephanie Meyer, but I am glad I did. This series is about girl power in all the right senses of the phrase. Not that the men in the books aren’t well-endowed, secure hunks we’d all fall for but for once, their strength serves only as complement to that of the sisterhood. Oh, and if that doesn’t interest you enough, may I mention that they usually end up trussed up and naked at some point in the books?