Just Readin'

I came to this wonderful book in a convoluted way. A few months ago, I set a google alert for Downton Abbey , because, let's be honest, who doesn't want to see who Mary Crowley marries? Anyway, the alert turned up a lot of interesting articles about the show, but it also turned up a few articles about Jessica Brown Findlay. Findlay played Sibyl Crowley on the show, but she left in season three to explore other acting opportunities. I'm so glad she did. A little while ago, I read an article about Jessica Brown Findlay's new role in BBC One's TV series,  Jamaica Inn . I was like, 'hm, that sounds interesting', and proceeded to look up the show on Wikipedia, whereupon I learned that Jamaica Inn was actually based on a book of the same title. I have since read that book and let me just say: It was amazing. Maybe it's just that I haven't read a book for pleasure in a while, but I can honestly say that Jamaica Inn was one of the best written,

So, I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, but recently I've been reading Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things , a collection of short fiction. Now, I think I've said this before, but I'll say it again: everything Neil Gaiman writes is genius ! And Fragile Things is no exception. It's one of the strangest books I've ever read, but I loved every minute of it. It was just so wonderfully weird. I mean, the only way I can really even explain this book is that it was like taking a walk  through someone else's dreams. It was that surreal. Actually, given the cover art, I think that that is actually quite a good analogy. Whoever designed the cover of this book had a really good idea of what it was about and what it was trying to accomplish. I love how it looks like the contents of his brain is draining out onto the book. It's such a powerful image. Really good writing, I think, should be a walk through the writer's mind, and I think Neil Gaiman accompl