Just Readin'

I don't know about you, but I love a good viking novel. I've been interested in history since I was a kid, and I've always been fascinated by the vikings. There's something about the stories of dragon ships and adventures on the sea that capture the imagination.  And, I'm certainly not the only person who thinks that way because there are a lot of books about vikings on the market. Of course, there are plenty of non-fiction books out there, and I've read (or listened to; I love audiobooks) to a couple of them, but novels about vikings seem to be much more popular. That being said, not all novels are equal. Personally, I prefer viking novels that encompass the perfect amount of adventure, drama, and (sometimes) romance.  Since I've been home a lot recently, I've been reading/listening (I love audiobooks) to some old favorites and to some new novels as well. So, today, I want to share some of my favorite viking novels (in no particular order) with you. Ha...

The most terrifying book I've ever read was written for 9 year olds. I just finished reading Coraline , by Neil Gaiman and let me tell you that Frankenstein and Stephen King and the movie Gothic (which was perhaps the most disturbing thing I've ever seen) have nothing on this book. In case you are unfamiliar with the story of Coraline; the book is about a little girl who finds a doorway in her house that leads to an alternate world where everything is the same but different. There, Coraline meets her 'other mother' and 'other father' who have buttons for eyes. Anyway, Coraline's other mother kidnaps her real parents and tries to make Coraline stay with her forever and sew buttons into her eyes and make her play with singing rats (not singing rats in a cute way either, singing rats in a Kujo sort of way). The other mother has a whole closet full of dead children and she keeps their souls in marbles. The weird thing is, if I read this about eight years ...