Finished Norse Mythlogy, by Neil Gaiman felt it was a bit meh.

Will start NW, by Zadie Smith and maybe Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

Edit: Also started The Blade Artist, by Irvine Welsh

Finished: The Secret History by Donna Tartt and Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

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Started: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

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I am pleased with my ability to pick up reading again rather effortlessly after an almost 7 year "mom break". I really missed it.

I finished Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. It was very different from what I use to read, but I just loved the nonsense of everything.

I started Dark Places, by Gilliam Flynn and I’m already 2/3 done. The characters these woman writes are incredible and the situations are really fucked up. Maybe I just like feeling good comparing my life to theirs.

Finished:

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey Not a bad book. Not good enough to make me want to go look up the other book set in the world, but I'm not sorry that I read it. Flowed smoothly, no parts dragged out, but it also felt kind of...generic. Like "yep that's a zombie novel" but not really offering anything else.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman A rare double book week! Also time for my quarterly break from horror novels. Quick read, excellent book. I mean Gaiman is always pretty great, but I admittedly don't know much about norse mythology outside of what was told in Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes. Glad it was more fleshed out. And legit funny in parts.

Started:

Salem's Lot by Stephen King So I've basically read every King book there is, multiple times. Except this one. I tried to read this one, but I could never get into it. That was when I was younger though, teenish, where I was strictly focused on body count and nothing else. That was a good long time ago, so I figured I'd give it another shot. Still as slow as I remember it being, these parts I've read before, but I'm gonna chug along and see if I can't finally finish this stupid book and see if it gets good.

Just started Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. I'm a lover of all kinds of mythology, and many of these stories are now coming back to me. It's making me want to pick up the Prose Edda. It's also interesting to see how these myths are reinterpreted in popular culture (e.g. by God of War and Marvel).

Just finished:

Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut -- Somehow or another, I never got around to reading this one before. All I knew about it beforehand was it involved Kilgore Trout, and that Vonnegut himself gave the novel a C grade.

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Just started:

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman -- I probably have unrealistic demands of this book, as I am hoping for something I find as entertaining and educational as Edith Hamilton's Mythology.

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman

I've had this one in my to-read pile for a while, and decided to read it now in anticipation of the new God of War game coming out soon. I've been enjoying it so far.

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman

Picked it up on a whim, enjoyed it.

Finished: Sword of Destiny, by Andrzej Sapkowski

Liked the idea of using short stories to introduce the characters of the main saga. I really want to start the next one.

Started: Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman

I love the way Neil Gaiman narrates the stories, He keeps the right pace to keep you engaged. Looking forward to read some more of Gaiman.

A Conjuring of Light, by VE Scwab. Enjoyed the trilogy. Has some flaws but still very enjoyable.

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've been binging a lot of Gaiman lately as I never really read anything from him.

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. This book was a lot of fun. I recently played through the new God of War on PS4 and the PS4 sub recommended this book. Some of the stories are so wild and hilarious. Great read.

Finished:

Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan

This was terrific. I loved the story, characters, and writing. Wash's experience as a slave is foundational to the story, but the story is much more than that.

Continuing:

Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

Still working through it. Stephenson loads his books with ideas and characters. This is no different. I've been dedicating the past few days to it, but it'll take me a while longer, as I'll pick up something else in a few days to read on the side.

Listening:

For my commute, I'm listening to Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. I was happy to see it available from my library. It's a joy to hear Neil himself reading these stories. Highly recommended.

I finished Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman and When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi. Kalanithi's surprised me because I usually avoid most forms of autobiographies, but it was really grippy and emotional. I started Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, hoping this book gets an emotional reaction out of me lol.

I finished: Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, and Circe by Madeline Miller.

I'm currently reading The Traitor Baru Cormamont by Seth Dickinson and Norse Mythology by Niel Gaiman

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

and

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman

Is it just me or Neil Gaiman has a knack for turning brilliant mythological stories into soporific narratives teaming with all the excitement of peeling paint? The stories are reductive and simplistic, the language dull, and the dumbing down of events and characters serves no purpose except making the reader snore.

I would have liked to learn more about Loki's motivations. How did he end up with Angrboda? How does he go from mischief to irredeemable evil. Why does he play good when he does? Loki's name is mentioned 455 times in this 279 page book - that's thrice every two pages. But, you would be hard pressed to paint a 3d picture of him based on his portrayal here.

One story is dedicated to Odin and how he came to be known as the 'All Father.' If you missed that chapter, you would think Odin was just another one of the pantheon of beautiful Gods. Speaking of beautiful

"Valkyries, beautiful battle-maidens"

"The lands were beautiful,"

"Thor’s wife was the beautiful Sif."

"Gungnir. It was a beautiful spear,"

"Sif’s beautiful new golden hair!”

"Balder, most beautiful of all the Aesir."

"Freya the lady, who was more beautiful than either the sun or the moon."

"Beautiful Freya stood at the gateway,"

“Now, let me hear your beautiful voice,"

And so it goes with 81 more instances of objects, gods, people, and anything that could be described by an adjective being beautiful. Don't look for any distinguishing features though...none will be found in this narration.

And I thought American Gods was a poorly written book. I believe I am done with Neil Gaiman and his mediocrity.

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman just came off hold so im excited to start that!

I have also borrowed Gef! The Strange Tale of An Extra-Special Talking Mongoose, by Christopher Josiffe from a friend. So that's next.

Finished reading Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman - and loved it.

Just started The Mountain: Stories, by Paul Yoon - fancied some short stories by an author unfamiliar to me

A busy few weeks has slowed my reading down but I have taken my time finishing i, Kunt, by Kunt from Kunt And The Gang - an hilarious biography from a minor internet hit singer.

I am about to finish Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman.

All of these were audiobooks (hooray for coast-to-coast road trips!)

Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein Always a classic and very enjoyable and thought provoking. Is it bad that I found myself envious of their system of government?

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman Very engaging retelling of Norse stories with a modern bent to them. Gaiman does a really good job of making old stories accessible to a 21st century entury audience.

Artemis, by Andy Weir Very good book. Not quite The Martian level of storytelling but very interesting world and characters. Rosario Dawson does an incredible job as the narrator.

I finished Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman and Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. Neverwhere was an excellent fantasy book. I loved that it was fantasy but not traditionally so. There weren't elves and orcs and wizards, but instead was a London below London filled with dreadful and fantastical elements, but not entirely unlike our world. Norse Mythology was a fun book. I'm currently playing God of War and that, along with reading Neverwhere, nudged me into picking up Gaiman's take on the Norse gods and their stories. I highly recommend both books.

Finished up Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman and absolutely loved it. Terrifically written and an excellent entrance point into, well....Norse Mythology.

Started The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) by Brandon Sanderson. About 200 pages into it so far and am enjoying it a lot. Looking forward to squeezing more Sanderson into my reading life.

Finished Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (oof, Loki is an a-hole)

Started Gridlinked, by Neal Asher (An Ian Cormac novel, Think of a much more violent Jack Reacher in a far flung future)

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman

Finished The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time #3), by Robert Jordan. I really enjoyed The Dragon Reborn and am loving The Wheel of Time all together so far. Spoilers

Started Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. Was able to get through almost half this book so far, and am loving the myths and Neil's prose in telling them.

Just finished:

- Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? by Mark Fisher Great book that highlighted many of the byproducts of capitalism - Mark's chapter on inherent contradictions between the economic system and political systems, along with his analysis of how it affects our mental health are fascinating.

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- Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Pretty entertaining read. All of the stories really held my attention, my favorite ones were about the Builder and Thor's travels in the land of the giants. Didn't realize that the common theme in Norse mythology was the gods are pretty much all dicks. Do wish the Ragnarok chapter could have been more fleshed out, seemed a bit truncated for it being the twilight of the Old World. Mostly read this to see if I liked Gaiman's writing in preparation for American Gods, absolutely love the idea of that book.

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Currently Reading:

- The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall

- To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink

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Stopped Reading:

- Shogun by James Clavell couldn't get past page 300, and the part that I did read it didn't really hold my interest. The plot itself was intriguing, the characters as well (Toranaga especially) but the writing style completely threw me off and made it a chore to read.

In the past week I finished both All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.

Loved them both. For the Anthony Doerr book it was something a bit different to what I'd usually read, can't say I've ever really gone for historical fiction. I spotted it in the library after having seen it on one of the Goodreads end of year award lists (best of the best?) so I gave it a shot, and was glad I did as it's ended up being easily one of my favourite books of the year.

Also recently I finished Men without Women, by Haruki Murakami. I'm not sold on Murakami. I really enjoyed Kafka on the Shore but his books I have tried since then haven't resonated with me at all, some of the recurring themes I find tiresome and perhaps his general style isn't for me.

I've just started Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. Feels like it'll be a fun read so far, very digestible and I'm not familiar with most of the original stories outside references in other media.

Brief Answers to Big Questions, by Stephen Hawking

• Finished. Was an excellent read.

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman

• Started. I find it hilarious that this is often listed as "non-fiction" LOL