Emily added a quote:
"There was nothing wrong with being a homebody. There was nothing wrong with not wanting - not needing - the constant jostle and noise of a party or bar or... whatever." — Charles de Lint

Emily added a quote:
"All my life I've wanted to be the kid who gets to cross over into the magical kingdom. I devoured those books by C.S. Lewis and William Dunthorn, Ellen Wentworth, Susan Cooper, and Alan Garner. When I could get them from the library, I read them out of order as I found them, and then in order, and then reread them all again, many times over. Because even when I was a child I knew it wasn't simply escape that lay on the far side of the borders of fairyland. Instinctively I knew crossing over would mean more than fleeing the constant terror and shame that was mine at that time of my life. There was a knowledge – an understanding hidden in the marrow of my bones that only I can access ― telling me that by crossing over, I'd be coming home.
That's the reason I’ve yearned so desperately to experience the wonder, the mystery, the beauty of that world beyond the World As It Is. It's because I know that somewhere across the border there's a place for me. A place of safety and strength and learning, where I can become who I'm supposed to be. I've tried forever to be that person here, but whatever I manage to accomplish in the World As It Is only seems to be an echo of what I could be in that other place that lies hidden somewhere beyond the borders." — Charles de Lint

Emily added a quote:
"That's the thing about magic; you've got to know it's still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you." — Charles de Lint

Emily read and liked Cynthia's review of The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet:

"The first half of this book is some of the best fiction i've EVER read. The characters are interesting and believable but quirky, the setting is beautiful, the situation they're in is moving. There are these luscious rich maps and drawings and sideba...more The first half of this book is some of the best fiction i've EVER read. The characters are interesting and believable but quirky, the setting is beautiful, the situation they're in is moving. There are these luscious rich maps and drawings and sidebars that you read with loving tenderness and joy, and that really move the plot along.
And then halfway through the whole thing just turns into drivel. The main character's personality disappears and you begin to feel like you're reading the author's Twitter tweets. There is no longer any plot; in fact, the author/hero starts quoting extensively from the fictional diary of his fictional grandmother, which his mother has been either writing or reading (it's never made clear). Suddenly you're no longer reading about this interesting quirky kid with a kind of complex tangled family life and a lot of grief from his 10-year-old brother shooting himself; you're reading about a woman geologist in the 1840s and how hard it is for women to be scientists. AND you're trapped in a Winnebago going crosscountry on the flatbed of a train. The main character describes what feels like every possible moment of boredom he experiences as he sits in this Winnebago. He even describes what it's like to take a shower in a cold Winnebago bathroom (zzzz).
And then all this incredibly improbable and frankly pretty boring and dumb stuff happens. At this point, even the sidebars and drawings and maps become dumb and pointless.
All the family members basically disappear and never really reappear. None of the issues brought up in the first half of the novel are resolved. And the last chapter and the novels' ending are just... pathetic.
Sorry to be so angry. But I'd say this: read the first half of this novel, definitely. And then when it starts to devolve (believe me, you'll know it when it happens), just put it down. You won't be missing anything.
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