Amanda Meuwissen's Blog - Posts Tagged "neil-gaiman"
My Top 5 Favorite Books
I’m sure many of you immediately think of a few titles when considering your favorite books, but WHY are those your favorites? I’m going to list the what and why of my top 5 favorite books, and I’d like to invite all of you to comment and do the same.
1. Good Omens – by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
2. Memnoch the Devil – by Anne Rice
3. Invisible Monsters – by Chuck Palahniuk
4. Ender’s Game – by Orson Scott Card
5. Twilight Watch – by Sergei Lukyanenko
Now, I have a pretty good mix, but you’ll notice that they all have some sort of fantasy or sci-fi element to them (no surprise from me) and in many cases are part of a series. Another thing several of these books have in common is the reveal moment. You know, when an author writes the big reveal of the plot in such a perfect way that the clues do their job without spoiling things until just that moment before the truth is plainly presented before you.
Like in Fight Club, when they’ve given you all those clues to know that the Narrator was Tyler all along, but it’s right before he actually says so that you go *gasp* oh god! I didn’t list Fight Club only because I prefer the film and the film’s ending (as does the author) but I love his novel Invisible Monsters for another of those similar reveal moments. Ender’s Game has it as well, AND Twilight Watch, so that reveals how much I enjoy a good mystery that isn’t easy to solve, but needs to be weaved like a complicated cross-stitch.
I also don’t necessarily love the first book in a series more than the others. Ender’s Game is the first, but Twilight Watch is #3, and Memnoch the Devil is #5.
Good Omens I love for the relationship between the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale. I’m a sucker for witty banter and character relationships that are ambiguous or against the norm. In Memnoch the Devil, a morally ambiguous character meets God and the Devil, and explores Heaven and Hell, both of which are presented in a way I could easily believe as real.
I like to be transported as far from normal life as possible, which all of these titles do for me. What about you? What books resonate with you and why do you love them?
1. Good Omens – by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
2. Memnoch the Devil – by Anne Rice
3. Invisible Monsters – by Chuck Palahniuk
4. Ender’s Game – by Orson Scott Card
5. Twilight Watch – by Sergei Lukyanenko
Now, I have a pretty good mix, but you’ll notice that they all have some sort of fantasy or sci-fi element to them (no surprise from me) and in many cases are part of a series. Another thing several of these books have in common is the reveal moment. You know, when an author writes the big reveal of the plot in such a perfect way that the clues do their job without spoiling things until just that moment before the truth is plainly presented before you.
Like in Fight Club, when they’ve given you all those clues to know that the Narrator was Tyler all along, but it’s right before he actually says so that you go *gasp* oh god! I didn’t list Fight Club only because I prefer the film and the film’s ending (as does the author) but I love his novel Invisible Monsters for another of those similar reveal moments. Ender’s Game has it as well, AND Twilight Watch, so that reveals how much I enjoy a good mystery that isn’t easy to solve, but needs to be weaved like a complicated cross-stitch.
I also don’t necessarily love the first book in a series more than the others. Ender’s Game is the first, but Twilight Watch is #3, and Memnoch the Devil is #5.
Good Omens I love for the relationship between the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale. I’m a sucker for witty banter and character relationships that are ambiguous or against the norm. In Memnoch the Devil, a morally ambiguous character meets God and the Devil, and explores Heaven and Hell, both of which are presented in a way I could easily believe as real.
I like to be transported as far from normal life as possible, which all of these titles do for me. What about you? What books resonate with you and why do you love them?
Favorite lines from books - God speed, Sir Terry
Today at BWN, the current Incubus episode has one of my favorite lines in the whole book, and always makes me tear up a little.
"I am what I am, Nathan. And I am for you."
Of course you'll have to go read it to know who says that. :-)
I have so many moments like that, lines that I love no matter how critical I am of other sections (we're all our own worst critics, right?). Just like I have favorite lines from other people's books.
It surprised me a little how much Sir Terry Pratchett's passing affected me. Honestly, I haven't read many of his books, just have a long list of must-reads I never seem to get to, but Good Omens, which he shares with fellow amazing writer Neil Gaiman, remains one of my favorite books of all time.
When Pratchett passed I was overwhelmed with a desire to reread some of my favorite parts of the book, and so I did. Three particularly wonderful scenes for me are of course when Crowley and Aziraphale get drunk and plot out preventing the apocalypse, when they run over Anathema, and when Crowley reaches the final scenes in his burning car.
"That's probably because your car is on fire."
Makes me laugh every time. :-) I go back and read my own work in similar fashion - I'm doing it now with a few things, as I find it really helps inspire me when working on a new story, which I'm also doing now, and oh are you all in for a treat when my new boys are ready to roll.
I can only hope that there are others out there who - while I doubt it could ever be to the extent of fans of Pratchett - are soothed and filled with joy rereading some of their favorite lines from my stories. When it has happened to me in the past, where people let me know they recently reread my work and loved it just as much as the first time, somehow that means more than an initial review.
To memorable moments in our writing and in the stories we love! To Sir Terry and all the books I have yet to read!
Any favorite lines and scenes you fine folks would like to share? Please do!
"I am what I am, Nathan. And I am for you."
Of course you'll have to go read it to know who says that. :-)
I have so many moments like that, lines that I love no matter how critical I am of other sections (we're all our own worst critics, right?). Just like I have favorite lines from other people's books.
It surprised me a little how much Sir Terry Pratchett's passing affected me. Honestly, I haven't read many of his books, just have a long list of must-reads I never seem to get to, but Good Omens, which he shares with fellow amazing writer Neil Gaiman, remains one of my favorite books of all time.
When Pratchett passed I was overwhelmed with a desire to reread some of my favorite parts of the book, and so I did. Three particularly wonderful scenes for me are of course when Crowley and Aziraphale get drunk and plot out preventing the apocalypse, when they run over Anathema, and when Crowley reaches the final scenes in his burning car.
"That's probably because your car is on fire."
Makes me laugh every time. :-) I go back and read my own work in similar fashion - I'm doing it now with a few things, as I find it really helps inspire me when working on a new story, which I'm also doing now, and oh are you all in for a treat when my new boys are ready to roll.
I can only hope that there are others out there who - while I doubt it could ever be to the extent of fans of Pratchett - are soothed and filled with joy rereading some of their favorite lines from my stories. When it has happened to me in the past, where people let me know they recently reread my work and loved it just as much as the first time, somehow that means more than an initial review.
To memorable moments in our writing and in the stories we love! To Sir Terry and all the books I have yet to read!
Any favorite lines and scenes you fine folks would like to share? Please do!
