Giving Authors A Second Chance (& Finding David Almond's Intriguing Short Stories)

This week, I discover that giving an author a second chance can make me a happy reader.

You know how you pick up a book by an author you haven't read before, read it, and don't really like it that much? And from then on, whenever you see that author's other books, you'd shrug and pass with a polite smile?

I read my first David Almond book few years ago. I hadn't heard of him then (oh, but he is well-known, very well-known and an award-winner) so I certainly didn't pick up that book because of h...