Book extremes: Gladwell to Gaiman

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's third novel Outliers.  After reading all three, I'd say that Outliers is just as good as Blink, and better than Tipping Point, but as Outliers is most current in my head, it was just a fantastic, fascinating read and perhaps my favourite  non-fiction book ever.  I've been sprinkling in parts of the book into conversation with my wife, but find that it's rather difficult to summarize Gladwell's comprehensive life lessons into tea time digestives.  Sorry, you're just going to have to read it for yourself - but make sure we get together over a few drinks to talk about it afterward !  I've also been reading Gladwell's most recent book called What the Dog Saw, however it is a compilation of the his articles published in The New Yorker, as opposed to new material.  I have to say that Malcolm Gladwell is my favourite non-fiction author, his writing style is a simply a joy to read, full of colourful and interesting real world characters and he has just has an incredible knack of explaining very complex subject matter in a clear, entertaining and thought provoking way.  Needless to say, I'd highly recommend reading anything written (he also has a blog) by Malcolm Gladwell.


On the other side of the written-word coin is Neverwhere.  I found this book from my friend  Kelly who is a big fan and raved about the author Neil Gaiman on her blog a few months ago.  I'm only on chapter 3, but loving it already.  Again, the style of Gaiman's writing is easy to digest, but is also beautifully descriptive (and succinct at the same time) and the dialog does wonders for defining his interesting characters.  You may know a little of Gaiman's work becuase he wrote Coraline.  I recently watched this gem of a animated movie the other day with my daughter and really enjoyed it.  The fantasy genre, especially in a novel, is a little unusual for me, although I've read horror fantasy writers like Clive Barker in the past.  I do like some fantasy movies (like Pan's Labyrinth), but it's been a while since I've enjoyed escaping to wonderfully creative fantasy world every time a turn the page.  I mentioned the book and Gaiman to a friend from ultimate last night, and he was also a big fan and raved about his work.   Just as in the book, it turns out I've stumbled on a mysterious and marvelous new world - in my case the wonderful artistry of Neil Gaiman.  Time for bed and more Nerverwhere.