About books . . .

May 25, 2008 10:32

Last night, I took one of my favorite books from the shelf to reread, and I'd like to recommend it: Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint. I can actually recommend a number of de Lint's books. He writes what might be termed "urban fantasy," and he creates wonderful characters and fabulous settings. Some people also call his style "magical realism." Memory and Dream is a collection of related short stories all set in his fictional city of Newford. It's a nice one to start with, since you are introduced to many of his recurring characters in it, and it lends itself well to reading in bed, since you can finish a story and put it down without feeling compelled to keep reading the next chapter! (You may still find yourself reading much later than you had intended, though!)

If you'd prefer to start with a novel of his, Dreams Underfoot is quite good. Because he sets many of his stories in Newford and populates them with many recurring characters, there is an argument for reading them in order of publication, but as they are not serial novels, it isn't necessary to do that, and I think that Dreams Underfoot is a great one to begin with.

De Lint is Canadian, and he blends Celtic mythology with Native American themes. Most of his books are truly wonderful, and even the ones that aren't still captivate the attention. Because he's also a Celtic musician, he weaves Celtic music into many of his stories.

He has a Website, if you'd like to visit it: http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/.

book recs

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