On the Lookout

Been book browsing today, seeing what new releases might take up residence on my shelf this year, and it looks like I'm going to need to add a wing to my house.

The amount of series, trilogies, sagas, etc... is overwhelming. And of course when you buy the first, you have to buy the rest, so one story can take up half the shelf. It's truly a predicament, given the fact that most of the books on my TBR list are, nine out of ten, part of a series. It gets exhausting, sometimes, keeping up with all the sequels...

*sigh*

The first-world problems of a bibliophile.

But I digress... sorta...

The whole point of this post was to mention one book that caught my eye in particular, a book I'll be on the lookout for, ticking off the days on my calendar... It's a standalone, which I've been tending to lean towards in my book buying habits lately...

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac - as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly's wing, as dangerous as a knife in the dark, from storytelling genius Neil Gaiman. 

It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it. 

His only defense is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.

That synopsis leaves a lot to the imagination, seriously amping up the mystery behind that beautiful cover. Plus, Neil Gaiman is famed for his fantastical mind, and I can't wait to see what he's come up with this time.

The Ocean at the end of the Lane is set to be released on June 18th, and for you lucky ducks who live near one of his stops, Gaiman is going on tour with this book this summer. (Check out the schedule here.) 

As for me who lives in rural Maine, most authors I follow tend to steer clear. At least I'll always have Stephen King as my neighbor. (Be jealous.)

Happy Reading Everyone :)