Week 21 - Halfway there, 26 books down, 26 to go!

It's great to be well ahead of schedule for my challenge this year ... but I know all that can change very quickly. However, I have finished book number TWENTY SIX, which was a cracker! The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman - which I read as an audio book - is the story of a toddler, who escapes death one night when the Man Jack comes to kill his family. He ends up at the old graveyard and is taken in by the residents, who decide to protect him and raise him. The residents are all ghosts, with one exception - Silas - who becomes the boys guardian ... but Silas isn't exactly human either! We then go on a journey with the boy as he grows up into a young man. Now, you'd think that this premis would be a bit on the spooky side, but it's not at all.There are deadly hazards and we meet supernatural beings of all shapes and sizes, some with good intentions and some with bad. But overall, it's a story of love and care for those around you. I loved it, and the dialogue is funny and surprising and extremely satisfying. If you like the current Doctor Who (Matt Smith), there is a sequence in the book where the dialogue could be being spoken by the Doctor. Mr Gaiman has written for the series and I can hear his influence very clearly. Although this is catalogued as a children's book, it would be a shame to dismiss it - it's a great read and with Mr Gaiman as narrator in the audio edition, I felt I was getting exactly the characters and inferences that the author intended. Thank you Mr Gaiman!



My star rating is FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 304 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (through Audible).
Other formats available in: Print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download.