Recommended Reading: The Graveyard Book

Finished reading The Graveyard Book after my usual "start a book, read other books at the same time, finally finish said book by making an effort to do so" process.

This time around, the gap between points A and B was not that bad - I took a pause from reading this in late December, right before I flew back from Manila. And here we are, early February and I'm done after starting up again over the past weekend.

I give the book about 6 to 7 Nations. Loved the characters, and it's just begging for a sequel. Now that I finished reading it, I still say it would have been amazing if Tim Burton could have worked his silver screen magic with this (not that Neil Jordan, who is slated to write and direct the movie version, is someone to scoff at).

Furthermore, I've always stated that Stardust is my favorite non-Sandman work by Neil Gaiman. However, I must say that The Graveyard Book is now, at worst, a very close second to the tale of Tristan and Yvaine, and at best, is in a tie for the top spot.

Finally, no one writes final chapters/epilogues like Neil Gaiman can by the way. Read the very last pages of this and Stardust (or even The Wake storyline from The Sandman) and you'll know what I mean. Whether it's Yvaine looking longingly at the stars, or Bod finally being "alive", it leaves you satisfied while at the same time begging for more. A truly deserving winner of the Newbery Medal.