Tag Archives: Neil Gaiman

Vikings, and Tolkien, and Thor, Oh My!

I’ve been exploring Norse mythology and Viking history  off and on for the past year or so, and I thought I would share some of the items we have in the collection that I found interesting. Let’s set sail and travel through Viking history and lore:

Northmen: The Viking Saga, AD 793-1241 by John Haywood – This book is a good one to start with if you’re looking for an overview about the Viking Era. It also demonstrates how far their travels took them – from Europe, to Asia, and of course, North America. It’s informative and well-researched, and I found it really interesting with enough detail and examination to satisfy my curiosity. I also really liked how the author chose to organize the material based on geographical area. If you have a particular interest in English history, follow Northmen with The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England by Marc Morris which explores what led to the Battle of Hastings and its aftermath. For those of you interested in North American history, try Graeme Davis’ Vikings in America.  Although I believe some of Davis’ claims require more proof, and would have liked more information about the artifacts discovered, it may have identified some questions which could lead to further research into the extent of Viking expeditions to North America. Continue reading

The Re-Readables: What books do you keep going back to?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes a book re-readable. I am a huge reader, and most of the time, I am looking forward to digging into my ever-growing need-to-read pile, but still there are some books that I find myself wanting to revisit, again and again. Here’s my list:

sandmanNeil Gaiman’s The Sandman series

This is an extremely epic series, centred around seven siblings representing the inescapable aspects of the universe: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. The story touches the lives of a huge number of side characters from throughout history, and its immensity is certainly part of why I find it so rereadable. There are always characters I’ve forgotten and new things to notice in the incredible art of these graphic novels.

The whole collection is available through VPL in print or digital versions. Continue reading