I'm breathing life into this ole thread because I have some recommendations (and some eh's).
I just finishsed Neverwhere and, while it was a quick read, it wasn't the most compelling story. I got frustrated with how easily the protaganist got through his many quests, even when no one else had ever been able to accomplish it. The ending also left me flat. It was a quick read and amusing at times, just not something I'd recomend.
I also read The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. This is a book I'd recommend to just about anyone. It's a fascinating story, wonderfully written and many-layered. I absolutely LOVED it. I just told Chris this is his airplane reading.
Has anyone else read anything else by Simon Winchester? He's such an interesting writer, I'd love to read more. He certaily has covered some interesting subjects:
- A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906
- Krakatoa: The Day The World Exploded: August 27, 1883
- The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
- Stones of Empire: The Buildings of the Raj
- The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time
- Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire
- Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles