70s science fiction and modern Winter magic

I picked up The Xanadu Manuscript by John Rowe Towsend, ages ago, I think, from my local post office which sells second-hand books in aid of Cancer Research. I started it a number of times and couldn't get into it, but one day, I just couldn't put it down! It was brilliant. It is set in Cambridge and focuses on the experience of a couple of young people who experience some dizziness and then meet some unusual people. I don't want to give anything away, but they come from a place where poor health no longer exists and people don't drink alcohol. They arrive as part of an experiment which goes wrong, and it is up to the young people to help them out. This was a really good read, so interesting, particularly as it focused on the impact of time travel and was really convincing. I love finding surprises in charity shops and this one was fascinating, and I am curious to find more by this author, although I am finding them quite difficult to find.

I love short stories, particularly when they are written by different people. Winter Magic, ideal during this

heatwave, was lovely, full of stories by authors I hadn't read before, but who I am keen to read more of. The book is curated by Abi Elphinstone, and her story, the Snow Dragon was beautiful, about a young girl at an orphanage, who was ruthlessly treated by a bully teacher, who didn't like the way she used her words. The girl was referred to as Runt by the horrid teacher, but all came together in the end with magic and kindness. The stories were all varied and wonderful. I had only read books by one of the authors before, so it was wonderful to find so many new authors whose books I will keep an eye out for. The stories were magical, well-written, creative, and all very different, emphasising the qualities of the individual authors. Definitely a joy to read. Both of these books are for children and young adults, but I really enjoyed them both.

Disappointment and horridness

I am focusing this post solely on one book because I didn't like it. I picked it up at the airport as it sounded perfect for me. The cover was of a beautiful, colourful, fragmented butterfly, and the subheading is "short fictions and wonders". The book is called Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. Of course I have heard of him and I thought he wrote magical stories, although I hadn't read them before. I don't usually read the introductions of the book, but this one was intriguing as the author explained his reasoning for writing/including each of the included stories. The book was described as "extraordinary, complicated, hilarious, melancholy, and terrifying". The first ten were exactly that, magical, clever, thoughtful, creative, but the 11th was really horrible and there was just no warning. It was such an unexpected switch! The language was offensive as was the topic, human trafficking, paedophilia, etc. - why would you include those topics in a book with magical stories in it. I was really disappointed and I am unable to finish the book, which might get better, but I didn't want to take the risk of further horrors. I know people have different tastes, but I just didn't expect to find such contrasts from magical to horror, and had I had the slightest hint that this was coming up, I wouldn't have bought it.