Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer

Just read it. That's all I can really say.

The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster

So the "trilogy" (City of Glass, Ghosts, The Locked Room) is really just one book. Like it doesn't even make sense to review them separately.

And um, wow. Crazy & interesting & clearly with SO much going on below the surface. (Now that I know how everything ties together, I may need to read it again to really get it.) Dream-like & spooky & incredibly well-written.

From a Washington Post Review - "Ever since City of Glass, the first volume of his New York Trilogy, Auster has perfected a limpid, confessional style, then used it to set disoriented heroes in a seemingly familiar world gradually suffused with mounting uneasiness, vague menace and possible hallucination. His plots — drawing on elements from suspense stories, existential récit and autobiography — keep readers turning the pages, but sometimes end by leaving them uncertain about what they've just been through." I'd say that's about right.

Short, though, even with all three put together. I could've gone on reading this for weeks.

Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt

Great & entertaining read. Yes, pretty bleak at times, but with enough light & humorous (and occasional absurd) moments to keep it from becoming completely & utterly depressing. I couldn't stop laughing over the part where his grandmother gets mad at him for throwing up God in her backyard & makes him go to confession.

Fire, by Kristin Cashore

Similar to Graceling in style, but definitely a bit more adult & mature in tone & in the nature of the plot. I enjoyed Graceling, but it was pretty squarely YA, whereas Fire is more NA. Looking forward to more from Kristin Cayshore.

Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

A fantastic and enjoyable read (in spite of the fact that it boasts 1130 pages). Much easier to read (and funnier) than I expected (and really nothing like Quicksilver, though many of the big themes are the same). An epic and well-written story about the connections between economics, politics, war, and technology.

Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

What can I say? If you know that it's a mixture of Gaiman & Pratchett, and you know either of their work, it will be exactly what you're expecting. Also, I think the quote about it being a direct descendant of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is pretty darn accurate as well. (One caveat - the religious (or at least devoutly Christian) will probably not like or get it, and will probably end up rather offended. So if that's you, maybe skip it.)

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

A quick, fun read, but still dark, complex, engaging, and witty (cuz it's Neil Gaiman). The book opens with a mysterious and creepy man named Jack on a mission to murder a sleeping family of four; he makes short work of three of them, but finds that the family's 18-month-old toddler has somehow managed to slip through his grasp.

The boy wanders up the hill to the town's historic graveyard, where its denizens dub him "Nobody Owens" and vow to protect and care for him. Bod spends the years that follow growing up in the graveyard, educated and cared for by his adoptive ghost-parents Master and Mistress Owens, his mysterious, formidable guardian Silas, and a host of tutors, friends, and all-around quirky characters. As he gets older, Bod begins to learn the truth about where he came from, why he lives in the graveyard, and the danger that lurks beyond the graveyard fence as a result.

I haven't read Coraline yet, but I saw the movie, and I'd say it's about on the same level in terms of darkness / storytelling / age level. Like I said, not what you'd call a dense read; it took me about a day & a half.