I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Neil Gaiman is one the greatest writers of our time.

Obsessive Twitterer (seriously, calm down Neil), brilliant award-winning author, and all-around kick-ass guy Neil Gaiman has posted photos of his home library. Holy shit. I suppose any author worth their salt should have a large library, but his is enormous. View several more large photos (with a kitty on a chair!) at Shelfari.

Neil Gaiman’s Library [via Shelfari]

[Update] – Congratulations to Neil for winning The Newbery Medal for another of his children’s books, The Graveyard Book.

I finally picked up Coraline this weekend from my locale bookstore and though I’m 6 years late I can’t recommend it enough. It’s written by Neil Gaiman so you know it’s fantastic, and though it’s aimed at “young adults” it is a great read no matter what your age.

I figured with the movie coming out in less than 2 weeks I had better read it soon, before any mental image of the characters brought to mind claymation figures. Pick it up and you’ll read through it in a day.

Finally, try your hardest to find this version with the cool black script cover (it took me 5 bookstores), and not one of the multitudes of kids’ versions floating around. One, because there is a Q&A with Gaiman in the back, and two, so you don’t look like a 12 year old when people catch you reading it.

Thank you for being born and producing some of the greatest (and darkest) works I have had the pleasure of reading over the years. Whether it is the untouchable Sandman comic book series, my favorite book of all time, Good Omens, or laying the groundwork for the super-campy Neverwhere mini series which originally aired on the BBC.

The comic book industry has been lucky that Neil chose the comic book as his primary means of expression, although his novels and short stories still do not get the credit they deserve. Here’s a rundown of the best Gaiman work available:

• Sandman graphic novels; all 75 issues are collected in an 11 volume set. Start with Volume 1 of course.
• Books of Magic mini-series
• The aforementioned Neverwhere novel and series
• Good Omens
• Stardust