The book, which features a brilliant Wayne Miller cover, is available for pre-order now. I highly recommend that you snag your copy while you have the chance. It’s a wonderful collection that introduces you to a very dark corner of the world, a place you would definitely not want to pass through in real life, the kind of place that’s really only safe to visit between the pages of a book. It’s also a collection that shows off Dave’s depth and range, and his knack for tweaking old-fashioned themes into unsettling new shapes.

You can order your copy right here.

Out of everything that I read in 2008, this book was among the best of the very best, and it deserves all the sales and acclaim it has received, up to and including the most prestigious honor in children’s literature.

I hasten to add, for those of you who are somehow unfamiliar with The Graveyard Book, that you should not be deterred by that phrase, “children’s literature.” The book is immensely enjoyable and rewarding no matter how young or old you might be, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Read the review, if you’re so inclined. More important, read the book.

Some of that must stem from my time working in bookstores, where I was called on to make 20 or 30 recommendations every day. As any bookstore clerk will tell you, that’s a painstaking, often unpleasant procedure that involves prompting the customer for clues as to what they like to read, authors they have enjoyed in the past, and so forth. The answers you receive are usually pretty vague and not very helpful, especially if the customer is shopping for a casual friend or distant family member.

“And what kinds of books does your Uncle Edgar like?”

“I’m not sure. I saw him reading something when I was over there at Christmas. I don’t remember the title, but I think it had a green cover.”

Part of it, too, is a general reluctance to tell someone else what they should be doing with their precious, probably far-too-short reading time. When I was younger I didn’t have a problem forcing my literary tastes on others. These days, it feels a bit presumptuous. In the end, I’m just glad to see people reading. I honestly don’t care what they read.

Funny, then, that I find myself recommending books all over the place lately. Not long ago, over at the olsonandsilva site, I offered a rave for The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Today I’m going to recommend that you check out Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale.

I’ve seen some mixed reviews on this one, and I’ll admit that I had mixed feelings myself at first, partially because I was slow to warm to the main characters, partially because I was skeptical that Setterfield’s premise would be able to pay off in equal measure to the build-up she was giving it.

I can happily say that I was wrong all the way around.

Though I wanted to strangle the narrator on several occasions, she ultimately affected me quite deeply. Her power over me grew as the pages turned, as did the emotional impact of the book itself, which left me feeling just the way I want to feel when I finish a novel — a wreck in all the right ways, physically drained, mentally agitated, a bit teary-eyed and utterly satisfied.

Did Setterfield pay off? No question about it.

Looking back at my praise for Shadow of the Wind, I sense a theme. Like that book, The Thirteenth Tale is a dark sort of tribute to literature and the power of stories to enthrall, enrapture, carry you away, heal you, perhaps even keep you alive. In particular, it’s a salute to gothic literature, including well-loved classics such as Jane Eyre, a book that just happens to play a key role in Setterfield’s novel. It’s also got fog-swept moors, a once-great home fallen into decrepitude, unspeakable family secrets, truths kept hidden and truths unknown. And yes, it even has a ghost.

I don’t want to tell you what to read or anything, but …umm … you really ought to give this one a try.