I’ve spent this weekend reading The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, the first in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. As I told you in an earlier post, these books are a hit with my kids, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I so admire Riordan for being able to introduce the complicated world of the gods and goddesses to such a young (or old!) audience in such a fun and engaging way.

My kids have now moved on to the Pandora series by Carolyn Hennessy, and are having fun discussing the similarities in the two series, where they diverge (my 7 year old informs me that Riordan calls the container that Pandora opens a “pithos”, which means “jar”, while Hennessy uses the term “box”. Makes my brain hurt.) and whether boys who love Percy Jackson will read the Pandora series.

Can grownups ever catch up?

Neil left a comment on the earlier post, It’s All Greek to Me, asking:

Other than the obvious classics (i.e Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey), can anyone suggest any adult fiction (as in, not young adult or kids fiction) books that involve Greek or Roman mythology? If not Greek or Roman, how about any other fiction books that involve the mythology of any other cultures?

I had the same question, so I posted it on twitter to get some immediate response. The twitter account @askindies is manned by dozens of independent booksellers from a variety of stores. If you post a book question to @askindies, you’ll likely get several well-informed answers by passionate, knowledgable booksellers (see this article from Bookselling This Week for more information). Their responses, along with others from various bookish twitter types, have given me a list that will keep me reading until the end of Western Civilization.

The most-recommended book was Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. Bethanne Patrick (@thebookmaven), says “GODS BEHAVING BADLY is delightful; such dark humor, told with such a deft touch”. This story, set in the 21st century and featuring the 12 gods of Mount Olympus sharing a London townhouse is exactly what I was looking for. I’m buying this on my next bookstore visit. It was also recommended by @bookavore (Stephanie of WORD bookstore in Brooklyn), @jennsbookshelf of Jenn’s Bookshelves.

Hope, (@taueret), one of our first Books on the Nightstand readers and listeners, and creator of the term “literary kryptonite,” recommends American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which tells of the old-world European titans (not just Greek), who immigrated along with their human believers, preparing to do battle with the newer American gods of commerce and marketing. It sounds fantastic, and has been added to my list.

Joe Foster (@joebfoster) of Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, CO recommended Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, by CS Lewis, which is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. – “Not as funny as Percy, to be sure, but a classic, ” says Joe.

Booksellers who twitter on behalf of their bookstores also responded. Because I don’t know the names of the people behind the twitter accounts, I am using the store name. Please know that I am fully aware that the physical bookstores themselves cannot yet tweet.

Skylight Books http://twitter.com/skylightbooks in Los Angeles says: “I love the Canongate Myth series, contemporary authors retell ancient myths in their own style. Especially Victor Pelevin & Ali Smith.” Keith Arsenault (@KeithArsenault), former bookseller and now sales manager for book distributor Publishers Group West, recommends Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, also part of the same series.

Leftunder Books of Catawber, VA says that “Sheri S. Tepper’s The Gate to Women’s Country has a Greek drama woven into its plot” (@leftunderbooks)