18. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman
I finally got an up-to-date public library card (my old one was about 25 years old and no longer valid), and this was the first book I picked out. It was a good selection, too -- Neil Gaiman is a good storyteller.
A middle-aged man returns to the neighborhood where he grew up, visiting some neighbors. Once there, he remembers a strange experience he had about 40 years earlier, one that he had forgotten more than once. That experience is the story.
Neil Gaiman makes me think of a British Stephen King.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
