I finished American Gods and it was so good. Horrifying and sad and violent and amazing. The title is a bit misleading because it's actually about all the gods brought over to America from the old countries, as well as (glancingly) the ones created here (the Internet god, the Railroad god, etc. We hardly hear about/from them but then I suppose we don't need to because we deal with them on a daily basis. Sort of). There was a lot going on in this book, tons of different plotlines that would have faltered in a less capable writer's hands, but Gaiman is golden. 4/5 stars
I followed it up with Anansi Boys. It's not a sequel but I would recommend you read American Gods before you read this one, just to get a good feel on Anansi. Its title is also slightly inaccurate. I wouldn't call Fat Charlie and Spider boys; they're grown men. This book was not as shocking or horrifying, more of a caper, and it actually reminded me more than once of a Terry Prachett book. It unsettled me less, but I'm not sure whether that's a good thing. For the most part it was, but there was less of that feeling one gets in the presence of things divine/not human. Still, there's 100% less god, uh, relations. 4/5 stars

So holidayish, my reading. I guess 2011 is the year I didn't read any of my traditional seasonal reads (The Penderwicks in the summer, Christmas with Anne [she of the Green Gables] Treasury, not even A Christmas Carol). I just didn't feel like it. Oh well.