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I read Mists of Avalon maybe half a dozen times before I was out of my teens.  It prompted a life-long interest in Arthurian legends; I even took an elective with a Merlin scholar in college.  But when I was an adult, the author’s abuse of her children came to light. I was stunned, I was sad. I immediately took my much-loved copy of Mists off the shelf and donated it.  I knew that the story was ruined for me. I could never enjoy it again, knowing what I knew about its creator.  Later, when J.K. Rowling double, quadruple and ten-folded down on her bigotry and hatred of transgender people, those beloved books left my shelf as well. 

I am, sadly, at another such juncture of heartbreak over an author whose works I have loved.  It took years for Jesse to get me to read Neil Gaiman. When I finally did, I feel in love with his stories.  Over the years I had collected not only all of his works, but many other books he recommended (most he did the introduction or foreword to).  But now, in light of his appalling allegations, a hint of which we got a few months ago, I find myself emptying my shelves once again.  These stories, once cherished, are now tarnished by the horrific acts of the person who made them.  

I truly believe that you can separate the art from the artist. You can continue to love the art of a terrible human being and still honor its place in your personal history.  I also believe that this separation is not all-or-nothing or one-size-fits-all. Each person has to determine where the lines are drawn for themselves.  It’s not out of moral purity that I removed (and will continue to remove) these stories from my life, but rather from a sense of self-preservation.  I cannot read these stories without remembering the acts of their creators.  It’s as simple as that.  To continue to read them would be painful to my mind and my heart.

Life is too short to choose pain; there will be enough of that without us seeking it out.  Life is also too short to hold space for anything that doesn’t bring us joy and healing and love.  The world is full of stories waiting for us to discover and cherish them. Maybe by leaving some behind, we will find our new favorite author or favorite book.

And so, in the spirit of making room, here are some books to fill the space should it feel empty.  Or maybe it doesn’t feel empty;  I also believe that leaving space for the new and unexpected has its own merits. 

If you love Stardust,
Tress of The Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson has humor and pirates and witches and adventure.

If you love Neverwhere,
The Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab.  She has also begun a followup series called The Threads of Power. Filled with magic and intrigue and underground Londons (yes, plural)

If you love American Gods,
Admittedly this one is hard to find one single book that’s like Gods which is why this book made Gaiman famous, but there are plenty of books filled with dark mythology and gorgeous writing. A few great reads include:

• The Winternight series by Katherine Arden
• Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
• Thistlefoot by Gennarose Nethercott
• The Golem and The Jinni by Helen Wecker

If you love The Graveyard Book,
The Cassidy Blake series by V.E. Schwab.  A young girl with a ghost best friend travels with her ghost-hunting parents

If you love Good Omens,
The heart and soul of Good Omens belong to Terry Pratchett, so for more of Pratchett check out Discworld. If the entirety of it (40+ books) is (understandibly) intimidating, you can pick a series with the series to start with. Guards! Guards! is a great place to start that’s sort of in the middle.

If you love Coraline,
The Small Spaces Quartet by Katherine Arden has kids and ghosts and horrors just beyond the door
The Up and Under Series by A. Deborah Baker (aka Seanan Maguire) has kids and magical lands right where you never thought to look

If you loved Snow, Glass, Apples, The Sleeper and The Spindle or Hansel and Gretel or want fairy tales with a twist, try the following stories:
A Sorceress Comes to Call and Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
A Spindle Splintered and A Mirror Mended by Alix Harrow
Spinning Silver and Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Hazel Wood series by Melissa Albert

If you love Smoke and Mirrors (or other short stories), any short stories by the following authors have a similar vibe of beauty and horror and magic:

• A.S. Byatt
• Kelly Link
• Kate Atkinson

As the saying goes, when a door closes a window opens. And Seanan Maguire tells us Every Heart is a Doorway (another GREAT series). So the great news is that, though our shelves may temporarily be empty, there is no lack of wonderous stories to take their place.