Anansi Boys

This was so much fun. Nice blend of fantasy (modern-day) and comedy. Charlie is a relatable character who fears embarrassment more than anything. He avoids drawing attention to himself at all costs. But the price he pays is never getting to shine and share with the world what he's really good at (in this case singing.)

Charlie's character grows thanks to adversity, in the form of his brother Spider, and his crooked boss Grahame. His supposedly dead father ( the West African trickster god Anansi) helps him gain confidence and sense of purpose. I wish things worked out like this in real life. It's such a joyful story to read. Favorite scenes include Charlie singing his way out of a jam with a gun-toting lunatic and Spider making a little clay spider that goes and gets help from all the other spiders.

One theme in this book is the power of stories. When the destructive force (Tiger) owned all the stories, humans were frightened and spent all their time struggling for their survival. When Spider takes over the stories, suddenly humans are freer to make their lives easier, do the things they want instead of living in fear. The story explores the Tiger (fear) trying to take the stories back.