Ahhh

I've just come off a reading binge. No huge tomes, of course, but the entire "Griffin and Sabine" series by Nick Bantock. I received the first three books in a boxed set as my reward for winning an essay contest in college (though I really, really doubt my "Frankenstein" essay was all that good. I think I was the only entrant.), and Bantock has since written three more books based on the characters and their uncanny yin-yang abilities.

They are some of the most beautiful fiction books you'll ever see, loaded with Bantock's collages on slick art-book paper. The stories are told through postcards and letters -- which you get to take out of the envelope to read -- and begin with the saga of Griffin, a British graphic artist, and Sabine, a South Pacific islander who can telepathically see what Griffin draws. From there, we follow the soul mates through self-realization journeys and being chased by someone out to stop them from coming together. The three new books, "The Gryphon," "Alexandria" and "The Morning Star," bring back Griffin and Sabine, who contact Matthew and Isabella, lovers separated by distance who also have supernatural abilities. The new lovers are also pursued, and if they come together, will somehow unleash some amazing knowledge of balance and harmony that has been lacking from humanity for centuries. Maybe sounds a bit hokey, and the first three were better, but all the books are just an absolute delight to read and caress and marvel over.