Printz Buzz

With the end of the year fast approaching, the Mock Printz Awards are all the buzz.  One book that has gotten so much is Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.  I had recently read Black's Doll Bones, which is getting Newbery buzz, but IMO, it is too good to actually win.  I like vampire books.  But I am not a fanatic about them.  I loved listening to Dracula.  And I loved the Twilight books, even though I was Team Jacob.  The Coldest Girl was pretty good.  It was long man, really long.  I listened to it on 3 speed and it was still long, but yet, the world that Black has created is amazing.  I really feel like I want to know more about it.  I wonder if I should have read it, but I don't know, it was super long.  I like Tana, the main character, who lives in a world where vampires are known evil things in this world.  Folks have to be pretty careful not to get caught out after dark.  Infected folks and vampires live in places called Coldtowns.  There is a lot of vampire myth and lore packed into this book.  Even though vampires are deadly, they are pretty sexy too.  Still, if I had to pick a vampire to be my man, it would be Lucius Vladescu.  When will Ms. Fantasky bring him back!  If you like a good vampire story, though, you won't be disappointed in Coldest.  It is creepy. 

 

Blood-thirsty, blood-sucking, vultures, demons, beasts, undead, manipulative monsters, preying on the innocent.

 I just finished listening to Dracula by Bram Stoker and I must say that the similarities between vampires and those who work in foster "care" are startling!
It is a really scary, creepy book.  Really well done and funny in places, too.  I had no idea that it is told in journals and diaries and newspaper clippings.  Just like so many teen books today!  It was really neat to hear such a strange land described and such horrors described so well.  I am pretty surprised at how the books is very different from a lot of Dracula movies.  I also didn't know that there's a token American in the bunch, a Texan even!  Great book.  I won't forget this one!

Amish Vampires!

I haven't read a book like The Hallowed Ones before, and that is saying something.  I couldn't put it down and now I hope there is a sequel.  This is a dystopian/paranormal story, but it is unlike any other.  Set in Amish country, it is told from the POV of a teen girl who is about to go on Rumspringa but all of that is called off, as the rest of the world has been overrun with vampires.  The Elders in Katie's community say that no one goes out of the community and no one comes in, while the disaster is taking place, but Katie sees a wounded young man on the edge of the fence and hides him a barn, nursing him back to health.  
Katie's character is strong and smart and easily likable.  It is really interesting to learn about the Amish community AND be terrified by red-eyed, undead, blood-suckers at the same time.  This is a coming of age story in a messed up world and is one of the most different and compelling stories I have read this year.   

Coming Soon!

So I was lucky to get my hands on an ARC of Jessica Rules the Dark Side but everyone else doesn't have too much longer to wait. We've waited long enough, right! Next Tuesday Jessica Rules will be out everywhere! If you loved Jessica 1 and Jessica 1.5, I would go ahead and put your order in now, because this book rocks.

I get some completely swept up in Fantaskey's books. She writes wonderful, original stories that avoid stereotypes, but it is more than that. She's just a darn good writer!

Now Jessica and Lucius are married and Jessica is learning that living the life of vampire royalty isn't easy or safe. No one can be trusted it seems.

One of the coolest parts of the book is the intro of Ronnie, a cousin of Lucius who is more like a brother. He has given up the royal vampire life and chosen to live on the beach in California, eating tacos and surfing. Mindy, Jessica's best friend from back in PA has a complicated relationship with him.

Loved everything about this book and hope there's more of Jessica to come!

A Royal Wedding

Just finished The Wedding of Antanasia Jessica Packwood and Lucius Valeriu Vladescu and although no one could ever accuse me of being a romantic, this little story was dreamy.

Jessica and Luscious Lucius get married and become an official, royal couple, prince and princess vampires. There's a lot of intrigue as well, in this short story, which is offered for free online.

Now I can't wait to read the next full book in the series!

In a Diabetic Coma

Sweetblood is one of the worst books I've read in awhile.   It is the second-worst this year after, Witch and Wizard.  This is the second book I've read by this author.  How to Steal a Car was quite good and so that's probably another thing that made this so disappointing.  The first half was almost unreadable, but I didn't have another book in the house.  It finally got somewhat interesting about halfway through, when I can't even remember her name, who is obsessed with vampires because she thinks she is like one because she has diabetes, meets this truly creepy older man who thinks he is a vampire, but really he is just like those gross guys on Dateline who get busted for going after young girls on the internet, but it falls completely flat.
The ending is completely unbelievable and pat.  A ridiculous book if I ever read one.
Boo.

Team Lucius

I have written about Twilight before and made it clear that "I like my men with a pulse, thank you", as they say, but after reading Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side I may have changed my mind...Team Luscious Lucious, indeed! (I do have to note though...that Lucious does have a pulse. He can also go out in daylight without sparkling.)
This book is yet another romance...but with a dark side.
Jessica is just about to turn eighteen, living with her adoptive parents in Lebanon County, PA. Her life is pretty grand. She doesn't know much about her birth parents except that she was adopted in Romania because her bio-parents had died.
Her life is pretty good, save the jerky cheerleader, Faith, and the lumpy football player, Frank, who pick on her because she isn't the thinnest of the thin girls in school.
Jess has a best friend, great parents, a budding romance with the farmer boy down the road. Things are decent!
Until...Lucius arrives...posing as an exchange student, Lucius claims to be her betrothed. Their wedding was set up back in Romania at the time of their births and would result in the joining of two very powerful families, thus ending years and years and years and years of feuding. I mean years. Because Lucius is a vampire and so, apparently is Jess.
I won't give anymore away, just read this book and you won't be sorry. I found it actually much better than Twilight...maybe because it was a bit more gruesome!

Shorty

Even though I thought the Twilight series was going to be scary, I ended up ripping through the books. Not the last one so much...As I was, and am, so Team Jacob. A fter realizing he was out of the running, i was bummed! But man i loved the first three.

I'm embarrassed to say, though, that I don't remember Bree Tanner from Eclipse, but The Short, Second Life of Bree Tanner is great.

We all know the ending...but we all knew the ending to the Titanic, right?

This book is awesome! I hope that she will do a few more!

Another Vampire Book

Ever since Twilight everybody and their brother has been writing vampire novels. That's one of the big complaints I've read in reviews for Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block. I have also read the complaints that start like this, "I'm not a prude but...". Well, I think both of those complaints are pretty dumb. First of all, yes, this is ANOTHER vampire book, but so what? There's nothing new under the sun, right? And Pretty is a very good book, better than Twilight, I believe- and I really enjoyed Twilight. Second, anyone who has ever read Francesca Lia Block has GOT to know that there's going to be sex in the book. It isn't descriptive. Maybe it is more sensuality than sex...maybe, I don't know, but if you know the author, you know this book isn't for middle school libraries. So deal with it. Char is a 100+ year old vampire with the appearance of an 18 year old high school student, living in California, dealing with the death of her only friend. She's miserable with grief from the loss of her friend and hating the immortal life, and falling in love with her dead friend's boyfriend. Oh yes, and the manipulative vampire who made her is back and up to serious no-good. The story is written in Block's lyrical style and goes back and forth to the time when Char wasn't a vampire and through the ages and then to the present day. This book is a very short and quick read and is almost like a dream. It isn't the happiest book in the world, but I recommend it to those who enjoyed Twilight and those who didn't.

...there are no off-putting Briticisms...

That's what ALA's Booklist said about Cirque du Freak: a living nightmare and I couldn't agree more! I love that quote! So well put! What book DOES have off-putting Briticisms? Harry Potter of course, but that is neither here nor there, except that I always enjoy getting a chance to bash HP. This book is fresh and creepy, without the off-putting Briticisms! Hooray! At the very beginning the author says that he isn't going to mention where the events in the book take place because it is too dangerous. I liked that because one, it made the book seem creepier and two, it assured the absence of Briticisms. Darren and his friends find a flyer advertising an illegal freak show in an abandoned theater in a neglected part of town. Darren and his buddy Steve go to the show and there, Steve recognizes one of the "freaks" as a vampire. I really don't want to give any more away because this book is definitely one you want to read if vampires or freak shows interest you, or if you just like good books that you'll want to finish in one day. This is the first is a series and the first three books in the series were made into a movie that came out last October. I have no idea how I missed it, but last year I wasn't obsessed with movies like I had been in previous years. It didn't get very good reviews and it is really bombed at the box office, but the trailer looks great and John C. Reilly is awesome so I am sad that it didn't do well. I am looking forward to reading the second book!