The Must List, Novels

Read up, bloggers and other people! These are the 6 Must Read books, you know, in my opinion. And, they're in no particular order.

1. Fall of Giants by Ken Follet
Ken Follet wins again in his first book of the Century Trilogy. On the brink of World War I, the reader follows the adventures of several different families from around the world, including two brothers in Russia, a miner family in Wales, and an American diplomat. The second book just came out, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Don't be put off by the sheer volume and massiveness of the book!! It's worth the time.

2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Henry DeTamble can time travel, and this makes dating difficult. But, Clare Abshire loves him enough to fight through the worrying about when he's ever coming back and the trials of marrying a time traveler. Their love is pure and beautiful with raw fights and precious moments. It is a book that will make you fall in love with marriage and babies and love itself. This book got me through some rough moments when Stuart and I were in a long distance relationship.

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
READ THIS BOOK... and then ask yourself: Why is a white woman writing from the perspective of a black woman? What gives her the right to do this? Why do the black women talk in Southern slang but the white women do not? Is this book - which fights racism and celebrates equality among its characters - really a racist novel after all???

4. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Leave it to Irving to take you away to a place involving Maine, sexual disease, and the questioning of one's morals and own usefulness. I just love the narrative of this novel, the beautiful thought process of Dr. Wilbur Larch, who I read in the voice of Michael Caine since he played the movie character in the film adaptation. Just watch the first five seconds of the trailer, and you can see the amazingness of the casting for this film and how beautiful Caine's voice is. It makes reading the novel 50 times better!! Meh, not so much with Tobey MacGuire.

5. Three Weeks with my Brother by Nicholas and Micah Sparks
This is Nicholas Sparks' first memoir, and I prefer it over all his fiction writing! Nicholas and his older brother Micah go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world, seeing  places like Easter Island and Ayers Rock in Australia. In between the recounting of the adventure - JARS AND BOWLS - Nicholas recounts their childhood with their sister and parents. You will laugh hysterically like never before, and you will weep from a breaking heart over this real life tale. My favorite moment is when Nicholas teaches his son to speak for the first time after years of silence and letting his wife hear her son say "I love for you" for the first time. Even if you've never enjoyed The Notebook or still haven't forgiven him for writing a film with a part specifically for Miley Cyrus (The Last Song), you still need to read this memoir.

6. Wicked by Gregory Macguire
I still haven't had the opportunity to see the musical, but this is a wonderful book. It is full of magic, mischief, love, Oz politics, and all around fun. Follow the life of the Wicked Witch of the West in her time in the green land of Oz - why is she green, what's really going on with The Wizard, when did she become wicked, what's Glenda problem, and why aren't the animals talking anymore? With its green-rimmed pages and small illustrations, you won't put it down!

The Must List, August 25

Read, watch, chew, post pictures!! 

1. The Hands of Isis by Jo Graham
What a wonderful novel about the beautiful, passionate, and tragic tale of Queen Cleopatra. Told by one of the handmaidens, The Hands of Isis is seeped in detail, romance, beauty, and breathtaking wonders of the ancient world. Cleopatra's tragic love affairs are told with brutal honesty and Charmain's own love story turns out for the best in a way completely unexpected. I am now a huge Jo Graham fan.

2. TwitPic
I'm into Twitter again, and I've started regularly posting my pictures via TwitPic. This is a spin-off of the Twitter social networking website that allows users to post their pictures with the same privacy rights as Twitter. I'm not an Instagram person... I don't have the app. And, I've never liked the layout of Photobucket. So, TwitPic is my go-to for posting pictures on Twitter. It has my Twitter name on there so my accounts are linked perfectly together. All of my photos show up in a feed or I can switch the view to "gallery" to see them laid out side-by-side. If you click "Home," you can see what everyone else is taking pictures of.

3. "White Collar" television series
This is my new favorite show (now that I'm saving the last few episodes of "Lost" because I don't want it to end). Neil Caffery, played by the beautiful, blue-eyed actor Matt Bomer, is a suave, charming con artist whose list of crimes extends to bond forgery, art thief, and art forgery. Caught by FBI agent Peter Burke, he strikes a deal with Peter to wear a tracking anklet and help the FBI in white collar cases for the remainder of his prison sentence. This is after he broke out of jail, of course, and went searching his true love, Kate. Kate, however, had other plans and seems to be manipulated and cornered by a different FBI agent. While solving crimes with Peter, Neil secretly tries to find out what has happened to Kate. The show is clean, low of cuss words, and is quite funny.

4.  We Bought a Zoo DVD
Who wouldn't want to buy a zoo? Seriously!!? Who wouldn't want to grow up in a zoo? Matt Damon plays a widow raising a son and young daughter, and he decides to uproot his family to a new home in order to start afresh. He happens to buy a house that comes with a zoo - lions, tigers, porcupines, peacocks... yes, they have them all! Damon's character then realizes afterwards that the zoo is in a severe state of disrepair and must fix up the place in order to reopen it for the sake of the animals and his oddball staff. Can he do it in time before the official inspection... will his son ever forgive him... will he fall in love with the boyish, no make-up-wearing Scarlett Johansson... does he even have enough money????

5. "Chewtublar" hamster toy
This thing is groovy, man! A giant tube for your hamster to chew on, PLUS it has non-toxic, brightly-colored bedding inside that your little friend can bury in or take out and put whenever he/she wants. It is a great toy for their teeth, and it provides comfort and warmth. My hamster Nutmeg instantly took to it.

6. Nerds plush toy
Yes, you can eat the candy all day long, but have you ever hugged a Nerd candy before? I'm not talking about the pillows shaped like the candy boxes and bars. I'm talking about the little cartoon caricature of a Nerd candy drawn on the box. Yes, they exist!! And yes, Stuart worked long and hard to find one for me after I told him that getting one for me for Christmas would mean I would love him forever. And he did. He went to several different websites, tracking the toy from one link to another until finally he found and bought me a Willy Wonka Nerd plush... without the backpack clip-on!!! Best Christmas present EVER!

The Must List, July 22

 This week's Must List will take you out to eat, to your nearest book store, shopping at iTunes, and relaxing with sweet music.

1. "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia) by Patrick Stump
I cannot get enough of this song! Yesterday, I posted the music video, and since then I've downloaded the song from iTunes for only .99 cents and have been listening to it like crazy! I love it!!

2. Sunday breakfast at Hooper's
Hooper's is the replacement restaurant for Flat Iron... which basically means it took a different name in order to get more business. Stuart swears it's the exact same menu. Papa's Pizza tried the same thing, poor dears, and became Mike's. They're now closed. They barely lasted two months. Thankfully for us, Hooper's is open and has the most amazing sausage patties and the fluffiest pancakes known to man!! A trip to Sylva is in order just to try their amazing pancakes. Watch out though. Hooper's knows how amazing their food is, so prices are a bit high!!

3. Goodreads
Goodreads is a website dedicated to books and book lovers. You can rate, write reviews, talk about books you own, connect with your Facebook and Twitter, participate in giveaways, take quizzes, add friends to see what they're reading... If you love books, this is the place to be! This morning alone, I updated my progress in Ghost Dogs of the South and participated in giveaway contests.

4. Ghost Dogs of the South by Randy Russell and Janet Barnett
What an amazing book rich with stories of detail, true puppy love, and history!! Pick up this book today and never put it down! You will fall in love with each amazing tale of a dog that loved its owner so much that it either returned from the grave or protected him or her from the evil of the afterlife!! There was even a story about why cats and dogs hate each other that was set in a town just a few miles from us!!

5. 1940's playlist
Build yourself a playlist of music from the 1940's. It's relaxing music. It's dinner music. It's dancing music! It's sitting on the couch on a Sunday blogging on your laptop music!! Be sure to include:

• "It Had to be You" by Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest
• "As Time Goes By"
• "Autumn Leaves" by Nat King Cole
• "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra
• "Moonlight Serenade" 

6. Adam Lambert's Trespassing album
There are only a few songs I can't get into on this album. The rest are Adam Lambert GENIUS!! "Pop That Lock," "Cuckoo," and "Kickin' In" are fun, booty-grooving songs. "Underneath" is raw beauty and truth exposed through song. "Never Close Our Eyes" and "Better Than I Know Myself" have already become huge pop favorites! "Outlaws of Love" is the last track that will leave you wanting more... so you better buy the extended version!

63. The Farming of Bones

Book 63: The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat (B)

Amabella is a Haitian servant for a Spanish family in the Dominican Republic in 1937. She is in love with Sebastien, the sugar cane cutter. She doesn't mind serving Senora Valencia and her husband, an army colonel. Her only ghost is the violent death of her parents, deaths that she watched at a very young age as they were swept away in the Massacre River. But change is on the way. The Generalissimo wants the horrid Haitians out of his country and back across the river from where they came! The persecution begins, and Amabelle tries to escape from the country where she has grown up to return to her roots. But, she loses Sebastien along the way. Is he alive? Will they find each other? Why can't Dominicans and Haitians tolerate one another, their major difference being how they say certain words? Parsley.

Danticat does an amazing job describing the horrible persecutions and murders of the Haitians during this turbulent time. However, her climax is... well, anticlimactic and leaves the reader with nothing but long drawn out passages about realization and acceptance of what has happened. The book could have ended several times but is instead drawn out for what seems like eternity as Amabelle grows older and less enjoyable.
In the beginning, there are amazing passages in between the narrative dialogue chapters of precious, private moments between Amabelle and Sebastien. Once the action begins and the Haitians are being slaughtered, those moments go away, and the heart of the book is lost. I wish Danticat had kept those going because they were beautiful, peaceful moments to bring the reader back to this deep character that is Amabelle.
Also, the ending brought everything back together. The last chapter is moving and unpredictable in a sad way. Amabelle's obsession with water comes full circle in the end that leaves the reader feeling as ghost-like and un-whole as Amabelle must have felt since the massacres.
I recommend this book for older audiences who can appreciate the history and the pain. But, the middle can be and should be skipped.

61. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Book 61: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (B-)

I don't know what it is about these books my professors pick for us to read... I just can't get into them!!
A memoir, Bauby was the editor for France's Elle magazine when he had a stroke in his early-40's. The accident left him with a condition called "locked-in" syndrome. He is unable to move anything except his head side to side. He cannot speak, he cannot swallow, he cannot use the bathroom on his own. Bauby was only able to communicate by blinking his left eyelid. The best way I can explain it is to copy a passage from the actual novel:

"This morning, with first light barely bathing Room 199, evil spirits descend on my world. For half an hour, the alarm on the machine that regulates my feeding tube has been beeping out into the void. I cannot imagine anything so inane or nerve-racking as this piercing beep beep beep pecking away at my brain. As a bonus, my sweat has unglued the tape that keeps my right eyelid closed, and the stuck-together lashes are tickling my pupil unbearably. And to crown it all, the end of my urinary catheter has become detached and I am drenched" (57). 

Bauby's alphabet from the film

While I can appreciate the pains that went into writing this novel, I find the whole thing to be so inconclusive that it's difficult to read. It is amazing to see this man's life before and after the accident, but there's no developing plot. You go here... you go there... you go everywhere. It's not until the end that you learn (if you didn't read the back cover) why Bauby is actually in the hospital.
The film adaptation, too, was all over the place. In fact, it was one the few movies I actually fell asleep during! Making a film about a man who can only communicate by blinking is not an exciting film. Oh, it's a piece of art, but it's not entertainment. I just kept thinking, "Why??"
Bauby's story is one of beauty and acceptance of the things we cannot change. I just wish it had been told in some type of order...

Works Cited:

Bauby, Jean-Dominique. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. New York:

Vintage Books, 1997. Print. 

60. Things Fall Apart

Book 60: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (C-)

Gosh, I hate this book! I hated it in 10th grade, and I still hate it now!! And, this time I have to write a paper on it.
Why this book sucks:
1. WAY TOO MUCH DETAIL
2. The ending is abrupt and out of nowhere with too little detail
3. The names are too hard to pronounce and I keep getting them mixed up
4. What is going on with Ikefuma?
5. Why can't Okonkwo love his son and stop beating his wife (especially during the Week of Peace)?
6. I greatly dislike proud characters.

Also to Mr. Achebe, I don't appreciate you calling Joseph Conrad a racist. First of all, Heart of Darkness is better than Things Fall Apart. Secondly, everyone was a racist back then. You can't call Conrad a racist because every white man was on his high horse back then thanks to imperialism and straight up pompousness. Just because he wrote a book about it showing Africa from the white man's perspective doesn't mean you get to go around hatin'. That is how he saw Africa. It's his opinion. Yes, I'll agree that Conrad had a love relationship with the word "black," but he was a descriptive writer. He may have needed a thesaurus but that's no reason to call him a racist. So there!

59. Oedipus Rex

Book 59: Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (A-)

This book is actually a play written during the Renaissance... which is why I had to read it for Renaissance class. It tells the story of a man who is fated to kill his own father and marry his mother. It's a classic, twisted tale that lets us know that no, today's generation isn't where the problems started. And, it wasn't the hippies either.
No, it was Sophocles, whose graphic ending is sure to leave your stomach turning. I read the passage out loud to Stuart, who immediately made noises of disgust and said, "That's gross, baby."
It is a captivating story, however - pure classic. Still, to get through the ending... I'd hate to see the live theater version.

58. The Complete Persepolis

Book 58: The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (B+)

I really didn't like Persepolis. The reason it gets a B+, however, is because of its innovative use of the graphic novel style to tell a memoir set during the revolution of Iran. Satrapi recounts her childhood and adolescence in the tumultuous Iran when women began to have to wear the veil and the Islamic Revolution heated up. The novel also tells of her time in Austria as an Iranian living in the Western world and how much of an outcast she was, particularly with never having found diaspora (I learned that word in class yesterday!).

The final novel, originally split into two separate books, is told in black and white, stark comics that really show the harsh differences between their culture and ours. I did have some problems with the comics, though, because there was so much that needed to be said. Most of the frames were of a hooded Satrapi saying a long dialogue of political jargon that couldn't be explained as properly as it could have been in a standard novel.
I found Satrapi's voice, especially as a child, to just be annoying. She didn't captivate me. While she was brutally honest which was needed for her story, there was also a kind of deattachment. It was like because she was writing in a graphic novel setting that she didn't know how to express herself well enough in the what was going on around her.
Also, the ending... sucked!! One of the worst endings I've ever read... right up there with Vulpes the Red Fox and My Side of the Mountain. It was abrupt, unexpected, and left a lot of loose ends. I was extremely disappointed and confused. I understand that a memoir isn't an autobiography. It isn't meant to explain her entire life, but seriously... what was that????

57. Heart of Darkness

I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not going to reach my 100 book goal by mid-March, but I'm still keeping track of my reading. Nowadays, all my reading time is dedicated to my five English classes. That, and the slow going few pages a night through Ken Follet's massive Fall of Giants novel before bed. Here is Heart of Darkness, a novel I had to read for Non-Western World Literature class.

Book 57: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (B)

I'll be honest, we covered this book in class for three days... it wasn't until Day 3 that I finally understood what was going on. I got the whole, someone telling a story inside another story. That was fine, but the way it was written was just confusing. Everything was just one huge block paragraph after another with no breaks for dialogue and barely any for switching scenes. I was beyond lost until I cornered one of my classmates and demanded that he explain the plot to me outside Coulter. What he said was exactly the background I needed to piece together the story, and I saw the light!!!

My final night of reading one of clarity and hope! I fell in love with the last third of the novel. I really wished my professor had done that the first day of class. According to her, she said that she thought everyone had read the novel in high school and to go over the background would be boring and repetitive. See, there's that ASS-U(&)ME thing again. It never ends well. No, I had to read that ridiculous thing of Things Fall Apart, which, yes... we're reading.
Heart of Darkness is the white man's perspective on how much imperialism sucks. It is told through the first-eye account of a man who then repeats the first-eye account of Marlow, an ivory man who traveled into the "heart of darkness" to fetch the goods and the infamous Kurtz. Marlowe and Kurtz have different opinions on the idea of being in Africa - Kurtz believes that imperialism is amazing. He's there to escape the suffocation of his clingy woman, My Intended, and to gain riches. Marlow sees the country for what it is and tells this story to try and show the beauty of Africa. However, according to my friend, his shipmates listening to the tale believe he's got nothing to be ashamed of. It's a tale of swashbuckling adventure not tragedy!
If I hadn't been so completely confused, this novel would have received a higher rating, but I completely missed the first half.

56. Longing

Book 56: Longing by Karen Kingsbury (A)

Hooray!! I'm so excited for the character development in this next novel of the Bailey Flanigan series!!! Bailey, Cody, and Brandon Paul are back for the continuation of their complicated young lives. Bailey's Broadway musical run is in trouble because audience members no longer want to watch Hairspray. She also is still dealing with conflicting feelings about Cody when she's dating Brandon. Brandon is completely in love with Bailey and will do everything in his power to convince her that she deserves more than the runaway-when-things-get-scary Cody. In fact, he wants to propose...soon! And, Cody has realized he's truly in love with Bailey and is about to break-up with his new girlfriend Cheyenne when she is diagnosed with brain cancer and needs all the love and support she can get. It's a Christian soap opera, folks!!!
I am all about Team Brandon!! I used to root for Cody all through the Above the Line series and into the new Bailey series, but now I'm done with that boy. He had his chance! Now, leave Bailey alone! I want her to be with Brandon, and he's doing a great job of keeping her with him!
Once again, Kingsbury does an amazing job of making these characters relate-able. My favorite scene is the one between Bailey and one of her Hairspray cast mates in the Starbucks. The transformation of the cast mate from when you first meet him in Leaving is worth getting teary eyed! That scene alone is worth reading the novel.

55. Cirque du Freak - Tunnels of Blood

Book 55: Cirque du Freak - Tunnels of Blood by Darren Shan (B-)

Sadly, this novel wasn't anywhere near as good as the first two. Darren, Mr. Crepsley, and Evra leave the Cirque after an old friend from Mr. Crepsley's past shows up. The trio arrive in a small town and stay at a hotel where the boys joke around and enjoy the wonder of television while Mr. Crepsley goes out at night and says nothing to no one. His secrets become scary when six murdered bodies are discovered in a warehouse near the outskirts of town. Evra and Darren think Mr. Crepsley has gone on a bloodlust killing spree and needs to be staked! They follow him one night and discover a whole new kind of freak!

Mr. Crepsley

While this may sound exciting, I found the novel dragged. I really enjoyed the Cirque life and wanted to explore more of it. There was a significant lack in the number of supporting characters, and it seemed that Shan grew bored writing only of the three. He set himself up for dragging moments with only Darren and Evra around to entertain themselves throughout the day and the night. While Darren scores a girlfriend, the introduction of Debbie only complicates matters because it causes paragraph after paragraph of Darren's inner monologue of worrying Debbie will find out the truth about Mr. Crepsley. And who has no reaction whatsoever to a boy with green scales for skin?? Who does that? Apparently, Debbie does.
Evra's character development was wonderful. Reading about the growing bond between the two boys was enjoyable and sweet. I hope Evra takes on a larger role in the later novels.
Overall, I was just not pleased with this third book. There was some suspense in the end, but it was easy to predict the outcome. I still believe number 2 was the best yet!

54. Stephan's Diaries - Origins

Book 54: The Vampire Diaries - Stephan's Diaries Vol 1. Origins based on the novels by L. J. Smith and the TV series developed by Kevin William and Julie Plec (A-)

We return once again to Stephan and Damon Salvatore in their very first adventures as told in this novel Origins. The tale starts when vampire Katherine Pierce arrives to Mystic Falls. Her beauty and allure send the Salvatores head-over-heels for her, and the brotherly feud begins.
Once before, I read the story of the brothers' feud in the first original Vampire Diaries novel. It is nothing like this story, which was changed and completely flipped upside down for this novel. Stephan's Diaries was written after the television show premiered, the show which had a very interesting and darker twist on why Damon and Stephan are such at odds. Origins bounces off the show's ideas and changes Smith's original intentions until they are unrecognizable but thankfully much, much better!!
I still wish there was an inside look to Katherine or Damon's thoughts. Once again, the reader is subjected to Stephan's story, which isn't nearly as interesting as Katherine's or Damon's. Stephan merely walks around and thinks about Katherine and how much he loves her. It isn't until the final chapters in the book that Stephan gets into the action and makes the fatal mistake that begins the Salvatore brothers' battle against each other. Damon is the one whose actions are mysterious and make the reader long to know more about him. His characteristics are far more enticing, exciting, and interesting than Stephan, whose loyalty to his father makes him bland and boring. Stephan is more of a storyteller than a heroic character. Stuff seems to happen to Stephan, but Stephan doesn't do anything about it.

53. Lisa, Bright and Dark

Book 53: Lisa, Bright and Dark by John Neufeld (C+)

This novel was difficult to digest. First, it was shrouded in mystery until the very end. You have no idea what is going on with title character Lisa. The narrator Betsy is the only character that establishes a strong imprint on the reader of who she is, why you should read the story, and what type of person she might be in real life. The rest of the characters are brushed over, uninteresting, and simple. Second, the end is anti-climax and dull. In fact, the narrator isn't even there for the real end and brushes over it in a few paragraphs. All this time, the reader has been waiting for Lisa's parents to recognize how sick she is. And, the author does the end no justice in his quick overview through what's been told to Betsy. Finally, the novel was slow and nothing ever really happened but once so that even though it was only 143 pages, I took forever to finish it because I never wanted to read it.
Three girls, Betsey, Mary Nell, and Elizabeth, are worried about their friend Lisa. Every day, she has a contrasting personality type to the day before. In fact, Lisa is scarily maniac-depressive. One day, she's bubbly and too loud in her speech; the next, she refuses to talk, sleeps with her eyes open all through class, and barely recognizes friends, food, or favorite activities. Quite a few times, she cries out for help to her parents. But, they refuse to listen even when she is found under a teacher's desk poking a safety pin into her skin The girls decide they'll help Lisa in any way they can until her parents realize something is very wrong. Mary Nell takes the initiative to begin a group therapy for Lisa. While the girls know nothing about psychiatry or what's wrong with their friend, they ban together to provide the best support they know: just being there.
With "Over 2 million copies sold" blasted across the front cover, I expected more from this novella. What I got was bland, slow-moving story whose ending was as disappointing as the end result of paint drying.

52. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Book 52: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: an Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer (A-)

Seriously, I'm not planning all this vampire fiction reading. It's just happening this way.

Honestly, after the disappointment of Breaking Dawn, the Twilight Saga's ending novel, I was worried about Meyer's attempt to write a spin-off for a character from Eclipse. Bree battled against the Cullen clan as a distraction for vamp Victoria to carry out her revenge against Edward and Bella. Bree makes only a brief appearance in the large novel that focuses and is told from Bella's point of view. According to Meyer, she felt a special connection to the character when editing the novel. From it, The Short Second Life... was born.
Bree's story begins in her third month as a vampire. She keeps to herself and tries not to die by the hands of her fellow newborn vampire brethren. Their tempers are deadly, literally. One night, Bree is sent out to hunt and becomes friends with Diego, the favored right hand vamp of their leader, Riley. They travel around the city of Seattle together and discuss the holes in Riley's regular speeches. Then, they discover Riley's first lie: they don't burn up in the sun! Instead, they glitter! Diego and Bree decide to team up together and discover the truth about Riley and their creator Victoria. What is really going on? Why are they being made? What other vampire myths aren't true?
This short story was a wonderful, descriptive inside look at what was going on in Seattle while Eclipse focused on Forks. I was quite impressed by how well Meyer was able to separate herself from Bella and write a completely new voice in the same story.
The beginning was a bit shaky. I thought the cave scene where Diego and Bree discover how they sparkle in the sun was a bit quick and understated. Instead, Meyer focused on Bree's thought process. Because Bree was so in the dark about everything, however, it couldn't be nearly as in depth as a character like Bella. So, the passages of Bree's thoughts and feelings are extremely repetitive until the final scene. Still, Meyer did a commendable job exploring this new side of vampires and breathing additional 'undead' life into a new character. I would love to see a short film based on this piece.

51. Stephan's Diaries - Bloodlust

Stephan and Damon Salvatore

Book 51: The Vampire Diaries - Stephan's Diaries, Vol. 2 Bloodlust based on the novels by L. J. Smith and the TV series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julia Plec (B+)

Yes, that's the actual title!
So before I realized The Vampire Diaries is a horrible book series as compared to the television series, I bought one of the Stephan Diaries spin-off books. And, it's surprisingly better! It's like Smith didn't write it at all. Finally, there's more action in the book than in a single episode of the TV show! ...Well, that might be stretching it a little bit.
Volume 2 of Stephan's Diaries picks up right after Stephan and Damon Salvatore have been turned into vampires. They barely make it out of Mystic Falls alive and catch a train to New Orleans in the thick of the Civil War. Immediately, Stephan, who is the darker brother in this series, begins feeding on innocent victims while Damon refuses to drink any blood at all. He is tormented by Katherine's death and Stephan's betrayal by turning him into a vampire. The brothers have a falling out and separate. On his own, Stephan finds a coven of vampires who take him in and begin teaching the values of keeping a low profile. However, Damon's in trouble and it's up to Stephan, differences aside, to save his brother and bring out the inner monster in Damon.
Really, did Smith write this book? Because it's written like the TV show's writers wrote the novel! It's interesting, the dialogue is complex, and the characters are fantastic. We are introduced to Stephan's future best friend, Lexi, a saucy female vamp whose personality no one can dislike. I was quite impressed by the staggering difference in the two series.
The story is still lacking in a way. It is told from the first person of Stephan, and I think that takes away from how dynamic the story could have been. I would have liked to get Damon's and Lexi's opinions, too! Or even the human love interest Callie.
Hey, where's the series for Katherine? That'd be very, very interesting... depending on who wrote it!
If you need more Vampire Diaries, read Stephan's Diaries. Just ignore the original series! Seriously!

50. Cirque du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant

We're halfway there!!

WARNING: The following review has spoilers for the previous novel in the series. If you care about surprise endings, don't read this post!

Book 50: Cirque du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan (A)

Evra

Yes, an amazing sequel to the first Cirque book!! More twists and turns, more great character development, and Darren, now a half-vampire and assistant to Mr. Crepsley, has joined the Cirque du Freak as a stage hand and worker. He finds a friend in Evra Von, the snake boy whose skin is tough green scales. Darren falls in love with cirque life and while he still misses his family, he's excited about making friends and being a part of something bigger than just him and Mr. Crepsley hunting people. However, Darren still refuses to drink human blood, and every day he becomes weaker and weaker. If he continues to refuse, he will soon die. Then Sam and R.V. come along, and Darren believes he's found more friends, but one is going to cause trouble that could destroy the whole cirque.
I've learned that Shan isn't good at foreshadowing. In fact, he's blatantly obvious about it. Nearly every chapter ending ends with something like this:
"When all was said and done, he was only a hairy harmless human, while those of us in the Cirque du Freak were strange, powerful beings. What could he possibly do to hurt us" (409)?
Or...
"None of us had any idea of the trouble the nice ecowarrior would soon create... or the tragedy he would unintentionally cause" (364).
Moments like these took away from the text because it was so obvious. In the first novel, there were many twists that the reader couldn't have predicted. Here, it is obvious which character is going to slip up, and simply putting the pieces together will help the reader quickly predict the end. Certainly, there are more subtle ways of foreshadowing the bloody end.
Once again, Shan uses amazing detail and description to bring these freaks alive. The story continues as a dark tale of friendship and loss. Darren makes the ultimate choice and continues exploring the Cirque in the next novel Tunnels of Blood.

Works Cited:

Shan, Darren. Cirque du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant. New York: 

Little, Brown and Company, 2009. Print.

49. Cirque du Freak - A Living Nightmare

Book 49: Cirque du Freak - A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan (A)

This is book one of the Darren Shan Saga/Cirque du Freak novels! I have always wanted to read the novels, but after hearing such negative comments about the movie adaptation, I put off reading them. However, the novel was quite exciting. There was many twists, and I had no idea how the ending was going to go!

Good or bad movie?

Darren is a high school boy, and when his friends find a flyer for a freak show, the boys try to get tickets. Steve, the adventurous, slightly crazy friend, manages to only get two. Thanks to a pure luck, Darren is picked to go along with Steve. They check out the freak show full of haunting descriptions of the snake boy, werewolf, and contortionists. The main attraction is Mr. Crepsley and his gigantic poisonous tarantula Madam Octa. During that portion of the show, Steve begins to act bizarre and ignores the rest of the show. Afterwards, he tells Darren to run home and he'll see him soon. Instead, Darren stays behind to watch Steve approach and confront Mr. Crepsley for who he really is - a vampire!! Steve demands he be changed into a vampire or he'll grow up to be a vampire hunter to kill Mr. Crepsley in the future.
Now, I was unaware that I'd be reading yet another vampire novel. I knew the second book was called The Vampire's Assistant, but I honestly thought the series of books would be close-up looks at different freaks within the show. Apparently, it's an ongoing story of Darren's adventures with Mr. Crepsley. The Cirque du Freak itself makes only a small appearance in A Living Nightmare. Darren and Madam Octa are the main features in this wild tale.
Shan, a British author inspired by old horror films, does an amazing job of keeping the book young adult level but still chilling. The descriptions of the freaks are fantastically horrifying, and the story is consistently wonderful to read. I have immediately begun reading the second novel, which is starting slow but should be picking up quite soon as Darren meets back up with the Cirque du Freak.
The vampire lore in this novel is unlike any I've ever seen. No, the vampires don't sparkle. Neither are they immortal!! They can be killed by more than a wooden stake or fire and can dine on human food as well as human or animal blood. Compared to the many vampire cults I've been fans of (CBS's Moonlight, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, Anne Rice novels), these are the strangest vampires I've ever read!!! They even have their own gods, like the Egyptians!
If you're having Twilight withdrawal or The Vampire Diaries isn't what you had hoped for, I suggest the Cirque du Freak novels!! They'll boggle your mind and keep you reading for hours!

48. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Munkastrap

Book 48: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot (A)

I have been longing to read this book of poetry since I first saw the Webber musical CATS, which is based on this text. And it was everything I had hoped it would be!!
In the edition I picked up, Edward Gorey has beautiful, realistic black and white sketches of all of my favorite cats: Old Deuteronomy, Bustopher Jones, and Mr. Mistoffelees. Their stories are classic and sweet, little tales of a cat's comings and goings in bustling London.
My favorite was "The Song of the Jellicles," where Eliot describes what makes a 'jellicle' cat! His words are pieced together in a masterful way that brings life and character to these crazy creatures. It is the perfect little book for young and old alike. Even if you don't like poetry, this book is still for everyone! There's no way, unless you're an animal hater, that you can't laugh and fall in love with these up and coming practical cats!

47. Plan B

Book 47: Plan B by Charnan Simon (B)

I have got to stop reading these mediocre books! They're bumming me out!
This was a novella about a teenage girl who has life mapped out. She's in love with her boyfriend Luke, and they're going to graduate high school and go to college together in Austin, Texas. But when Luke becomes physical, the girl explains it to herself that she's "making love" not just having sex. Oh honey...
She, of course, gets pregnant after the one time without a condom. She and Luke are now faced with how they're going to handle the situation they find themselves in.
The ending isn't what you would expect!

46. Skin

Book 46: Skin by Rick Jasper (B-)

I was impressed by this short novel until the end. The ending ruined it all - it was anti-climatic, abrupt, and didn't fit the anticipation of the story.
High schooler Nick Barry has always been invisible... until the worst case of acne hits his face. Along with the oozing pimples, Nick experiences cold chills that freeze his bones, horrible nightmares of fire and death, and strange symbols etched on his chest. Strange occurrences spread across the small town like the priest's house catching on fire and a bully from school is viciously attacked in his bedroom. The police believe Nick is the culprit. With the help from a doctor, a nun, the crazy Catholic neighbor, and a librarian, Nick begins putting the pieces together and realizes his body is host to a demon!
Sounds exciting, right? And it was... but then the author just wrapped up the book with a not-so-exciting paragraph or two. I did enjoy the historical and fantastical explanation and theory of Nick's demon, but the ultimate defeat was disappointing.