The Must List, October 13

1. Harry Potter Memes
Memes are great, and some of my favorites make fun of Harry Potter! There's nothing more hilarious than a snarky Voldemort!

2. Blood Feud: The Hatfields & The McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder & Vengeance by Lisa Alther
There's no better way to learn about your family than picking up the latest nonfiction novel with a gruesome title about them! Yes, I'm a McCoy, and I love startling people with that information. This novel paints a very realistic tale about the feud, both the how it started and why it kicked back up after some years of silence. The mini series is also fantastic but not as accurate. I wanted to know what really happened, so I picked up this book.

3.  "Moonlight" TV series
Unfortunately, this show was canceled right on the brink of vampire mania. It was just after this show that the Twilight book series became popular and shows like "The Vampire Diaries" and "True Blood" made it big! Alex O'Loughlin plays Mick St. John, a vampire private eye. His best friend Josef (Jason Dohring) is the multi-millionaire type that never really admits what he does and provides witty humor. Beth is Mick's love interest, a human who he rescued from his psycho ex-vampire-wife who kidnapped her. While Mick and Beth solve temporary mysteries throughout the show, the main storyline revolves around whether Mick's ex is still alive and if she's found a cure for vampirism. Best episodes: "Sleeping Beauty" and "Fated to Pretend."

4. "It's Been a Long, Long Time" by Kitty Kallen
I can be a sucker for 40s and bandstand music. One of my favorite playlist to have going during dinner is one composed of different 40s and 50s favorites. I found this song that way. Take a listen!

5. Cat videos on YouTube
Wow, Stuart and I really got sucked into this. Watch: Luna falls in bathtub, Cat regrets entering bath, Elaine burrows in snow, and Rascal the Cat and the Toilet Rat!!! HILARIOUS!

6. Homemade Lemonade!!
3 cups of cold water
1 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cups of sugar
Stir until the sugar is dissolved! Drink!

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.

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!

45. The Vampire Diaries - The Struggle

Book 45: The Vampire Diaries - The Struggle by L. J. Smith (C+)

<3 Damon

Ok once again, WHAT? The television series just got that much better because this novel completely falls on its face. There must be one heck of a screenwriting team behind the TV show because there is no way they got the awesomeness of the script from the books. I am once again disappointed, and I don't think I'll be reading The Vampire Diaries original series anymore. I do have one of the spin-offs - Stephan's Diaries - that I'm going to give a try.
The Struggle took a deep downfall from The Awakening. At least with The Awakening, the reader was being introduced to the characters and learning about the town. Now with The Struggle, you already know the story and it's basically the exact same as the first book: Stephan has a wall up, Damon is pissed off, Bonnie talks in a scary voice whenever she gives a premonition, and Elena is just pathetic. Seriously, how can such an awesome, strong, confident character on TV be based off a materialistic, bitchy, mess of a girl from the book? It is so disappointing. I really don't understand how these books got to be so popular.
Out of 234 pages, only two major things happen: the emergence and development of the character Damon and trying to get back Elena's diary from Carolina before she outs Stephan as a murderer in front of the whole town during Founder's Day. The rest... blah, blah, blah, blah!!! 'Oh, Stephan, I love you!' 'Oh, Elena, we can't be together because it's too scary!' 'Oh, Elena, be my Princess of Darkness! And, don't ever talk to your friends or family again or I'll drain them of blood.' It gets old real quick! And then Stephan proposes and Elena accepts??!! Unrealistic and stupid!!!
These characters suck (no pun intended!)!! Watch the television series!

44. The Vampire Diaries - The Awakening

Book 44: The Vampire Diaries - The Awakening by L. J. Smith (B)

I am absolutely in love with the CW TV series based on this book! However, the book... not so much. I feel like Smith doesn't have the skill to write as well as she could, but the novel has become popular because it's another one of those boy-vampire-meets-human-girl novels. It really is a knock-off of Twilight, but there's no loving Cullen family. Instead, there are feuding vampire brothers.

Damon (L), Elena, and Stephan (R)

Elena is your stereotypical high school queen! She is everything anyone would want to be - beautiful, skinny, blonde hair, cheerleader, Homecoming Queen, and any man can be hers! She even has an entourage following her throughout her school day. Her dark feelings about her parents' sudden death in a car crash are hidden away in her diary. Along comes Stephan Salvatore - handsome, Italian, and vampire! He resists Elena at first, but eventually succumbs to her identical beauty to a past love, Katherine, that he and his brother, Damon, murdered. Katherine, unable to decide between the love she felt for both brothers, changed them both into vampires, which led to Katherine's withering away to dust by the sunlight and the Salvatore brothers' forever-long feud.
However, when Stephan comes to Fell's Church, VA, murders occur in high numbers. An old man is attacked, a high school girl has her neck slashed, and the high school history teacher is drained of blood. Stephan can't explain it. He's often found blacked out in the woods, in the cemetery, in the high school boys locker room. He is racked with guilt at his inability to control his thrist for blood and decides to leave town when Elena declares her love, even after he tells her what he is.
Ok, pause! Here is another crazy, stupid girl who doesn't run when a bloodthirsty monster announces he's undead and wants to snap her neck and drain her. Bella, are you listening to me right now? In the television spin-off of this novel, Elena actually pushes Stephan away for two episodes before the inevitable "I'll love you forever no matter what you are." Here, Elena is completely blind and stupid and probably possessed by something unnatural at the way she throws herself at Stephan without thinking! Even Bella had more self control than that. And, I'm not saying that's horrible fiction, I myself being a Twilight fan, but the way Smith wrote Elena... it was just dumb! It's like the girl who goes back again and again to the guy who beats her up. Ladies, take a stand!!! Dump the testosterone-filled loser and quit chasing after the vampire!! In both situations, your life is in peril! 
The show is definitely so much better than this book! The show not only has beautiful actors playing the vampires (oh Ian Somerhalder, you are my Edward Cullen) but they really expand the very simple plot of the novel. I've only made it through The Awakening and I'm on the second season of the show, but the series makes a whole lot more sense and is more entertaining on TV than I think it'll ever be in the book.

30. New Moon

Book 30: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer (A)

I always read this book when I’m depressed and overly upset. This is my third time reading this book and this time, I got through it in three days. I’ve had a lot of downtime without Stuart around as well as having no Internet. The first time I read this book was after returning to school for my sophomore year and dealing with being near The Viking again. Now, Stuart’s gone and I’m wishing that I had a Jacob Black.

You’d think that living with Joe and Anna would help the situation. And, it does… in a way. But they have each other and I’m just a third wheel, or that’s how I feel. They’re a pair and I’m just me. But anyway…

Edward, Jacob, and Bella

If you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past like 4 years, then New Moon is the second installment in the Twilight saga. Bella Swan returns with the love of her life Edward Cullen, who is also a vampire. When things go horribly awry at Bella’s birthday party thanks to Edward’s brother’s newly acquired habit of no longer drinking human blood, Edward decides it would be best if Bella didn’t have any contact with him or his family and lead a normal life. Unfortunately, due to the nature of how deeply Bella loves Edward, her life becomes a miserable pit of hell and spends her days trying to fight of the “aching hole in her chest.”
This is my favorite book in the series because it’s so raw. It’s none of the mushy love magical stuff from the first one. It’s none of the baby stuff from the fourth one. And, it’s not an Edward vs. Jacob match like the third one. While technically I’m on “Team Edward,” I still really enjoy New Moon because there’s no fairy tale… except when Jacob changes into a werewolf.

However, the reason it gets only a “A” is because I feel like Stephanie Meyer needs to find herself a thesaurus. It seems that she doesn’t know any synonyms for the following words:

1. ·         “Hole”
2. ·         “Chest”
3. ·         “Shudder”

I think those words come up more than “Bella,” “Jacob,” and “Edward” combined! Read it again. I bet the book is going to be ruined for you now! Muhaha!

I like the Twilight series, the books and the movies, but I understand why people make fun of them so. If you see the movie and if you read the books, there’s a huge gap between the two in quality. The books are excellent. Not superb. I’m not going over the top for Meyer, who basically wrote a Romeo + Juliet with vampires and werewolves. Seriously… the second book? That comparison is right there in your face throughout the entire novel! And… the movies are good. Compared to the books, not so great. Standing alone, I think the movies are all right. They could be better, of course! We could have some better acting, but I think overall they do a good enough job of telling the story within two hours. It’s easy for people to get caught up in the books and then get really angry over the fact that the movies cut out a lot of their favorite parts. 

First off, stop picking insignificant favorite parts and then they’ll be in the movie! 

Secondly, it’s called an adaptation! Important word here… look up the definition because it’s not the same thing as “exactly the book.” Otherwise the Twilight films would have credits that read “EXACTLY LIKE THE NOVEL BY STEPHANIE MEYER” instead of “BASED OFF OF…” or “ADAPTED FROM A NOVEL BY STEPHANIE MEYER.” Understand? So relax, folks, when Breaking Dawn Part 1 comes out in November. It’s not going to be exactly like the book you pored over day after day. That’s why it’s a book! You’re supposed to spend time with it and enjoy it, really get into it. A movie is supposed to entertain temporarily.