41. Bride by Ali Hazelwood

listened on Libby - borrowed from library
410 pgs.

2024
 Adult paranormal steamy romance
Finished 5/7/24
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 3.75

My comments:  3.75  Good vampire/werewolf/human story.  Last third of book has a LOT of steam....a little too much, actually....which took it from a 4/4.5 down to 3.75.  Loved the first 2/3 of the book.  Haven't read a decent vampire book in awhile...

Goodreads synopsis:  A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

10. The Court of Shadows by Victor Dixen

#1 Vampyria

listened on Audible

translated from French by Francoise Bui

364 pgs.
copyright 2020
Adult Fantasy/Vampires

Finished 1/29/24
Goodreads rating: 3.80
My rating: 3.5
Setting: Versailles, France, 300 years after Louis XIV was on the throne

My comments:  The minute I saw Victor Dixen's name, I decided I must read this book.  I read the Phobos series and loved it.  It always takes a bit for his books to be translated, and I'm ever so glad this was put into an audio book.  The reading was lovely, except for when the names were read - all with a very quick, totally French accent.  Couldn't understand them.  At all.  And I took French for years!

     I'm not certain I ever really liked Jeanne/Diane, the protagonist.   The beginning was a bit boring, typical Vampire stuff.  The second part of the books was much more creative and interesting, with an unexpected ending to be savored.  Looking forward to number two in the series, which should be in America around July.

Goodreads synopsis:  A fiery heroine seeks vengeance against a royal court of deadly vampires in this epic alternate history set in lavish Versailles.

Louis XIV transformed from the Sun King into the King of Shadows when he embraced immortality and became the world’s first vampire. For the last three centuries, he has been ruling the kingdom from the decadent Court of Shadows in Versailles, demanding the blood of his subjects to sate his nobles’ thirst and maintain their loyalty.

In the heart of rural France, commoner Jeanne Froidelac witnesses the king’s soldiers murder her family and learns of her parents’ role in a brewing rebellion involving the forbidden secrets of alchemy. To seek her revenge, Jeanne disguises herself as an aristocrat and enrolls in a prestigious school for aspiring courtiers. She soon finds herself at the doors of the palace of Versailles.

But Jeanne, of course, is no aristocrat.
She dreams not of court but of blood.
The blood of a king.

25. Crimson Born by Amy Patrick

#1 Crimson Accord

listened on Audible
narrated byAmy DeLuca

Unabridged audio (6:25)
2020
248 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 3/20/2021
Goodreads rating: 410 - 223 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: contemporary-ish PA/VA

First line/s: "The rhythmic clip-clop of the horses' hooves was hypnotic."

My comments: Pennsylvania Dutch Amish girl turned a vampire relcoated to huge caverns in Virginia called, "The Bastion," where the queen, Imogen, the vampire who made her into one, wants to prepare her to be the future queen.  Abbie wants nothing to do with it she believes in peace, not fighting, and ultimately joins the ranks of a huge, peaceful vampire organization headed by Sadie, Imogen's hated sister.  Of course she leaves behind her "love," who has taken vows to becime a Bloodbound Warrior, loyal completely and totally to the queen.

Goodreads synopsis:  Humans have always suspected vampires exist. Now they know for sure.

          As long as I can remember, I’ve longed for a different life—one filled with adventure, excitement, and romance.
This wasn't exactly what I had in mind…
           One minute I was riding in a horse-drawn buggy on my way home to my quiet Amish village— the next was torn by the screech of car tires, and twisted metal, and the white hot lance of pain. There was no doubt in my mind my life was over.
          So when I woke up to the face of a beautiful stranger who promised me the suffering would end soon, I thought I’d seen an angel.
          I couldn’t have been more wrong.

TV Show - The Strain

Premiered: July 13, 2014
Four Seasons, last season July, 2017
Number of Episodes: 46 (13-13-10-10)
Length of Episode: 45 minutes
IMBd: 7.3
RT Critic's Consensus:
Season 4: 100% The Strain concludes on a high note with a climactic season that will remind viewers of the series' initial bite.
Season 3:  55% Consensus: Content with mediocrity, The Strain suffers under the weight of a stagnant story, scraping by on the pedigree of its style and visual effects.
Season 2:  77% he Strain's gory action helps compensate for an unfocused narrative, while the show's political and philosophical subtext add necessary heft for adult viewers.
Season 1:  84% The Strain makes the most of its familiar themes through an effective mix of supernatural thrills and B-movie gore -- though it may not appeal to everyone.
cag: 4/Liked it a lot for some unknown reason....
Produced by FX, watched on HULU
Wikipedia

Characters:
Dr. Ephriam Goodweather (Corey Stoll)
Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley)
Vasily Fet (Kevin Durand)
Dutch (Ruda Gelmintas)
Mr. Quinlan (half vampire, son of The Master) (Rupert Penry-Jones)
Palmer (who became The Master) (Jonathan Hyde)
Eichorst (undead vampire) (Richard Sammel)
Zach Goodweather (Ephraim's son) (Max Charles)

My comments:  Weird and creepy, and I loved it...for the most part.  The Master vampire (who can switch from body to body with the gorriest transfer of worms flowing from mouth to mouth, yuck!) and his army of ghouls who suck blood and turn humans in a particularly creepy way with a fat, long snake-like tongue, take over America.  This is about a small group of people who band together to try to take The Master down.
     It is really nice to come to some sort of completion in the conclusion.
     I've watched this off and on for years.

Storyline from Wikipedia: The show centers around Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the CDC's New York-based Canary Project, who is called upon to investigate an airplane landing wherein everyone aboard is dead. What his team discovers is a viral outbreak that has similarities to an ancient strain of vampirism. The virus begins to spread and Goodweather works with his team and a group of the city's residents to wage a war to save humanity.

132. Immortal Born by Lynsay Sands

#30 in the Argenaneau series
listened on Libby
narrated  by Amanda Ronconi
Unabridged audio (9:32)
2019
384 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 12/29/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.18 - 3980 ratings
My rating: 2

First line/s:  "Allie was curled up on the couch in front of a rerun of The Big Bang Theory, slurping down a dinner of ramen noodles, when the knock sounded on her front door."

My comments: Vampires!  Well, sort of vampires - they call themselves Immortals.  But other than that it was a pretty stale story.  There were just too many people oodles and oodles and oodles of couples probably all introduced in the previous 29 in the series - ridiculous!  Too much!

Goodreads synopsis:  A simple promise to protect her friend’s infant son has turned Allie Chambers’ existence upside down. Caring for—and feeding—an orphaned vampire baby has been tricky enough. But as little Liam grows, so does his appetite. He needs more blood than she can personally supply. And when her attempts to steal from a blood bank go awry, Allie wakes up surrounded by doctors, cops…and the gorgeous, mesmerizing Magnus, who she can neither trust nor resist.
          Magnus never expected to find his life mate breaking into a blood bank. Clearly, Allie is already entwined with his world—in deeper, more dangerous ways than she realizes. A band of vicious rogue immortals is in pursuit, and Magnus’ first task is to keep her safe. His second: to awaken her to mind-blowing pleasure, and hope she’ll accept the life, and the passion, that only he can offer.

13. Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

listened to Audio - borrowed from CCLS
read by Saskia Maarleveld
unabridged audio:  15:46
2018, Viking
436 pgs.
Adult Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Finished 1/27/2019
Goodreads rating:  3.89 - 12,147 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: (see my notes)

First line/s:  "On her last night as a warmblood, Phoebe Taylor had been a good daughter."

My comments: This story was written so magically and brilliantly that I'm left quite star-struck.  Deborah Harkness has the same kind of storytelling abilities as J. K. Rowling, who frequently leaves me in awe.  Where do these stories and the way they are intertwined come from?  Such a gift!  Flipping back and forth from contemporary France to historical America, Paris, and London of 1770 through the beginning of the 19th century, we follow favorite characters from the Discovery of Witches series, particularly Marcus, Miriam, and Diana and Matthew and their toddler twins.  So much history is detailed, especially the American and French Revolutions. Yes, it was a little slow during the French Revolution, but the details of being "reborn" were a blast!   I learned a lot of American History.  And I was mesmerized.  Such wonderful storytelling!

Goodreads synopsis:  From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, a novel about what it takes to become a vampire. 
          On the battlefields of the American Revolution, Matthew de Clermont meets Marcus MacNeil, a young surgeon from Massachusetts, during a moment of political awakening when it seems that the world is on the brink of a brighter future. When Matthew offers him a chance at immortality and a new life free from the restraints of his puritanical upbringing, Marcus seizes the opportunity to become a vampire. But his transformation is not an easy one and the ancient traditions and responsibilities of the de Clermont family clash with Marcus's deeply held beliefs in liberty, equality, and brotherhood.
          Fast-forward to contemporary Paris, where Phoebe Taylor—the young employee at Sotheby's whom Marcus has fallen for—is about to embark on her own journey to immortality. Though the modernized version of the process at first seems uncomplicated, the couple discovers that the challenges facing a human who wishes to be a vampire are no less formidable than they were in the eighteenth century. The shadows that Marcus believed he'd escaped centuries ago may return to haunt them both—forever.
          A passionate love story and a fascinating exploration of the power of tradition and the possibilities not just for change but for revolution, Time's Convert channels the supernatural world-building and slow-burning romance that made the All Souls Trilogy instant bestsellers to illuminate a new and vital moment in history, and a love affair that will bridge centuries.

43. A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest

A Shade of Vampire #2
read on my iPhone
2013, CreateSpace

296 pgs.

YA Fantasy
Finished 8/4/16
Goodreads rating:  4.01 ratings - 26,356 ratings
My rating: 1.5

My comments:  I don't even know why I'm reading this...it's pretty awful and all the reasons I disliked Twilight are twofold here.  The tiny little bit of plot that seeps through the repetitiousness of the stereotypical characters is somewhat interesting and the last bits of information given make one wonder wher the story's next (small) twist wil go.  There are seven in this series before the "saga" of Sofia and Derek is concluded....I doubt if I'll be reading much more.

Goodreads synopsis:  Having been delighted by the bestselling debut, A Shade Of Vampire, readers are begging for more. In A Shade Of Blood, Bella Forrest transports you deeper into a unique, enthralling and beautifully sensitive story. Prepare to be lost in its pages...
     When Sofia Claremont was kidnapped to a sunless island, uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet, she believed she'd forever be a captive of its dark ruler, Derek Novak.
     Now, after months of surviving an endless night, the morning sun may soon rise again for Sofia. Something has possessed Derek's heart and he offers her a gift no human slave has ever been given in the history of his cursed island: escape. 
     High school, prom and a chance to move on with her life now await her. 
     But will she be able to forget the horrors that steal her sleep away at night? ... or the feelings that haunt her for that tormented prince of darkness?

41. A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

#1 A Shade of Vampire
read on the Kindle
2012, 152 pgs.
YA Fantasy
Finished 8/1/16
Goodreads 3.83 - 37,463 ratings
My rating: 2

My comments:  I don't even know why I'm reading this...it's pretty awful and all the reasons I disliked Twilight are twofold here.  The tiny little bit of plot that seeps through the repetitiousness of the stereotypical characters is somewhat interesting and the last bits of information given make one wonder wher the story's next (small) twist wil go.  There are seven in this series before the "saga" of Sofia and Derek is concluded....I doubt if I'll be reading much more.

Goodreads synopsis for Book 1:  On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
     A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.
     She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.
     Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.
     Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
     Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

31. Blood Oath - Christopher Farnsworth

#1 Nathaniel Cade, President's Vampire
listened to in the car from Tucson 'cross country May 27& 28, 2016
2010 Putnam Adult
390 pgs.
Adult Fantasy/Mystery
Goodreads rating: 3.92
My rating: 4
Setting: mostly Washington, DC

My comments:  This was pleasantly different than the books I've been reading/listening to lately.  Differing points-of-view, which I always seem to enjoy.  A good mystery.  Humor.  But, throw in a vampire, national security, and the POTUS and what do you get?  Blood Oath!  Zach Barrows, the vampire's "human handler" is a riot!  Cocky, sarcastic, and quick-witted.  Flashbacks to 1867 when Nathaniel "became" a vampire give details that make Cade more believable and real.  I will read the next in the series.

:Goodreads synopsis:  Zach Barrows is an ambitious young White House staffer whose career takes an unexpected turn when he's partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the President. But Cade is no ordinary civil servant. Bound by a special blood oath, he is a vampire. Cade battles nightmares before they can break into the daylight world of the American dream, enemies far stranger-and far more dangerous-than civilians have ever imagined.
Blood Oath is the first in a series of novels featuring Nathaniel Cade-the President's vampire. 

DNF - Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

listened to audio on AUDIBLE (It's still in my cloud - what a waste of money for me!)
Kate Daniels #1
2007, Ace
280 pgs.- I listened to the equivalent of about 60 of them
"Urban Fantasy"
Ended 5/8/15
Goodreads rating:
My rating: I didn't enjoy it at all
Setting: Magical Atlanta, a short time in the future:

My comments:  I'm not going to rate this one, since I only got through about 60 pages.  It came highly recommended, but this genre (whatever it's called) just isn't my cup of tea.  There's too many books waiting for me to spend time reading something I don't enjoy.  It's probably a wonderful book, just not for me.

Goodreads synopsis:  Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up paranormal problems. Atlanta has two factions struggling for power. Masters of the Dead are necromancers who control vampires. The Pack are a paramilitary clan of shapechangers. When Kate's guardian is killed, she is caught between.

3. City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instruments #2

read on my phone through Kindle

2008, Margaret K. McElderry

453 pages (which includes the beginning of the next book)

Finished Sunday, 1/13/2014 (Have been reading this for awhile)

YA Dystopia/Paranormal

Goodreads Rating:  4.26 (270,000+ ratings!)

My Rating: 3/Liked it

Setting: NYC

1^st sentence/s: "The formidable glass-and-steel structure rose from its position on Front Street like a glittering needle threading the sky."

My comments:  Lots of battling, descriptions of demons and bad guys, people not telling each other the whole truth, which puts everyone in precarious positions...and quite a few hints of possibilities to come.  It kept me reading, and will continue to, I imagine, for the rest of the series....

Goodreads Review:  Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

     To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?
     In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

41. Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness

#2 in All Soul's Trilogy
2012, Viking
for Adults
584 pgs.
HC $28.95
Genre:  Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Rating:  2.5 It was okay....

Setting:  for the most part, 1591 England, France, and Prague, with bits and pieces of contemporary America and parts of Europe
OSS:  Historian/researcher/reluctant witch Diana Bishop and her vampire lover Matthew deClermont Roydon time travel back to Elizabethan England, France, and Prague for two reasons - to help Diana learn how to deal with her until-now-hidden witch talents, and to look for a very old book, Ashmole 782, that could be the secret of vampire, daemon, and witch past and future.

Okay, so Diana and Matthew have traveled back to relive Matthew's life in 1591, where he is spy for Queen Elizabeth, and friends with Walter Raleigh and Christopher Marlowe.  Christoper Marlowe is his closest, friend and also a daemon creep.  They "adopt" two waifs, argue a lot, dabble in alchemy, look for the hidden book Ashmole 784, and try to find teachers for Diana, to help her learn to use her powers, without any of the witches they encounter trying to kill her.

This book was waaaay too long...about 200 pages too long.  It was divided into six parts (though the sixth part was so much shorter than the others, it was like an afterthought).  The only one I really relished was the second part, at Saint-Tours.  The rest was all so similar that I found it very tedious. Too many characters, and many from the first book, The Discovery of Witches, were talked about without any hints as to why we were supposed to remember them.  I read a lot of books, I finished The Discovery of Witches ages ago, and I truly couldn't remember the details that Deborah Harkness took for granted I'd remember.  I had to go to the bookstore and read the last 50 pages of the first book to remind myself what was going on before I could restart this second book.  My opinion?  Interesting....but tedious.  Will I read Book 3?  Probably.  Maybe.  Possibly. I rated this a 2 ("it was okay") on Goodreads- I'd probably rate it a 2.5 if there was a way to.

MOVIE - Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

Splendid scenery, set, and makeup
Wide release 11/18/11
viewed at El Con on Thanksgiving 11/24/11 by myself
PG-13 (1:57)
RT critics:  26% RT audience:  70% cag: 89%
Director:  Bill Condon

Gorgeous sets…the Cullen house, viewed from the outside, in the middle of the woods, lit up…spectacular!  The woods themselves, expecially the aerial views, are wondrous (especially to a lover-of-the-woods).  The wedding set.  The house on the beach on the island near Rio.  The sets alone were worth the cost of a ticket.

If I didn’t know the story, I think I would have scoffed and snorted all the way through.The movie seemed to almost completely follow the book.   I didn't seem to mind Kristin Stewart's acting so much in this one, and the makeup and special effects used to make her look sicker and sicker were really well done.  I very much enjoyed this.

Bella and Edward get married and, despite Edward being afraid he'd get too vampiric during lovemaking, he didn't kill her.  But she did get pregnant - and of course, it would be an unusual pregnancy.  The baby was fast growing and began killing Bella from the inside out because of it's vampiric needs.  Watching how the wolves, the Cullen family, and Bella's family deal with everything that happens is actually quite enjoyable to watch.  I wouldn't go to re-see any of the previous movies, but I would this one.

65. A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness

Viking, 2011
43 chapters, 580 pgs.
HC $28.95
for: adults
Rating:  5 (I really don't want to give it a 5, but it was lovely writing, a hard-to-put-down plot and storyline, characters that were so well defined I felt as if I knew them,  and a strong, smart, librarian/scholar protagonist.  Everything I love in a book.  And I loved this book.....)

First line/lines:  The leather-bound volume was nothing remarkable.  To an ordinary historian, it would have looked no different from hundreds of other manuscripts in Oxford's Bodleian Library, ancient and worn.  But I knew there was something odd about it from the moment I collected it.

Setting: Contemporary Oxford, for the first third of the book; in the countryside near Lyon, France for the second third; and upstate New York for the third third.
OSS:  Diana Bishop, a noted American historian and college professor who has always tried to ignore her roots as a witch, becomes involved with a vampire while trying to unravel the secret of an ancient book of alchemy.

As I read the last page, I was quite disappointed that I didn't know the final, "final," outcome, but decided to like the ending because of the hugely entertaining possibilities, and started to examine the fine print of the book.   A DISCOVER OF WITCHES IS PART ONE IN THE ALL SOULS TRILOGY.  LOOK FOR THE NEXT NOVEL IN 2012.  NO NO NO NO NO !!!!!

How will I ever remember every character and their part in the story between now and when a sequel comes out?

Witches and vampires and daemons.  All hate each other and have for millenniums.  Humans factor very little in this book (if at all), all the main players are creatures - namely witches, vampires, and daemons.  They are not supposed to mix, to fraternize, and a natural animosity usually even keeps them from being friends.  Until Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont meet.  KABOOM!  Sparks fly.  Literally.

Diana has always suppressed her witch tendencies.  She wants to be ordinary.  But a subhuman amount of adrenaline keep her running, rowing, and doing yoga whenever she's not researching.  She has no close friends (oddly), and the two aunts that raised her after her parents' murder worry obsessively about her. Although she is very attractive and has had lovers before, there are no males in her life. She has kept herself aloof emotionally, which is the perfect for what is about to happen.

Diana is no wimp.  She is no Bella - thankfully.  She is more of a Hermione, with a touch more determination and spunk (though Hermione did gather those possessions as she matured.)  Diana comes from a long line of Bishops, originating, she thinks, from Bridget Bishop who was killed during the Salem witch trials in the late 15th century.

I loved the first third of the book, the part that took place in Oxford.  The French part was really interesting, the American third had so much change and new information to absorb that I didn't enjoy it quite as much.  I can't believe that I decided to read an almost 600 page novel, but I'm really glad I did!

54. Darkness Becomes Her - Kelly Keaton

Simon Pulse, 2011
HC $16.99
274 pgs.
for:  Young Adults
Rating:  4.5

First Line/s: Under the cafeteria table, my right knee bounced like a jackhammer possessed.  Adrenaline snaked through my limbs, urging me to bolt, to hightail it out of Rocquemor House and never look back.

Setting:  Over a decade after the 2009 hurricanes ruined New Orleans, now called New 2.  It's no longer part of the USA, and it's home to people that are.....different.

One sentence summary:  Ari, a 17 year-old searching for her mother and her roots, discovers the horrifying legacy that has been passed down to her through centuries of tormented women.

Yes, this one held my attention completely.  I guess I enjoy these dystopian adventures.  This one, of course, includes the smolderingly handsome love interest. Sebastian is the interestingly different part vampire whose family is one of the Novem, the ruling elite of the new New Orleans.  However, Ari holds a power that she doesn't understand at all - many people that she encounters, the ones that know of her mother, show that they are ... afraid ... of her.

I slowly figured out the mystery before it was revealed, but it was fun doing so.  Someone with more of an interest/background in Greek mythology would probably figure it out long before I did.  But I'll read the sequel when it comes out, A Beautiful Evil, coming in February, 2012.  It will continue the adventure, I'm sure.

If I knew New Orleans, the layout and the history, it would be even more enjoyable, because the description is excellent.

4. Hawkes Harbor - S. E. Hinton

Audio read by Dick Hill
Brilliance Audio, 2004
6 unabridged cds
$29.95
6 hrs.
256 pages
Rating: 3.5

This was nothing like I expected from S. E. Hinton. It was a fascinating story with many different layers, investigating the human mind and psyche. Depression, amnesia, short term memory, affects of uppers and downers and muscle relaxers, and the holds that people can have on one another. Take one footloose orphan that’s become a conman, seaman, and rabble-rouser, add a life-changing encounter with a vampire, and away we go!

The story skips around from early 1960s to late 1970s and is told in different ways. Jamie Somers relates tales told by his Irish friend, Kell, that reveal his late teens and early twenties, we look at the world through Jamie’s eyes at different, later, time periods, and we also listen to the recordings and notes that Dr. McDevitt, director of Terrace View Asylum, shares during his time with Jamie. It’s a rolling sea of story. The ending is unsettling. But, as I think about it, as it sits with me awhile, it works.

The book was read quite well by Dick Hill. He put an inflection into Jamie’s voice, making him sound feeble-minded and totally messed up, uncertain or jaunty – when it was called for. His Irish brogue for Kell was great, and the deep, masterful voice of Grenville Hawkes was right-on.

What a story!

60. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer

Audio read by Ilyana Kadushin (Bella) and Matt Walters (Jacob)
Random House Audio, 2008
16 unabridged cds
20 hrs. 29 minutes
768 pages
Rating: 3.5

Finally. I've finished the saga. 768 pages worth - 768 pages that should have and could have been written in about 350. Oh well. It had a happy ending, which is a good thing.....I.....guess.......

At least Meyers didn't mamby-pamby around. Throughout the three first installments, I was quite sure that she wouldn't turn Bella into a vampire. Her twist, the catalyst for all the events in this book, was quite unexpected, and quite interesting. However, I had a fourth grader that read the series last year. I had read the first three installments, but not this one, and felt the sexuality was hazy enough to keep the book appropriate for a sophisticated tne-year-old reader. Part of the time I was reading this fourth installment, I was thinking that it was probably a bit much for her. When I saw here a couple of days ago at Back-to-School Night, she told me she LOVED Breaking Dawn. Okeedokeee.

I didn't love it. But it was certainly entertaining. It was very exciting in places. It D R A G G E D in places. The movie is going to be made in two parts (groan). I will be in line to see it, I must admit.....

MOVIE - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Really quite well done, and better than the book!
Released June 30, 2010
July 4, 2010 at El Con
PG-13 (2:04)
RT: 73% cag 89%
Director: David Slade

This was a pretty decent movie. I didn't like the book...it was much too long, repetetive, gloomy. But the movie took the extra couple of hundred pages the book didn't need and threw them to the wind. There were even a few pretty decent laughs in the movie, which did an outstanding job of following the book, taking all the best bits. I'd been looking forward to the retelling of Rosalie, Jasper, and the third wife's stories, which were done (not overdone, thank goodness) in quick flashbacks. Nice.

I think I enjoyed this the best of all three so far. I still don't get what attracts these two young men so powerfully to Bella, but that's just me, I guess. And Edward's lips didn't look overly lipsticked this time, I didn't focus on them at all like I did in the first movie. So, all in all, a positive experience!

43. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

Twilight Series Book #3
Audio read by Ilyana Kadushin
Random House Listening Library, 2007
13 unabridged cds
16 hrs, 23 mins.
640 pages
Rating: 2

The movie's about to come out, and there's no way I'm going to miss it; I really wanted to read the book first. I listened instead. Blech. On and on and on - there are about 400 pages too many to tell the story of this incredibly self-centered girl and the two powerful young men that love her. And for heaven's sake, what is it they love about her? I don't get it. She whines and mopes and makes demands and tells half truths and doesn't really have very much interesting going on in her head....

Victoria, the partner to James, who was killed at the end of book #1, is still tracking Bella and wants her dead. So she creates a mob of "new" very blood-thirsty vampires to help her attack the Cullens. The werewolves align themselves with their hated foes, the Cullens, to help save Bella. Give me a break. In the meantime, Jacob has tried and tried to convince Bella that she loves him and that he would be much better for her than Edward. Finally Bella realizes this, but knows that as much as she loves Jacob, she must be with Edward. Blah blah blah.

Let's see how the movie-makers portray this very boring story. And I've got to admit I'm interested to discover how Meyer will wrap this up - how can she make Bella become a vampire when for the first year after she's "turned" she'll be a bloodthirsty killer? I doubt if I'll read the next book until just before the final movie, but I imagine I'll do it. Can't stop now.

41. Eighth Grade Bites - Heather Brewer

Book #1 in The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod
for: Middle School
Speak paperback, 2007
$8.99
182 pages
Rating: oh, I don't know....

There are a dearth of vampire books out their for young adults right now, and I wasn't going to read another one. However, one of my fourth graders was reading this particular book, he said his high school sister loves them, and I decided to find out what one of my ten-year-olds was sinking his teeth into. (Har-de-har-har)

Vlad Tod is half vampire. Born of a human mother and vampire father, he is learning about how he must live with only the aide of his aunt/guardian, because his parents were killed three years before. He is small, pale, a bit of an outcast, and usually dresses in black. He lives a fairly normal life, getting most of his sustenance on the leftover blood his aunt brings home from the hospital where she works. She puts capsules of blood into his peanut butter sandwiches so that he can eat at school. His best friend, Henry, knows he is a vampire, but no one else. O....kay.....

When Vlad's favorite teacher disappears, the substitute who takes over is named Otis Otis. He introduces the 8th graders to research on werewolves, witches, vampires....and tries very hard to get to know Vlad. The story goes into fast forward from there.

This does not appear to be a romance in the way that many of the previous vampire novels I've read recently have been, although there are already three sequels with Vlad moving into ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades, so surely this will become more prominent. This first installment is the introductory one, with Vlad and Otis winning out over the bad guys and with hints of an upcoming romance between Otis and auntie (they're holding hands at the end). There was some adventure and not many surprises. The story moved swiftly. I can see why kids would like it. And although there's nothing particularly innappropriate for a fourth grader, I'll wait a year or two before suggesting it to most of them. It will be very interesting to see where Brewer takes the story in the sequels. Does that mean I'll read them? Well, maybe.....