Traitor~ Book Review courtesy of ‘The Husband’

by Andy McNab
read November 2009 by Kevin

Paperback Edition
263 Pages
Published by Speak (Penguin)
Original Publication date~ 2005
Genre~ Young Adult Fiction, YA Military Fiction
ISBN 13~ 978 0 14 240727 1
Source~ Purchased new in store
Rating~

 

 

from the back cover
For seventeen-year-old Danny Watts, who is in training to become a soldier, a single news story is enough to shatter his dream: SAS TRAITOR MASTERMINDS PRISON BREAKOUT.  The traitor, Fergus Watts, is the grandfather Danny’s never met, the former SAS hero who betrayed his country, his regiment, and his comrades.  He was supposed to be dead, but apparently that is not the case.  And now that Fergus is on the loose, the family history is keeping Danny out of the military.  Determined not to lose his future, Danny knows he can track Fergus down and turn him in.  But how can a seventeen-year-old student find a man trained to avoid capture, expert at surveillance and covert operations?  The hunt is on…

I was so thrilled to see my husband read a book he enjoyed that I asked him to write a review for me. He grumbled a bit and eventually, I had a nicely written review in my email. Good husband. So here are his thoughts on Traitor:

Andy McNab (born 28 December 1959) is an English novelist and former SAS soldier who sprung to fame back in 1993 when he wrote, Bravo Two Zero. This was his account of a failed SAS patrol during the first Iraqi war. McNab, not his real name, was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in 1991 for his part. Since writing Bravo Two Zero he has become a rather accomplished writer delivering 3 more nonfiction and I believe 16 fiction novels.

Before my immigration to the US, I became quite a fan of McNab’s work reading about 7 or 8 of his, “Nick Stone Missions.” Addicted to his style of writing from inside his own head explaining his thought process during these tense and gripping K operative exploits I felt completely transformed into the role myself.

Having taken such a long layoff from reading his work I found myself recently engrossed in one of his newer tales about his newly created characters, Danny & Fergus Watts. A grandson and grandfather team thrust together trying to prove the innocence of grandfather, Fergus’ past life as a K op turned bad in South America.

Obviously now McNab is writing about somebody else and so it took me a few chapters to get used to this but once the story started to really kick into gear I found myself again creating the pictures in my head and falling into the mission. Some great new characters have surfaced and I can see that McNab is going to have another successful string of books based around these guys….One thing to realize though with McNab is that you really don’t want to get too attached to any of his characters cause he really isn’t too afraid to kill any of them off to create extra raw emotion when engrossed in his tales.

I really liked this book even though I was convinced I wasn’t going to as I didn’t like the idea of him writing about a teenage protagonist. I was really upset that this book was filed under teenage fiction but I have to say that it was equally as exciting as the previous Nick Stone series and I will definitely be moving forward and reading more about Fergus and his grandson Danny. Let’s go to Borders…

Oh No…Not Again!

So I found out last week that I am not alone, literally. I knew something wasn’t quite right and as it turns out I was right. I have a wee invader in my uterus…again.

I would love to say this was totally planned and I was super-excited….but it wasn’t and right now, I’m not. I think a shocked sort of fright would more accurately describe my mental status right now.

As many of my readers know, I have two daughters; Kaylee who is 8 and Lauren who is 6. A little infant was not in the plans! I was done!! Now it looks like I will be a mama once again in July.  I had a wee bit of a scare.  They couldn’t find the baby on ultrasound at first, which I say is the work of shoddy ultrasound technicians.  They told me it wasn’t a viable pregnancy and I needed to go to the ER right away or I would get sick and die.

Now, at this point I felt completely fine.  Nothing wrong at all.  I saw no need to go to the ER.  So I called my doctor who said it was ridiculous.  They scheduled me in to get a new ultrasound the next day and lo and behold, there was baby.  It’s odd how much you don’t realize you want something until the threat of it being taken away is there.  Which now leaves me feeling enormously guilty.

So, this is why my reading has been put to the back burner lately.   Hopefully now that I am over the scaries, I can get back to normal…for a while at least!

Here is the little uterine usurper-

The Vampire Diaries, Season 1, Episode 9

“History Repeating”
Original air date, November 12th, 2009

Again, this is a synopsis with spoilers.

Episode Synopsis
You will have to forgive the lateness of this post.  I had drama last week and so, I am now a week behind.  This post takes a loooooong time to do.  I have to go through and type as I watch, then tidy it all up and correct my typos.  Then I have to add pretty pictures and link it all up.  I’m done complaining now, promise.

Here goes; Bonnie is having strange dreams about her ancestor, I think great great grandmother, Emily.  It’s a bit creepy!  In her dreams, she follows her to the woods, to ruins of an old building.  She has one of those old, dream in a dream in a dream things.

Caroline is still mad at Bonnie and there is odd tension between Caroline and Matt after he spent the night, innocently with her after the party where Lexi was killed.

We get to meet Alaric Saltzman for the first time as the new history teacher.  I was wondering if they were going to add him in to the series.  I liked his character in the book.  He mentions that his name is pronounced al then ar like in car then ick instead of al- uh-rick, which is how I pronounced it in my head when I was reading. Whoops!

Damon is trying to be nice to Stefan and offers to keep on the “Stefan diet” for at least a week.  He says he is sorry for killing Lexi.  The brothers do a little bit of role reversal.  Damon does a great Stefan impression, “It’s just like you Damon.  Always gotta have the last word.” 

Was this right before they were arresting for flashing people?

Bonnie discusses her dreams with Elena.  She feels like she is being haunted and thinks it is all to do with the necklace.

Jeremy discusses his history grade with Mr. Saltzman.  He was failing, but the new teacher wipes the slate clean and offers him a break by allowing him to write an extra credit paper about local history.  Jeremy notices he has an old ring which looks quite similar too Stefan and Damon’s.

Caroline confronts Matt about the awkwardness.  She says he did a total “lame guy move” by leaving before she woke up and wants to know what is up with him saying “hey” to her every time she walks by.  He explains that he left because he heard her mom up and didn’t want to get her in trouble and as for saying “hey” to her when she walks by,  he says, “I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ve said to you every day since the first grade”  Then tells her, “Trying to read something into it….lame girl move.” BWahahaha yay Matt!

Stefan apologizes to Elena for not calling her and telling her about him and Damon.  He tells her he is going to back off a little bit and keep his distance.  She gets all short and snippy with him because we all realize this means he wants to keep his distance from her.

Damon is still trying to get the necklace back from Bonnie.  He tells her that he doesn’t want to hurt her.  He wants to help her get Emily off of her back.  He tells Bonnie to tell Emily, “That A deals a deal” next time she sees her.

Uh…oh my.  I ended up watching to commercial break because I was busy typing and there was a commercial for Tmobile text voting about the episode.  “Text 1 for yes and 2 for no”!?!  LOL….am I too old to watch this show…probably!

Bonnie tells Elena about Damon and gets upset and throws the necklace out in a field.  Stefan comes to Elena’s house to talk with Bonnie.  She explains about the necklace to him.  Stefan explains that Emily was Katherine’s handmaiden and she was a witch.  The necklace Bonnie had was Katherine’s, Emily gave it to her.  He says he is going to talk to Damon.

Jenna sees Alaric at the grill and is smitten.  She is talking to Jeremy  about the report he has to do and says he can go look through his dads old stuff.  Jeremy introduces Alaric to Jenna.

Stefan and Damon continue the role reversal…it’s hilarious.  Damon laughs and gives up.  He tells Stefan, “You’re really hard to imitate.”

Caroline and Bonnie are over at Elena’s house.  Caroline says she is sorry and Bonnie tells her that she threw the necklace away.  Caroline goes over to the table and comes out with, “Why are ou such a little liar Bonnie?”  She holds up the necklace which has appeared back at the house.  Elena confirms that Bonnie really did throw the necklace away.  Caroline is pissed off she isn’t in on the conversation.  Bonnie tells her it is because she doesn’t listen.

Jenna and Alaric talk about their pasts.  He asks why she left Mystic Falls in the first place.  She asks him about his past as well.  Alaric says he married young and his wife died.  It’s a cold case. 

Stefan and Damon are playing darts.  Actually some really funny interactions between them.  This episode is weird with all of the brotherly activities…

Caroline apologizes yet again to Bonnie and says she doesn’t belive all of the paranormal crap.  She tells Bonnie she is her best friend and she is supportive of her.  Caroline suggests a seance.  Her reasoning is, “This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do.”  Elena and Bonnie give in and go along with Caroline’s plan.  They call to Emily, who then begins to possess Bonnie.

Now Damon and Stefan are playing football…more weird.  Stefan finally comes out with what he wants.  He says their life with Katherine wasnt real.  She compelled them and it took him years to figure it out.  He asks Damon what he wants with the crystal.  They fight again about Katherine and about who saw her last and why.  Damon says he is going to bring her back.  He tells Stefan that before Katherine and the others were killed Damon went to Emily.  Emily performed some kind of spell to save them.  She is supposedly sealed in a tomb under the church.  The crystal got it’s power from the comet passing, both times.  Emily asked Damon to save her lineage in return.  He saved her children from death.

The Bonnie/Emily combination says she is going back to where it all began.  She tells Elena and Caroline,  ”I wont let him have it.  It must be destroyed.”  Elena quickly calls Stefan and tells him about Bonnie and Emily.  Damon of course can hear the conversation and uses super-speed to confront Bonnie/Emily in the woods.  She says things have changed now.  She has to protect her family.  Damon goes for her and she throws him into a tree.

Jeremy finds the box of books and is looking through them.  Jenna and Alaric are at the front door.  It seems that Alaric can’t pass the door.  They are trying hard to make him appear to be a vampire.  Will he be???  I don’t know.

Stefan arrives in the woods and takes Damon off of the tree.  Bonnie/Emily says to Stefan that she had to save all of them to save Katherine.  It turns out that all of the people in the church were vampires.  27 of them in all.  The townspeople killed them and blamed it on an act of war.  Damon wants to unleash all of them on the town as payback.  Bonnie/Emily says she won’t free them.  She stands in the middle of a burning pentagram and destroys the pendant.

Damon is furious and attacks her, biting her neck and wounding her mortally.  Stefan allows her to drink his blood.  He explains to Elena that she won’t become a vampire unless she dies while the blood is still in her system.  Damon is still there just looking on.  He looks really sad.

Matt climbs in Caroline’s window.  He admits to her he was creeped out about what happened the other night.  He says he never liked her but he liked cuddling with her.  lol….well that’s truthful.  He also says he knows how hard it is to be alone.

Damon really seems genuinely upset.  He tells Stefan that Katherine never compelled him.  He knew everything from the beginning.  He tells Stefan that he will leave Mystic Falls now.

Elena tells Bonnie EVERYTHING about Stefan and Damon.  Elena tells Stefan that she can be with him now.  Gee…as long as it’s on your terms?  Stefan tells her he can’t be with her anymore and he has to leave.  lol!  Sorry.  You have to admit, the girl had it coming.  In a very pathetic wail she calls out to him, “So youre just going to walk away?  Nooooo Stefan, please don’t go.” 

Grrr…battery to my computer died and I nearly lost everything!

Caroline and Matt are shown bonding over junk food and TV.  The staple of every healthy relationship for two people who have no one else in the world.

Back at the Gilbert house, Logan appears at the front door and pleads with Jenna to let him in. Uh-oh….new vampire??!?!!

The episode that aired last week will be up in a day or so.  So sorry!  I will explain on Tuesday!

~Jenn

I’d Tell You I Love You But I’d Have to Kill You~ Book Review

by Ally Carter
read November 2009

Paperback Edition
284 Pages
Published by Hyperion
Original Publication date~ May 2006
Genre~ Young Adult Fiction
ISBN 13~ 978 1 423 10004 1
Source~ Purchased 2nd hand
Rating~

from the back cover:

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school- typical, that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class.  The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses, but it’s really a school for spies.

Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man several different ways with her bare hands, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she is an ordinary girl.  Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”- but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

The story has been told many times before; boy and girl meet, one of them lies to the other about themselves, the other finds out, it ends in crying.  “I don’t know who you really are!”  The idea is not new, but the details are.  Cammie is your average spy-in-training, if such a thing exists.  She meets Josh and can’t tell him about who she is and what she does, so she does what any sensible girl would do, she lies.  ~sigh~ don’t these people read?!?!  You ALWAYS get found out!  

Overall, the writing was on the juvenile side, however, I feel that is the target audience.  It is directed at young teens and preteens.   The topic of two sub-genre’s in the Young Adult genre has been more and more frequent.  This would be one of those books that would be on the younger level.  Don’t mistake this for me not liking the book, I really did.  It was a good change from vampires!  It was a good, fun, clean read, but it might not meet the expectations of someone looking for something a bit more edgy.

I read that Disney has bought the rights to this movie for projected release in 2012.  I think it would be a very cute movie.  I can see my daughter LOVING it.  The next books in the series are, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy and Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover.

~Jenn

*photos from www.allycarter.com

P.s. I totally forgot to mention that the story takes plkace in Roseville, Virginia….and I am amused because I grew up in, and live 5 minutes from, Roseville, California.  It’s just not a very common town name.  Ahhhh…the little things that amuse me!

Vampire Diaries- The Fury~ Book Review

by L.J. Smith
Read November 2009

Paperback two-book Edition (Review is for The Fury only)
245 Pages (Whole book is 520)
Published by Harper Teen
Original Publication date~
Genre~ Young Adult Fiction, Paranormal Romance
ISBN 13~ 978 0 06 114098 3
Source~ Purchased in store
Rating~

 

 

 

 

from the back cover
LOVE CAN KILL

Elena: transformed, the golden girl has become what she once feared and desired.

Stefan: tormented by losing Elena, he’s determined to end his feud with Damon once and for all – whatever the cost.  But slowly, he begins to realize his brother is not his only enemy.

Damon: at last, he possesses Elena.  But will his thirst for revenge against Stefan poison his triumph?  Or can they come together to face one final battle?

How’s that for a lame summary? 

I was going to save it and do both books together because in my copy, they are bound together, but in the end I decided to do one and then the other.  They really are two separate books, and it’s my blog and I say I’m doing them separately.

I also had not planned on reading another vampire book for at least a week.  I was feeling a little “over vamped”.  Unfortunately, after getting half-way through I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter, it vanished.  Still haven’t found that little bugger.  So then I picked up Dan Browns, The DaVinci Code.  I read the first two chapters and left it in my car.  It was cold and I wasn’t going out there, so Vampire Diaries it was.

Now that you know the long, drawn-out story as to why I read this book, I suppose I can get to my review.

So here goes:

The fury might be my favorite out of the Vampire Diaries series so far.  To me, it is the only one that had a solid ending.  There was more action going on in this novel than the others, and also a bigger mystery.  I have to admit, I was thrown for a loop.

Elena was killed in the last book, The Struggle.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, because she had both been bitten and fed from Damon and Stefan she becomes a vampire.  In the beginning she is lost and confused and tries to kill Stefan.  Damon is actually very kind to her and could take advantage of the situation, but does not.  He brings her diary to her as she requests and wah-la….her memory is cured and she knows she loves Stefan again.  Something quite cheesy in that, but oh well.

Elena realizes there is an Other Power at work.  There is something more in Fell’s Church than just Damon, Stefan, and Elena.  Something much bigger and more dangerous.  Elena must convince Stefan and Damon to work together with her to figure out who, or what it is.

I thought the ending was great.  The discovery of the Other Power, as I said before, totally threw me.  The way the characters work together and the sacrifice that is made is perfect.  I did have a few things I questioned in the book.  on page 69 (okay…no jokes) it repeats the sentence, “something strange in Fell’s Church” twice on the same page, in the last two paragraphs.  Is it a big deal, no.  Did it bug me, yes.  Do things bother me too easily, very possible. Next, in chapters 10 and 11, the townspeople are after Stefan.  Damon begins to rescue him, but Elena gets there in the nick of time and grabs the gun away from Mr. Smallwood.  Now, I was under the impression that Elena didn’t want to be seen my the town because she was supposed to be dead.  nothing is said about these people seeing her and nothing seems to come from it.  Everyone just forgets the saw her I guess.  Seeing a dead person might stick in my memory.  So, despite those little things, I enjoyed it.

I’m afraid of what book 4 will bring.  Book 3 ended so nicely, I just don’t want it all to get cheesy!

~Jenn

Win a Kindle II @ Bibliofreak!

I usually don’t do a separate blog post for giveaways on other sites, but I love the website and I love MS. J.T. Oldfield.   Here is the link to her page!

 

~Jenn

It’s Monday Again. My Planned Week in Books.

You know, I always forget to add in here that I borrowed this idea from J. Kaye at J. Kaye’s Book Blog and then tweaked it a little.  Please go and see her meme, because it’s WAAAAY better than what I post here.  So, a bit of history behind my Monday post, I like her idea of “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading”  but I wanted the freedom to ramble a bit on my own stuff without messing up her meme.  Honestly, it helps me focus on my week.  It rarely turns out as planned!

So here ya go….my booky week:

Books Bought
nuffin!

Books Received
Royal Blood by Rona Sharon~ Recieved from J. Kaye’s Book Blog.

Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange~ Won at Miss Remmer’s Review

Books Borrowed
nada!

Books Read
I’d Tell You I Love You But I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter~ This is a younger YA most definitely.  J. Kaye was talking about this on her blog.  Her daughter Nona is 13 and reads YA too.  We were discussing how there really is such an extreme variance in the YA genre.  On this same subject, The Book Smugglers announced that there is buzz about a new genre, New Adult.  Read their post HERE.  Despite it being young, I still enjoyed it.  It was a cute, fun read.

 

The Vampire Diaries- The Struggle by L.J. Smith~ Really enjoyed this!  Review will be up soon.

Books Won
I won a signed copy each of Retribution, Legacy, The Watcher, The Becoming, and Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein at Bitten by Books

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl ~I won this book as a Top Commenter at J. Kaye’s Book Blog  I’m really looking forward to this one.  I thought it didn’t come out until next month, so I’m extra-excited.  J. Kaye is finished, so as soon as her daughter takes a stab at it.  I love the cover art of this book too. 

Awards
I received some awards this week, but it was late in the week and I need a bit of time to get through them.

Books Lined Up
The Vampire’s Assistant by Darren Shan~ Even though I have all three, I’m only reading the first one.  Haven’t seen the movie yet, but saw mixed reviews.  I know I will see it.  Most likely will wait for video though.  Movie prices are ridiculous now!  Went went on Vetran’s day at matinee and it was $10.75/adult and $6.75/child.  Holy schmoley!

The Otherworldlies by Jennifer Anne Kogler ~ This has been sitting on my shelf so a loooong time.  I thought it deserved a turn.  It sounds like it has potential.  Here is the Product Description from Amazon:  Fern communicates with her dog, blisters from just moments in the sun, and has correctly predicted the daily weather for more than two years. Even so, she’s always seemed to be a normal twelve-year-old girl . . . until one day when Fern closes her eyes in class and opens them seconds later on a sandy beach miles away from school. When Fern disappears again, this time to a place far more dangerous, she begins to realize exactly how different she is.

With the help of her twin brother, Sam, Fern struggles to gain control of her supernatural powers. The arrival of a sinister vampire in town—who seems to have an alarming interest in Fern’s powers—causes Fern to question her true identity. Who is she? More importantly, who can she count on? Soon Fern finds herself in the middle of a centuries-old battle—one that could destroy Fern and endanger everyone she loves.

 Fire by Kristin Cashore~ SOOOOO Excited to get to this one!!!!  I bought it right after I finished Graceling, which I LOVED.  At first I thought it was a true prequel, but now that I have it and have skimmed the back cover, I know it is truly a “companion” novel.  It takes place some 30 or so years before Graceling.  There is really only one cross-over character.  It is not necessary to read one before the other.

Big news coming next week…

~Jenn

Vampire Academy~ Book Review

by Richelle Mead
Read October 2009

Paperback Edition
332 Pages
Published by Razorbill (an imprint of Penguin)
Original Publication Date~ 2007
Genre~ Young Adult Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Adventure
ISBN 13~ 978 1 59514 174 3
Source~ Purchased in Store
Rating~

 

 

I feel so bad for this book. I pulled an “I-don’t realize-how-much-my-behind-is-growing-after-eating-all-the-halloween-candy” move and turned around next to the table and my behind knocked a glass of water all over the coffee table where brand new Vampire Diaries was sitting. I grabbed it pretty quick, but not before some of the pages were waterlogged. I was thinking of ironing it to straighten them out, but I don’t want to hurt my poor little book more than I already have.

On to the book…

from the back cover
ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES
     Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth’s magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi: the fiercest vampires- the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rosse Hathaway, Lissa’s best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.
     After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa and caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger…and the Strigoi are always close by.
     Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

In the beginning, this book seemed like it could have taken a tone that I wasn’t going to enjoy. I recently read The House of Night books one and two and it was very…young. I was afraid this book was going to go there as well. Don’t get me wrong, I like young sometimes. But I wasn’t sure I could take three series about young female vampires going to vampire school.  In addition to Vampire Academy, I recently read Vamps by Nancy A. Collins and the above mentioned House of Night books.  All about young vampire girls going to high school.

The main character, Rose, is what made Vampire Academy stand apart from the other two. Rose is a rebel, but she is a likeable character.  Rose is a dhampir, and in her world, that means she is born to protect the Moroi, the vampire royalty. It is because of this upbringing that she is strong-willed and a bit obstinate.

The other winning thing this novel has, is the creative imagination of the author. The vampire world and society she created is not your normal living dead, blood-sucking story.  Or, in many recent books, the ‘good’ vampire that doesn’t feed on humans.  There is blood-sucking, and everyone is okay with it.  Heck, they are vampires right?!  In Richelle Mead’s creation, there are three main types of vampires.  The Moroi, who are the vampire royalty, descend from eastern european families.  The dhampirs, the sometimes illegitimate children of a Moroi parent and a dhampir parent.  The dhampirs are stronger and faster than the Moroi, and as such, they serve as their guardians, keeping them safe from the Strogoi.  The Strogoi are the true undead.  They are the baddies of the story.  They are made, not born.

I nearly put this book down due to a spelling error on pg 142.  Ugh.  “They lit up his face.  Gorgeous no longer describrd him.” ugh…simple spell-check could have caught that!  I don’t mind slight grammatical errors.  Heck, I make them constantly.  Spelling errors just really bother me in books I have paid for.  It’s obviously a typo, not an intentional mistake, but it still really bothers me.  That is what editors and proof-readers are for.  I may have had a mini temper-tantrum regarding the confusion of ‘r’ and ‘e’.  Maybe.

I am glad I kept going after the near unforgivable offense.  The book turned out to be really good.  The book didn’t turn out anything like I thought it would, and thats a good thing.  Predictable is NOT good.

One thing that I think readers should be aware of is some of the language and suggestive scenes.  It doesn’t bother me, but I feel it might offend some people, especially since it is a YA book.

Overall, a very enjoyable read.  I will be picking up the next book in the series, <i>Frostbite</i> as soon as I can.  I am very excited to read the next in the series.

Please note, this book very nearly got a 3 from me due to the spelling error.  I sat and thought about it and I just couldn’t let that effect what I thought of everything else.  Not that a 3 is bad from me.  I finally settled on the 4 stars you see above.

~Jenn

It’s Monday Again. My Planned Week in Books

I am having a pretty happy book week. I’m in a pretty good mood. I’ve had some good reads. I dunno. I never thought of myself as a moody reader, but maybe I am!

Books Bought
~sigh~ Unfortunately none this week.

Books Received
Savage Days, Haunted Nights by Bennett Kremen~ Recieved from Heather Smith at Ariel Publicity for review. This one is supposed to be a thriller.

The Vampire’s Assistant Collection~ A Living Nightmare, The Vampire’s Assistant, and Tunnels of Blood by Darren Shan~ I won this over at Green Bean Teen Queen.  I’m kind of looking forward to a non-romance vampire story.   I was talking about this book with my husband and I mentioned that the author was born in London and moved to Limerick.  He says, ”Wait, it’s a book about vampires?  Is the author Darren Shan?” Which had me looking at him trying to figure out how he was reading my mind.  I just opened the box and there was no way he could see.  Apparently he and his buddy know him from when they worked in Limerick for a year.  Not important in anyway…I just felt like sharing! 

Books Borrowed
Mercy  by Jodi Picoult~ Borrowed from my friend Beth, who borrowed it from a friend of hers.  She is moving, so I got it first!  I’ve only read one Jodi Picoult novel, but I am totally willing to give this a try!

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown~ Never read it.  Felt I needed to read it.  Have a friend who has them all, and now I have this one.   Thank you Candice!

Books Read
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead~ Glad I picked it up.  It wasn’t my first choice to read this week, but I spilled a glass of water on it and I think I had sympathy for the book.  I had to show it I still loved it and I didn’t mean to get it wet.  Review will be up tomorrow or Wednesday.

Books Won
Nothing this week.  I entered some great contests that aren’t finished though!

Awards
The Prolific Blogger Award

I’m a lucky girl!  Lookie what I won from J. Kaye at J.Kaye’s Book Blog.  If you haven’t been to her site before, please, please click on the link and visit.  The Prolific Blogger Award is brand new and it is my honor to share the love.

Here are the rules:

1. Every winner of the Prolific Blogger Award has to pass on this award to at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. Spread some love!

2. Each Prolific Blogger must link to the blog from which he/she has received the award.

3. Every Prolific Blogger must link back to This Post, which explains the origins and motivation for the award.

4. Every Prolific Blogger must visit this post and add his/her name in the Mr. Linky, so that we all can get to know the other winners. (Click here for the Mr. Linky page.)

So here are my picks!  Some are new blogs to me, but are becoming quick favorites.  My favorites list is growing!!!

• Park Avenue Princess (a blog I have lurked around for a bit now.  She is hosting a contest HERE for an eReader…go check it out and tell her you heard about it from me! p.s. not why I am sending the blog love….promise!)
• Shadow Hunters (a blog I am new to)
• Green Been Teen Queen (Isn’t that fun to say?)
• That Chick that Reads (another new-to-me blog)
• The Latenier Gang Book Review Spot (They are having a Mega-giveaway too, go and check it out!  It is a family who reads and blogs together.  Very cool!)
• The Adventures of Ceceila Bedelia (Long -time follower of this blog.  Such a nice person.)
• Thoughts of Joy (Again…long time follower.  Joy is SO sweet!)

I was planning on Awarding this to Jenny at Jenny Loves To Read and Kristen at Bookworming in the 21st Century but I saw them each on other people’s lists for this award.  Oh well…still love you guys!  Not to mention, J. Kaye who I received this award from, is absolutely one of THE most prolific bloggers I know!

Books Lined Up
I’d Tell You I Love You But I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter~ I am in need of some non-vampire reads this week.

Fire by Kristen Cashore~ Really looking forward to this one after loving Graceling

The Vampire Diaries- The Struggle and The Fury by L.J. Smith~ Don’t think I will get to it, but it is next on the list.

~Jenn

The Vampire Diaries~ Season 1, Episode 8

“162 Candles”
original air date November 5th, 2009 on The CW

Episode Synopsis…Don’t Read if You Don’t Want to Know What Happens
Ahhhh, it’s Thursday.  Back to Mystic Falls.  Back to highschool.  Well sort of.  There were no vampires that I know of in my highschool.  Some very, very weird people, but no vampires.  My time to relive my life of 12 years ago.  Ugh. Seriously?!?  It’s been 12 years since I was in highschool?!  Sheesh I’m old.

Okay, okay, back to Mystic Falls.  I saw the previews for this episode last week and had to laugh.  If you’ve been following along, you would know that I am not so fond of Ms. Elena right now.  She is just rubbing me the wrong way recently.  She is just so whiny and self-righteous.  I’d never thought I’d say I much prefer the selfish, egotistical Elena from the books.

This episode had so much going on.  Namely a former acquaintance of Stefan’s.  A beautiful, blonde, sexy acquaintance who appears on his birthday.  Her name is Lexi and she appears in the boarding house suddenly.  Stefan is so relaxed around her and happy to see her.  It’s such a nice change from horrible brooding Stefan.

The sheriff is interviewing people about Vickie’s disappearance.  Jeremy really is brainwashed.  Matt is angry at Stefan.

Lexi wakes up and Damon is in her bed  ~sigh~  if only.  He says to her, “Why are you so mean to me?”  She quickly retorts with, “Uh…have you met you?”  Whoa!  Lexi kicks ass.  She is gets mad at him and pins him down threatening him if he tries to ruin Stefan’s birthday.  She says she is older and that means stronger.

Aunt Jenna and Elena are sitting on the couch talking about boy-trouble.  Jenna got an email ‘from’ Logan saying he was leaving town and leaving her.  They both look up because Jeremy is doing….homework?!  Who is this guy and what have they done with Jeremy? 

Damon appears at the sheriff’s office with a box of vervain.  Asks a bunch of prying questions regarding how the search is going.  The sheriff tells him that the council needs to reevaluate what they know. They presumed vampires could not survive walking around during the day.  Maybe this isn’t the case.  They are going to look at anyone new to town since the murders started.

Random spot to be thinking this but, one thing I dont get is how the show goes from Stefan drugging Damon and keeping him locked in the basement with the idea of locking him forever in the family crypt to them working together like in the last episode.

Bonnie has been spending lots of time with her Grandma.  She is talking about giving the necklace back to Caroline, but Grandma insists the necklace is hers and she needs to wear it.  Reluctantly she does.  Bonnie goes to Elena’s house to cheer her up.  Cuts open a pillow.  Bonnie tells her that she has a secret and she needs to swear to not tell anyone.  Elena makes a comment about it being a bad week for secrets or something.  In front of Elena, Bonnie uses her powers to lift the feathers from the pillow into the air.  Here is something else I don’t quite get, why is Elena happy to find out her best friend is a witch, but her boyfriend being a vampire is unbearable?  Hmm….I don’t know!  The whole trick that Bonnie is able to do is kind of cool.  I’m really liking Bonnie!  Bonnie is afraid Elena will think of her as a freak.  Elena wants to know why she tell told her.  Bonnie answers with a very simple, “Because you are my best friend.  I can’t keep secrets from you.”  Well Ms. Bonnie, Elena has a pretty big secret she is keeping from you!

Caroline runs into Damon and starts to give him an earful about what an ass he is.  He uses a nonverbal compulsion and she suddenly comes out with a totally bubbly, “Oh my God…how are you?”  Damon’s face when she says it is awesome.  He compels her to host a party at the grill because he wants Stefan to come.  He says she is going to help him solve this towns little vampire problem.  He also tells her to get back the necklace from Bonnie.

Lexi tells Stefan he needs to have sex with Elena because sex makes everything better…umm isn’t this show for teens?  Way to send a good message!  Stefan explains that he wants her to be with him on her own terms…without tricks.  While they are talking, she whips out a bag of blood with a straw.  Uh oh.  Here is broody Stefan again.  She tells him not to judge.  It’s not like she is feeding on humans directly.  Damon appears and tells them about the party at the grill.  Lexi wants to go to the party.  Stefan does not.  He is afraid Damon has something up his sleeve.  Duh.  Of course he does, he’s Damon.  Lexi thinks there is no way he could do anything with such a big crowd.  Uhhh duh again…this is Damon.

Elena shows up at the boarding house.  Lexi answers the door in her post-shower towel.  She takes one look at Elena and is stunned by her appearance.  She can’t get out more than,  “Oh my God” and a bunch of sputtered words.  Elena asks for Stefan and Lexi says he is in the shower.  Hmmm…Stefan in the shower, Lexi in just a towel.  Elena assumes the worst and is obviously jealous.  She just decides to leave. 

Lexi runs up the stairs to confront Stefan.  She yells, “Are you out of your freaking mind?!”  She picks up the picture of Katherine and says, “You have some serious explaining to do.”  He explains that she is not Katherine.  That they may look the same, but on the inside they are totally different.  Elena is selfless and real.  Lexi says, “So she’s not a raging bitch then?”  She also says something about them being related.  Stefan says he doesn’t know, he’s never looked into it.  Maybe a future plot twist?  I haven’t read past book 2 yet so I am not sure if that is something that happens in the books.  Stefan explains, ”When I’m around her I completely forget who I am.”  She teasingly accuses him of being in love with her.  He responds with a pretty sweet, “Yeah. Yeah I am.”

While Lexi heads off to the party, Stefan goes to Elena’s house.  She says something about the girl in the towel.  Stefan explains that Lexi is his oldest friend.  She is 350 years old. He goes on to say that there has been nothing romantic ever.  Elena says she kept staring at her which was “weird.”  Wait, I don’t think Elena knows she looks like Katherine, does she?  Stefan wants Elena to talk to him and she doesn’t want to.  Says she can’t even tell her best friend.  Invites her to the party with him.  She says she would rather stay in.  I don’t know why, because you know she will show up.

At the party, Damon uses compulsion again to ask Caroline for the crystal.  She then runs into Bonnie and asks her for the crystal back.  Bonnie says she can’t give it back.  Caroline uses a funny, desperate line.  She tells Bonnie when she wears the necklace, it makes her look fat.  ~chuckle~  She tries to grab it from her neck and it shocks her.  She comes out with, “Are you wearing polyester?” LMAO.  I think I love Caroline’s character too!  Bonnie says, “What the hell is wrong with you?”  Stefan finds Matt and apologizes for Vickie.  Says he went through something similar one time and he just wanted to help her.  Matt says Vickie is just like her mother.  That he can’t count on either of them.  Poor Matt.  I actually feel bad for him.  Damon asks Caroline why she doesn’t have the necklace.  She tells him she couldn’t get it.  He is a bit brutal and tells her she is shallow and useless.

Damon goes outside and sees a young couple making out in the back.  He attacks them.

Lexi and Stefan are having a great time and Elena shows up, glaring at the two friends.  Damon comes up beside her and obviously thinks this it’s great.  He says to Elena, “Does it get tiring being so righteous?” YES!  It’s not just me.  I think I just fell in love with Damon even more.  She asks him what he did to her brother, that he’s a little too okay.  Damon says he took away the suffering.  Thats all.

A deputy drives by the alley.  Hears someone cry, “help me”.  He finds the dead body of the man.

Lexi gets thee shots of tequila.  Walks over and gives one to Elena.  They talk about how Stefan always seems uptight.  Elena is jealous that he isn’t all uptight when he is around Lexi.  Lexi says that Stefan cant be himself around Elena yet because he just told her about his condition.  Lexi shares that she was in love with a human.  Love really did conquer all.  Elena tells Lexi she is scared.  Elena is relaxing and not being all uppity.  MUCh better!  Stefan was listening to their conversation.  He thanks Lexi for talking to Elena and he smiles at her.  Yes, Stefan can smile.

In the alley, they find the girl.  She is alive.  They ask her to tell them everything that she saw.

Elena finally approaches Stefan.  She says she couldn’t miss his birthday afterall.  They BOTH are smiling!!

Caroline is drunk.  Slips into the booth where Matt is sitting.  She tells him she doesn’t mean to be shallow.  “I’m a kiddie pool.” She says.  LOL.  She is getting one-liners as good as Damon.  Matt says he will take her home.  When they step out, her mom, the sheriff, is outside.  Her mom runs over to her and is upset that she is drunk.  Matt says he will take her home and the sheriff says not to let anyone else out of the building.

Lexi and Damon are sitting together having a conversation at the bar.  She asks Damon what he is really doing in Mystic Falls. He says he has a “diabolical master plan.”  The sheriff has brought the girl from the alley inside to point out her attacker.  She points towards Damon and Lexi.  The sheriff walks up quickly and injects Lexi with vervain.  They drag her out.  She appears to be helpless, but somehow regains strength.  They try to hold her but she escapes.  The Sheriff shoots at her and it does nothing.  Then Damon runs up and stabs her with a stake.  She squeaks out a pleading, “Why?”  He says, “It’s all part of the plan.”  Poor Lexi dies.  Darn.  I was liking Lexi.  Bad Damon.

Matt carries Caroline to bed and tucks her in.  She looks up pleadingly at Matt.  “Do you ever feel that there is not a person in the world that loves you?” she says to him.  I never thought about it, but these two are really unfortunate characters.  Matt has a tear running down his face.  Poor Matt.  She asks him to stay and he does.

Stefan, who saw the whole incident with Lexi and Damon, will not stay and talk to Elena.  He doesn’t understand why Elena wants to save Damon.  She says she isn’t trying to save him.  She is trying to save Stefan from what he might do.  He tells her, “You were right to stay away from me.”  Now Elena wants to talk and Stefan is all moody.  Elena is left standing there with the sad look again. ~sigh~ I thought we were going to have a less-whiny Elena for a while.  Oh well.

Stefan finds Damon and attacks him.  They fight but Stefan overpowers him.  Damon says he did it for them.  To throw the vampire hunters off of their trail.  Stefan stabs him with a stake, but not through the heart.  It doesn’t kill him, I think.  Stefan leaves and Damon pulls the stake out.

Bonnie is having a dream where she is running through the woods.  She sees her ancestor, the one from 1864.  She says, simply, “It’s coming”. Wha????  Okay, what is “it”?  Damon?  Or something else.  Hmmmmm.  The preview for next weeks episode didn’t tell me much.  Well I guess I will have to wait.

~Jenn

My other Vampire Diaries Reviews

• Season One, Episode One
• Book One~The Awakening and Season One, Episode Two
• Book Two~ The Struggle
• Season One, Episode Three
• Season One, Episode Four
• Season One, Episode Five
• Season One, Episode Six
• Season One, Episode Seven

I also created a Vampire Diaries Page on the right hand side of the page.  All the links are posted there.