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.

Graceling~ Book Review

by Kristin Cashore
Read October 2009

Paperback Edition
471 Pages
Published by Graphia (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Original Publication date~ 2008
Genre~ Young Adult Fantasy
ISBN 13~ 978 0 547 25830 0
Source~ Purchased in Store
Rating~

 

 

 

 

From the back cover:
     Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight- she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of priviledge, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
     When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no idea of how her life is about to change.
     She never expects to become Po’s friend.
     She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace- or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away.

I absolutely consumed this book. It is one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read.

Katsa is one of the Graced, those with differing supernatural powers and abilities in one area. It can be anything from cooking exceptionally well to Graces such as Katsa’s, killing.  The one thing that all Gracelings share is eyes of two different colors.

Ever since accidentally killing her adult cousin at eight years old, she has been the King’s hitman and strong-arm.  She is made to think of herself as nothing more than a killer. No emotions, no feelings, no brains. Her uncle, the king, has made sure it is so. When a secret rescue mission grants her a first encounter with Prince Po, everything she thought she knew about herself, begins to change.

Watching Katsa evolve as a character as she discover’s her humanity was amazing. She starts as nothing more than a leashed attack dog for her uncle, King Randa.  As she meets and spends time with Po, she becomes more and more human. She is such a strong, fierce female character that we don’t see much of in many recent novels.  It isn’t a pretense for her, or in any way an attempt to gain advantage.  It is just who she is.  There is no Bella Swan in need of rescuing in this book.

Po is an equally rich character. Also Graced, he is the first true match in a physical fight for Katsa. Even with his Grace, he is still unable to beat her. What struck me was how he was okay with it and even seemed proud of her.  He doesn’t take the stance of many male characters and want to change or be the strong one in the relationship, and yet he doesn’t come off as wimpy or effeminate.  Cashore has done a marvelous job writing both characters.  They both have so much depth and fullness.

Po and Katsa’s journey to find out about secrets surrounding his grandfather’s kidnapping is exciting and full adventure.  Along the way there are wolves, mountain lions, treacherous weather, princesses in need of rescue, murder, and people who aren’t what they seem.

I knew this book would be good, but I was still shocked at quite how much I loved it.

I immediately went out and bought Fire, the prequel-ish companion novel. I have been told you do not have to read either book to enjoy the other.  I can’t wait to dive right in to it!

~Jenn

The Vampire Diaries~ Season 1, Episode 7

“Haunted”
Original air date 10/29/09 on The CW

Episode Synopsis…Don’t Read if You Don’t Want Spoilers
When we last left Mystic Falls, Vickie was coming to terms with her new vampire status.  I somehow missed that there was no episode last week and was really disappointed when I went to watch the episode on my DVR.

The episode starts with Tyler alone in the parking lot.  Vickie appears and is all over him.  Tyler is actually being nice.  He offers to take her home and get her something to eat.  When did Tyler become nice?  Did I miss something?  She talks about how hungry she is and then goes all crazy vampire on him.  Then Stefan and……..wha??!!  Damon???!  appear together and grab Vickie and erase Tyler’s memory, but not before Tyler calls Damon “dude”.  LOL!  Damon retorts with, “Dude?  Really?”

We then cut to Elena fake-sleeping.  I don’t think Nina Dobrev is a bad actress really, except when she needs to be crying or sleeping.  It’s just so….fake.  And without purpose.  Why did she need to be fake-sleeping?

Any who…Vickie calls Matt from the boarding house, but will only tell him she is okay.  Damon, who is with Stefan, apparently babysitting Vickie, is upset that there is nothing about him killing Logan in the papers.  Vickie keeps whining about how hungry she is so Stefan gives her some kind of animal blood.  Damon cracks me up.  He is like that uncle who sneaks a glass of wine to the kids at Christmas.  The one who is always the bad influence.   He maintains his position that Vickie needs human blood and explains his philosophy of, “Snatch.  Eat.  Erase” 

Elena shows up at the boarding house all uppity.  LOVE Damon’s attitude with her.  I’ve wanted to smack her lately.  I’m definitely a fan of selfish Elena in the books rather than what I feel, is a producer’s idea of the nice girl that everyone will relate with.  It just doesn’t happen like that.

So Elena finally gets past Damon and talks to Stefan.  She comes out with one of my favorite lines when speaking about Vickie, “So what, she’s a Vampire with issues?”  LOL…Okay I will give TV Elena that one.   Elena Is upset because she has to lie to everyone she cares about…blah blah blah.  Sheesh shut up already!

Thankfully we cut to a scene with Bonnie and her Grandma talking about being a witch and their family history.  Everyone apparently knows her grandma is a witch but no one believes it.  She talks about teaching occult at the university. 

Mayor Lockwood and Mrs. Lockwood are at The Grill.  They can’t believe they trusted Logan with the watch.  The are still looking for the vampire.  Damon is sitting at the bar listening to them.  With the ‘Damon-grin’ on his face. 

Caroline gives Bonnie a witch costume for the Halloween party.  Along with the costume, she gives her the brown necklace she got from Damon.

Stefan is being the self-righteous ‘good’ vampire, trying to teach Vickie how to be a good vampire like him.  I hate to say it, I’m rooting for the ‘bad’ guy.  Damon is so much less annoying than Elena AND Stefan.  Maybe I’m just in a mood?  When Stefan leaves the room, Vickie whips out her cell phone to try to get a hold of Jeremy.  Elena tries to get Vickie to stay away from Jeremy and Vickie attacks her.  Pins her to the wall by her throat.  The look on Elena’s face is priceless.  I know Im not supposed to root for bad stuff to happen to her, but she needs to get off of her high horse. 

When Stefan returns, Elena tells him about Vickie.  He kind of sticks uo for her and tells Elena that “love, lust, anger, and desire all into one urge hunger.”  He tells her, “I’m not going to let anyone get hurt”.  ruh-rhow..you know someone will be hurt now.

Damon wants to let Vickie have fun.  He admits to Vickie that he turned her into a vampire because he was bored.  He takes her outside and teaches her the super-fast movement trick(not sure what to call it…) and she vanishes. He comes out with “uhhh…my bad” LOL!

Vickie goes back to her house, but can’t get in to the house.  She doesn’t know about her limitations.  Matt invites her in.  Vickie wants to act like all of the things happening are no big deal.  Stefan goes to Matt and Vickie’s house and Vickie tells her brother not to let him in. 

Jeremy is still pining for Vickie.  Elena still tries to be all motherly and tell Jeremy that he can’t see Vickie.  Big surprise, he gets mad at her too.  Vickie texts him to meet her at the Halloween party.  She shows up as a vampire…wait wasnt that Stefan in the books?  Yup, think so.  Elena goes as a naughty nurse Matt as the doctor. These were their costumes from last year when they were together.  Caroline and Bonnie show up at the party and talk to Tyler.  He offers them drinks.  Bonnie declines, but Caroline comes out with, “I’m going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with.”   hahahaha

~swoon~

Damon approaches Mrs. Lockwood at the bar.  They share some mutual flirtation when the subject of uncle Zach comes up.  In case you haven’t been following, Damon killed his unlce a few episodes back.  Damon tries to do the vampire mind trick on her, but she has a charm on presumably filled with vervain.  Mrs. Lockwood explains that Zach was a member of the council.  Damon guesses that Mrs. Lockwood wants to talk to Zach regarding the vervain and tries to get information from her without using powers.  She mentions that anyone who arrived during the day to the founders party was eliminated as a possible vampire.  He and Mrs. Lockwood head off to the party.

Damon finds Bonnie and asks about Caroline.  He sees the necklace around Bonnie’s neck and asks for it back.  He tells her he is going to take it if she doesn’t give it to him.  He grabs for it and it burns his hands.  Bonnie takes off running.  She runs to her grandmothers house.  Her grandmother explains to Bonnie that the necklace turns out to be Bonnie’s great great grandmother’s.  She shows her pictures of her wearing it.  You’ll never guess the date on the picture.  Yup. 1864.

Elena finds out that Vickie is at the party.  She knows that Jermey is off trying to find her.  She tries to find Jeremy before Vickie does.  Stefan ends up finding Vickie first.  Matt gets defensive over Vickie and tries to go after Stefan.  Vickie runs off again and finds Jeremy.

Vickie and Jeremy are having a serious make-out session when Jeremy gets cut.  Vickie says she is going to leave somewhere and wants Jeremy to go with her.  Says they can be together forever.   The blood is too much for Vickie.  She does crazy vampire face and goes after him.  Elena finds them and then Vickie attacks her.  Stefan comes just in time and grabs Vickie but she runs off again.  He sends Elena away but before she gets inside, Vickie finds Elena and attacks her.   She bites her hard in the shoulder then…….STEFAN!?!…..yes Stefan, kills Vickie.  He grabs a piece of wood and shoves it through her.

Yup…she’s dead this time.  I don’t think Vickie will be surviving this one.

Stefan calls Damon for help.  Elena waits with Vicki’s body while Stefan takes Jeremy.  I don’t really understand why…but I suppose that doesn’t matter.  Damon arrives and Elena confronts him.  He doesn’t even bat an eye and comes out with, ”You confuse me for someone with remorse”.   Elena tries to smack Damon, becaus eyou totally would hit someone who you know is a vampire and a killer. SMART.  Eventually he seems to just let her slap him.  He tells her she needs to leave…which is more of a threat than anything else.   he reminds her that her wounds are bleeding.   She runs off.  Damon stands over Vickie’s body and actually seems sorry that she is dead. 

Elena is really mean to Stefan when she gets home.  She kind of snaps, “Where is he?”  like it was his fault.  Jeremy is very upset.  He cries to Elena, “Why does everyone have to die on me?”  Poor kid!  Elena asks Stefan to erase Jeremy’s memory.  He says he isn’t strong enough.  But Damon appears and says he will do it.  Wha?!  Damon is being nice?  Damon is really growing on me.  A lot.  I might begin swooning soon.  Stefan seems crushed that Damon can help Elena in ways he can’t.  Elena says wishes she could forget everything about Stefan and everything that has happened.  But she can’t.  She tells him, “I cant lose the way I feel about you.”

Damon emerges from Elena’s house.  He looks at Elena and Stefan and says, “It’s done.”

Next week….Someone named Lexi shows up and seems very friendly with Stefan.  lol  Elena has competition!

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

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

Sorry this post is a bit late.  I usually watch the episode off of my DVR on a Friday, but with Halloween, it just didn’t happen.

~Jenn

First Paragraph and Cover of Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I am SO excited! If any of you read my review of Shiver, you will know how much I LOVED it.

Today Maggie Stiefvater posted the cover art for Linger as well as the first paragraph on her blog.

Here it is!

 

….and the first paragraph:

• grace •

This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one.

Just a few months ago, it was Sam who was the mythical creature. His was the disease we couldn’t cure. His was the good-bye that meant the most. He had the body that was a mystery, too strange and wonderful and terrifying to comprehend.

But now it is spring. With the heat, the remaining wolves will soon be falling out of their wolf pelts and back into their human bodies. Sam stays Sam, and Cole stays Cole, and it’s only me who’s not firmly in my own skin.

 

So what do you think?  Personally, I love the cover.  It ties right in with Shiver’s cover.  As for the first paragraph, wow.  Not where I thought the story would lead at all!  Now, can I wait until the release date? ~sigh~ I don’t know!!!

Feel free to take and share the cover and paragraph.  Maggie has given permission for the image and paragraph to be shared.  Please visit her blog for cool new updates.  She is a super funny and entertaining!

~Jenn

 

It’s Monday, My Week in Books

As anyone who reads my blog regularly will know, I had a REALLY bad book week last time I posted.  Every book I picked up made me want to throw it at the wall.  It was actually depressing!  I revived myself with Pride and Prejudice and then began Graceling by Kristin Cashore. 

Whew!  I am so glad I am back on track.  Graceling was AMAZING!  My review will be up soon.

Books Bought

Fire by Kristin Cashore

 

 

The Vampire Diaries; The Fury and Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith

 

 

Traitor by Andy McNab

And some random puppy/dog books my kids picked up.  Two chapter books, something about puppy magic and The Pokey Little Puppy, a classic Golden Book.

I actually had Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick in my hands along with Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, but I couldn’t bring myself to pay $17.99 for 3 different books in one go.  I grabbed The Fury and The Dark Reunion instead since I needed/wanted to read them for a while.

Books Recieved
Solemate by Lauren Mackler~ I won this book in a quickie Twitter giveaway at J. Kaye’s Book Blog.    I  will be honest, I saw ”Quickie Giveaway” and jumped on it without reading what it was about!  I remember thinking, “Hrm…I wonder why they spelled soulmate wrong?”  Annoyingly enough, my husband figured it out first go.  Grrr 

So, this is a self-help book.  Something which I usually steer clear of.  It is subtitled, “Master the Art of Aloneness & Transform Your Life“.  I can’t think of the last time I was alone.  Seriously.  I can’t even shower alone usually! 

Twisted Fayrie Tales by various authors~ I won this book over at Bitten by Books.  Eternal Press Publishers offered up a free eBook in several contests.  The book includes: Sinderella by Lisa Logon,  Man Hunt by Sally Odgers, The Christmas Present by Lisa Logan, Mirror, Mirror by Rob Rosen, Rapunzel by Yu-Han Chao, How Cats Lost the Power of Speech by Joshua Babcock, It Can’t be Mine by Jane Toombs, Three Twisted Fairytails by Kandy Phair, Pebbles in the Stream by Richard E. Friesen, Cinders by Karina L. Fabian, Angel  With an Attitude by D. J. Sylvis, I Holler Hot Dog by Jane Toombs.

Some of these short stories are considered erotica, which I can say is something I have never had much interest in reading.  I have a feeling I will be reading and blushing.

Neither are books I would necessarily buy for myself, but I like to exapnd my little tiny comfort zone, so we will see!

Books Read

Not too many!  Lol…it was a very busy week.  Even though I really wanted to do nothing else but read Graceling.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore~ I’m stealing a phrase from J. Kaye at J. Kaye’s Book Blog, “It was OMG good”

Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austen~ I need an ‘I ♥ Mr. Darcy’ t-shirt.  He’s an arrogant ass, but I am drawn to him.  And yes, I know he is a character in a book!  My husband once said to me, “I think you are having a mental affair with Mr. Darcy.”  Hmmm…if only.  Lol!

Books Won

I was lucky enough to be one of the Monthly Raffle Winner’s over at J. Kaye’s book blog.  I won a copy of Royal Blood by Rona Sharon.  I’m so excited because I have wanted to read this for a while now!

I also lucked out and won a copy of Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein at Bitten by Books.  I’ve never heard of it….but what the heck!

Awards
I recieved the Perfect Blend of Friendship Award frm J. Kaye at J. Kaye’s Book Blog.

Here is the award info:

Take time today and think about your friends. This award is to be passed on to five of your book blogging friends.

Here are my 5 choices:

1. velvet at vv32reads
2. Jenny at Jenny Loves to Read
3. Bookjourney
4. Heather at Gofita’s Pages
5. Sharon at A Bookworm’s Review

~Jenn

p.s. I’ve been working on this stinkin post all day long!  Between kids, work, dogs, and husband, I keep getting interrupted and lose my train of thought!  If there are typos or things that don’t make sense, I am sorry.

Pride and Prejudice~ Book Review

by Jane Austen

Read again October 2009

eBook Edition
1115 Pages (including preface and introduction by Carol Howard)
Published by Barnes and Noble Classics
Original Publication date~ 1813
Genre~ Young Adult Fiction, Adult Fiction
ISBN 13~ 978 1 59308 201 7
Source~ Free eBook download included with Barnes and Noble eReader
Rating~

 

 

I had forgotten how much I like Pride and Prejudice.  I mean I’ve read it a bunch of times, I know I like it a lot, I’ve seen to movie adaptations, but I forgot how happy it makes me to read it.  It saved me last week.  I had given up on books.  Every book I picked up disappointed me.  I hate  not finishing, so then I get more and more frustrated.  I usually can put a book down that isn’t interesting me and read something else, then return and finish.  I just couldn’t do that this week.

I downloaded the free eReader from Barnes and Noble and along with it came this and several other eBooks.  I am new to the whole eBook thing, but this was a good stepping stone for me.

Mrs. Bennet seems to have nothing else on her mind but marrying off her daughters.  It was a different time and being a family of five daughters, none of them would inherit their father’s estate.  That would go to another male relative.  In the Bennet’s case, their cousin, Mr. Collins.  Even though the book is set in a time when marrying off your children and hoping to marry for wealth was necessary, Mrs. Bennet seems a little preoccupied with it.  More so than anyone else.

Mr. Bennet is one of my favorite characters.  The way he tolerates his wife’s well-intentioned muddling is fantastic.  Elizabeth and Darcy are strong-willed and delightfully written.  The romantic tension between them is thrilling to read, even though I know what is going to happen!

My eBook version had an index with a quick-jump feature to look up phrases or words that are not common anymore.  I have to say, I can be lazy when I am reading and I tend to use context to give me hints to what a word means.  I rarely go and grab a dictionary or look up something online.  To my surprise (sort of), I didn’t have a good understanding of a lot of the words.

I know that Jane Austen may not have intended to take me back to Regency era England, only to write a romance, but I am continually drawn in and swept away by a book that was written nearly 200 years ago.  I know, I’m swooning.  To me, there are some fantastic novels out there.  Very well-written.  Very appealing.  But there will only be one Jane Austen and I will always be impressed with her writing and characters.

On another note, while I was at Barnes and Noble this weekend, I saw their B & N leather-bound Classics collections and very nearly bought myself a new set of all seven Austen books.  I let a co-worker borrow mine and I no longer work there and my Austen never made its way back.  I suppose I could track it down, but, I won’t.

Although some people might find Austen’s work dated, and maybe even a bit hard to read, I definitely feel that everyone should read Austen at least once in their life.  It most certainly deserves its place along with other classics.

~Jenn

This book was read mostly to get me out of my reading funk, however, I am swapping this for Emma in my Everything Austen Challenge at Stephanie’s Written Word.  I might still read Emma, just not right now.

Here is my progress so far:

Everything Austen Challenge is hosted by Stephanie’s Written Word.

The Challenge~ Read/watch and blog about 6 Austenesque books/movies/miniseries between June and December 2009.  BONUS~ read/watch 12 Austenesque books/movies/miniseries…or two a month instead of one!

My Challenge List

• Austenland by Shannon Hale ~completed~
• Pride and Prejudice BBC Miniseries
• Pride and Prejudice 2005 Movie Adaptation ~completed~
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Emma Movie Adaptation ~completed~
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I might swap this out for Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange.  I won it as part of this challenge.)
• Sense and Sensibility Movie Adaptation -1996 Version with Emma Thompson ~completed~
• The Jane Austen Book Club Movie ~completed~
• Becoming Jane Movie
• Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange ~completed~
• Northanger Abbey Movie Adaptation
• Mansfield Park Movie Adaptation
• Bridget Jones’s Diary Movie- Extra Credit ~completed~
• Clueless Movie Extra Credit! ~completed~

It’s Monday~ My Planned Week in Books

I had a rough week in reading. I’ve never had it happen where every book I pick up just does nothing for me. I hate giving up on a book. Some weird obsessive-compulsive part of my brain won’t let me do it. So I started a few and stopped, thinking I would finish that book and go back. Yeah. Didn’t happen.

 

~sigh~ Colin Firth will always be my Darcy

So, in my frustration, I went back to something I know I love, in a new format. I downloaded a free eBook copy of Pride and Prejudice. ~sigh~ Ahhh nothing touches my heart like Mr. Darcy.

 

 

All of this got me thinking about asking for an eBook reader for Christmas. But which one? I automatically took the Sony eReader off of my list. I’ve heard too much bad stuff about it. So it’s down to the Kindle or the Nook.

 

The Kindle

Things I like about the Kindle:
1. It’s been around long enough to get reviews, both good and bad.
2. It has a “read to me” option.
3. I like Amazon.com.

 

 

Things I like about the Nook:
1. It is supposed to have an eLending feature. (Though I am wary of this. I heard you can only lend each book once, ever AND this is only available on a book if a publisher allows it. I’m not sure this is such a selling point for me now…)
2. It has a color display.
3. I also love Barnes and Noble.

So I am left still not knowing what I want, or even if I want it. Something I think I DO want is an MP3 player and an account on Audible.com.

Now, off of that tangent…on to my planned week in books.

New Books
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
I bought this book today and started reading it right away. My husband stopped at Barnes and Noble before our trip to the pumpkin patch. Mostly I think, because he wanted to shut me up. But I don’t care I got two books and a coffee out of it. I started reading Graceling in the car.

From the back cover:
Katsa has been able to kill a man since she was eight-she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of priviledge, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
    When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about it change.
    She never expects to become Po’s friend.
    She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace- or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away…

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
This was my other pick from the bookstore today. Since I’ve seen nothing but rave reviews for this one, I am going to stick it in for this week as well. ~sigh~ I need to not be disappointed with books this week!

From the back cover:
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…

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for these two books. I need good books to cheer me up. Oh and I almost forgot, I will finish up the last little bit of Pride and Prejudice I haven’t got to yet.

Contests Won
1. I won Solemate by Lauren Mackler  from J. Kaye’s Book Blog in a Quickie Twitter Giveaway. C’mon people, claim your prizes when you win! And yes, J. Kaye made me go to the dark side. I now have a Twitter account, though I’m not seeing the appeal. Maybe I just don’t know what I am doing…    Although this book isn’t what I expected now that I’ve read the summary from the author, we will see…
2. I won an eBook of my choice from Eternal Press at Bitten by Books as part of the My Bloody Valentine – 31 days of Dark Delight giveaways.  Go visit!  There is a new contest every day!!
3. I won a copy of Mr. Darcy’s Diary from Miss Remmers’ Review as part of the Everything Austen Challenge
4. I won one of the many Vampire’s Assistant Cirque du Freak contests going on out there. I won mine over at GreenBeanTeenQueen.  I will recieve the first three books all bound up together.  Pretty cool!

I guess I was pretty lucky! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a few more contests too!

No awards this week and no other news. I hope you all have a great booking week. I’m hoping to have a drastic improvement in mine!!

~Jenn

The Vampire Diaries…Or Not

So, I’m sure you are all devastated that there is no Vampire Diary Tv recap for this week.  I actually am!  I went to watch it off of my DVR just now and it is not there.  No Vampire Diaries for me.

So I decided to go to The CW website where they claim we can view full episodes.  Well, that is true.  You can watch episode 5 and episode 6.  I WANT EPISODE 7!!!  I’m hoping that they will have it up this weekend and I will be able to watch and post.

I will be getting back into the swing of things this week.  I’ve been off with reading and my schedule in general.  I’ve had a lot of family things to take care of, which always comes before blogging.

~Jenn