Under the Arch

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret....I love Vampire books, movies too, of course but if there is a vampire book out there I'm not reading, I want to know about it. (Except Anne Rice, because seriously? after living for centuries, you love way too much and feel too much. ick.) I've read all of Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books, even after she went through her nasty divorce and they became basically porn, but most of the books I read are more light-hearted. There's danger and intrigue, but at the heart of them all, they are about the search for the one person that makes you feel alive, even though you're dead. ;)

I read the Twilight books, devoured the story of Edward and Bella, and even though I wanted to smack Bella a few times, I remember what that's like, to be 17 and so certain about the world and your decisions.

If you are looking for more to read, Lynsay Sands has an interesting take on the world of vampires, think Atlantis and nano-technology.

Michelle Bardsley's vampires are descended from fairie and infect an entire town.

Mary Janice Davidson's series is laugh out loud hilarious. Betsy is the reluctant Queen of the vampires with a deep love for shoes that puts mine to shame and the uncanny ability to surround herself with the most interesting people.

And then there's the world of Sookie Stackhouse. If you've been watching True Blood, you are seeing a tiny glimpse into that world. (It's been so hard not to say anything to give away more of the story! SO HARD!) I love Sookie, and I'm still having a hard time with Anna Paquin as this roll, but I think by the end of the 3rd episode she was getting better. Bill is nice to look at, but I can't wait to see who they cast as Eric. Mmmmm, Eric. And Pam, I can't WAIT to see Pam!

I will say that I forgot about this part in the book, but when Bill asked Sookie if he could call on her, I was little more than a puddle on the floor. No one talks like that any more, but they SHOULD! (What am I saying? If a guy said that to me, accent or no, I would probably laugh nervously and wonder what the hell he's getting at. I'm a walking, talking contradiction. lol)

And the SEX! Holy crap! Erm, I forgot about HBO, I've been watching Sex and the City on TBS for way too long. ;) I lent the first book to a friend at work and we were talking about how as a romance reader you sort of stop reading the sex scenes, or least you just skim them. There's only so many times you can read the words thrusting member before it gets old...and sort of boring. So, um, I'm not sure if the sex in the book was quite so graphic, or if it was sexed up for HBO, maybe I'll reread the 2nd book and update this post later. I'm no where near a prude, but damn is every sexual encounter that Jason has really necessary, cuz, um that's gonna be a lot, and it only gets more adventurous from here, the man is a whore.

Anyway, I'm interested and I'll be watching...I'd be interested to know what you thought of Sookie and her world, or any vampire books/series I didn't mention here. ;)

Post not sponsored by HBO

I don't have HBO and they aren't interested in my thoughts (though they should be! email me, HBO!! I'll watch things and talk about them! And free stuff! I really like free stuff!) Heh. Yeah, I'm sure that will work. ;)

I was having a bad day Thursday and I went to the mall for a little pick-me-up (shaddup). I was wandering around a bookstore trying to find something, anything interesting when I remembered that some blogs that I read had mentioned this series of books that was seriously addictive. Since I am such a voracious reader, I am always looking for new authors to obsess over. Ok, problem. I could remember the general plotline of the first book. I could remember that it was known as a series and were referred to as the....something. Dammit. The author? Nope. The name of any of the books? Nope. The blogs who had mentioned reading and liking them? Not. a. clue. By today, I was seriously stressed out that I couldn't figure it out and was ready to make an ass out of myself by explaining here what I had remembered and BEGGING one of my readers to HELP ME! Thankfully, I used the truly scientific method of starting at the bottom of my reader and scanning each blog back a few weeks until I found what I was looking for.....violia!!! I found a mention of the series on OMSH's page here. And though I know at least one other blogger in the last few weeks has also mentioned it, I didn't feel like pressing my luck. I went to amazon.com armed with the title of the latest book and wrote down the entire list. And, since, the idea of making an ass out of myself doesn't faze me, I shared the whole ugly truth with the internet because I still have a question for you....what do you read? What authors make you grind your teeth and rend your clothing in agony because the waiting is just. too. hard? Help me out, people. Feed my habit.

Update: Kendra kindly pointed out in the comments that I didn't tell you the series I was talking about! Oops! It's the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

Wouldn't that be lovely? To have a bookshop devoted to travel books? Well, ok, you wouldn't make any money, look at Notting Hill, but still, it would be lovely. I would like it. Anyway. the point? right.

My mom gave me a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble for Christmas and I spent the whole thing in about 20 minutes. I just love books, the way they feel, the way they smell, the way they take you out of yourself for a while. I don't always like every book I read, of course, but I rarely can't get through the darn thing and I've come to that point in a book I bought with my gift card.

I love travel, and I have a collection of guidebooks of places I've been and places I want to go. In the travel section, I found some books written in kind of "I was here and it was like this, and some funny stuff happened" way, which I thought would be a welcome departure from the guidebooks but also give me my travel book fix. Um, sort of.

The first one, by Tony Hawks(not Tony Hawk, yeah I was a little confused too), is absolutely delightful. I've been reading it at work and a couple of times I had to stop myself from falling out of my chair laughing. It's called Round Ireland with a Fridge and, really, it's one of the funniest things I've read in a long time. It's like reading someone's blog about their travels, so fun. Tony makes a drunken bet with his friend to hitchhike the circumference of Ireland with a fridge as a companion. Tony takes the bet and starts out having no idea what his idea would get him into. He quickly becomes an Irish legend and is baffled with the attention he receives from just about everyone as he makes his way across the country. If you have a yen to meander across Ireland, sitting in warm pubs, soaking up the music and culture (like I do), give this book a try and enjoy the ride.

On the other hand, I accidentally grabbed the other book this morning on my way to work and I think it's going to be one of those that I throw across the room in frustration because I just CANNOT like it. I've tried, it's just not happening, which is a shame, really. This should be a lovely little book about travelling to small-town America, but it's not. I bought it because he made me laugh on the first page, which is usually an indicator of greatness, not so for Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent.

I don't know what happened to this man as a child, but 76 pages in, the things that have stuck with me are his disdain for fat people (and almost everyone he meets apparently is fat, or old, or both), for old people, and his completely inaccurate commentary on some things.
He goes on and on about how Carbondale, IL doesn't have a downtown, or anything to offer a traveller but fast food. Um, I didn't grow up in Carbondale, but I have spent some time there. It's a college town, a rather large college town that was famous for it's Halloween riots a few years ago. In 1989, when he travelled through there, it was a college town with an old downtown with bookstores and little cafes you could walk to. I don't know where he was, but it wasn't Carbondale. When I graduated high school, my parents refused to let me even consider attending the university there, but he couldn't find anything going on, in September? Really?

Never mind that everyone he meets is fat and/or stupid, I was ready to throw in the towel when he fondly remembered afternoons at the local downtown movie theater where he would sit on the balcony, dribbling Coke on unsuspecting patrons below him and throwing candy at the movie screen. Now, you don't want to get me started on morons who don't go to the movies to, I don't know, SEE a movie, but then he goes on to complain about movie theaters in malls with tiny auditoriums and minuscule screens. Um, where is he finding these theaters? Because the movie-plexs that I have been to have reclining seats and cup holders and stadium seating so that unless you have the misfortune to sit behind someone REALLY tall, everyone can see the screen.

Seriously, unless there's someone out there who can come up with a reason not to, I'm done with this book.
Gah! End of rant.