Saturday, February 19, 2011

Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires 1) by Rachel Caine

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine ☆☆☆☆☆

The world of the Morganville Vampires has been on my wish list/reading list for longer than I care to admit to. After finishing Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead, the final book in the Vampire Academy series, I was having vampire withdrawal from the finale of one of my favorite series' of all time (which I do intend to re-read and review appropriately in the future). Fans of the series encouraged me to bump Morganville up on my reading list. But what really finally pushed me to buy the book was finding a flyer at my local pulic library announcing the author, Rachel Caine, would be doing a book signing THAT weekend! I drove all over town for a copy to no avail and finally the night before the event an amazing B&N employee found me a copy of Volume 1 (which includes books 1 & 2), the last copy, hidden on a shelf behind the information counter.

I managed to get in one chapter that night before her signing the next day, needless to say I was blown away and told her as much. I found out that day that she was from my hometown, making her a true inspiration as someone working in my genre from my hometown that became a New York Times best-seller! Is it possible? Can I be that author someday? "To Elizabeth, With all my best! Rachel Caine" Those words will highlight my shelves for years to come. And the plot bunnies from her mini-lecture on the history of vampires will hopefully find homes on paper soon.

And so in one of the best weekends of my life I discovered the life of Clare Danvers, a 16-year-old freshman in college, and the secrets behind the people of Morganville, Texas. And also my latest and greatest addiction.

This book proved to be a shocking look at the darkest side of humanity. In the opening of the book Clare is nearly killed...and not by vampires. When you think that these attacks on her by humans can't get any worse, they do. And this is all well before the vamps themselves are even introduced. The vamps fit the typical classifications: avoids sunlight, retractable fangs, can't enter without invitations. Their difference is that they function like a mob and that's where it gets interesting.

As Clare is learning that Morganville is more than just a small college town in Texas, the vampire world begins to unfold before her as she fights to save herself from the college mean girls, make new friends, and protect those that she grows to love. And just to add to the drama, it ends with a cliffhanger that leaves you drooling for more.

This book had me not wanting to put it down even once, but I had to get schoolwork done, which was really sad. I ached for these characters, I loved for them, and wished I could be there backing them up. And I have to say, as for me, my favorite scene was midway through the book, and anyone that has read it or is about to, you'll know exactly which scene when you heart stops and beats rapidly all at the same time. Bravo, Rachel Caine! You have won me over.

Monday, February 14, 2011

It's that over-commercialized time of year again ;)


Happy Valentine's Day!

I've got a date with a fictional heartthrob;
chivalrous, romantic, with a tortured soul,
you know the type. ;)


Tell me, who's your hero this year?

Saturday, February 12, 2011

2011 Reads

1. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

2. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

3. Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

4. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (re-read)

5. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

6. Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary

7. Matched by Ally Condie

8. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

9. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

10. The Watsons Go To Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

11. The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales

12. Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

13. The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

14. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

15. Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

16. Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

17. Monster High by Lisi Harrison

18. Gemini Bites by Patrick Ryan

19. Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

20. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

21. The Ghoul Next Door by Lisi Harrison

22. Divergent by Veronica Roth ***Favorite Book of the Year***

23. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

24. Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

25. Bumped by Megan McCafferty

26. Night Star by Alyson Noel

27. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

28. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

29. Everlasting by Alyson Noel

30. Enclave by Ann Aguirre

31. Hula by Lisa Shea

32. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

In the beginning there were stories and one day they became books...

Every story has to start somewhere. I happen to like stories that start in medias res, so of course that's I'm choosing to start, in the middle. I've been reading more and more and more to generally escape from reality, and as an author to mimic styles of other authors I come to like and even pick up some plot bunnies of my own along the way. But by the beginning of 2011, I realized that I no longer had reading buddies to squee with over everything I was reading. It's like going to the movies by yourself and not having that person to turn to and mouth "OMG did you see that?!" and do a play by play with after the movie is over. In a college Creative Writing program I have realized that the people that I write with are fans of Cormac MacCarthy and Kurt Vonnegut, and here I am a fan of the weird, supernatual, vampiric, and geeky teen romance found in J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, and Richelle Mead to name a few. So yeah I'm missing that connection to someone who is as excited about the teenage first kiss as I am. I realized the best way to talk to someone about the books I'm reading is to just review them for myself, to make a mental note of the things I loved or hated about a book. But still, where is the fun in that? So here I am, putting myself out there as a reviewer of young adult fiction, coaxing others to read my library (or avoid titles that sold themselves short), and open up a book-club-like space to enjoy together. I'm here to review YA novels one book at a time as I stroll through the land of writer's block surrounded by a library of tattered spines...