Book Review; A Collection Of Books For Halloween, Autumn and Winter

Hi readers, 

It feels like I'm writing this post a little late - should have been closer to the start of October then the end! As most of you know though, I've not been well and so I've not been writing a lot, not that I've been keeping on top of this blog anyway! Now, I'm trying to get back to doing things I enjoy and helps to keep me busy.

So, I wanted to write about some books that have the same theme and fit in with Halloween which is next week. I'm not sure if I'll get around to writing about them all individually which is why I thought it would be good to do a collective post. However, I've not read some of these books yet, so I can't give a full view so this is just going to be a quick look and first thoughts.

I'm going to be looking at 6 anthologies, 4 novels, 8 non-fiction books and a coloring book. I really enjoy reading short stories at this time of year because things are often so busy it's nice to dip in and out of stories and not have to fully commit to a single novel.   

My hope is that this post might be useful to other people and introduce them to some new books. Let's make a start with the books in the above photo and what better way to be began with the master of darkness and horror himself, Dracula.   

The Rivals Of Dracula, Stories from The Golden Age of Gothic Horror edited by Nick Rennison.

I saw this book in Waterstones a month or so back and decided I had to have it for my vampire book collection. The anthology contains 15 short vampire stories which were written in the late Victorian and Edwardian times. The blurb describes the stories as being 'classic tales to chill the blood' by well known and less known supernatural writers including, M R James and EF Benson. 

I'm looking forward to reading this because I like Victorian literature and reading about 'early' vampires. 

Haunted Nights, A Horror Writers Association Anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton.

Someone brought me this book as a Christmas present last year and I decided to save it to read around now. This anthology has 16 short stories that are themed around Halloween. I don't recognize any of the writers which can be a good thing as it's an introduction to new authors and the chances of re-reading a short story are low. 

The stories are described as being 'sly modern narratives to haunting traditional stories' and 'explore the many facets, cultures and traditions' of Halloween. I'm really interested in reading some of this stories as the titles sound so good and with them all being based around my favorite holiday just makes me want to read it more.  

Eight Ghosts, The English Heritage Book Of New Ghost Stories edited by Rowan Routh.

I saw this book whilst on holiday in Cornwall in the Tintagel Castle shop. I pre-ordered it in paperback when I got home. English Heritage, for those that don't know, is a charity that looks after over 400 historic sites in England, including Tintagel, many other famous castles and Stonehenge. 

This book contains 8 ghost stories described as 'a rich collection of unnerving ghosts and sinister histories,' set at different EH sites, some of which I have been too. I don't know any of the writers once again. I do like that there is no introduction to this anthology and it goes straight to the stories. The afterwards includes a list of EH sites that are known for being haunted which I really like and gives a nice finish to the collection.  

   

Complete Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens.

I found this book in a discount book shop along with 2 others. I'm a fan of Dickens, though often find his novels difficult and lengthy to read, so this collection of 20 ghost stories, including the super famous A Christmas Carol, is perfect for me. Dickens was interested in supernatural and liked telling ghost stories. In this anthology, his 'Gothic talents can be seen' and the stories cover, 'grotesque comedy...revenge, insanity, pre-cognition and dream visions.' 

I love the characters and plots Dickens has created in his other writings, so I'm sure I'll love reading these ghost stories too.   

Ghosts Of Christmas Past edited by Tim Martin. 

The last book in the photo, I brought with the Dickens one and they do go together. This anthology has 13 modern and classic short stories and some of the writers I know including; M R James, Jenn Ashworth, E. Nesbit and Neil Gaiman. The stories are Christmas themed and described as 'seasonal chillers,' 'a world of ghosts and horrors,' and 'real spirits of Christmas.' 

I'm looking forward to reading some of these stories at Christmas time. For me, winter evenings, especially when its rainy and windy, create the perfect back drop for curling up and reading horror stories.

The Mammoth Book Of Halloween Stories edited by Stephen Jones. 

This is the last of the anthologies and it's in the photo below. I love Mammoth Books, they cover so many different genres both fiction and fact and I've not found one I didn't like yet. This collection of 26 horror stories set around Halloween was published this year and is a new format from the other books; bigger, larger text and it's also the first to use Halloween in it's title.

The anthology is described as being, 'a dark feast of frightening fiction by some of the most successful and respected horror writers working today,' and is a 'spooky selection of stories set on the night when evil walks the earth.' Once again the writers are a mix and I known some of them including; Neil Gaiman, Nancy Kilpatrick and Ramsey Campbell.

I've started reading this and am enjoying it.   

    

                                                                                                                                                                   

Blood Communion, A Tale Of Prince Lestat by Anne Rice.

This is the first of the novels and I've all ready finished reading it! So I'll be writing a review soon. Briefly though, one of the most famous vampires in the world, Lestat returns in a new novel about the coming together of all the vampires in the world and how he became Prince of them all. This horror story is so fitting to this time of year and I love to get swept away by Anne Rice's passionate and deeply descriptive writing. 

Colouring Heaven, Halloween Special edited by Sally Fitzgerald, Anthem Publishing.

Different from the other books in this post, but I still wanted to include it, is this coloring magazine. I've a subscription to Colouring Heaven now as I found myself buying this magazine each month and loving the art work inside. This edition is the Halloween one and there are '40 unearthly designs with spooky-cuteness.' I love all the drawings and each captures a different spirit of Halloween in a funny or horror way.   

Adult coloring has become really big now and I'm on that train. It's so calming and a different escape from everything else, plus I like bring the pictures to life and making them my own. Plus, I have found myself creating stories about the people etc in the imagines and I'm hoping this will inspire me to write some more stories.        

    

World War Z by Max Brooks

People in the past have recommended I read this novel written as accounts after a zombie plague has taken over the world. I've not had the chance to yet but my boyfriend has lent this book and the follow up one to add to my reading pile. I've never been a fan of zombies, maybe it's because of all the supernatural they don't interested me and when a biologist friend told me that there was actual likely-hood of there one day being a zombie, it put me further off! 

However, I'm willing to read this novel because it's different style, 'based on extensive interviews' in the 'finest traditions of American journalism' interests me and lots of people say it's good. I just hope it's not too scary!  

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

This book is the companion to the one above and is about surviving zombies, 'don't be reckless with your most precious asset- life.' So, I guess if the threat of real zombies ever happened this self-help book would contain useful information in dealing with a whole range of situations. The chapters look at zombie myths and realities, weapons and combat techniques, on the defense etc. It has a very fact feel to it and isn't something I'll be reading at bedtime! 

A Secret History Of Witches by Louisa Morgan

This book was the first I picked up for the discount book shop and I thought it was like a non-fiction book about witches, then I read the back and saw it was a novel. It kinda of sits on the edge of my normal supernatural reading but it interested me enough to buy it. It's about a family of witches who have lost their magic and need to rediscover it as the Second World War arrives in order to change history, 'a tale of family, sacrifice, love and magic.' 

Without reading it I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about.    

Wicca For Beginners by Lisa Chamberlain

Keeping with the witch theme here's the first of the non-fiction books. I have had an interest in magic for awhile now and I've been meaning to get around to learning more about how I can use it. This little book gives a brief guide to 'Wiccan beliefs, rituals, magic and witchcraft.' It's laid out nicely and simply, not going into too much detail and covering lots to get you more interested. 

I've had a flip through and found I can connect with some of the ideas about the religion of Wicca. I'm looking further to reading more.  

Wicca Book Of Spells by Lisa Chamberlain

I got this book to go with the one above as I wasn't sure how many spells there'd be in the beginners book. Each page has a different spell on it, a list of things need to cast the spell and instructions on how to do it. There are spells on how to make friends, find love, succeeded at job interviews, get more money and protecting the home, 'for success in magic, your state of mind is the most important factor.' 

I've not tried any out yet but I'm hoping too. I thought that this, in a different way, might help me to deal with some of the stress and anxiety issues I've been having, of which there are actually spells for! I'll have to give it ago and write about what happens.   

This next group of books don't really link in with the Halloween, horror theme but they do link in with autumn and winter times and how that change of seasons can effect your mental health. Most people at this time of year get depressed and it's something to do with the lower sunlight, the darker nights and the coldness too. I've had different battles with depression over the years and this time it's been mixed in with anxiety and stress, so I wanted to get some different books to help deal with some of my issues. 

The two animal spirit guide books, I brought because I've been turning more and more to my animal spirits and asking them for help. I wanted to find some information out about the different animals I had been seeing and how best to communicate with them. I have found both these books helpful. 

Animal Spirit Guides is a reference book of each different animal and though it's been fun looking them up, I've found that some websites have had more detailed information on them. Animal Magic is more of a guide book to understanding animal spirits and how to interact with them. 

The other four books are about learning to overcome different problems; I got The Happiness Trap because I was looking for a self- help book about dealing with stress at work, anxiety and depression which this book covers. It comes across different from other books that deal with these problems as it sets out to explain that having strong emotions and feelings is normal and that humans aren't always meant to be happy. I've read the first chapter of this now and I'm starting to understand how this book is going to teach me how to deal with my mental health problems better. 

The This Book Will Make You... series has lots of different titles, I picked 3 that I felt would be most useful to me. they are cute little books, packed with simple information to help bring around changes to help you achieve the title. I've had a quick scan through all of them and they look easy to read and have practical information in them. I'm hoping that they will help me progress into a new job and improve my motivation and passion for things. 

That brings me to the end of the post and shockingly it's taken much of the day to write this. But it has made me happy and kept me busy. Let me know if you decided to get any of these books now or your thoughts if you've all ready read any of them. I'm looking forward to dipping into each of them during the coming long, cold winter nights. 

Book Review: Rosario + Vampire Season 1

Hi readers, 

Today I wanted to share with you this manga series that I've been reading. It was written a few years back and its still popular enough. It's a short series with only 10 books in the first season and like 14 in the second. 

The plot is that a high school boy finds himself at a high school for monsters! They are all pretending to be humans as they are practising to fight into the human world. He doesn't have any easy time fitting in though and in fact a group of girls ends up forming around him because they are all in love with him! 

He has a crush on the vampire in the title and she likes him too, however due to her giving him some blood to aid them in the battles with other monsters, he gains vampire powers. 

The plot feels very simple and it's not until a good few books in, once all the main characters have been introduced, that things get interesting. There is a lot of fights and action scene which help speed things along and creates good conflict. There is also conflicted between the girls but this made to come across as being cute. 

The art style is pretty good to, but there are lot of - what I call 'fanboy shots of the girls - lots of down the tops and up the skirts. Which if you don't mind is fine, but there's just too many placed in for my liking. I guess that it helps make this manga more appealing to the young male audience it's aimed at. 

The characters come across well, with each their own wants and problems. I'm hoping that that the second season of manga sees them all further develop. Of course, the vampire is my favourite! There's also the typical manga characters too but they did get little lost in the background, which I don't really mind. 

I really enjoyed reading this series because it's fun and simple. There's enough to keep you entertained too and it's really short which also helps! 

I can't wait to read the second season now and find out what happens. 

Book Review: Cemetery Candles

Hi readers, 

Today, I'm reviewing a book I read in early January. I can't remember how I heard about this book, maybe it was on a list of good vampire novels or I just stumbled across it whilst looking for something else. Anyway, the price tag of this book was high and I don't know why really, maybe it's self-published? but I had to wait till it was reduced to get it anyway and I'm glad I did. 

Candles is far from a typical vampire romance novel. Actually it's a little confusing because it starts with a vampire, Victor, - though he does a god job of hiding it - hiring a tutor for his young nephew and we get introduced to Victor, his nephew, Teo and their world through the eyes of the tutor, Valentina. It becomes clear that Victor and Valentina are falling in love but then Valentina sees Victor with another woman, Suzette, and they appear to be very close. 

Then there's a total switch in the story and we leave the 'present' with Valentina and Victor to go back into the past - 1700's-where we get most of Suzette's story. This is a really nicely told historic tale and it also has typical tragic events. Suzette meets and falls in love with Ivan who is a vampire. Ivan turns Suzette, who has a good job working as a doctor, into a vampire. Years later, Suzette and Victor met and fall in love. Sadly, the novel ends before we get to see Suzette make Victor into a vampire though we are aware it will happen. 

Whilst reading this book I wasn't sure what to make of it. The style of writing is a bit odd because its' third person present tense which isn't often written in. The flow though is fine and it doesn't jump around the years too badly. I don't think that being divided into two different time settings works though and I think it would have been better to take out the first part with Valentina and just expand the second part with the vampires. Clearly, it's been written like this to draw more people in and to set things up for later books. Yep, this is the first in a series. 

The one thing that really made me like this book was the different portraying of vampires. There is hardly any violence and fighting and love making that is very often attached to serial vampire books. I do enjoy all of that but its nice to read something different and see vampires in a different light. The real conflict in this novel comes from a strange problem to do with true love. A vampire can fall in love and be with a mortal, but when the vampire turns that lover into a vampire, the lover no longer feels true love for the vampire. 

So, there's a load of heartbroken vampires trying to be with other vampires who can't love them back. A good example of this goes; Ivan and Suzette fall in love but then when he makes her into a vampire, Suzette finds she can no longer love him so deeply back. Then she falls in love with Victor. She actually puts off making Victor into a vampire because she knows that will change the love between them. 

I do understand the workings of this, but for me and especially as this is supernatural romance, it doesn't sit that well with me. However, I do like the originality of this but I feel that being a vampire is cursed enough and not being able to be with your true love is just frustrating!    

The characters are very interesting and you do get a lot of development. I wish more time could have been spent with Valentina though, I feel she got pushed to the side by Suzette's story. I do feel like more work was needed on these characters and maybe because it's the first book the characters will grew further. 

Overall, this is a nice different vampire novel and once you get into it and over the style of writing, it does draw you in. It's a quick read too and interesting enough to keep you turning the pages. Am I going to buy the second book though? It's on my list, but until next year and when the price has really come down! I won't be getting it. I've far too many books and manga on my list right now that unless - like with with Miss Peregrine - I find another book I'm seriously addicted too! 

Thanks for reading and see you all next week. 

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25798192-montenegro-book-one)

Book Review; Prince Lestat and The Realms Of Atlantis by Anne Rice

Hi readers, 

As promised here's my review of Anne Rice's latest book! Though I do have to confess that I've not finished it. It's a long, hefty book and since I so wanted to read it and not wait for it to come out in paperback, I've not been able to take it places with me as I'd normally do if I wanted to read a book quickly. 

So, this post is going to be a lot short then it should be! But I wasn't going to write too much about the plot anyway, as I don't want to spoil it for people. As normal I'll say to go and read my last two posts about Interview With The Vampire and The Vampire Lestat, but also the post I wrote about Prince Lestat, which is here; 

http://hailscrazyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/book-review-prince-lestat-by-anne-rice.html  

I also just noticed that this post was my first book review of this year and now Lestat and Atlantis, as I like to shorten it too, is going to be my last! How weird is that? (This is because I've decided to do two life update posts on either side of Christmas). 

The first thing I noticed about this novel is that Rice has given us a very brief summary of the other Vampire Chronicle books and four pages of terminology at the front of the book. At the end of the novel are two appendixes; a list of vampires and places followed by all the Vampire Chronicle books and a blur about them. These are useful, but to me pointless for her long time readers and fans of Lestat. It's nice to be reminded of these things, but I felt it wasn't needed.

On a side note, I'd so not recommended reading this book if you've not read Prince Lestat. The characters are all mostly the same and there's a lot of them again! I'm not sure if you could get away with reading just this two books out of the whole of the Chronicles either. Rice has written a rich history of vampires over the years and all her past novels really have made it easier for her to write these new ones. The background of each vampire is also important to understand them better and their place within the plot of the novel. 

Sticking with characters; Lestat did not come across as his normal daring, bratty self. I think that having the core - the true source of vampire creation- who is called Amel, within him has altered his attitude. If anything happens to him a lot of vampires would die. I did feel caught up in his view of the story though, even after all these Rice is still able to give him a good voice. 

The other main vampires felt a little too in the background for me, beside from Louis. He comes back to help Lestat and even after everything they have been through together, the love is still there between them, which was nice to see. Claudia's name gets brought up and there's references to Interview and Lestat, which I thought was a nice tie in and good to remind reader's who've not read the books in awhile. I do like all the vampires coming together and it's nice to see them like that, but it just means there are too many characters to try to keep tabs on. 

There are some other background vampires, some of which have appeared in other books. My mind really struggled to remember though, but I'm sure die hard fans with great memories won't have a problem. 

The new characters which are the four immortals from Atlantis are interesting and I enjoyed hearing their stories. It was nice to have the history of something else for a change, because really there's not much left Rice can write about the history of vampires! I like also how the legend of Atlantis was weaved into the history of the vampires. These characters come across well and keep a good air of mystery. 

The narrative of this novel took me awhile to get into. It's written in both first person and third person, with different characters telling different points of view. Lestat is the main voice that comes, through there is a also the vampire scientist, Fareed and the vampire Roshamandes who is the antagonist. The Atlanteans; Garekyn and Derek also have chapters. This switching around narrative does work, but I think it effects the overall flow of the novel. Rice has been clever with it and I don't think many other writers would be able to pull it off as she has. I remember Prince Lestat being written in this way too. 

Actually speaking of chapters - these are too long for me. It seems to be a thing that Rice really likes to do in the style of her novels. I guess most people wouldn't find anything wrong with this and I don't mind it as I'm use to her books being like this, but I've found shorter chapters help me to read a faster and it means my brain can have more breaks. 

As I wrote in my review of Prince Lestat, Rice's writing has changed over the years. In compared to Interview and Lestat, the descriptions of people, clothes, places, rooms and objects has lost some richness. Yes, we still get lengthy descriptions of all these things, but they don't feel as deep as they did before to me. I guess a part of this is because Lestat and Atlantis is set in 2016 and as we are currently living it there's less of a need for Rice to describe things for us whilst with the first Chronicle novels there was a need because they were set in the 1800's and 1900's.  

I do like the plot of the story though and it's nice to bring something new and mysterious into the vampire world, which no vampire actually understands. It works well and I'm super interested to find out what's going to happen. So far, some of the vampires have seen images of a city, often described with glass towers being on fire and falling into the sea. This city seems to be the long lost Atlantis which even the vampires believe is a legend. However, Amel is somehow connected to all of this and four immortals are trying to find him. 

The immortals have been split up for years though, each not sure if the others are alive. The first of these, Derek is being held prisoner by Roshamandes, who is still mad at Lestat for things that happened in the last book. Roshamandes wants Derek to explain what he is to help Rosh decided what to do with him. Meanwhile, Garekyn, is on the run after tracking down the vampires at Trinity Gate and killing a vampire close to there. The vampires are hunting him down. The last two immortals are actually together; Kapetria and Welf, they have heard the news of Garekyn and are looking for him. 

My thoughts are that all the immortals and vampires will get together and everything will be cleared up. The story of Atlantis and what happened there will come through and things will be decided upon. 

Overall so far, I am enjoying reading this novel. I still think it has the problems that Prince Lestat had though, but it's great to see Anne Rice bring Lestat back to us. I can't help but wonder when she will decided to stop writing the Vampire Chronicles though, how much more can be said about these vampires? I'll be sad to see her stop, but everything must. I'd say if you were an Anne Rice fan and like the Vampire Chronicles then this is worth reading because it carries on the story in a different way and brings us new mysterious to solve.      

Thanks for reading and if you want to share your thoughts then please do. See you all next week! 

Book Review; Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

Hi readers, 

So I know this post was meant to be up early last month, but I've not been very well and sadly, I'm still ill. For ages I've been thinking of writing a post about my long term health problem, but I've not got up the courage to write it. That's the problem with personal issues, sometimes you don't need the whole world to know what you're going though. Perhaps, one day I will get around to it. Though if you read last Monday's post things might be a better clearer now. 

What I had planned to do was write about the first three vampire chronicle books for October then review some writing handbooks/help books ect for November and National Novel Writing Month. But I decided not to take part this year due to illness, my new job and the overall lack of time. Plus, I just couldn't come up with an idea. So, now things have fallen as they have. Also, I've decided not to read Queen Of the Damned. I did state last time about this, so I won't repeat myself now I've just remembered that.    

Anyway, today I'm looking at one of my favorite novels. I'm totally surprised that I've not reviewed IWTV before, but I know I've brought it up and compared it to other vampire stories. I did review Prince Lestat like last year. I thought with it being autumn and the normal time to be reading creepy stories that I would re-read IWTV for like the fourth time, plus in my review of Glass Houses I stated that I really wanted to read IWTV. I thought it would be perfect to review this, Also the new Lestat novel, Prince Lestat And the Realms Of Atlantis, is out soon. So, that will also be a nice tie in. 

One of the main problems is the physical reading of these novels. I forgot how hard my dyslexic brain finds reading them and though it's not taking me long to get into them and enjoy them, it's very hard going for me, which means I'm reading slowly in small sections. Anne Rice is also a master of the English language. She has this way of writing which draws and holds you in, it's old fashioned romantic poetry. And that's something I really love. She goes into great detail about the scenes and characters too, which for some people doesn't give them a change to imagine things, but I really like the depths she goes to when she describes things. It feels like I'm there and I don't have to try hard to picture it. 

I could write a lot about Rice's writing style etc, but I won't because we'd be here awhile. Let's move on to the characters. I often think that Lestat must be like the second greatest vampire. Dracula comes first! But then in terms of famous vampires, Lestat must be second because he's just so well known and Rice has written so many books about him now. Yes, he has only two movies - one which wasn't so great, but there's a third coming out soon. I don't think the Vampire Chronicles would work as a TV series. Perhaps, though all the most recent vampire books and TV shows have slightly over shadowed him? I guess if you asked a mixed group of people to name a vampire, Edward from Twilight would be the highest outcome. And we all know how I feel about those books.....

(Lestat and Louis from the IWTV movie)

Lestat as a character is very interesting. He is unpredictable and what he wants he gets. He is a total rebel, going against the world. In IWTV he's mysterious and keeps his secrets to himself. This just makes him even more interesting, but when you read his book, it all becomes very clear. 

IWTV is Louis' story, so for now I'm going to leave Lestat till next week. I do have a soft spot of Louis, I guess because he has that human nature to him and he is a very likable character - more so then Lestat in this book, but you can understand why Rice might have done that. Louis has an interesting background and if you've only seen the movie then it hardly touches his history before he become a vampire. Louis has a whole family, which tragic things happen to leading to Louis entering a downward spiral. 

Then he meets Lestat and becomes a vampire, which causes him more problems because he can't carry on living a human life now. He has to give up everything that he's known and try to move on. But the answers he wants from Lestat he just doesn't get. He decides to leave, but Lestat decides this can't happen and so makes another vampire to bind them together. However, Claudia is a child, not yet 6 years old and being made into a vampire gives her the mind of a fully grown woman. 

I read that Claudia was inspired by the Anne Rice's daughter who died young. I find Claudia really interesting, she is the opposite of Louis and totally a vampire because she had very little time as a human. She does have a likeness to Lestat because she is a rebel, but she is manipulative. This really comes across when she is hunting and Louis descriptions her as playing with her victims and using them to get what she wants. Claudia also has a thirst for knowledge and it's actually her that ends up destroying everything.

Unable to get answers from Lestat about where vampires came from and where they can find others, Claudia plots to kill Lestat with Louis help. She does achieve this and they escape. However, Lestat's death haunts Louis and he often falls into wondering if they are the only vampires in the world. They travel around the world seeking others and finding only stories and creatures that are like the old Nosferatu vampires. 

Finally in Paris, they meet other vampires, but don't get much further in answering their questions. It also turns out that these coven vampires have strict rules, two of which Louis and Claudia have broken; killing Lestat and the turning of Claudia into a vampire so young. Armand, who is kinda leader of the group does warn Louis about this, but as they are sort of falling in love, Louis doesn't leave Paris. This only leads to total tragedy as Lestat, who survived Claudia's attack, joins in a trial to declare what happen. The vampires decided Claudia has to die. She is burnt by the sun before Louis can save her and he turn is only saved by Armand. Louis then seeks his revenge and destroys the coven.

Then Louis is officially alone for the first time in his life. For awhile he wonders the world for Lestat until they meet again. Lestat is still recovering from Claudia's attack and Louis decides not to go back to him, but to carry on alone.                 

                                                  (Claudia from the IWTV movie)

The narrative is actually as the title states, because Louis is telling his story to a young journalist. The whole interview takes place across one night and the structure of the book reflects this. The journalist does sometimes ask questions and there is a bit of a conversation between them which helps to break up Louis story. The novel has long chapters with line breaks and it feels like a continuous flow of speech. You do get a good sense that you are in the room hearing this too! 

The dialogue is fantastic and Rice has got the feel of eighteenth century/ nineteenth century speech down well. Like I said at the start, Rice has a way with this flowery romantic old fashioned language that fits in well with the timeline and characters. Even though my brain sometimes does struggle to understand some words, the more time I read it the more I understand it. To be honest I read Rice more for the images she creates and the characters then her style of writing. 

Of course, I would recommend this book to everyone. It really is a turning point in fictional vampires and gives you a new look at how and why vampires draw writers and readers in. Rice has created this whole history and world which feels very real and comes across well. At some points, I did have to wonder if this actually happened and if these vampires are out their somewhere and they just used Rice to tell and publish their stories. Though of course, it does feel weird why they wouldn't have just come forward themselves, but that's getting into the world of True Blood. I do have that series on my bookcase and maybe next year I might read them. I've seen all the seasons of it though, wasn't the last one so bad? I can't believe the books would end like that! 

Anyway, I so have to stop there because if I don't I'll just carry on writing and I want to move on and review The Vampire Lestat now. Going to get them both out of the way whilst they are fresh in my head. Then I can fully move on to something else.....Another vampire novel actually! But one that's in a totally different class. I wonder actually if someone has written some fanfic cross over of Lestat meeting the Black Dagger Brotherhood? That's be interesting to read, might look for some later..... if you know any please comment, also I'd love to hear you thoughts about Interview With The Vampire and vampire fiction in general. 

Thanks for reading and see you next week!       

October Life Update: A Lot Of Ramblings

Hi readers,

So last week I was ill and couldn't write. I had also spent the whole day in Leeds and arrived back late, so I was super tried too. I've been at work today and I'm not much in the mood to write now, but I wanted to post a little about a mix of things instead of missing another week. So here's a very rambling life update.

First off the Steampunk fair was really good. It was the biggest I'd ever gone to and I brought a lot of things, including Christmas presents for my mum. There was a lot of things to see and do even though I was actually ill on the day, but I still had a good time. I was not able to take as many photos as I wanted, so I've only got a few and no good ones of me wearing my costume! This photo above is the view from the top floor of the hotel we were in. I loved seeing all the city lights.

I totally needed a new camera! Also a new computer screen or two as my second screen is just dying. I'm still in debate about getting a laptop too. It would be nice to curl on the sofa or in bed and write. Especially as the nights are getting colder.

Anyway, here are some of things I brought and some business cards I collected;

I really like this candle jar. It's so petty and also looks easy to make, but you can't put a real candle in it because there's paper inside. I might have a go at making one myself. 

I brought the wolf and Toronto key chains together because they were so cute and cheap! The tree of of life my date - soon to be boyfriend!- brought me and I'm so thinking of turning it into a necklace as it would look way better and also I'd love to wear it instead of just carrying it around with me. The actual necklace, which didn't come up that well is a Steampunk style heart with keys and gears, it looks really nice, but not overly Steampunk, so I can wear it often.  

This gnomes were too cute to leave behind! I got the red one of my mum and the brown one of me. I love how they seem to be steampunked with those large goggles. Mine is currently sat on my desk with the clay dragons I got last time.

Also, I couldn't leave this guy behind! He's a battle toad drawn by this very out of the box artist. He also told me he was working on battle snail and I'd have loved to have brought that too. Have to watch out for it next time. 

My collection of business cards and flyers. Some of them might come in handy for connected people. 

With it being October now I've started Halloween! I've already got a few decorations and yesterday I had my first practice at making gingerbread. I need to improve on my icing skills though, but they did turn out okay and they are very tasty. I also made flapjack and I swear taking good photos of food is hard! I've got a few plans building for Halloween too, so hopefully I'll write about them soon.

To tie into this tomorrow, I'm going to be making soap with the young people at the youth center. I say make but really I mean melt and pour stuff, which makes life so much easier. The kids are going to love it and I got ghosts and bat shapes for them to make. Also, taking photos of clear soap is hard. I so need a good camera! Maybe an idea for Christmas.

Speaking of I've already started shopping! Mum and I are doing the advent calendar bags again and we are also doing the Christmas Eve luckily dip. I've had a great idea to make lip scrub and festive shaped soap. Can't wait to start that! I think I'm more excited about Christmas then Halloween this year because of all the things I want to make.

I'm also applying for a new job. Actually it's at the place I work and part-time, so it's going to be real suitable for me. It's receptionist, front of house and a bit of admin, basically it's what I've been volunteering as for the last few months. I need to finish off my application tomorrow now and get it sent in. I'm going to get an interview anyway, but I need to try and my best. It'll be useful to have another job anyway and lucky for me if it's in the place I'm at now.

Recently, I've been enjoying watching autumn settle in, especially in my garden. We put out food for the birds and I love watching them coming and eating. We mainly have blue tits, coal tits, greater tits and black birds. I've yet to see the robin though.

We also have a squirrel or a few! Most people see them as vermin and invading the homes red squirrels which are native to England. But I still like them and find them interesting creatures.

I think they delight in teasing my dog though! She is forever wanting to go out and chase them. She is a terrier too and so has that urge more stronger then other dogs. I think this squirrel was a young one and s/he was burying their nuts under the rocks. I just find them so cute!

Lastly, I'm having a hard time reading The Vampire Lestat. I forgot how long and going on with itself it can be! I still love it and due to the chapters find it an easier layout then Interview With A Vampire, but my deadline of finishing was actually to day and I'm only about a quarter through! I don't know if I'll finish it in two weeks time when I'm now meant to be reviewing it. Then it's Halloween and the review of Queen of the Damned, which I don't think I'm going to get read in two-ish weeks either. So I'm not sure what to do.... I guess find other posts to fill the gaps or not write on those days. Have to figure it out.

I think that's it! Thanks for reading.

Book Review: Blood Kiss by J .R. Ward

Hi readers, 

So, I'm finally reviewing this! I read it like in July but it's only now I've got around to writing about due to everything else that I've been writing about. I double checked the publishing date and this came out last year, but as normal I had to wait for it to become paperback and then to get around to reading it. I remember being super excited to hear that Ward, who is my second favorite author, was bringing out a new series that connected to the Brotherhood and that she'd gone back to how she had originally written those first few books, which I fell in love with.

I didn't feel disappointment, nothing has changed in her writing style or characters, but I was hoping that the story would focus more on the new characters and what seems to be the next generation of the Brotherhood. Instead though, the plot is divided into two; Paradise and Craeg's love story and Butch and Marissa murder mystery story. Both do work well together and it's typical of Ward's Brotherhood novels to be divided into two or three story plots that feel equal balanced. 

However, this means that if you've not read any of the Brotherhood books it's harder to understand. All, the characters have already been set up and everything. Though, the history between Butch and Marissa is gone over so readers can remember and understand it, I think if you haven't read their story it can be difficult to get into their relationship. I would have much preferred the Butch and Marissa story to have been in an actual Brotherhood book, but Ward has tied in the plot nicely, so it doesn't feel as jarring. 

The plot is that Paradise gets recruited into the Brotherhood's training program. Finally, she has a chance to prove she's more then just a pretty face! Of course, falling in love was never a part of the plan, but we know from one of the previous Brotherhood book when Paradise and Craeg meet that something is going to happen between them. Paradise and the other recruits have a trail to get through and of course she and Craeg pass and then like so do three other guys. Then they begin their training. Alongside this is Butch's story and he's having problems in his marriage - basically it's a communication break down brought on by a problem in the past. 

The characters are really good and do feel realistic with their true to life problems. There is a good develop for all of them too, with Butch and Marissa overcoming their problems to save their marriage and Paradise and Craeg overcome their barriers and let the love between them grow. Time is spend with some of the other characters, but not much becomes of them due to the fact there's so many and they each have their own novels. 

Overall, this novel is good and fits well into the Brotherhood series and its nice to see different and new characters. I still would have liked it if this novel had just been about them though as then it would be easier for new readers to pick up and there'd also be less focus on the Brotherhood. Hopefully, this might come through more in other books in the series. I'm looking forward to reading to reading the second one now and also the next Brotherhood book, I think it might have all ready come out but I'm still awaiting it. 

Thanks for reading.           

Book Review; Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Hi readers, 

Today, I'm continuing with clearing off 'easy' books on my to read shelf and this was next on the list. I know this book came from my one of my favorite shops - The Works- cause it still had the price sticker on it, but the date I got this I don't know and it's more then possible my mum could easily have brought it for me as it's been on the bottom of my bookcase with other vampire novels for a good few years now.

I was a little bit worried that this story would be another 'Twilight'. I feel bad that I'm now judging teenage vampire fiction and sometimes other teenage supernatural novels by that marker. I think the Twilight books just annoyed me a lot, like Fifty Shades Of Grey did and now I'm too quick to say, 'oh, it's just another Twilight!' Every time I start reading that kind of novel. Also, when I took Glass Houses off my shelf I saw it had been sitting behind Interview With The Vampire and I so wanted to read that instead. It's my all time favorite book and favorite vampire novel. I resisted temptation, but my reading of Glass Houses was over shadowed by that urge, which so didn't help.

I'm please to report though that Glass Houses, isn't anything like Twilight, which makes me feel totally better about writing this review. However though, the story and the characters didn't really grab me enough to make me want to buy the next book. When I looked into it I found there was 15 books in The Morganville Vampires series and there hasn't been anymore since the last came out in 2013. Glass Houses is the first and was published in 2006. Which makes me safer to talking about some aspects of the story and characters, that people might see as spoilers. And I do try hard in all my reviews not to do that to people because I so hate it when it happens with me and then it makes me not to carry on or actually start reading a novel. So, you've been warned now.

There's so much I actually want to write about this novel, which isn't a change for me because I normally want to go into a whole essay and pick everything apart, just like every English Lit class has taught me. But I know people don't like reading long in-detailed reviews, more often then not they just want to hear if it was good or bad and worth their time reading. But I feel it can't be helped, I love vampires so much and tonight I'm in the mood for an in depth reviewing - which is shocking cause I've been struggling to write for the last month or so on all my blogs and personal projects! I guess sometimes it can take just one thing to get you back on the writing track.

So anyway, the plot of Glass Houses is that a 16 year old girl called Claire moves into a town called Morganville in Texas, USA where she attends college due to being super intelligent and her parents wanting the best for but not wanting her to grow up too fast and let her go, basically. American readers will get that more then UK readers as here 16 is like the starting age for going to college and we don't really have the very intelligent people fast tracking through the education system either. I think also the divide between 16 and 18 must be bigger in the USA. when I was a teenager I didn't feel like there was a such big gap between the ages like this novel makes out there is.

Claire is being bullied by a gang of girls due to making the leader like stupid in front of a hot boy. She over hears the girl call Monica say that World War 2 had been a Chinese thing and without really thinking about it, Claire corrects her. From that point on, Monica and her gang the Monickettes, which sounds like some pop band of the 1980's or 1990's, have been bullying her. Thus, the opening of the novel begins with Claire returning to collect her clothes washing and finding a note saying all of her clothes have gone down the rubbish chute.

Monica and the Monickettes are waiting for her as she leaves and Claire gets pushed down some stairs. Not wanting to return to the girl's only dorm, she finds an ad for a housemate and goes to visit the house. There she meets Eve - a goth, Shane - who has a tragic past and Micheal who turns out to be a ghost. She moves in with them and Eve tells her that vampires are real and they rule the town. Claire then falls prey to a young vampire and to free her Shane makes a deal of having his blood drunk instead. Claire doesn't want that though and after asking if there's anyway they can get out of, Eve tells her about this power book that the vampires have been searching for.

Of course, Claire finds the book and in the dramatic final a vampire finally gets their hands on it. Turns out this book is about how to turn people into vampires, a knowledge that vampires have lost and it was written by the vampire who gets it back. It also turns out the house they are living in use to be her's as well. The vampire agrees to grant the group protect against other vampires and their human friends so Monica can't bully Claire anymore.

Then though, Shane father's turns up and starts causes trouble after Shane phoned him to ask for his help in defeating the vampires who were attacking them for the book. His dad is like a vampire slayer after revenge. The novel ends on the cliff hanger of Michael being killed.

I found all the characters to be quite well written. I liked how they all had secrets and I can see how they'd develop into friends and couples in the other books. The bully and her gang were also interesting, but there wasn't enough time spent on their characters for me - this might happen in the other books though. As for the vampires, they were mostly in the background and we only got to see like three of them - not counting ones that briefly appear. This to me doesn't satisfy my vampire need enough. Though the actual backgrounds and lore of the vampires did, which I'm always very interested in, especially if it's a different take on how vampires came to be ect. Hopefully, there's more of that in the other books.

The narration of the book is first person and Claire tells the story, so we did only get one point of view. However, she's not your typical 16 year old girl and her high intelligence and scientific mind were a nice changed from the 'stereotypical' teenage girl that has a tendency to appear in this young adult supernatural novels. Though it did take me awhile to actually get into the story. I think the overshadow from one of the best vampire novels as well as one of the worst, didn't help, but it's also the pace, which happens a little bit too fast at the start so we didn't get to know Claire all that well before she get's pushed down the stairs.

That set aside though, I did find this novel easy and fast to read. It's written simply, but effectively and even if the age of the main characters don't give the target audience for these series the writing clearly does. I can understand why a lot of teenagers and young adults would like these books, but they are not for me and I need a lot more 'adult' to satisfy my needs now. (Anne Rice and J .R. Ward are clearly to blame here!)

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book and maybe if I was younger or had more time or had never read/seen Twilight I would look into reading more. As it stands though I'm not interested at the moment. I would recommend this book to teenagers and young adults who like this kind of thing and perhaps haven't read Twilight or are seeking some better vampires to read about.

Thanks for reading and if you've got the time check out my other blogs. Next week is going to be a Life Update post, as hopefully I'll have finally finished a post I started late July/early August about sewing projects for kids. If not, it'll be another book review, so till then.

Image from; Amazon uk and www.korsetpelangsing.biz

Book Review: Imprudence by Gail Carriger

Hi readers,

I finally finished this! I know it's like two week over due now, but the first week I had like four days to read it in and that wasn't happening. Then last week, I realized I was rushing through reading the book and losing my enjoyment fast. I decided it wasn't worth speeding through it just to write about this novel on my blog. So, I slowed down again - at least until the last few chapters! 

So, this is the second book in a new series by Gail Carriger, which follows from The Parasol Protectorate and is the story of Alexia and Conall's daughter, Rue. She has the power to steal supernatural forms and can become a vampire, werewolf or other were-beast by touching said creature. This can led to some funny moments, but also very useful. 

This novel is about Rue's trip to Egypt to relocate her parents as her father is under the werewolf alpha curse and going crazy. As we know from the other series and get reminded a little in this book, there is a God-Breaker-Plague which is made up of dead soulless's bodies that makes all supernaturals mortal. Of course, this was all set up at the end of the last series, so people who've read them will be able to make more sense of things, but of course enough information is given for those that have not. 

There's a lot more going on then just a pleasure trip to Egypt though, as news of the werelion, who Rue and her friends met last time has gotten out. The werelioness is still traveling with them as The Spotted Custard starts getting attacked, Rue decides it's due to people hunting the werelioness. Throughout the novel they are chased and often engage in fights with unknown enemies. Rue decides they need to warn the Pride of werelioness they are all being hunted, but just maybe the enemy isn't after werebeasts after all?

As with the first book, I thought the chapters were too long and they were too broken up. The pacing too was slow, which might be the reason I didn't read this as fast as I've done the other books. I know that most people won't made these facts and maybe I'm being too fussy. To be hones those are the only downsides for me. 

The characters were really good and it was nice to spend more time Alexia and Conall, even though I think this might have been their last appearance. They both come across as being their good old selfs', if just older! There is also the appearance of a very old friend too. I kinda don't want to spoil that though, I wouldn't say the introduction is a plot twist, but there is one later on. I do see why this character has come back though and I think it'll be useful in the other books too. We do get to see a lot of development of the characters in this book.

I think this happens especially to Rue as at the start and later on, she 'loses' her family. She can't be part of the werewolf pack now her father is gone and she doesn't want to stay with her parents now they have moved to Egypt. She has to find herself again and also her own family. That's really what this story is about, though it stays mostly in the background. The romance between Rue and Qusenel finally takes off and they get together. Though and I'm still not sure how I feel about it because of me it just feels wrong, especially with the historic setting, but they end up sleeping together before they enter anything else. 

I also don't feel that the same level of bedroom activity language that was in the first series is present here and in away I feel a bit let down by this. I get the narrative is trying to stick within the historic time zone and the over all theme of the novel is not sex. I think maybe I found the whole thing jarring and just thrown in there when so much else was happening. I think that I'd have liked the characters to have more time, instead of the danger of their adventures, as it were, pressuring them into falling in love. Anyway, they are together now and we'll see where things go. 

The novel has a good ending, which does leave one thing open ended for the next book and it'll be an interesting read. Looks like Rue is uncovering more of her family history. I also wonder which country she'll end up in next. I'm guessing it might be a little bit of a wait now though! 

Overall, I did like reading this novel. The setting and characters interested me greatly and find them all so likable. I don't think I'm that excited for the next book though because I still feel that compared to the original series this one doesn't quite hit the mark for me and that really comes down to pacing and now the narrative is structured. I would add don't read this one without reading the first one as they are not stand alone books, but you don't have to have read the first series as enough information is given. 

Thanks for reading and next week I'm going to be looking at the first book in a new series by my favorite author.      

Book Review: Prudence by Gail Carriger

Hi readers, 

Today I'm looking at the sequel to the Parasol series. This follows Alexia and Conall's daughter, Rue, as she sets off to have adventures on her own. Well, sort of, she brings some friends along too! I was excited to see how Carriger would write this story and the contrasts to the first series.

My first in impression is that it's really good. It stays in the same vein as before with the focus being on the supernatural and adventure theme with the steampunk being in the background, though it does feel a little more developed here. Also, there's only a small bit of romance as none of the characters have got together yet. I don't made this though as it means there's lots of time for things to happen between the characters. 

The plot of the novel is that Rue, now a young lady, has been giving a quest to travel to India to investigate a new kind of tea by her adapted vampire father. She's given a state of the art airship, which she names The Spotted Custard, and most of her crew. Rue then recruits her best friend Primrose and her twin brother Percy - Alexia's best friend Ivy's twins- as well as Qusenel, Madam Lefoux's adopted son. Bring all the next generation from the Parasol books together! 

They then travel to India, making some new friends along the way and once there - including a lioness and some monkeys. All isn't as it seems though and soon Rue is dragged into a problem that is a lot more deeper the missing tea leaves. I won't give anything else away, but the ending is happy and solved enough for my liking. 

All the characters work well together and they do develop as the pages turn. Rue does remind me of her parents a lot though and I love one of the scenes were she turns into a werewolf and ends up running through London in bloomers! That image is going to stay with me a long time. I also like her airship being painted like a ladybug and her quick thinking. The other character don't seem to sit on the side though as they all seemed very detailed and come across as them being the main characters. I like all the different friendships too and there wasn't a character that really bugged me. 

I have like three issues overall though. The first is that I felt this book was longer then any of the first series. The chapters felt long and sometimes I found them too broken up for my own liking. The second is that this book does have it's dippy moments. Unlike, the first book of The Parasol series which felt like a run with one thing after another, the same style is a bit less in this book and I don't think it works well. There were a few moments were I got bored because of this, but that just made me want to push on. The third thing is that there's more terminology used, especially to do with the airship and my dyslexic brain didn't understand, though I always felt like I knew what was going on though. 

Overall, I did actually enjoy reading this novel. I don't think you need to have read any other books by Carriger, though of course having that background of everyone's parents etc is useful knowledge, but with all the focus being on Rue and her friends, anyone could pick it up. It's a nice introduction to anyone interested in steampunk and alternate history too. I'm looking forward to the second book now! But I won't get it read for next Monday's review as it's Amazon says it's not arriving till the Thursday after! I might not post anything then so that they follow on from each other. Going to have to see. 

Thanks for reading. 

Image from; Amazon UK.