The Reformed Vampire Support Group ~ Catherine Jinks

"If being a vampire were easy, there wouldn't have to be a Reformed Vampire Support Group."

Published: 2009

Pages: 362

Where I got it from: Library

First Line: "Nina was stuck. She didn't know what to write next."

~*~

Nina Harrison was fanged when she was fifteen, in 1973. Fifty years later, she still looks fifteen, and lives with her aged over-seventy mother. Being a vampire isn't as much fun as you would think, either. It means nausea, boredom, never seeing the sun, and killing guinea pigs for breakfast unless you fancied turning murderess. If that wasn't bad enough, she has a support group that meets every Tuesday night. And her fellow vampires are, for the most part, a whiny lot of mopes who never do anything. Never do anything, that is, until they discover one of their members staked in his coffin. Somewhere out there is a slayer, and there's nothing to do but track him down before he finds the rest of them. Nothing is ever easy; along the way the group must escape from werewolf-fight enthusiasts, find some way of keeping out of the daylight, kill their guinea pigs without attracting too much attention, and hardest of all, keep their own members from spreading their disease. It's a lot to handle when you haven't done anything for fifty years!

~*~

Ever since Twilight came out and I made a hobby out of hating it (seriously, there is so much fun to be had hating Twilight) I have been torn between seeking out vampire books with REAL vampires in them, and being totally sick of all things vampirical. So it was with mixed emotions that I picked up this book. But Catherine Jinks doesn't try to make vampires glamourous (a fact that never fails to endear an author to me). Nina is an awkward, sickly little girl, and her friends are no better. The idea that "vegetarian" vamps would be sickly and lethargic was neat, and not something I'd come across before. Jinks also respected the old traditions enough to keep the vamps out of the sun, and to give a good reason for the lack of deadly garlic!

As for the characters (always my favourite part), Dave is lovely. How can you not love the rocker-turned-vamp? He's just so cute and emo! And even the appearance of the good-looking teen werewolf didn't tick me off like it should have. Reuben is an anger management boy I could have loved more, if I'd let myself. And Bridget! I LOVED Bridget! Seventy-plus year old vampires RULE!

Nina's voice for her "autobiography" is realistic enough for a fifty-one year old fifteen year old girl. I won't say she didn't annoy me, because she did at times, but she definitely had a good handle on her story.

The ending got a little ridiculous. That's all I'll say.

Overall I'd give it three out of four stars. It was fun, and light, and there weren't any sparkly sunshine moments. That's all I asked!

~*~

Some Good Quotes:

"The plain fact is, I can't do anything much. That's part of the problem. Vampires are meant to be so glamorous and powerful, but I'm here to inform you that being a vampire is nothing like that. Not one bit. On the contrary, it's like being stuck indoors with the flu watching daytime televistion, forever and ever."

"I didn't want to complain too much, because that's what vampires do. They complain too much."

"There's only one thing worse than being a vampire, and that's being an elderly vampire with bad hips."

"There's no way we could make you do anything that you don't want to do. Not us. We don't have what it takes."

For some reason, this particular argument struck a chord. Reuben's scowl yielded first to a pensive expression, then to a slow and sweet (though slightly crazed) little smile.

"I dunno about that," he said. "If you wanted me to take you dancing, I reckon I would. And I hate dancing."

Kin ~ Holly Black and Ted Naifeh

"Hey everyone! Guess what? Faeries are real! Totally real and all around you. You know, Faeries. The Little People. The People of Peace. The Good Neighbours. We're going to take over your town."

Series: The Good Neighbours: Book One

Published: 2008

Pages: 117

Where I got it from: Library

Format: Graphic Novel

First Line: "My name is Rue, like Kangaroo or like "You'll rue the day we met, mwa-ha-ha!"

~*~

Rue Silver doesn't worry. Not ever. It's pointless, and only makes a person feel sick. So when her mom disappears for weeks, and her dad sits at home doing nothing, she's not worried. When she starts seeing strange creatures that no one else can see? Nope. Still not worried. But she doesn't have to be worried to find out the truth. And when her father is taken in as a murder suspect for the disappearance of one of his students as well as his wife, Rue knows it's time to stop ignoring the hallucinations that might not be hallucinations. The strange world that's always been just next door, filled with not-so-good neighbours.

~*~

I don't really know how I feel about this book. It was well put together, and the art was neat, but it just didn't grab me like I thought it would. I mean, faeries? Missing mothers? Swans??! How could this not be awesome?

But yeah. Just didn't do it for me.

I'm a little bit jaded, I think, because of how many times I've read the girl-secretly-faerie story. Rue was a good character, and I especially loved her friends, and the strange faerie boy who helps her! But I wasn't really sympathetic with her problems, or her mother and father's relationship, or the missing girl's brother. At all. I just didn't FEEL for them.

On the other hand, this was the first book. It had a lot to do in terms of setting up the plot, the backstory, and the world. Both worlds. When it was done, I DID have a good firm foundation about these things. And I will totally read the second book!

The art was good for the story, I think. The grayscale ink drawings are all angular and have a goth/punk/grunge feel to them. It made the story feel down to earth and gritty, without taking it too far.

And I LOVED the Spiderwick Cameo! :D

Overall, I think I'd give it two and a half stars.

~*~

Some Good Quotes:

Lucy: "I need a quadruple shot. I want my blood to run black with java."

Rue: "Do you know where she went? My mother? Did something happen to her?"
Tam: "Over the river and through the woods."

Aubrey: "Control that, Tam."

Tam: "Sorry."

Justin: "This is the part in the movie where that guy says, "Zombies? What zombies?" just before they eat his brains. I don't want to be that guy."

55 Quirky Questions for Readers

The Literary Lollipop made this questionnaire, and I'm a sucker for jumping on the bandwagon! So here goes!

Book Buying Ban in September

I can do this. *deep breath* Hello. My name is Kendra, and I have a problem. I buy books. A lot of books.

Admitting it is the first step.

I am BANNING myself from buying books in the month of September, because my TBR pile (though not numbering thousands, like SOME people ;) adds to over two hundred, if not three.

And let's face it, I just really can't afford it! It's getting ridiculous!

Bella, at A Girl Reads is hosting this event, and I've signed up to make it official. I've tried to put myself on a ban or budget before (wow, that was a lot of B's), but I always slack off, or give up completely. Because I'm a WUSS and an ADDICT. This way? It's public, staring me in the face, and you guys have to promise to laugh at me for ALL ETERNITY if I fail, okay? ^_^

Here's my own, self-inflicted guidelines:

• No purchasing any new books (not even if it's a REALLY GOOD DEAL and WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED FOR MY WHOLE LIFE). This does NOT include buying new books for other people, but it DOES include getting other people to buy a book FOR me, with the promise of paying them back in October ;) Yes, I know how my mind works. I would have found that loophole and abused it!
• No getting books out of the library *sob*
• No borrowing books from friends or family. Not even my sisters, who live in the same house. No borrowing even from a different BOOKSHELF in my own HOUSE.
• I don't have a goal to get down to yet. I don't know my TBR pile intimately enough to make that call. So, my goal for now is just to read as many books as possible ^_^

Self-inflicted guidelines are the worst, since now I can't complain about them to anyone but ME.

This is going to be a really hard month...

Unseen Academicals ~ Terry Pratchett

"The thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football."

Series: Discworld #37

Published: 2009

Pages: 400

Where I got it from: Library

First Line: "It was midnight in Ankh Morpork's Royal Art Museum.*

*technically, the city of Ankh Morpork is a Tyranny, which is not always the same thing as a monarchy, and in fact even the post of Tyrant has been somewhat redefined by the incumbent, Lord vetinari, as the only form of democracy that works."

~*~

When Vetinari strongly encourages the wizards to renew the timeless tradition of football, it's understood that drastic measures must be taken. Mr. Nutt, a candle dribbler at the university, is called up from the basement to coach the new football team. No one knows anything about him (not even himself), and he looks like a goblin, but when the selection of cheeses at teatime is at stake, anything goes.

Meanwhile an unlikely romance is sparked between Trevor Likely (Nutt's street urchin boss with a hidden talent for kicking cans), and the new kitchen maid Juliet (drop-dead gorgeous with an IQ that would make a troll sympathetic). Juliet's best friend Glenda tries to stave Trev off while at the same time befriending Mr. Nutt, and bossing the wizards around from her Night Kitchen domain.

As the match draws near, everyone gets more and more tangled up in things that have nothing - or everything - to do with football.

~*~

Wow. I love Terry Pratchett. So much.
I mean, SO much.

I don't even like sports, but this was fantastic! The biggest hurdle I had to overcome with this book was getting over my North-Americanism, where football has everything to do with just shoving people around and hitting hard, so what was the big deal with how the game was before the wizards stepped in? Oh, right. Football. And Pratchett's...British. Got it. I can keep up, really I can!

His characters are what get me every time. All of them, even Juliet (who by all rights should have ticked me off), were lovable in their own way. Glenda was a peach, Nutt was adorable, the wizards did not disappoint, I wanted to hug Pepe all the time, and Trev? I could have happily kidnapped Trev and kept him in my basement forever. He was that good.

I don't know, the books about the wizards are usually my least favourite Discworld books. Maybe it's because Rincewind gets on my nerves, maybe I have a deep psychological problem when it comes to talking about school, maybe I'm just prejudiced against pointy hats. Whatever the reason, it didn't surface this time. Even Rincewind had his "OMG I LOVE YOU" moment:

"I would like permission to fetch a note from my mother, sir."

Ridcully sighed. "Rincewind, you once informed me, to my everlasting puzzlement, that you never knew your mother because she ran away before you were born. Distinctly remember writing it down in my diary. Would you like another try?"

"Permission to go and find my mother?"

I gave it four stars out of five. Because I can.

~*~

Some Good Quotes:

"I see evil when I look in my shaving mirror. It is, philosophically, present everywhere in the universe in order, apparently, to highlight the existence of good. I think there is more to this theory, but I tend to burst out laughing at this point."

"I would not like it thought that I do not buy my own paperclips, sir. I enjoy owning my own paperclips. It means they are mine."

"The female mind is certainly a devious one, my lord."
Vetinari looked at his secretary in surprise. "Well, of course it is. It has to deal with the male one."

Read Your Own Books Read-a-thon Wrap-Up

(When asked what he'd read and liked that year)
Justin Timberlake: You mean like a book?

~

I love celebrities. They're so cute.

The Readathon went awesomely. I had a blast, and got some longed for reading done, too!

FINAL TALLY
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ~ T.S Eliot
The Outcasts of 19 Schulyer Place ~ e.l konigsburg
The Phantom Tollbooth ~ Norton Juster
Light From Heaven ~ Jan Karon: STARTED!!

So that's...

60 + 304 + 272 + 40 pages of the Jan Karon
= 676 pages

Not a lot, but I'm happy ^_^

And did I mention it was fun??
Okay, no more readathons till I catch up on these reviews!
Or at least get some of them done.
Well, maybe just one ;)

Thanks to Monica for hosting this! And congrats to all who participated!

Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon Update the first

I'm so bad at these update thingies. But, when I'm reading, I don't want to stop to blog. And when I'm not reading, it's because I need to be somewhere else!
So here's my first and last update for this particular readathon. I've read TWO whole books:

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ~ T.S Eliot
The Outcasts of 19 Schulyer Place ~ e.l konigsburg
The Phantom Tollbooth ~ Norton Juster: STARTED!!
Light From Heaven ~ Jan Karon: STARTED!!
Enter Three Witches: a story of Macbeth ~ Caroline B. Cooney (I gave up on this one. :P Too many things happening this weekend to be epic about this readathon!)

I also read a new Marvel comic that I picked up second hand and was too excited about to wait! Gambit #2: Honour Among Thieves. But I don't know that comics count in this readathon, so I won't count it :)

And since I'm not sleeping for some reason tonight, and the readathon doesn't end until nine tomorrow, I'm totally gonna finish the Phantom Tollbooth now.

Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon!

It seems like the only way I can get any reading done is to do it in a group!

Yes, this means another readathon.

Pathetic, I know. I don't even have any of the reviews up yet from the last one, and I haven't talked about my attempt at 2010 Author Debut Challenge, but hey. Why not? ^_^ I am a sporadic reader what can I say??
my last readathon was devoted to library books I had out. THIS readathon is all about the books I own, that keep staring at me sadly from the shelves when I pass them over for shiny library books.
Thanks to Monica S at The Bibliophilic Book Blog for putting this on.

SO to begin with, I will be reading:

*drumroll plz*
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ~ T.S Eliot
The Outcasts of 19 Schulyer Place ~ e.l konigsburg
The Phantom Tollbooth ~ Norton Juster
Enter Three Witches: a story of Macbeth ~ Caroline B. Cooney

And if I get through those, I have about two hundred others that I can start on! Including Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Now THERE'S a book that's been staring at me reproachfully for many years.

Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Hah. Well. This is late.
I'm sorry! I was out on Sunday night and so was too tired to post, and then my internet broke the next day and....LIFE TOOK OVER.
Fail.
HOWEVER! I will say that this was my very first readathon, and it was awesome. I found so many new people, and so many new books. My TBR list has grown ridiculous amounts!
And I didn't do too badly myself ^_^

Unseen Academicals ~ Terry Pratchett
The Good Neighbors; book one ~ Holly Black
The Reformed Vampire Support Group ~ Catherine Jinks
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron ~ Jasper Fforde: STARTED!

I'll have to review those, soon, I know. I WILL WORK HARDER!
Hm, today is apparently a capital letter type of day.
I really want to thank Wallace at Unputdownables for hosting this. I had a great time, and read some great books. And I will totally be doing more readathons! It might be the only way I get myself to read lots like this again!

Read-a-Thon Update #1

Considering I had an all day birthday party to participate in today, I think I'm doing alright. I took a break from Unseen Academicals to read Holly Black and Ted Naifeh's graphic novel, The Good Neighbors; book one, Kin. I liked it! It didn't astound me, like Holly Black's work often does, but the pictures were unique, and the story was solid. I'll read the rest for sure, once I get my hands on them. And now I'm onto The Reformed Vampire Support Group, by Catherine Jinks. I promise my Terry Pratchett I'll come back to him, I just needed a break!
So this is what my goal list currently looks like:

Unseen Academicals ~ Terry Pratchett
The Good Neighbors; book one ~ Holly Black
The Reformed Vampire Support Group ~ Catherine Jinks
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron ~ Jasper Fforde
(and if tomorrow goes ridiculously well, which I doubt)
Fablehaven (Fablehaven book 1) ~ Brandon Mull

All books I've had out from the library for ages, renewed more than once, and never seem to get around to reading! Fingers crossed, I can return them soon.

2010 Debut Author Challenge

While I'm jumping onto book-bandwagons, my friends Bahnree and Jasmine are doing this. Without me? NOT TO BE TOLERATED!
And so, here I am!

What is the 2010 Debut Author Challenge?
The objective is to read a set number of YA (Young Adult) or MG (Middle Grade) novels from debut authors published this year.* I'm going to challenge everyone to read at least 12 debut novels! I’m hoping to read at least 30! You don’t have to list your choices right away, but if you do feel free to change them throughout the year. I will also be focusing on mostly Young Adult novels.
Anyone can join, you don’t need a blog to participate. If you don’t have a blog you can always share your views by posting a review on Amazon.com/BarnesandNoble.com/GoodReads/Shelfari, or any other bookish site.
The challenge will run from January 1, 2010- December 31, 2010. You can join at anytime!
* I would like to limit the novels to those released in 2010.

I've already read books for this so I feel like I *might* be able to reach 12!
...Maybe.

I'll write more about it later, but I'm procrastinating from my readathon (all one word, yeah I'm bad) and must get back to it. So much to read!

Read-a-Thon!

Unputdownables is hosting a weekend read-a-thon. From her blog:
~
Are you like me with piles of book (or lists of books) a mile long on your To-Be-Read (TBR) list? Although I do read more than the average Jane, I don’t read as much as I would like to. I keep passing my bookshelf wanting to get some of those books read! So, this weekend I am going to limit the TV and the outings (I’ve been gone for the past week anyway and have a trip to Tahoe coming up very soon… one weekend inside won’t do me any harm), and the random errands and I’m going to READ! I’m rather looking forward to using the next few days to pick a few books off of my shelf to put in my Read-a-Thon pile.

So are you in? Come read with me this weekend!
~
Well okay! I will! I got home late tonight, but I’m gonna do it. I’m not going to try to do anything of TOO epic proportions, but well, I have this stack of library books I have been trying to finish and never getting around to. So HERE WE GO!
Book number one is Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals. Aaaand GO.

Read-a-Thon!

Unputdownables is hosting a weekend read-a-thon. From her blog:
~
Are you like me with piles of book (or lists of books) a mile long on your To-Be-Read (TBR) list? Although I do read more than the average Jane, I don’t read as much as I would like to. I keep passing my bookshelf wanting to get some of those books read! So, this weekend I am going to limit the TV and the outings (I’ve been gone for the past week anyway and have a trip to Tahoe coming up very soon… one weekend inside won’t do me any harm), and the random errands and I’m going to READ! I’m rather looking forward to using the next few days to pick a few books off of my shelf to put in my Read-a-Thon pile.

So are you in? Come read with me this weekend!
~
Well okay! I will! I got home late tonight, but I'm gonna do it. I'm not going to try to do anything of TOO epic proportions, but well, I have this stack of library books I have been trying to finish and never getting around to. So HERE WE GO!
Book number one is Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals. Aaaand GO.

REVIVAL

The other day, I bumped into a friend I haven't really talked to for a while. She informed me that she'd found my "book blog" and that she'd really liked it! Why had I stopped?
After we parted ways, I thought to myself. "Self," I said. "Why DID I stop writing on that book blog? I remember that it was fun to do!"
"Ah, but do I also remember how, after school ended, I distanced myself from anything and everything that had anything to do with school?"
"Oh yeah. I'd forgotten. Well, but I'm over that now. Why don't I start up again?"
"No reason! Go. Start."
And here I am :D

Review: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac ~ Gabrielle Kilmi

In which memories are lost, gained, and remade. Also I discover a love for old records.

Fifteen year old Naomi’s life was going pretty well. Or so they tell her. Personally, she can’t remember. After taking a serious fall, she’s lost four years of her memory. She doesn’t remember her best friend, her parents’ divorce, her boyfriend, even what she likes to do. It’s a long, tangled road of love, love lost, love, love lost, before Naomi finally knows where, and how, she belongs.
I liked this book. A lot. I liked the use of music throughout (I Will by the Beatles, Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve, and Better Man by Pearl Jam? All in the same book? YES.), I LOVE the character development, but mostly I loved Will. Naomi’s best friend. he’s the constant that doesn’t let her forget herself, and is always there for her when she’s frustrated. he wears old fashioned clothes, has a record collection, and uses a type writer. I don’t mind saying, I was in love.
Light, but thoughtful, I’ve been recommending this book as soon as I got to chapter two.
I made my mom read it. Yeah. It was THAT fun.

Review: No More Dead Dogs ~Gordan Korman

In which dogs do not die (or do they?) and I want to write to Julia Roberts

Let’s start off with something light.

“No More Dead Dogs” is about two kids, Wallace Wallace (yes, that is his real name) and Rachel Turner, who go to the same high school. Wallace is a bad football player who is hailed as a celebrity for a fluke goal last season. Rachel is an aspiring actress in the school’s drama club. She writes to Julia Roberts instead of keeping a diary. Yeah. Don’t laugh. You all know you wanted to. When Wallace tells their English, Mr. Fogelman, that the teach’s beloved book Old Shepis trash, Fogelman sentences the boy to detention until he writes a proper report, or in reality, recognizes the complete brilliance of Old Shep. Even if the dog dies at the end for no good reason. Unfortunately for both Rachel and Wallace, this detention must be spent by sitting in on the drama club’s rehearsals. The play this year? You guessed it. A theatre version of Old Shep himself. When Wallace takes an interest in the play, making suggestion that are widely regarded as improvements, Rachel believes her acting career is getting taken over by the football jock, who doesn’t really care about the play anyways. And when the play starts getting sabotaged, she’s certain she knows the culprit.

I’m going to try to avoid spoilers, but here’s some thoughts on the plot.

I love the characters. Everyone in this school is their own personality, with their own thoughts. The way they interact with each other and miscommunicate is a riot, and I found myself laughing out loud with each page. Wallace Wallace with his inability to lie, his ex-best friend Cavanaugh’s bad name calling, and Trudi Davis’s hopeless infatuations; everyone has their own quirks.
This book was a great reminder about rumour spreading, and its effects. Sometimes it’s harmless, sometimes it can really hurt people.
The concept of a high school rising up against the traditional dog books like Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Sounder, where the dog always dies, was endearing, believable, and hilariously funny. This book was in keeping with Korman’s other books I have read and enjoyed like his Macdonald Hall series. Confession: I like this author best when he’s working in a high school.

And come on, really? Who DOESN’T want to write Julia Roberts about our high school problems? I know I do!

First Post!

In which we find the purpose for this blog, a little bit about the authoress, and hopefully a cliffhanger to segue into next time.

Hey all!

Glad you found this place. Let me tell you how I got here. I was just wandering around the internet one day, minding my own business, when I suddenly stumbled across a blog creator. And I thought to myself, “Self, don’t I have that project coming up for my Library Software class?”
“Why, I guess I do, Self. Why do I bring it up?”
“Why don’t I create a blog about books? I love books, I love the internet, and I love talking about books that I love on the internet! It’s perfect!”

And that’s how it happened. Since I predominately read books that are suitable for the ages of 13 and up, this blog’s theme and purpose will be YA books (that’s ‘young adult’ for the uninitiated among you). I’m only 20 years old myself, and haven’t found a reason to move onto “adult” books yet. There are just so many good books for young people that I still have to read! And so, over the next few weeks, I shall be talking about some books that I love. Please indulge me in my passion, I’ll try not to ramble. Stay tuned!