Coming Soon

We'll be doing an interview on Nov. 5th with author Stacey Voss of Thunder and Blood.

It will be part of her blogging book tour so don't forget to mark your calender and check out it.

Contests and More

Everyone has a give away going on. (but not us cause we can't part with our books)

One of the latest is over at Froggaritaville's Bookcase. They are giving away Tall Dark and Fangsome.

So hop on over and check it out.

Banned Book Week

From Sept 26-Oct 3 it's time to show your love for all books.

So I went to the website with the list of 100 Banned Books and was shocked to see a few titles on there. I knew about a few of them, as we had a great English staff at our high school who always managed to get a few of the "black listed books" into the reading groups. Infact, have read a nice bunch of them. At lest three from that list still sit on my book shelf.

The ones I knew about

*Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs

* A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

* Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Ones I was shocked about

*On the Road by Jack Kerouac

* Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

*Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

*Call of the Wild by Jack London

* Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Are you kidding me? Charlotte's Web and Winnie the Pooh? For real? What have they got in them to be banned? And Mrs Dalloway?

Now, I have Mrs Dalloway, On the Road, Clockwork Orange, Naked Lunch; in my collection. Read all of them except Clockwork Orange, that is still on my to read list.

In high school I read Catcher in the Rye and Call of the Wild. I think the only two times in high school I finished the reading projects early.

In support of these books and others on this list, check out a few other bloggers and their thoughts on the issue.

Chick with Books is what brought it to my attention.

Word Shakers

Been hanging out on Book Blogs on ning.com and saw a post for a new online book club. Fabulous.

So I joined of course.

The All Vampire Challenge Update

For those taking part in the All Vampire Challenge, I have added a Mr. Linky to the blog post over on the vampire blog

http://alucardsrose.blogspot.com/2009/09/vampire-challenge-2009.html

Just to make it easier for sign up and for following.

We already have a few people so, don't be shy, join in.

Mr. Darcy Vampyre -Review

Just finished my next Jane Austen Challenge.

This was challenge #5 out of 6. (Listed I think as item #4 on my to do list)

I was so excited about this book, I bugged and bugged the guy at the book store for a month till they got it in.

I pushed everything else aside to read this, and I read it in 2 days.

I was hyper to see the author added the character of Count Polidori based loosely on Dr. Polidori who in real life had written "The Vampyre".

Only, this book left me dry mouthed. That's not good.

It tried too much to be Anne Rice.

There were a few plot holes, and I thought the ending was just thrown together. As if the author didn't have a real ending and just let the chips fly where they may.

I wanted to love this story I really really did, but I just couldn't.

Another issue I had with it was that it is told through Elizabeth's point of view and not Darcy's. There are too many characters running around that have no purpose, they are mire window dressing, and the tease of Wickham at the very end was meaningless.

Too many unresolved questions that have you sitting there going "but why? and how?"

The author gives Elizabeth these vivid flashbacks that end up not linking to anything, and a myth connected to the first vampires that is never explained or returned to.

Too many loose ends.

Plot: It's the wedding tour for our Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. But just as they step foot into the coach Darcy changes their plans and takes her off to Paris. The wedding night does not happen, and Elizabeth fears Darcy regrets the marriage. As the days turn into weeks, Elizabeth is introduced to people from Darcy's past who seem to have strange habits even for people who live outside of England. In the chaos she learns her husband is not what he first seemed.

She is then seduced and abused by someone from Darcy's past.

The metaphor of Darcy's vampirism being used to represent repressed sexuality has been used more often then I can count in the vampire genre.

Too predictable.

Having a guy who is Darcy's rival seducing Elizabeth in much the same way Wickham did, was just a poor spin off.

As someone who has been reading vampire novels since 1985, I found this repetitive and moldy.

Jane Austen Book Club book vs movie

Another one of my challenges for the All Jane Austen Challenge
this is number 6 on my list.

Comparing the book to the movie with a slight review.

But wait I am adding a twist. The twist is pointing out who in my social circle is an Austen iconic character.

First off, the book.

It's a retelling of all 6 novels, with a leaning towards Emma. It starts off with heavy Emma overtones, with the loss of a family member. (In Emma we see a wedding and the "loss" of her companion. In JABC it's the dead of a pet) The character of Jocelyn is Emma

The main male character Grigg (there are 4 male counterparts ) is meant to be Mr. Knightly/Mr. Bingley.

The character of Prudie is Anne Elliot.

The character of Sylvia is Fanny Price/Elinor Dashwood

The character of Allegra is Marianne Dashwood/Mary Bennet

The character of Bernadette is a little harder to nail down.

Then we are thrown into Mansfield Park on more then a few levels. Prudie's students are doing a play, and she is asked by one very seductive bad boy to help prepare. He is very much the Henry Crawford character.

Prudie's mother can be compared to Lady Bertram, by the simple issue of her being an exhippy stoner, unaware of reality.

Onto the movie

The scene when Prudie's husband is reading to her in bed, it's one of my favourite scenes from any film I have ever seen. It's so seductive.

The characters of Sylvia and Jocelyn are about a decade younger in the movie then they are in the book, but yet Allegra is around the same age as the book's character.

Most of the back stories have been left out of the film. Which is a shame, as we learn why certain characters do certain things in the book through their back stories.

And who in my social circle are Austen iconic characters?

Well, my sister would be Elizabeth Bennet.

Her friend Y.B. would be Lydia Bennet.

My friend E.K. is Emma.

And I am Miss Bates.

If I ever find a Mr. Bingley or Mr. Darcy I'll let you know.

Let's start an All Vampire Challenge

Yes you heard me.

Why do I want to do this?

Well, because I am in the process of an All Jane Austen Challenge right now, and currently reading Mr. Darcy Vampire. And thought why not? I have read god knows how many over the last 3 decades, and have at lest 10 more vampire books sitting in my to read pile.

So, starting in November 2009 I am going to do an All Vampire Challenge.

I will figure out how to proceed and post about it again soon.

Okay people seem to be missing the link. It was in the comments. But, here it is again.....

http://alucardsrose.blogspot.com/2009/09/vampire-challenge-2009.html

You will find the rules and sign up deadline.

The Shining by Stephen King- Review

As I said a few posts back, I was reading this for 2 book clubs.

I just finished it. I actually had a difficult time getting into this believe it or not.

I loved the movie version and could not get it out of my mind while reading.

I have to say, one theme by Stephen King, I have always been endeared to is the writer who looses his mind. He's done this more then once and is the best at it.

Stories about madness are always I find more scary then overly gory stories. Madness could happen to anyone at anytime for any reason.

I was alittle confused on a few elements, which I brought up in book club, that dealt with how certain items manifested themselves. And if it was a haunting or possession? It's never truly clear.

For anyone who has not read the original story it's about a man who is given a last chance to recover from his vices by taking his family to a hotel for the winter, where is has a job as the winter caretaker. His son is psychic and awakens the entity living in the hotel. Quickly one by one the three of them begin to loose control.

Given that this novel is 30 years old, it holds up brilliantly.