Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story

Title: Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore

Synopsis: Here's something different: a vampire novel that's light, funny, and not at all hackneyed. Between scenes of punks bowling frozen turkeys on the graveyard shift in a supermarket, or snapping turtles loose in a loft and gnawing on designer shoes, this novel has comic charm to spare. But it also packs an appealingly downbeat message about the consumer culture: Becoming a vampire has given the twentysomething heroine "a crampless case of rattlesnake PMS"--a grumpy mood in which she realizes that she can dress to the nines as a "Donner Party Barbie" and still end up disillusioned and unhappy, just another slacker doing her own laundry and watching sucky TV 'til the sun rises. [via Amazon]

Book Notes: It was good to take a break from the heavy, brooding vampire love stories that's been all over pop culture and Christopher Moore's take on the vampire-human love story was absolutely hilarious. You get a wide-eyed, naive, country boy in the big city and a newly turned bombshell vampire trying to figure out life and their newly discovered urges together. It was fast, and punchy with jokes carefully placed at just the right moments. It was also brilliantly set in Downtown San Francisco and I loved the easy references to landmarks I was so familiar with. It made the story feel so much more real—like I knew exactly which Safeway they worked in and I've walked that same Ghirardelli Square several times as well. If you're tired of the Edward Cullen types, try this one for a good laugh.

Quotable Quotes:

"The plea for eyeliner appealed to the writer part of him, the part that believed that creative thought was worth something."

"I haven't seen anything that over-accessorized since Batman."

"Is there something wrong with your food? No, I'm just not very hungry. You're going to break my heart, aren't you?"

"Okay, not a particularly smart god, but at least a god who has her original nose."

"I suppose you could complete the look with a pair of Italian f-me pumps and some maroon lipstick."

"This is just pot right? This isn't some weird designer kill-the-family-with-a-chain-saw-and-choke-to-death-on-your-vomit drug, right?"

Dead in the Family

Book: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

Synopsis: Still reeling from the deaths of her fairy cousin, Claudine, and many others in 2009's Dead and Gone, Sookie Stackhouse struggles with paranormal politics in her entertaining if slow-moving 10th outing. When Claudine's triplet, Claude, appears at her doorstep, Sookie reluctantly allows him to move in. The government threatens two-natures with mandatory registration, and tensions run high in the local Were pack. Then Eric's maker, a Roman named Appius Livius Ocella, arrives without warning, bringing along Alexei Romanov, whom he rescued from the Bolsheviks and turned into a vampire. [via Amazon]

Book Notes: Although it's not the most eloquently written books, the vampire bug caught me pretty bad and I joined the unashamed teen wagon for Team Edwards and the more mature True Blood audience. I originally started the series because of the tv show and pretty much followed the new releases since. But with the latest addition to the Sookie Stackhouse Series, Book 10 was nothing more than a complete disappointment.

The overall story lacked a strong, definitive plot line. With the lack of backbone, the story seemed to thread on hanging statements that were never followed up to help thicken the plot. It came to a point that I felt like I was reading a checklist: vampire sex-check, random dead bodies-check, someone who wants to kill Sookie-check. The overall format had become painfully predictable and with the lack of a proper plot, it made finishing the book rather excruciating. I couldn't even understand the point of having a Romanov. Did anyone who even read the book remember that?

Talk online is saying that Harris is working on a follow up, but I find myself losing interest with the book series much preferring the dialogue and storyline of the TV show. Dead in the Family is definitely one you can skip. It was nothing more than an uninspired attempt to produce a 10th installment.