Living Dead in Dallas

In Living Dead in Dallas, the second novel in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris, the heroine (as in female hero, not the drug--that's heroin) Sookie Stackhouse is still struggling to be normal and not get super-involved in vampire affairs, but her "disability" (she's telepathic) makes her desireable to powerful vampires and she has promised to help the leader of her region, Eric Northman, as long as the humans involved are sent to the police instead of killed. Eric has "loaned" Sookie to a leader in Dallas, Texas, where a vampire has gone missing and an anti-vampire group that operates under the guise of a religious organization, Fellowship of the Sun, is suspected of the kidnapping. Sookie, along with her vampire boyfriend Bill Compton, go to Dallas to uncover the mystery. Was it the Fellowship of the Sun, another vampire looking for some kind of revenge, Drainers, or some other group or person? You have to read to find out.
This book is like the book version of comfort food. Sookie can be a bit naive and sometimes takes the "I am an independent woman" thing too far, but it's a fun, light read full of action, romance, and a bit of humor. Definitely a good book

Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years

Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire is the second book in the Wicked Years series. The novel follows Liir, the son of Elphaba (this is subtly mentioned a few times in Wicked, but Liir is unaware of his parentage). For much of the book Liir is actually in a coma and we see his journey through his memories: his search for Nor, his life as a soldier, and much else. Glinda makes a few appearances and so does Shell, Elphaba's younger brother. This book is not as good as Wicked, but it is good. This book has love, political corruption, betrayal, and more. Liir meets many interesting and sometimes dangerous people during the approximately ten years this book covers. If you loved Wicked, you must read Son of a Witch.

Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark, the first book Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, is a vampire romance book; however do not go into this book thinking it will be like Twilight. There are similarities, but not many. A vampire and a human fall in love, there's some mind-reading (but from the human, not the vampire) and she can't hear her lover's thoughts (she can't hear ANY vampires' thoughts). That's as far as the similarities go, though; not everyone in Twilight's audience should read these books. There is no abstinence message to speak of and there's language some readers might find offensive. Sookie can be a little annoying at times because she is 50% bratty teenager and 50% old-fashioned grandma, so her views of things can seem a tad bizarre.
Here's a little bit of what Dead Until Dark is about: Sookie Stackhouse is a barmaid at Merlotte's in Bon Temps, LA. She's single because of a problematic "disability" she's had since she was young: she can read minds. Ever since they "came out of the coffin", she has wanted to meet a vampire. Enter Bill Compton, vampire. She knows there's something different about Bill from the moment he walks in; for one thing, she can't read his mind. They fall in love after she saves him from nearly being killed permanently. But then a co-worker is killed and several other women after that; could it be Bill? You'll have to read to find out.
These books are more realistic than Twilight in my opinion, but I wouldn't call them better. They're just different--okay, maybe they're a little better. If you don't mind tastefully-written sex (it's not very descriptive of the act itself, mostly how she feels during it) and a little foul language and you like vampire books, you should read these.

Wide Awake

I usually only review actual books, but this fanfiction SHOULD be a book, so it has earned a review. It's called Wide Awake by AngstGoddess003 (link to her LiveJournal page). The chapters to Wide Awake are on the sidebar on her main page--just click "1. Gingerbread Zombies" for the first chapter (the title of this post is also a link to the first chapter). It is an AMAZING story. It's for mature audiences only due to some lemons and limes (fanfiction terms meaning sexually explicit and near-sexual content) and dark themes. The lemons and limes are done in a tasteful manner, it's not SWP (smut--another fanfiction term meaning the same thing as lemons--without plot); even the smuttake (another fanfiction term for smut outtake) is done in a non-vulgar manner. It's a Twilight fanfiction. It's my opinon that AngstGoddes003 should change the names in this story (but keep Edward's first name the same--I like to call him Darkward) and get it published. As I said, this story is very dark. It's categorized OOC (out of character--the personalities aren't the same as they are in Twilight), but I think this is incorrect--I believe the characters in Twilight would act this way if they were in the same situation. It's a AU-All Human (an alternate universe and all the characters are human, even the ones that are vampires in Twilight) fanfiction. I suggest you read this when you have spare time because you will not want to quit once you've begun.

Twilight Director's Notebook

This isn't a review per se, it's more of a head's-up to any Twilighters who might be unsure of whether or not to buy this book or who don't know about it. The Twilight Director's Notebook is a must-buy for anyone who liked/loved the movie. It's done by Catherine Hardwicke; I am reluctant to say "written" because it isn't simply a written chronicle of how the movie was made--the "writing" is mostly captions on pictures and things such as that. It's very interesting. It has pictures, shows pages of the script, it's very in-depth; it's like a published scrapbook of the movie-making process. If you ever wanted to know what the process was that turned the sensational book Twilight into the blockbuster movie Twilight, then this is for you. I wasn't sure I wanted to buy this 176-page publication; I wasn't even really impressed with Hardwicke's direction of the movie, so why would I want to know anything about her process? But I'm very, very glad the fangirl in me won out because Twilight: Director's Notebook is fantastic.

The Host

The Host, written by Stephenie Meyer, is a science fiction-romance novel. The narrator is an alien named Wanderer. These aliens call themselves "souls" and cannot survive for more than a few minutes without a host body. Once they have been inserted into the brain of their host, they stifle the pre-existing conciousness and claim the memories as their own; they use these memories to locate humans who have yet to have a soul inserted into them. They have colonized much of Earth, save for small bands of "wild" humans that are now in hiding, and Wanderer has been inserted into a girl named Melanie Stryder who refuses to relinquish her mind and fade away. Melanie bombardes Wanderer with memories of Jared Howe (while keeping some memories blocked from her), the man she loves who is still in hiding. This causes Wanderer to fall in love with him as well. She cannot use the memories she has limited control of to help the other souls find him and Melanie's brother Jamie. Circumstances arise that force Wanderer and Melanie to become allies, and together they try to find a shelter Melanie's uncle once told her he had.
This is a very good book. The souls have a tendency towards altruism in many ways: they won't raise their hand (well, their host's hand) to harm another (which is one reason the "Seekers" who search for and capture the humans are looked down upon for the violence their job intales) or even let another being be harmed by inaction, even to save their own life. They won't try to take over a planet unless they feel the current inhabitants are doing a poor job of taking care of themselves and the planet. This selfless attitude makes Wanderer's narrative a bit on the annoyingly self-effacing and self-sacrificing side sometimes. But it's very well-written and the characters seem to be developed very well.
This novel brings up some interesting questions: is there anything else out there; if there is, how would they perceive us and the way we treat our world? But it doesn't just bring up classic sci-fi questions, it also conjures questions about love: when you someone, what is it you love? Would you love them in a different body, would they love you if you were in a different body? Can you love someone, even if their not technically your species?
The writing in this book is much better than Twilight; of course the narrator is an alien whose lived on eight planets and live what would be human equivalent of thousands of years, so she's going to have a more mature narrative. I would recommend this book to almost anyone.

New Moon

In Twilight's sequel, New Moon, Bella is "zombie-like" for most of the book because Edward says he does not love her anymore and leaves her after an incident at her eighteenth birthday party. Jacob Black becomes her comforter during this difficult time in her life. Jacob has a secret that she discovers after he gives her some very obviously hints so he doesn't have to tell her outright and break the rules. This books is about the loss of your true love. The emotions are very raw--even though it is not my favorite, it is probably one of the best-written books in the Twilight Saga. Bella has to go to Italy to save Edward from a life-threatening decision he makes based on a misunderstood vision Alice has and Rosalie's inability to keep from telling Edward the vision's misunderstood contents. It's hard to believe that Stephenie isn't writing from a similar personal experience even though she claims she never lost her true love as Bella does; the emotions are so honest and hearbreaking I cried even though I was convinced Edward did love Bella and would be back. Even though the mood is very different, New Moon keeps to the Twilight's idea that true love will prevail

Wicked

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (normally referred to as simply Wicked) is the life story of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. It's written by Greg Maguire. He fashions the Wicked Witch of the West's name from the initials of the author of The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum-->L. F. B.-->El-Fuh-Buh-->Elphaba). It begins with the day Elphaba was born and ends when Dorothy leaves Oz. It's a fantasy world that is so real you forget it's based on a children's book. This book has numerous themes: love lost, the nature of evil, leadership and its corruption, forgiveness, and destiny vs. free will, to name a few.
If you loved the movie The Wizard of Oz, you will get a whole new take on the land of Oz and its inhabitants... is the Wicked Witch West truly wicked at all or simply misunderstood, is Oz truly as idyllic as it seems on this surface or is just as (or possibly more) corrupted by greed and other evils as the world we live in? I guess you'll have to read Wicked for yourself to find out.

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë, is a Gothic-esque novel about the darker side of romance. It is narrated by a servant, Mrs. Ellen "Nelly" Dean, and a tenant named Mr. Lockwood (his forms a frame around hers, for she is telling him this story). The good people on SparkNotes that helped me better understand Brontë's classic work consider Mrs. Dean to be compassionate, sensible, and intelligent. I agree with the last two; however, Nelly Dean is far from compassionate. She is horribly judgemental, nosy, and a complete instigator--some of the events in this story would not have come to pass had she minded her own business. But do not let my dislike of her stop you from reading Wuthering Heights, for, no matter what I think of her "personally," she weaves a marvelous narrative. This book is amazing, though admittedly difficult to read. I suggest the edition I read, the Barnes&Nobles Classics edition (or something like it with footnotes and end notes for explanations), unless you are familiar with the language and customs of 19th century England. The characters are well-developed and quite faschinating--it becomes almost imperative to know if or when everything will resolve itself. Lockwood's declaration at the beginning of Chapter 2, "...I don't care--I will get in!" is the same declaration the reader makes on meeting the peculiar inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. One becomes almost superhumanly determined to discover the origins of their peculiar behavior and find out how they end up. Heathcliffe is most incomprehensible, though that has not stopped generations of readers from trying to find a mold to fit him into.

The reason I called this literary classic "gothic-esque" is because it does have the Gothic element of ghosts; however, it was written after that literary period was over and, to be honest, you are never sure if the ghosts are real or just dreams and local superstition. So it is not truly Gothic, though it has the elements of such a genre.

If you are into sweet stories with happy endings, this book is not for you; however, if you are open to the darker side of romance and life in general and enjoy reading about characters who descend into madness as their death date grows nearer or who will stop at nothing for vengeance against their persecutors, then you will love this work of art. Wuthering Heights itself is bit like Heathcliffe: completely unique, but with enough characteristics of the familiar that we assume we can put into some understandable category. I can, however, promise you this: I could pick this book up next week and have a whole new adventure while reading it. It's the kind of book one never tires of reading or can't glean a little something different from each time they read it.

Note: Please do not disregard this review because of my use of Sparknotes. I just wanted to fully understand the story so that I could give an educated opinion about it. I used SparkNotes as an occasional companion, not a crutch or substitute for the book.
Also: Wuthering Heights in italics is referring to the title of the novel; Wuthering Heights without the italics is the house where Heathcliffe and some of the other charcters reside.

Twilight

Not the movie, the book. I've scoured the 'Net for opinions on this book and found many and varied opinions, ranging from utter disgust to irrevocably in love.
Twilight is about a 17-year-old girl named Isabella "Bella" Swan who moves to rainy Forks, WA, to live with her father so that her mother can move around with her new husband. She meets alot of new people, but one sticks out in her mind: Edward Cullen. He's absolutely gorgeous, like no one else she's ever seen. He seems to to have a strange aversion to her. And then she finds out why: Edward Cullen is a vampire and her the scent of her blood is like a drug to him. Despite his insistence he is dangerous to her and she should stay away from him, they fall in love. *Cue the evil villians bent on tearing their love apart.* Well, really only 2 out of 3 of the villians want to tear their love apart. The cat-and-mouse game begins and our herione narrowly escapes with her life.
This book is great. There are few problems in it, one being the conflict is not present until near the end of the book. It's like, "Oops, there's no conflict. Let me write these bloodthirsty vampires into the mix." And since the book is written from the point of view of a seventeen-year-old girl and not a wise, old English professor, it's not brilliantly-written, filled with words that require a dictionary to pronounce and comprehend and plot points that boggle the mind. But it's incredibly descriptive and you can't help but fall in love with the characters. I would definitely read this book again if I was in posession of my copy.