Charm

I knew it! I bet you're reading on to see if they pop up, I know I did I loved Alcide too, can't wait to see him in True Blood season 3

Great thread Tristan! So pleased you're enjoying Dracula, it is the master when it comes to vampire novels IMO A couple more gothic vamp books you might enjoy are (from my old reading blog): Children of the Vampire (The Diaries of the Family Dracul) ~by~ Jeanne Kalogridis Synopsis courtesy of Fantastic Fiction Hoping to save his human son from the family duty of serving the evil Prince Vlad, vampire Arkady Tsepesh comes out of hiding, but his arrival is too late to save the young man from being kidnapped by Dracula. The story of this book is about Count Dracula and his male heirs. The count has made a pact and to stay alive he must have the blood of every one of the first born male heirs born through the centuries. The book tells the tale of one heir in particular and the inevitable battle between good and evil. I love it. I liked the style of the writing. I liked the dark gothic atmosphere the author portrayed very well and I also liked all the characters, even the baddies to a certain degree! The story was told well and there was plenty of action throughout with a twist thrown in at the end. Its actually the second book in a trilogy, the first being The Covenant of the Vampire. The third is called Lord of the Vampire which I will definately be trying to get my hands on. If you liked Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Historian by Elisabeth Kostova I think you'll like this. 10/10 and I finally finished reading The Historian ~by~ Elizabeth Kostova (in my defence, it was 704 pages long and my reading mojo had waned a bit! ). I'm not sure how to describe what I thought of it but here goes: Synopsis courtesy of Waterstones Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the Dracula myth. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions - a captivating tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful - and utterly unforgettable. My thoughts: The novel is about a young woman who lives with her father and sometimes travels with him on his business trips, where he gradually tells her the story of his search for Dracula and about how he met her mother. He suddenly resumes his search alone and disappears, leaving the young woman to try to find him. It is mostly written in the form of letters, some of which were addressed to her and some addressed to her father. Most of them she found in his study before embarking on a trip across Europe in search of him. The story of the father's search for Dracula (which is what most of the book is about) unfolded pretty slowly and seemed a bit repetitive to me, which then left me feeling a bit frustrated at times. It was also a bit anticlimactic, with the most exciting bit in the book and the ending all wrapped up in the last few chapters. I thought this was a shame because it had the potential for a far more exciting finish which I was expecting all along. This may all sound a bit harsh, but in all fairness, the book did have its good points too. It is well written and has a kind of dark, creepy atmosphere which I love. Its not too complicated and is easy to follow and the author describes things beautifully, to the point where I found myself wishing I could hop on a plane and travel to the wonderful places immediately. It also appears very well researched, half of the time I felt like I'd just come out of a history lesson! I did have to catch myself on now and then because I kept picturing the main characters in more ancient times, rather than the late 20th century, maybe because of the history element to the book and its main topic, Dracula. I'm giving The Historian a 7/10 because I'm glad I read it and I did enjoy it somewhat, although her next novel would need to be a bit faster paced for my liking. I think I'll wait and see what the reviews on here are like first. If you are into European medieval history then you may enjoy this book. 7/10 How's that for a long post? :D

I have a theory on this, I think it's the Well ... it's only a theory

Thanks lexie, I hope so too, I'm sure I will;)

I went to the charity shops again today and came home with: Breakneck by Erica Spindler The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Breakneck was on my wishlist and it's a brilliant copy, almost like new, result! Just need to get Copycat by the same author first

Hi Nicola! back

Same here I haven't read a single page in two days now I think Club Dead should definately do the trick for you though My book buying activity however has not stalled at all. I went to the charity shop today and bought: Erica Spindler ~ Breakneck Alice Sebold ~ The Lovely Bones

Dorian Gray Way better than the book Sorry Noll! ...

Thank heavens she was pardoned, although I wouldn't believe she was a witch even if she wasn't, it appears you could have said someone was an alien in those days and the powers that be would have believed you in a heartbeat! I really think you'd love this book, definately historical New England, and very interesting told from a child's point of view, makes you want to find out the underlying stories that the adults don't talk about in front of her. I just hope they're all explained or I'll be ! I know! Or if you threw a woman into the lake and she floated, she was a witch as she was being held up by the hands of the devil or demons or some other unspeakable. If she sank she wasn't, but the poor sod was dead anyway! How is that a fair test? It didn't appear that many of the ones in power were accused though, you'd think that wouldn't have been more prevelent considering how easy it would have been to get rid of an adversary. Can you imagine that today? Half the government would be going to the gallows!

If I ever write a novel bookjumper, I will definately make sure it is the most attractive looking book I can get designed, at least I know you will buy it on that basis alone! ... oh sorry no, I haven't read it but it does sound pretty

Excellent reviews Lexie! Those Karen Rose books look really good, definately my kind of thing

That is soooo cool! I can't believe I missed that the first time I read this thread! Brilliant stuff! I'm just over half way through this book now and would have to agree with others saying it would make a great film. I can't get over how easy it was in those days to be charged and convicted on the crime of witchcraft! It's not surprising people behaved like sheep in doing what they were told by the local reverend, they were really conscience of what others thought of them, I suppose they had to be, or they'd end up on the gallows!

You do get used to them after a while and end up not noticing you're having to read them! Can't wait to hear what you think of it when you do see it

Oh I'm so pleased you ended up enjoying Let The Right One In Steph, it turned out to be a nice surprise for me last year and ended up being one of my favourite reads. I know exactly what you mean about the bullying and graphic scenes, definately not for the faint hearted! But I did think it was handled really well and true to life. The basement scene at the end scared the hell out of me although as you say the bathroom scene was a tad rushed. Great review thanks! Btw have you seen the movie? It was made really well, although I was really disappointed to the point of being angry that a lot of the scenes weren't in it, including the basement scene

Great review Weave Rob Pattinson eh? Funny ... for some reason my interest has spiked! The book does actually look pretty good too

Hi there! back

Me too! :)

Wow 5 hours? I'm impressed Shin, that was fast! It must have been really good, did you manage to breathe at all while you were reading

Aw that was very sweet of him! Now all we have to do is find your mojo and get you reading them! I'm about half way through The Heretic's Daughter and it has really picked up