January: Reads
I started off the year on a high note as far as reading is concerned, starting and finishing 2 books by the 4th! As both were vampire books and I figured that I had to find a way of pacing myself somehow, I decided to pick a long vampire book that came highly recommended as my next choice for the month.
The Historian definitely kept me to a more reasonable pace book number wise and it is a book that I'd now recommend to everyone else as well. It is definitely as good as I was told it would be! For more, see below...
A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris (192 pages): 4.5 Stars, Great
This is the book that collects together all of the Southern Vampire Mysteries short stories that Harris has written for various anthologies. Although she is clearly not a short story author normally, I still quite enjoyed them as it was more in the series and I finally got to read some of the stuff that I'd known was missing. That was nice. Now, to get my hands on the next few books in the series...
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer (178 pages): 5 Stars, Excellent
An out take of the Twilight Saga from the point of view of one of the newborn vampires mentioned in Eclipse. This is far darker than the original books, more like what Meyer wrote in Midnight Sun and it was quite enjoyable. Not only does it show us more of the true nature of her vampires, but it also introduces two other great new characters (Diego & Fred) that I wish we knew more about. I also liked the more out of control feel of Bree, it's more like the typical vampire. I have to admit, though, that it was odd to hear Edward referred to as a redhead the whole time after Bella's 'bronze.'
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (704 pages): 5 Stars, Excellent
I picked this book up at a bookswap after hearing about it from a friend and it is most definitely worth it! And it seems to be incredibly popular if the sheer number of people who said they'd read and loved it upon seeing I had it is anything to go by. This is a historical thriller written for an intelligent audience. It is a vampire novel, but it isn't a quick guilty pleasure. At just over 700 pages, this novel digs deep into the historical knowledge about Vlad Tepes Drakulya, the Order of the Dragon, the war with the Ottomans and takes you across Europe to Istanbul and back from the present to the past, both the Middle Ages and communist Hungary and Bulgaria. In the tradition of Bram Stoker's Dracula, much of it is written in letter format, constantly teasing you with more information as the story unfoldes and sweeps you along. This is a book I'd definitely recommend, even to those who aren't traditionally into vampires. It's more historical then fantasy.
The Historian definitely kept me to a more reasonable pace book number wise and it is a book that I'd now recommend to everyone else as well. It is definitely as good as I was told it would be! For more, see below...
A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris (192 pages): 4.5 Stars, Great
This is the book that collects together all of the Southern Vampire Mysteries short stories that Harris has written for various anthologies. Although she is clearly not a short story author normally, I still quite enjoyed them as it was more in the series and I finally got to read some of the stuff that I'd known was missing. That was nice. Now, to get my hands on the next few books in the series...
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer (178 pages): 5 Stars, Excellent
An out take of the Twilight Saga from the point of view of one of the newborn vampires mentioned in Eclipse. This is far darker than the original books, more like what Meyer wrote in Midnight Sun and it was quite enjoyable. Not only does it show us more of the true nature of her vampires, but it also introduces two other great new characters (Diego & Fred) that I wish we knew more about. I also liked the more out of control feel of Bree, it's more like the typical vampire. I have to admit, though, that it was odd to hear Edward referred to as a redhead the whole time after Bella's 'bronze.'
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (704 pages): 5 Stars, Excellent
I picked this book up at a bookswap after hearing about it from a friend and it is most definitely worth it! And it seems to be incredibly popular if the sheer number of people who said they'd read and loved it upon seeing I had it is anything to go by. This is a historical thriller written for an intelligent audience. It is a vampire novel, but it isn't a quick guilty pleasure. At just over 700 pages, this novel digs deep into the historical knowledge about Vlad Tepes Drakulya, the Order of the Dragon, the war with the Ottomans and takes you across Europe to Istanbul and back from the present to the past, both the Middle Ages and communist Hungary and Bulgaria. In the tradition of Bram Stoker's Dracula, much of it is written in letter format, constantly teasing you with more information as the story unfoldes and sweeps you along. This is a book I'd definitely recommend, even to those who aren't traditionally into vampires. It's more historical then fantasy.