Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

- contributed by Kay Hogan
I'm a bit new to the vampire genre. -I've read the entire Twilight series multiple times but that is the limit of my experience with vampire novels. Now I've discovered Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. This is a much darker vampire tale. Vampires are not the stuff of myth and legend in this book. They have recently "come out of the closet" and many are part of normal society. This threw me for a loop - no more protecting the Big Secret.

Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress in small rural town in Louisiana. She can read minds and it drives her crazy. In fact many people in town think she is crazy anyway. She meets Bill Compton who is a vampire whose mind is silent for her. She is immediately attracted to him. The author presents a bizarre underworld of humans who enjoy drinking vampire blood at the same time offering their blood to vampires. Who would've guessed? Now Sookie could be the next victim of a killer who thinks vampires and humans should not mix. Bill is not the romantic hero of a fairy tale. He is by nature a killer but tries to "mainstream" to fit into normal society. Their relationship is very complicated but it works on some level. This book wasn't at all what I was expecting but I will try to get my hands on the second book in this series. This series is not at the NFCC Library.

Article on Stephenie Meyer

http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/2009_March_Stephenie_Meyer/

If you are interested in the Twilight Series (see previous post from August below) check out the link above.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory

-contributed by Kay Hogan
This book is a fictionalized account of the life of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, and her sister Mary. Mary is the "Other Boleyn girl" who had an affair with Henry VIII before her sister Anne came on the scene. This story shows how little women were valued in the sixteenth century. These women were used to advance their family's fortune at any cost. The scheming that takes place in the novel is absolutely unbelievable. It is a riveting novel that has several twists and turns. One feels sympathy for the characters even though their actions are sometimes inexcusable.

Making the Most of Your Life

Making the Most of Your Life is a book that has impacted me because now I know that I am not the only one with problems. I should just look at the bright side of my problems. I have been stressing too much since I started college because all of the work I have to do. The classes I am taking have taught me many things I did not know from high school; and sometimes I feel like I never even went to high school because everything seems so new to me. Now, I am able to understand math, English, and writing, and I am reading a lot better. What I have learned from this book was not to give up in school and that problems are a part of life. I should just have a positive attitude, READ, and try to do my best. This book, Making the Most of Your Life, has motivated me a lot since I have read it. Angelica

The Yellow Ribbon

The Yellow Ribbon is a story from a book of stories. It is about a man who had been in prison for quite some time, and he had asked his wife if she would still have him. If she still wanted him, she should tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree in their town. To his surprise, there were hundreds of ribbons tied to it upon his return.
The effect this story had on my life is more to benefit my personal feelings. I have been married twelve years to my first love. Throughout this time, we have hit some very rough potholes; but with the amount of love that we have, and the friendships that we share, we have stuck it through – no matter what. In the same way, the wife in this story had always loved her husband, and no matter what the situation, her devotion to this man was strong enough to ask him back into her life again. After reading The Yellow Ribbon, I felt like I was the wife in the story, because my love for my husband is just as strong. Rebecca

Brothers in Arms by Paul Langan and Ben Alirez

Brothers in Arms was a very touching book because I have a little brother who would have done the same as the little boy in the book did for his older brother. He would try to protect me no matter how mean or how much I tried to push him away. I related to this book because this is how much my brother loves me. Teresa

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, helped me understand abuse. I learned that abuse can take many forms and can follow you from childhood until you become an adult. Sometimes being unable to express how you feel and what is happening can make you feel that abuse is your own fault. It was rewarding to read from a woman who overcame it with a positive outcome, and it helped me to manage my own feelings and accept that what happened was not my fault. Sometimes the ones that were supposed to protect you and watch over you were not good people, but they are all only human. Tanya