Try These On For Size This Halloween!

First of all, allow me to apologize for my disgustingly long absense from posting! I am currently doing my pedagogy experience at a new school district and have been so swamped with wonderfully busy work! Plus, I was busy turning 24 this past Monday. But... I promise to make more of an effort!



Since the greatest holiday of the year is quickly approaching, I thought I would post some delicious books that will make your toes curl or will satisfy your hunger for something supernatural. I recommend all of these!

1. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay - If you are a fan of the hit Showtime series and haven't dove into these books, you absolutely MUST! They are so wonderful. If you have never even heard of Dexter Morgan, well you'll be in for quite a treat. Dexter is a serial killer... but he is the most lovable serial killer you'll ever read about. His killer personality (haha) will draw you in. I am currently about half way through this series opener, and I cannot get enough!

2. Intensity, by Dean Koontz - This is no happy-go-lucky thriller. This book is intense and terrifying. I am not normally a huge Koontz fan, but this book gave me chills that kept me shivering even after I finished the book. The title says it all!

3. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris - Yes, here I am again, plugging the Sookie Stackhouse books... But seriously, they are so fabulous. You get a little supernatural vampire action, you get some serious gore, you get great dry humor, and you also get some steamy romance scenes. I mean, what else could you possibly want? This, or any of the other Sookie Stackhouse books, make fabulous Halloween reads!

4. The Shining, by Stephen King - Honestly, after Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Jack Torrence, do I really even need to explain why this book is so perfectly creepy for Halloween? Even if you don't consider the Nicholson effect, it's Stephen King! Come on, he's the king of creepy!!

These are only four of my favorites. Of course there are many, many others that are simply perfect for a spooky night. Happy Haunting, everyone!

A 999 Update!

Hello all! I am so sorry about my recent lack of updates. Life has gotten in the way of any kind of leisure. BUT, I am back in action and will try to be more frequent with my updates. I thought that I would give an update to where I am with my 999 Challenge!Just a reminder for those who do not know/do not remember what the 999 Challenge is: You choose 9 categories (they can be anything!), then you read 9 different books for each category, and you read them all in 2009! This means that if you complete the challenge, you will have tackled at least 81 books for the year. No double dipping with your categories! The should also be books that you haven't read before (unless you have a "Rereads" category, like I do).

Here is my list, the books that I have already read are in bold. The other books are the ones that I am tentatively planning to read to fulfill my categories. This is where you come in. If you see a book on my list and think you know of a better one to help me fill that category, I would love some advice!

**Nicholas Sparks**
1. The Choice
2. At First Site
3. A Walk To Remember
4. The Wedding
5. The Rescue
6. Dear John
7. A Bend In The Road
8. True Believer
9. Message In A Bottle

**Jodi Picoult**
1. My Sister's Keeper
2. Nineteen Minutes
3. Keeping Faith
4. The Pact
5. The Tenth Circle
6. Mercy
7. Perfect Match
8. Change Of Heart
9. Vanishing Acts

**Tudor Fiction/Henry's Wives**
1. The Boleyn Inheritance
2. The Last Boleyn
3. The Rose Without A Thorn
4. The Sixth Wife
5. Concubine
6. Murder Most Royal
7. Brief Gaudy Hour
8. The Secret Bride of Henry VIII
9. Mademoiselle Boleyn

**Other Historical Fiction**
1. The Heretic's Daughter
2. My Shadow Warrior
3. My Father Had A Daughter
4. Captain Wentworth's Diary
5. Darcy & Elizabeth
6. Courts of Love
7. Fallen Skies
8. The Fiery Cross
9. A Breath Of Snow & Ashes

**Chick Lit**
1. The Other Woman
2. One Fifth Avenue
3. The Host
4. Something Borrowed
5. Confessions Of A Shopaholic
6. Something Blue
7. Bridget Jones's Diary
8. The Beach House
9. Firefly Lane

**Classics**
1. Emma
2. Jane Eyre
3. Persuasion
4. Northanger Abbey
5. Little Women
6. Hard Times
7. Gone With The Wind
8. Mansfield Park
9. The Outsiders

**Georgette Heyer**
1. Lady Of Quality
2. These Old Shades
3. The Quiet Gentleman
4. The Convenient Marriage
5. Devil's Club
6. The Corinthian
7. The Grand Sophy
8. The Talisman Ring
9. Black Sheep

**Vampire Books**
1. Dead Until Dawn
2. Living Dead In Dallas
3. Club Dead
4. Dead To The World
5. Dead As A Doornail
6. Definitely Dead
7. All Together Dead
8. From Dead To Worse
9. Dead & Gone

**Rereads**
1. Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone
2. Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix
6. Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows
8. Twilight
9. New Moon

Have any replacement suggestions? Leave me a comment!

I Wanna Do Bad Things With You

I'm a huge fan of HBO's vampire series, True Blood. The television series is based on the novels written by Charlaine Harris. The series is called The Southern Vampire Mysteries, or is also referred to as The Sookie Stackhouse novels. Sookie Stackhouse is the main character, a waitress from the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie is just an ordinary southern girl, who happens to be able to read minds. She always has longed to meet a vampire since they became legal citizens and began mainstreaming into society (don't worry, Japan created a synthetic blood to prevent vampires from feeding on human beings). She meets Bill, and the two fall in love. But falling in love with a vampire sure does create a lot of relationship problems. The first novel in Harris's series, Dead Until Dark, focuses on that relationship and all of the heartache and trouble that comes along with loving a vampire.


Vampires have made a super sexy comeback. First, Twilight emerged into the teenage market. Then HBO picked up Harris's novels and transformed them into a television series. Both have a sexy, brooding lead male vampire with plenty of other vampire eye candy (Emmett Cullen of Twilight or Eric of True Blood). Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse is absolutely perfect also. I think that the television show is almost a little bit better than the books, which is shocking to me. The secondary characters in the show are so much more developed. And Bill is much more swoon-worthy on the show. However, immediately after reading the first book, I ran to my library and snagged the second one and have begun pouring over it.

These are fast reads and are really great to take on a weekend trip. Or if you're looking for something light and are into vampires, I would definitely recommend the Sookie Stackhouse books.