The Vampire Diaries By L.J. Smith

This was an awesome series by L. J. Smith, written quite a while ago, (1991!) but a great plot with nicely detailed characters. I had a really fun time reading this series. The book in the series that I'm reviewing now is the one I originally bought, though now I realize this is the first and second books (The Awakening and The Struggle) merged into one neatly combined stack of papers.

Elena Gilbert is ever so popular, beautiful, and loved at the high school she goes to in Fell's Church, Virginia (In the new TV series, they call it Mystic Falls). Her good friends, Bonnie and Meredith, are always nearby, while Caroline, her no-longer-best-friend, now considers Elena as competition. Matt, Elena's ex-boyfriend, is still slightly heartbroken. All in all, a pretty normal high school situation... except for the new boy, Stefan Salvatore, brooding, mysterious, and possibly the only guy who can resist Elena's charm. Or so it seems. Because of this fact, Elena wants him more than any of her other classmates. Well, you always want what you can't have. Eventually, (a bit later than it should have been, really) Elena discovers the secret that you and I have already guessed: Stefan is a vampire. Vegetarian, but a vampire. (I will say it again! People always want what they can't have!)

(When I started this book, it was after I finished Twilight. All I could think of was, 'this is such a Twilight ripoff! I can't believe it!' Then I checked the copyright date. That reversed my thoughts, but I still wasn't as mad at Twilight. Why? a) I love that series. b) The whole Veggie-Vamp-falls-in-love-with-human-girl is a pretty common theme. c)... I love that series.)

As the pair of them slowly fall into a vampire/human love, attacks begin to happen in Fells Church. ... ... Animal attacks. Do you know what I mean? At the same time, Elena is visited by a dark stranger. Coincidence? I think not. This stranger is Damon, Stefan's older vampire brother, and his diet is just, well, slightly different. About 150 years ago in Renaissance Italy, Stefan and Damon fell in love with the same girl, a vampire girl to be exact, on who looked just like 21st century Elena. That couldn't end pretty, do you agree? To make a long story short, she kills herself (for reasons you can find out on your own), Stefan and Damon 'kill' each other, but they had too much vampire blood in their system, so instead they both become vampires. Now, Damon is basically trying to ruin Stefan's life, while Stefan has just mysteriously disappeared. Wonder who to blame...

End of Book 1. *sigh* sorry, but I already gave away too much. Better stop right there...

(In this picture, Elena is in the center, Damon is on the left, and Stefan is on the right.)

So, I did hint at earlier the fact that there is a TV show. Thursday nights, CW, channel 18 at 7:00 central time. I highly recommend the show, with a few exceptions. #1, there are some creepy parts, so not for the easily scared. #2, it has a lot of extra events that were not in the storylines of the books, so if you see something you don't recognize (if you read the books), don't be surprised. #3, this show can be confusing without seeing past episodes. The two easy cures for that are reading the series (sometimes it helps) and going on hulu, it can be a lifesaver!

That was a lot of typing. Anyways, read the books, watch the shows, tell your friends, enjoy! ;)

-Sashanimal

Sims 3

So, this is my first non-book related post! I have decided to write it about Sims 3, a really cool game I have been playing a ton lately! If you own either Sims 2 or Sims 1, I would still suggest Sims 3, even though the general main points are the same. I think the games have just been getting better and better! At first, I thought that with all you can do in it, that the game would be slightly overwhelming with too many things, and it is when you just start, but you grow into it really fast.

For those of you that haven't played any Sims before, the main idea is that you create people. In Sims 1, you choose from a select group of heads, bodies and feet. In Sims 2, you can choose from a few hairstyles and colors, while the feature controls are a bit more open, with options and scales, but the scales are pretty general. You also choose clothes styles with a few color options, and relative personality. In Sims 3, though, you can choose almost everything. You create your hair color (and can even add color of highlights, tips and roots!), endless eye color and makeup color, there are more feature scales and they are more exact, you choose the clothing shape and outline (If you want, you can choose patterns or colors for every part of the outfit), and much more detailed personality, like favorite food, color, style of music, voice, and also a wide variety of traits to choose, from 'friendly', to 'neurotic', to 'hates children'!

After the creation of a family (yes, go along, after all that time making one Sim, continue until you have a family, or if you only want one Sim...), you chose the house. There isn't really much to say about that, but there are money cheats that you can use to be rich! Then... their world is yours. Paint a picture, run through the sprinkler, go to the day spa, shop for groceries, fish in a pond or the ocean, get a job, almost anything you want to do is possible. Another new feature of the game, you can just walk, bike, or drive seamlessly through the town, where in the other games, you would hop into a taxi or your car (or helicopter, in Sims 2!) and there would be a loading screen to get from one place to another. It feels so good not to load every time!

Anyways, that's the game. Make anything. Decide everything. Have fun. It's one of my favorite games in a while, I'm totally hooked!

Stormbreaker By Anthony Horowitz

Again, sorry for not publishing recently!

This book is the first in the Alex Rider series, about a normal boy named Alex. He has lived a pretty normal life, being raised by his uncle, Ian Rider, who had just recently died. But Alex doesn't believe the story of his death, they said he died in a crash without his seatbelt on. But Ian was a careful man, so Alex decides to investigate. Checking the dump for evidence of the car crash turned into learning that Ian was really an MI6 operative... a spy.

Alex then goes to meet the head of MI6, Alan Blunt, and is given a task. To complete his uncle's assignment of investigating a man named Herod Sayle, who is giving free, high-tech computers to every school in Britain.

These computers, called "Stormbrakers", hold a secret, and will Alex be able to figure it out? Or is he just a kid?


Held together with fast-paced adventure, Stormbreaker, and the whole Alex Rider series, will keep you entertained for a good, long time.

Sorry!

Ugh, I'm really sorry! I haven't updated since... what, August 3rd?! Oh my gosh, I really need to update and I'm working on an entry right now! I'll post as soon as possible!!

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You By Ally Carter

I have not been blogging for a while, I've been really busy doing whatever, but I'm back now!

I just finnished the second book in this series and loved it the whole way! (And do NOT be intimidated by the length of the title!) This series follows the path of Cammie Morgan, a student at The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a relatively typical 'rich-girls' school-- If by typical, you mean 'if every school tought advanced matial arts in PE and the latest chemical warfare in science, and students recieve extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class.' (I just love that line from the back cover!) Most people consider (and believe) that it's a school for geniuses, when it's really a school for spies.

Cammie is very intelligent, fluent in fourteen launguages and (quoted) 'capable of killing a man seven different ways with her bare hands' and yet has no idea how to react when, on a test mission, she meets 'just a boy' who thinks she's 'just a girl'. She starts to connect to him and to really and completely delve into her cover story, which is one big problem-- he can never know the truth about her. In this semi-spy, semi-teenage girl story, Cammie has to choose between her curent lifestyle... and him.

I absolutely LOVE this series (reviews of the other books may come later) and I think most other people would too!

Endymion Spring By Matthew Skelton

This is my first post of a book I have only started, but so far, it's awesome! Endymion Spring is the double story of a mute boy who works as a printer's apprentice and an American boy whose mother was an Oxford student, and goes back to do work sometimes.

The mute printer's apprentice is Endymion Spring. They say that right in the beginning, so I'm actually not spoilling it. Endymion's teacher is Herr Gutenberg, who has figured out how to print multiple copies easily with ink and letter squares.

One night, a strange man comes and visits Gutenberg. His name is Johann Faust, and he has brought a strange, demon-covered box with him- and a deal. He will supply Gutenberg with enough cash to print many books, including Bibles, with the printing press, for a share in the profits. That agreement brings Endymion Spring into a long journey, including opening things that can only open by the taste of blood, stories of magic, child-eating books, a tree that was once inhabited by a dragon of all knowledge, and paper that lives! But that is only one half of the book...

The American boy is Blake, just a normal, average kid. His parents just were in a fight that is reffered to as the Big Argument by Blake and his little sister, Duck (the backstory of how Duck got her name is pretty interesting!). Because of the fight, or at least I think because of the fight, Blake, his mom and Duck all went to Oxford so their mom could study for one of her reports and meet with the Ex-Libris Society, an old group she was in.

When exploring the Library one day, Blake felt one of the books prick his finger. He took it out, and can you guess what the cover said? Endymion Spring (OMG!). The pages of the book, quivered, as if alive (that should sound familiar... hhmm... are these stories connected, by any chance?) and words started to write themselves in the book, words only Blake can read... this book plunges him into riddles, mysteries, old legends, the Ex-Libris Society and even a battle with the Person In Shadow, a mysterous and annonymous member of the Society who wishes to find the forbidden book of knowledge that is Endymion Spring... (I think I'll just stop there, because I don't know the rest! I still haven't finnished it!)