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!)

Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan

I'm shocked at myself. I almost forgot to review this book, the best Greek Mythology book I've every read, and one of the best books I've read total! In this, Greek myths are real. Yep. All that Achilles, Cyclops, Minotaur, Medusa stuff. Also, sometimes the Greek gods have children-with mortals. Those children are Half-bloods, or Demigods, which the main characters of this series are.

12-year-old Percy Jackson makes such a discovery that launches him

'on the most dangerous quest of his life'. First, he was sent to a special camp for Demigods, since he had found out part of his heritage (that he was related to the Gods, not which God. No, I'm not going to spoil it for you!). Then, Percy was accused of stealing Zeus' personal weapon of mass destruction- his Master Lightning Bolt. With the help from a satyr (half goat, half boy) named Grover and a daughter of Athena, Annabeth, Percy has to find the thief who stole Zeus' Bolt before the Winter Solstice- which gives him very little time (about 10 days). Encountering many different monsters from Greek Mythology (and you thought they were fake...) and even Ares (god of war), Posiedon (god of the sea/water) and Aphrodite (godess of love and beauty), Percy's life will never be the same... Okay, that's used way too often, and that should be obvious, he just found out that Greek myths are real, he's related to a Greek god and is a Demigod?! That's a lot of change for crying out loud!
Anyway, filled with excitement, mystery and awesome prophecies (sort of like warriors), I love this series (yes, it's a series)!

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_thief (wikipedia thing; WARNING:SPOILERS!)
http://www.percyjacksonbooks.com/ (official site)

Warriors: Book 1: Into the Wild By Erin Hunter

There are so many good fantasy books (the genre which I am mainly interested in...) that need to be known about! The Warriors series is an amazing series that shows the story of wild forest cats that are affected and essentially influenced by the humans, or known by the cats as Twolegs. Oh, and by the way, Erin Hunter is not a real person. Well, I guess she is, or more like they are! Erin Hunter is really 3 people, Cherith Baldry, Kate Cary and Victoria Holmes. They work together to write the series.

For long centuries, the four Clans of wild cats have divided the forest according to the boundaries laid by their warrior ancestors. 'But ThunderClan is in danger and ShadowClan grows stronger everyday.' (Erin just describes it so perfectly!) great warriors are dying and some deaths have mysteries to go with them...

In the middle of the anxiety, a normal house cat, Rusty, comes out into the forest. He may turn out to be the best warrior of them all.

An amazing (and extremely long!) series with excitement, twists, in depth semi-series and shocking prophecies that will leave you speechless. I know, over used, but true. With a total of 29 books in all, and more still coming, these books will keep you reading for months.

-Sashanimal :)

Blue Bloods By Melissa De La Cruz

As you MUST eventually find out about me, I absolutely love vampires and vampire books (especially when they have some sort of twist or romance in them!). Along with Twilight, another amazing vampire series is Blue Bloods. In this series, vampire stereotypes are pretty much insignificant and don't apply. Apparently, the pilgrims who first settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts were the first vampires, called Blue Bloods for their eventually

(you guessed it!) blue blood.

Schuyler goes to school at Duchesne with some of the most prestigious families of Massachusetts and she has never fit in. She wears old, baggy, black clothes instead of the 'Prada and pearls' (as Melissa describes it) that all the other kids wear. She lives with her grandmother in a ragged mansion and is fine with being alone.

But abruptly, her life changes. On her fifteenth birthday, she starts craving raw meat, and has a twisted array of blue veins on her forearms. The death of a Duchesne girl is a mystery that torments her. And even stranger, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school is showing a sudden interest in her. Schuyler wants to figure out her fellow vampires' secrets. But is it possible she's in danger?

Melissa De La Cruz weaves a complicated and fascinating vampire series with major revelations in every single book. But I suggest this book for people who are only 12 or older. There are just a few parts. Not too many worries though. It's still an amazing book! Hope you read it!

Midnighters: Secret Hour By Scott Westerfeld

As you may have guessed, I REALLY like Scott Westerfeld! He is sooo cool. This was the second series by him I read and this, Secret Hour, is the first in the Midnighters series. In these books, and I guess possibly in real life, there are really 25 hours in the day instead of 24. As Scott Westerfeld describes it on one of his website, 'The extra [25th] hour is rolled up too tight to see and it flashes past most people in an instant.' Most people are not born in the amazing 1/86,400 fraction of the day that is glorious midnight, but those who are can be called Midnighters. Midnighters are the only people who live through the secret hour while all the other people are frozen, yet this only happens in Bixby, Okalhoma (too complicated! Well, not really, you'll get used to it...). Wait, one more thing...... the Midnighters are not the only ones in the midnight hour. They are creatures afraid of the number 13, like darklings and slithers. It's different when you're not on the top of the food chain...

Jessica Day is new to Bixby, and when Rex (he can tell where darklings have been and can see if some one is a Midnighter) looks at Jessica he can tell... she's not a normal daylighter. But when she finds herself in the midnight hour and Rex, Melissa (mindcaster) and Dess (polymath a.k.a math specialist. She finds 13 letter words called tridacalogisms to scare away the darklings with) check to make sure she is a Midnighter by looking at the moon (Midnighter's eyes flash purple in the blue-moonlight, sorry this whole thing is so confusing!), her eyes didn't flash. Also, almost all Midnighters have a certain power.

What is Jessica's power? Why does she seem different? Why do all the darklings and slithers want to destroy her? Ha, bet you didn't expect THAT one, but it's true! Read the series to find out all those 'whys'!

Here are some Midnighters and Scott Westerfeld links:

http://www.scottwesterfeld.com/index.htm (his website)

http://www.scottwesterfeld.com/blog/ (his blog)

http://www.scottwesterfeld.com/midnighters/index.htm (his midnighters website)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnighters_trilogy

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

This is deffinately one of my favorite books (and series) of all time! Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is about a girl, Bella, who comes from Arizona to Forks, Washington, to live with her father. Bella's parents divorced when she was young and her mother's new boyfriend plays baseball and has to move often. In Forks, many of the boys like her but there is just one family she is curious about.

The Cullens. Pale, ice cold, strong, fast, not like other people. Of the Cullens, Edward is the one who stands out to her. When Bella walked by him, Edward's reaction was so strong, full of something like hate for a total stranger. It was surprising to her.

Until she found out...
The Cullens are vampires.

An amazing romance novel, adventure, fantasy and a bit of horror, this book will keep you reading for hours and probably days straight!

Also, the movie may not be as good as the book, but I still recommend it. I personally saw the movie before reading the book and I liked that mainly because it helped me visualize the people and then they described them in the book which backed up the movie's actors. I know some people read the book first but if I had, I know it would be more disappointing to see my favorite book parts left out. But that's my opinion! You can decide for yourself if you want to read it at all!

-Sashanimal :)

Uglies By Scott Westerfeld

Okay, I'm feeling ambitious today. I'm going to do another review, but of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Uglies is a futuristic book where on every one's sixteenth birthday, they get an amazing surgery that makes them from an Ugly into a Pretty. Now let me explain, people under sixteen aren't really ugly, but compared to Pretties they are and their society has taught them that you can't be pretty without the operation. Also, when you become a Pretty you get to live in New Pretty Town where your only job is to have fun. How cool is that?!

Tally is fifteen and only weeks from turning pretty. But then Tally's new friend, Shay, doesn't want to become pretty. She instead wants to go live outside her city in the wild with a group of other Uglies who didn't want to be pretty called The Smoke. The Smoke survives on the wilderness and anything they brought from the city on their trip there. When Shay runs away, Tally is brought to a secret and... special group of authorities that gives her an impossibly hard choice: Go to The Smoke and turn Shay in or never turn pretty at all. Whatever her choice, it'll definitely gets ugly... (Yes, stupid pun intended)

Uglies is fast-paced, fascinating, and leaves you wanting more. (which you do get, there are four books in this series!)

Have fun reading, whether it's this book or any other!

-Sashanimal :)

Oops! I forgot to add these links about The 39 Clues!

http://www.the39clues.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_39_Clues

-Sashanimal :)

The 39 Clues: Book 1: Maze of Bones

So, this review is of the first 39 Clues book, Maze of Bones, written by Rick Riordan. Many different popular authors are working together to write these books. Each book has 6 cards that you can register online (with an account) at the 39 Clues website to get extra clues.

The series is about one of the most powerful and influential families in history, the Cahills. All of the Cahill branches, specializing in different things, (Janus, Lucian, Tomas and Ekaterina) are racing to find all 39 Clues. The first people to find them are to become the richest and most important people in history. In the first book, Grace Cahill, one of the people who knows about their heritage, has died and at her funeral they introduce the characters. A select few are given the choice: take a million dollars and leave, or get the first clue. Amy and Dan, brother and sister (also the main characters) take the clue. They find themselves in many places, from Boston to the Catacombs of Paris!

This book (and the whole series) is action-packed and highly entertaining. I definitely suggest this book.

My First Blog Entry

Hey people! This blog is all about reviews of books I've read, authors, books I recommend and books I'm reading! I'll also say a little about what I'm doing lately, events I have gone to (or will go to) and any other random things I may be thinking about.

-Sashanimal :)