I haven’t read a whole lot of this week (I know, I know. Horrible.). I finally finished The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart. Not a bad ending, just sort of sad, full of horrible misunderstandings and mistakes. I didn’t cry, but it was still sad.

Then I finally got Betrayed, by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (a mother-daughter duo). It’s the second book in the House of Night series, and I am really loving these books! I devoured this one, just like I did the first one, Marked. They are YA urban fantasy about vampires, but their take on vampires is completely unlike anything I’ve seen before. A vampire finishing school? Completely wonderful idea. I adore the characters in these books. Betrayed was awesome, but I wouldn’t really recommend reading it without reading Marked first. Everything will make more sense if you read them in order, and you’ll be attached to the characters as well.

Zoey Redbird is a great teenage character, full of self-doubts and insecurities, but knowing she’s something special and wanting to live up to that potential. Her group of friends are all well-realized and realistic teenagers as well. The Twins are interesting (Not the same race, but definitely separated at birth.) Damien is great (A gay fledgling vampire who acts like the fashion police?). And then there’s Stevie Ray (Now, who ever heard of an Okie vampire with a name like that?) And Neferet, the High Priestess of Nyx, really creeps me out. There’s a lot going on in this book, enough to keep me turning the pages even though there were a thousand other things I needed to be doing (Hello, working on my own writing?). It made me laugh several times, and made me cry as well. The third book in the series, Chosen, comes out in March 2008, and I can’t wait.

I’m also well into Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs. I enjoyed the first book in this series, Moon Called, and this one is shaping up to be good as well. I like the idea of skinwalkers, and the fact that neither the local werewolf pack or the vampire seethe know what to make of Mercedes Thompson. And she’s a mechanic, which is definitely an unexpected twist. Plus, the cover art is cool, with all of her tattoos and attitude on display. In this book, she’s after a demon-possessed vampire sorcerer, which is almost more than I can wrap my brain around.

So, that’s what I’m reading now. I’ve you’ve never tried P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, or Patricia Briggs, I highly recommend them.

Also posted to my personal blog, A Figment of my Imagination.

One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is read. So, I’ve decided to make blogging about whatever book I’m currently reading a weekly thing. Not that the topic will necessarily be all that interesting or educational, but just because. Currently, I’m reading two books: The Wicked Day, by Mary Stewart; and All Together Dead, by Charlaine Harris.

I’ve had the Mary Stewart books on my TBR pile for a while. (Over a year, in fact.) Once I started reading them, I realized I’d actually read the first two before. Not that that detracted from my enjoyment of them at all. I actually liked them a lot. I enjoyed her take on Merlin, and a lot of the background and mythic stuff I think is great. I’ve always liked when books have layers of background information in them (Tolkien, anyone?), and this just made me like the books more. The writing is sort of formal, but that gives my mind a break if I read something in that style every once in a while. Now I’m on the fourth book, and I’m still enjoying it. I don’t think I’ve read this one before, either. It’s interesting to see things from Mordred’s point of view, and although I know how this has to end, I’d still recommend the series to anyone who loves fantasy. The Arthurian legends have been over-done, but I don’t think Stewart is on that list.

On to All Together Dead. Can I just say that I love this series? I finally borrowed this book from my best friend (who has the same taste in books that I do, so we swap a lot), and it’s been really difficult to put down. Of course, this is the seventh book in the series, so I’ve had plenty of time to get to know the characters. I love Sookie. And Eric. And Quinn. Boo to Bill, though. This book has a good mystery going, and the pacing is great, so I keep telling myself “One more chapter” for hours at a time. I love the close POV Harris sticks to with Sookie, and how real Sookie seems (sometimes I feel like I know her personally). If you like vampires, you should definitely pick this one up (and the rest of the series).