Ink Stained Fingers

The Top 10 Books I Couldn't Have Lived Without

2012-02-11T00:04:00.000-08:00

Hello again and welcome to Ink Stained Fingers, where all books get their trial by fire.

As for those of you who have been keeping up with my reviews you know that last time I went over the list of the top 10 books I could have lived without. Since then I’ve had a few friends of mine that had asked me numerous questions. One of the biggest ones was that if that was the books I didn’t like then what were the top 10 books I couldn’t live without?

You know those books. The book that you could read over and over again. It’s the books you keep within reach so you can grab it up and read it whenever you get the urge.

Luckily for them and for you I all ready had a list set up for just this occasion. So today, we are gonna dive into the Top 10 Books I Couldn’t Live Without. So buckle in for the books that I could talk about all day long.

And I promise to keep it short as possible…but I make no promises.

10. The Chalice and the Blade by Genna McReynolds

This is one of those books I believe I’ve mentioned before. But this is one of those books that broke through my usual radar of books with damsels in distress as something not to aspire to. The main reason it made this list is because of that. The fact that it has dragons, sword fighting, magic and a damsel in distress that can fight back makes it a book that I could read over and over again.

9. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Now, many people know all about this book series. It’s one of the most popular book to movie series even before Harry Potter. This book is timeless. The characters are amazing. The story is epic in ways that all other books try to compete with. The series is flawless and they know it because they aren’t trying to add to it or do spin offs. There’s simply no need.

8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

And here we have it. This is the next book in a series that came out perfect. Some people may have problems with the characters but I don’t. As Steven King said: “Harry Potter is all about confronting fears, finding inner strength, and doing what is right in the face of adversity.” If any kids need a series to inspire them, then this series is the one and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite out of the entire series for that.

7. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Now my friends know that this book would make this list and for those of you that have kept up with my blog then you would too. The big reason this book makes the list is that for the first time in the series we actually get to hear from the other characters. The starting force might have been Bella but she wasn’t completely center stage. That made this book better than others by far.

6. Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

I’ve seen another couple of reviews for this book and I have to agree with them. While this book does make series like Twilight possible, it is still separate from those other series. It is the first of its kind that makes vampires into the ones that you’d rather spend eternity with rather than running screaming in the other direction. I do like the traditional vampires once in a while but what’s a good story without some hot eye candy? You may never marry these vampires but I bet it’s more than enough to dream about them.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Now this book is unlike the other books on the series except maybe for The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. This is one of those stories that I like not for hot guys or powerful women. This is a story I like for the moral it brings across. Simply that first impressions of a person aren’t always right and those impressions shouldn’t used to keep yourself distant from the other person because that very person might be the key to happiness in your life.

4. Dhampir by Barb and J.C. Hendee

Again, here’s another vampire book that makes the list. However, this is so far from Twilight and Interview with the Vampire that it has its own category in my mind. There’s no romance. No vampires you want to date or that are even sexy. This is all about the action with some mystery thrown in to keep you wondering what’s going to happen. A vampire mystery. Sounds like fun to me.

3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Now this is a book that needs to be on everyone’s list. A book about the severe effects of over-censorship. Most people think we as a society could never let things get that far. This book is more than enough of a wake up call as to what things could be like if we just keep taking the passive route through our lives. Give this book a read and see just what I mean.

2. Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton

Yet another vampire novel makes my list. Any of my friends could attest to the fact that I’m a sucker for a vampire novel. However, while this novel is from a vampire series, this book has little to do with the main vampires of the series. Yeah it features vampires but it delves more into the life of an assassian and bounty hunter that Anita Blake knows as Edward, Death or Ted Forrester. The last when he’s doing legal things. Edward is one of my faves from the series and I was more than excited to learn more about him.

1. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King

And here it is, one of my fave books. This book made me want to seek out the original Sherlock Holmes stories and read as many of them as possible as well as the rest of this series. This book is perfect in my mind. The thrills, the backstories, the characters and everything else is well thought out and executed. You aren’t spending the book trying to figure anything out but you are still curious where the story is going. Mystery, crime, and someone that will go toe to toe with Sherlock Holmes? Just awesome.

And there you have it, the top 10 books that I couldn’t live without. These books were never in any particular order. Even if I tried to go for some sort of order I wouldn’t have been able to do it. They are all amazing in their own ways. Just seems wrong to pit them against each other. It’s enough that they are great.

Do you have a top 10 books you could always go back to? Those books that you turn to on good days, bad days, and all the days in between because it’s stuck in your mind. If you do feel free to share them in the comments.

Don’t have a top 10? Don’t even know where to start? Try out the books on my list. They just may be the ones that end up on your top 10.

That’s all from this book junkie.

I’m Creative Karma and I’m on the look out for a new top 10 books to love.

The Top 10 Books I Could Have Lived Without

2012-02-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

Evening everyone out there in the world wide web and welcome to another edition of Ink Stained Fingers. The place were all books get their day in my court. Some are innocent until proven guilty while others are guilty until proven innocent.

In this edition of Ink Stained Fingers, I’m going to be delving into the books that are just plain guilty. And I’m not talking about those nice guilty pleasures that you enjoy in the privacy of your room. I’m talking about the books that are simply the kind I could have done without.

Let me describe this type of book before I move to far ahead.

Any book that made this list is guilty of one or more things. Those things can be but are exclusive to: too many plot lines, too little of a plot line, boring characters, characters you can’t relate to, too much information, trying to be funny/epic/romantic/serious/etc. and failing miserably at it, getting the reader’s hopes up, and lame endings.

There’s much more I could add to that list but then this would be list that might last me all night and that’s not what I’m here for. I’m here to reveal my top 10 books I could have lived without and tell you why that is.

These books are in no particular order but all belong on this list.

Enough with the teasing, let’s dive into the top 10 books I could have lived without and this time I have pictures.

10. Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton

Now, normally, I'm a huge fan of the Anita Blake series. I read this whole series over and over again till most of the people around me can't stand it anymore. But this book upset me. The story line wasn't horrible, the characters were all the same, and it was the same writing style. However, it was the way this book was ended that did it in for me. Having followed all of the characters this far I tend to think I know them rather well. The end of the book made no sense to the rest of the series and made what could have been some epic into a lamely written confrontation.

9. Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice

Again, I'm traditionally a fan of the Ann Rice series and something of a vampire lore junkie. I like following the lives of Lestat, Louie and all the rest. I even loved the individual books in the series. But Memnoch the Devil definitely shows the author when she decided to be uber religious. I'm all for reading about people's different ideas of what Heaven, Hell, the Devil, God, demons and angels are like. However, when I pick up an Anne Rice vampire novel I expect it to have something more to do with vampires than Lestat having some weird religious out of body experience.

8. The Witches by Ronald Dahl

Again, another author I like. I loved Matilda and they did a great job with the movie rendition. But this is one book that I really didn't want to wrap my head around. This is a sort of children's book so it's not hard to follow by any means. It's a quick read and that's about the only good thing about it. But the idea they are trying to pass off with who "The Witches" are is just so silly and stupid that the only type of person it's good for is a scary story for five year olds. But scary in the manner of all those "scary stories" for teens that were more meant to scare them out of going to park out on some hill in a guy's car to make out. All in all this is a book that tries to take itself too seriously and that's what makes it fail.

7. Skellig by David Almond

Like in my comments about Memnoch the Devil, I don't mind different thoughts on religious ideas. A couple of years at a community college and a Comparative Religion class helped that along. But this story has nothing to do with religion in any sense of the word. There may be one or two little things at the end of the book that hint towards some of the teachings in the Bible but it's like an afterthought. I'm not even sure what the author meant to get across in this book. Is it supposed to be scary? Is it supposed to express some idea? What is the reading supposed to feel for the characters? All questions to which I still have no answer.

6. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

It surprises me how many of the books on this list are from the Children's Literature class I took in college. I liked a lot of the books we read and I don't mind reading children's books. I even recognize that I might not like some books because they are for a much younger audience. However, this book gets more confusing as you go on. The idea was a great one. But there is little to no explanation for how we got to this point in time. As if the reader is simply supposed to accept a society that they are unfamiliar with set a thousand years more or less in the future and using terminology and technology that are suddenly something common and everyday. The descriptions make it hard to picture what's going on and only adds to the confusion. All in all this is a book that left me wondering what all I missed and not in a good way.

5. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith

Now, I'm putting these two together because I read them together. Doesn't seem fair when I can't keep the stories from mixing in my own mind. As I said before, I'm a sucker for different ways of using vampire lore. I'm not stuck on Dracula as the one true vampire. But these two books simply didn't do it for me. I guess the author was trying to make it more down to earth and real for a teenage/high school setting. Well, they succeeded better than the Twilight series on that one. However, save for the vampire angle it was too close. It was too much like a typical high school drama. Heck, you could have removed the vampire angle and made every character human and it really wouldn't have taken much away from the books. The female lead in these book is better than most by far. She's far from being a true damsel in distress...like some emo chics I could name... However, I still couldn't feel drawn into the story.

4. The Group by Mary McCarthy

This book wasn't all that bad to tell the truth. It had it's good moments and the characters weren't bland in the least. It was simply hard for me to handle the writing style of this book. It tended to jump between story line to story line of each girl in "the group" of friends. I ended up missing more of the things going on then remembering them. It was simply too much information to keep in my head till all the story lines converged in the end of the book. If you can juggle multiple storylines in one book then I would actually recommend this book to you. Fair warning, this book is uncensored and for adult reader's only. Graphic sexual content is the norm here not the

exception.

3. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

If the last book had graphic sexual content as the norm, then this book would end up in the back room with a curtain hanging in the doorway with a sign that said "for adults only". This book pushed way to many buttons all at the same time to make this a comfortable read. I might be only half joking to say that even the hardcore liberal might need to pause in reading this book to get some air and a cigarette. If it had one less controversial topic or one less story line then it MIGHT have been enjoyable. To me it was simply uncomfortable.

2. Troilus and Criseyde by Chaucer

If this book alone doesn't prove that I obtained an English degree, then nothing will. As an English major I've read a lot of Chaucer's other works. He was an author that I did enjoy during college. But this is a book that I struggled through for a class. It's not that the material was about an era that I couldn't understand. All of Chaucer's works are like that. But this book seemed to be so forced. The characters were unreachable, unbelievable, the story was way too chalked up and left me wanting. It would be like if they were building up to an epic battle and they ended with a handshake and everyone happy and smiling. It's like Romeo and Juliet without the undying love and double suicide.

1. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

If you've read my review of the whole Twilight "saga" then you know my thoughts on this book so I won't rehash them too much. This is the one place where I truly agree with my friend TheCinemaChick. The only good thing about this book was Jacob and the fact he was shirtless and muscled. Even that lovely eye candy can't distract the reader from the psychotic roller coaster that the reader is dragged through all in the name of something that is unfortunately and mistakenly called love.

Whew, there you have it folks. Those are my top 10 books that I could have lived without. Maybe you'll agree and maybe you won't. Maybe you'll want to read the books yourself and make up your own mind. However, I've made up mine and I'm stickin to it.

If you have a list of books you could have lived without then feel free to comment with your top books that you could have lived without. Just maybe you can save a friend from the horrendous fate of a soul destroying book.

I'm Creative Karma and I really really REALLY need a good book right about now.

Sherlock Holmes Reborn?

2012-01-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome back to the next edition of Ink Stained Fingers were books of all flavors get their time in the spot light.

Well, you’ve seen me review quite a few vampire novels since this blog was created and one list.

For those that don’t like vampire novels, this must have been hell on earth.

Well fear no longer. My next book has nothing to do with vampires. Come to think of it, it has nothing to do with anything supernatural at all.

The book I chose for today is something I had to read when I took a Popular Female Literature class back in college. Since then the series has become one of my favorite ones of all time.

What book am I talking about?

I’m referring to the book The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King.

While the synopsis to the book starts talking about Sherlock Holmes, the series is really about a young woman named Mary Russell. The book as well as the rest of the series is from her point of view starting with meeting a retired Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs.

From then on, it’s her personality, her intelligence, and her stubbornness that draw them into a close confidence as friends. Eventually, this paves the way to a kidnapping of a young girl that forces the recluse Sherlock Holmes to take Mary Russell as his partner. A decision that lead them into a bigger mystery than either of them are prepared for.

For those that have read the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this Sherlock Holmes bears a similar resemblance to the Doyle version. However, you must keep in mind this is a sort of “what if” type of Sherlock Holmes. As in, what if Sherlock Holmes retired in his later years and met a woman who could match him in intelligence, wit, and strength?

I’ve read some of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. People that know me best know that I tend to put more pressure on later books that are about the same person that an earlier writer wrote about or when someone makes a book into a movie.

I have to admit, the way the story was written does seem like a logical leap from Sherlock Holmes as an active investigator to Sherlock Holmes the retired beekeeper.

This is one series that I really don’t want to give anything away on.

The story writing is never boring and the action keeps you riveted. Normally, the first book in the series is so full of information that you are slogging your way through till the second or even third book. This book, however, manages to give you the details leading up to the events in a way that flows well, offers enough info without overloading the reader, and keeping the plot moving forward.

It’s a hard task to accomplish but Laurie R. King has found the way to make a story easy to get into and nearly impossible to put down.

I’ve always been addicted to mysteries. Heck, I’ll even admit to reading Nancy Drew novels as a young girl and wanting to own every one that ever existed.

I’m sure some of my friends will never let me live that little secret down. Oh well.

But this is a book for an older audience. Who would’ve thought that you’d get sexual tension in a Sherlock Holmes series? I’m not kidding. The series will keep you guessing till the very last sentence.

The books series is now 9 books long as Laurie King as come out with yet another book in this series. However, Sherlock Holmes is and always will be an icon in the mystery genre. I personally hope that someone keeps that tradition alive for years to come.

If you like mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, strong women or any combo of the three, then go out and give The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King a shot. Even if you think mysteries aren’t the genre of books for you, I still recommend this series. Try this little technique out if you think you won’t like them.

Drive or ride or bum a ride over to your favorite book store, pull this book off the shelf and just start reading. If you come to your senses in the third chapter then get this book because just maybe they are the genre for you.

I’m Creative Karma and I’m addicted to mysteries.

Are you going black?

2012-01-18T01:11:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, Creative Karma here.

This post is going to be a little different than the rest of my usual fare because things are coming up in our government that need to be focused on.

Many of you might have all ready heard of the possible new legislative acts named ~~SOPA~~ and ~~PIPA~~ that are trying to be passed into law. If you haven't, it's about time to wake up and pick up a newspaper or check out a website.

There are numerous sites and pages dedicated to talking about these two pieces of legislation. More than enough to understand what they are and what could happen if these new bills pass. And before I go any further I will say this: This site is purely dedicated to my opinion on things based on things I have heard and heard. Anything I say on this subject is based purely on the things I've read and heard about the legislation.

Now, to give a brief intro here, ~~SOPA~~ and ~~PIPA~~ are pretty much the exact same bill save for a change in words and things that are added or not there in the other bill. In short, these two bills are the collective idea and suggestion for how to stop internet piracy of American products such as movies, songs, games and so on.

Of course, this idea is a great one in theory. But then so is a lot of things in a perfect world.

Why don't I support these bills?

It's really quite simple.

These bills give ultimate power to artists or authors or companies that believe someone has stolen (aka being guilty of copyright infringement) to take that person to court to either sue the person or company and/or force the site to shut down or to remove/block that copyrighted item from their site.

While in a perfect world this is a great idea for making sure people aren't committing the internet version of shoplifting, this isn't a perfect world. It's very likely that some companies will use this power without mercy against even the slightest of offenders.

Imagine with me if you will. Imagine video taping your child walking for the first time. Cute right? I know it's adorable. Then, let's say you have music you have on your computer whether you bought it on line or in a store and you set this cute video of your kid up on ~~Youtube~~ with that music in the back ground or added to the video when you edited it.

Nothing wrong with that right?

Well, if these bills pass, there is a good chance that a company might go to the owners of ~~Youtube~~ and try to take them to court if they don't remove or block the video from their website because the song itself is under copyright and people could download the video and steal the song.

So now that cute video of your kid gets removed from the video sharing site because you decided to play music during the video.

It might seem very far fetched but there is a possibility that companies may take it too far in the name of protecting their clients.

To me this is cutting the line far too close to taking away our right to freedom of speech. If it's not then it's really splitting hairs very closely.

I would gladly support these bills if the government would put restrictions on the companies and how much power they'd have over what is bannable and what is not. Yes, I created a new word there.

If the government could make sure that those people that are truly stealing music, images, videos and the like are the ones being targeted and not the little people that are simply posting things like videos of their kids or syncing music they bought up to a game they are playing that they are paying for anyway. It's that second group of people who aren't purposely committing copyright infringement but sharing their likes and dislikes and hobbies with friends and family.

Until the government can make that kind of promise, I'm against ~~SOPA~~ and ~~PIPA~~.

I personally don't want to see the day that I can't review books and show things like the cover art for the book because that'd be copyright infringement or the day when my friend ~~TheCinemaChick~~ has to shut down her site because she reviews movies and sometime places clips of movies on the site. I don't want to see the day where people like ~~That Guy With The Glasses~~ team can no longer maintain a website because they show clips of movies and books and comics and games during their reviews. I don't want to see that happen to anyone who is only expressing their opinion on a certain subject manner.

So, along with many other websites and the like I'm supporting black out day which is January 18th. This post may be getting posted in the morning of said date but I support it just the same. This same message will be posted on my other sites as well. This is because, while I may be an artist and a writer and want my works to be protected I don't want that at the expense of freedom of speech. I want people to show pictures I've drawn and make commentary on them. I want to one day have someone showing clips from a movie of a screen play I wrote. I want that because it only serves to spread my works out to everyone. To have them noticed by everyone and get me noticed and appreciated by people who need inspiration or like the way I think.

This is Creative Karma and I'm blacking out.

My Guilty Pleasures

2012-01-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome back to Ink Stained Finger where no book is too good or too bad for a review.

As I mentioned last time, I’m following in the footsteps of my old friend TheCinemaChick. She’s pretty much the reason I decided to start up this blog in the first place.

So with that in mind, it’s time for me to offer my next list.

I’m sure that there’s been a time or two where you were reading a book or watching a movie where you’ve had a friend or family member wondering why the heck you’re reading or watching whatever it is.

It’s not because of the subject content but simply because they don’t understand just why someone would enjoy that particular book or movie. I’ve found myself there quite a few times defending books that I think have some value to them despite whatever inconsistencies they contain.

That’s what I mean when I talk about those books that are my guilty pleasures. Those books that for a reason no one really understands you enjoy and find yourself going back to them time and time again.

So on this edition of Ink Stained Fingers, I’m going to touch on the 5 books that are my personal guilty pleasures. While they aren’t in any particular order, they all made the list just the same.

So let’s get this show on the road.

5. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

Now, I know one friend is going to wonder why this book even made the list. I’ve bashed this book with this friend talking about how bad it is and how things don’t make a heck of a lot of sense. However, this book is more set up for children than it is for adults. In that mindset, this book is actually pretty interesting. It’s not like a typical children’s book with fairytale creatures or knights or princesses. Heck, it’s not even set in the U.S. of A but in Zimbabwe. But the fact that they went outside of the norm for children’s books and created a futuristic world is to be commended. I haven’t seen many other books like it and it’s easy to get into the story without wondering what is going on.

4. The Chalice and the Blade by Glenna McReynolds

Despite my overly independent nature and dislike of stories with a female character that must be constantly saved by a man (feminist? Who, me?), this story makes this list because it manages to slide past my usual defenses. This is the case simply because the way the characters are written. The female character isn’t always in danger and manages to do rather well with the few times that she’s given to take care of herself. Sometimes she even faces danger on her own and saves people, which is far more than I can say of Bella from the Twilight series.

3. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

Again, this is a book I had to read in one of my literature courses in college. This book is very different from any others on this list simply because of its realism and lack of supernatural elements. However, this book is completely depressing half the time. Look at the title for yourself if you can’t figure out why it might be. However, this book made the list because of a simple thing I covered in my last list. This is a book about facing up to something that no one can overcome and coming to a sense of peace and understanding that gets you through it. It’s a great message to get across and that’s only one of them. It’s a guilty pleasure simply because it offers such valuable messages that the depressing subject matter is only background noise.

2. Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton

Now, I have quite a few people that find the entire Anita Blake series as joy to read. Even going so far as to be very popular. But this book makes this list because of the action that happens in between all the other drama. The emos stop being emos, theirs lots of fighting, and make up sex as well as intentional sex and magical sex…did I say there was sex?

1. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith

The Vampire Diaries was a series I never really got into like rest of those that loved it right into a TV series that has nothing to do anymore with the books, but that’s not a review for me to do.

However much I don’t like the TV series and the fact that I didn’t go right out and buy the rest of the books, I found myself at least sucked into the idea that L.J. created in her type of vampires. Then again, maybe it’s because Elena is NOTHING like the whiny and pouty Bella who complains about every day she gets older.

Elena deals with the situation, sometimes on her own, and finds her own way. She may get all goo goo eyed with Stefan and his brother, but they are rather hot. But she doesn’t cling to them unless she finds herself in a situation that she can’t handle on her own. She’s not a damsel in distress but she’s not the lone gun either. She plays her part and manages to stick it out which is why it makes my list.

And there you have it, my 5 Guilty Pleasure books.

If you have a favorite book that no one else understands just keep one thing in mind, if it’s a book you enjoy and it lifts you up, makes you happy, inspires you, or any of those other good emotions then don’t let anyone take the joy out of those books for you. They don’t have to understand why you enjoy it just that you do.

So that’s all from me for now.

This is Creative Karma and I enjoy my guilty pleasures.

Influenced Much?

2012-01-10T23:52:00.000-08:00

Hello and Welcome back to Ink Stained Fingers.

I'm taking a side track from reviewing a whole series of books in order to do something a little different.

Today's little journey is actually inspired and prodded along by a friend of mine. Namely, TheCinemaChick. She recently posted her list of the Top Five Movies that Influenced her. Naturally, as we got to talking I got "influenced" to write my own list. But here we are all about books. So let's dive into The top 5 books that influenced me.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Now I'm well aware of the subject content of this book. I'm very aware that the whole story centers around a family of six girls that are all hot to get hitched up to an eligible bachelor. Well, everyone besides Elizabeth Bennett.

However, while reading this story a while back I noticed one key thing that usually happens to me when I'm reading a story I love. I read it for hours on end and finally put the thing down when I noticed it was 3am in the morning.

The book is an all time classic of Jane Austen's. It's a timeless story that really isn't about girls that have to get married at all. It's about Elizabeth and how the lack of information or believing in the social views of a person without getting to know the person underneath can lead to an incorrect assumption about a person. For Lizzy, this person ended up being a man she despised for all the wrong reasons, comes to her senses when she discovers the truth and sees that this so called proud man is the match that will fill her life with happiness she never dreamed of obtaining.

4. Stoodie by Taffeta Chime

Now, many of you out there aren't even aware of this book's existence. I wasn't either until my mother bought it for me one day where it was on sale at a play house. Now, normally, I'm rather dubious about any books my mother brings home for me to read.

However, the back cover of the story and the history of the author enticed me enough that I gave it a chance and boy was I glad I did.

This story is the ultimate story to read for those people who feel like there isn't a place for them in this world or those who had a place but it's suddenly taken from them due to loss of popularity or whatever. The book itself talks about one girl's struggle to deal with her changing world and learning to adapt and gain a new confidence about herself.

For me personally, this story really showed me that I'm not alone in those types of feelings and that despite the trials I may face that it can bring about something amazing.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Now this story nearly everyone in the world has heard of in some format or another. If you haven't then apparently you've been living in a cave. Most people tend to think of the early Harry Potter books as kids books. However, there is some seriously heavy and adult material inside that outer shell of wizards and magic.

What influenced me in this book is not only the way Harry and his friends stick together through all the trials that they have to face but the courage they face when coming up against the unexpected. They are scared like anyone would be but they face those fears head on even faced with the greatest of tasks.

I think the most influencing part of this story is spoken by Remus Lupin. In short, that whether or not things ended up exactly the way you wanted them to that if you can help one person, prevent an innocent person from taking an unjust punishment, and prove to yourself what is the truth despite that no one else knows it, that it can make all the difference in the world whether anyone knows what you've done or not or if anyone thinks it's right or not.

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Following of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

This story is just one of those stories that has everything going for it. It has action, adventure, romance, hot guys. I mean what else could anyone want? But this isn't about how great this book is. This is about how this book influenced me.

Heck, I don't need to say much about this at all that the book or the movie hasn't all ready said and I quote: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

Need I say more?

And the number one book that influenced me is....

1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

This book I could read over and over and over again.

The woman whose point of view we are hearing the story from isn't some damsel in distress that has to be saved by a man constantly. Yes, she meets a man along the way that gets the story going. But she's got an inner strength and fire that can't be denied or squashed by anyone.

Mary Russell makes it a point to not let herself get pushed aside when she knows that something is going on that she's being kept out of especially when everything else between them has held no secrets. She doesn't make excuses for why she can't or didn't do something. Instead she takes chances and risks and proves to everyone that she's not someone to be lightly tossed aside.

Her determination not to be treated like a frilly and delicate woman is her strength rather than a weakness like most would think. It gives her an edge of confidence and daring that, if she were of the mind to and lived in the current decade, would lead her to be the first woman President.

Her passion and fire is something rarely seen among girls today and it's something I long to obtain for myself one day and never let anything stand in the way of what I really want.

So there you are, the top five books that influenced me.

I highly recommend you go out and try these books out for yourself if you haven't all ready. But even if you've all ready read them, read them again. Their messages will certainly lasts for years to come and you never know when the message they are bringing across will influence you in a positive direction.

Come back here next time to see the next list that's once again inspired by my friend TheCinemaChick. My Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Books. Maybe we'll share some of the same books that you go back to read time and time again but your friends just don't understand why.

This is Creative Karma and keep an eye out because the next book I review may be your guilty pleasure.

"Guilty Pleasures?" Yes please!

2012-01-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

Hello again and welcome to another review here at Ink Stained Fingers.

As those that are in the know, my few reviews have either been about vampires or about one Christmas story I threw in for the holidays. Well, those who came here looking for something different…sorry to disappoint.

However, we are going to be doing a different version of vampires. No sparkling in the sun, no weak lines, or akwkard teenage girls.

No this series is quite different. Though, this is your only warning, if you don’t like sex from the basic to the exotic in graphic detail, orgies, blood, murder, sexual innuendos, rotting corpses, cannibalism, or voodoo then this series is not for you.

For those of you that are still with me after all of that, welcome to the review of the first book of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series called Guilty Pleasures.

This book series takes the idea of vampires as they started from the classic Dracula and added to it. That’s a huge point in its favor in my book. I don’t want the same thing over and over but I do expect certain things to happen with something new and fresh added in. The Anita Blake series does just that.

Just for a quick overview, vampires do “sleep” during the daytime unless they are a super old and super powerful vampire. However, even those that can remain awake during the daylight hours can NOT go out in the sun. Not unless they want to be turned into ash. They have to feed on humans because feeding on animals causes some seriously bad side effects. All vampires come from different lines or lineages of vampires. Each lineage has a specific set of powers that only their line has.

However, this series isn’t just about vampires. It has werewolves too. However, not just werewolves but a whole species called lycanthropes. This means along with the traditional werewolf you have weretigers, werefoxes, werecobras, werebears etc. etc. All of the lycanthropes are much much larger than their natural counterparts. They can shift at will though there are side effects to that as well but they all must shift during a full moon.

Unlike series like The Vampire Diaries, Twilight and the Anne Rice series, these creatures are set in a world where everyone young and old and everything in between know and live around them. Vampires and Lycanthropes can live in the open and have all the rights and privileges of the humans. Though, of course, nothing is ever perfect. But still they have a choice to be mainstream or keep it a secret. They can have jobs, get married, have a family and all sorts of things.

This is the world Anita Blake lives in. Anita Blake herself has two jobs in this world where the supernatural lives next door. She is a licensed vampire executioner and animator. And by animator I mean she raises the dead. Not resurrection but true blue zombies for pay. Why? Sometimes daddy didn’t leave a will. Sometimes mommy was murdered and they have to figure out who did it. Or any number of other reasons.

Now that all the needed info is out of the way time to really dig in to Guilty Pleasures.

This book has it all, lycanthropes, sexy and scary vampires, eye candy, a sexy but empowered woman trying to take it all on and stay alive all while the sexy vampire Jean Claude is trying to seduce her.

I won’t give too much away about this book because if you didn’t know this series existed before now I highly suggest you pick this book up and give it a shot.

Now another fair warning, this series is a long one. It has a total of 20 books in all. The author seems to be done with the series…for now. So, once your hooked be aware you’re gonna be in for the long haul. Not to mention the three or four short stories that are floating around in small anthologies of other vampire short stories.

So, if you love sexy vampires, scary vampires, supernatural battles and gun fights give this series a try.

I’m Creative Karma and remember the next time you see me I might be reviewing your favorite book.

I Dreamed A Dream

2011-12-28T22:55:00.000-08:00

Heeeellllooo people of the internet. It’s Creative Karma back yet again here on Ink Stained Fingers.

Yes, I’m well aware that it’s not Wednesday but Thursday that I’m posting this blog. It’s taken me a while to decide what I wanted to do for this next post. I considered doing a best and worst books blog, starting to review a new series, or a number of other things.

However, none of it settled very well with me knowing that the New Year was about to turn over closing the door on 2011 and starting us through 2012.

While I haven’t done this blog all that long considering, I knew I just couldn’t pass this moment up to set up my resolutions for the next year. This year I’m going to make different ones. I’m not going to set goals that I think I should reach like dropping enough pounds to wear size 12 pants or finding a boyfriend.

Thing like that will all come in their own time and the pressure of a resolution tends to make me less willing to do so.

So this year, I’m going for resolutions I know I can accomplish and to submit a challenge to everyone out there. But before I issue my challenge lets get onto my list.

In 2012 I promise to:

1) …keep up with my book review blog, writing blog, and drawing blog whether or not anyone ever reads it.

2) …not get disappointed when my job search doesn’t find me a job right away.

3) …keep searching for a job like I’m getting paid to do so.

4) …dedicate a part of my time to working on the various unfinished stories sitting on my shelf.

5) …make plans to save as much money as possible so I can go do things I want to do, like seeing my friend and long lost sister TheCinemaChic.

6) …read a new book that’s not what I would normally pick for myself.

7) …have those serious conversations with people instead of just letting things slide.

So there it is ladies and gentlemen. Like I said, I’m not going for loosing 50lbs. I’m not looking to beat some kind of addiction like my addiction to coca-cola. Not really but that stuff is hard to live without.

Now for my challenge, this year I want all of you out there to make a similar list of resolutions. Things you’ve already planned to do. Things that aren’t trying to change a major part of your life. It can be a small list or a huge one. But don’t look to change the world or major aspects of your life. Those will change all in good time.

My thought in this being, just maybe, if we took care of all the little things that seem to get in the way of the big things that the big things will resolve themselves without our notice. It’s funny what can be accomplished when you aren’t so worried about it anymore.

That’s my challenge to all of you that read this. Pass this on to your friends and family or anyone that you think this would be a good idea for.

I hope all of you had a great holiday weekend and have an even greater New Years. Here’s hoping all of your dreams and resolutions come true.

This is Creative Karma quoting Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

It's Not Easy Being Green

2011-12-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to Ink Stained Fingers. The place were books of all types are reviewed.

Like with all my other reviews, I delve into how well the book deals with the message it’s trying to bring across, whether or not the message comes across well, and how the characters are used towards that goal while keeping the reader’s interest along the way.

Now while I was doing last minute shopping and wrapping my presents for Christmas, two things occurred to me. One, I hadn’t done a review this week. And two, that with Christmas nearly here it would be a good idea to review a Christmas story.

But which one? There are new ones coming out every year so picking one was a bit of a challenge.

However, I decided to go back to an old classic that’s been the subject of a couple of movies thus far, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Most kids grew up with this story and became so popular that it warranted not only a cartoon version of the story but a live action one as well. This fact alone made the choice of reviewing such an iconic book to be a choice I should have easily picked up on. Not one of my brightest moments.

Now, most of you might all ready know that this book rhymes the whole way through. So, why am I not following in that tradition for the review? To put it simply, that would take a little more effort than would be pretty.

So, laziness aside, let’s take a look at the story How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Now, I’m starting this off a bit differently by looking at the cover of the book. The main reason for that being that this is a story with pictures unlike the other books I’ve reviewed so far. The fact that there are pictures would normally lean it towards a younger audience.

However, the story inside presents an idea all ages can use.

I find that this Christmas story is the best one of all time especially with the way our economy is currently going.

By the title it’s easy to tell that the character known as the Grinch hates Christmas. Even though it doesn’t tell us why in the book I find that it’s not necessary to the plot.

Yes, the live action movie version came up with an idea as to why the Grinch hates Christmas. However, I feel this isn’t necessary. It lessens the importance of the message that this story is trying to tell. Especially since the live action movie makes the Whos of Who-ville into greedy and self serving creatures.

The story itself talks about the Grinch and…well…how he stole Christmas from a group of people known as the Whos. And no this is not the band.

And this is were comes the smartest idea by the Grinch. He dresses up like Santa Claus, makes his dog Max look like a reindeer, and builds a sleigh to carry everything. This way he doesn’t arouse suspicion if he were to be seen. Then, through various rhymes, it describes the things he steals from the Whos like their stockings, presents, lights, trees and even food. He loads all of this stuff up into a sleigh.

Now, one might wonder where this is all leading to. Yes, we have a group of creatures called the Whos who love Christmas and a Grinch who hates Christmas and wants to steal it from them because…he hates it… Seems like a circular argument. Where could this possibly go?

Only to the best message about Christmas ever.

The message that Christmas isn’t about what you give or receive but about coming together with people you love and spending time together. This is the lesson that the Grinch learns when he listens from the top of mount Crumpet for the sound of sadness but hears the Whos still celebrating despite having nothing.

That’s when his heart opens up to the idea that Christmas isn’t about possessions but about family and togetherness. This is a message that is sadly lost in today’s society. That’s why this story can last throughout time and the same meaning can be learned by generations to come.

So of course, we have to have a happy ending with the Grinch bringing everything back and celebrating Christmas with the Whos.

But it’s the message that’s important here. The pictures give a great visual of the actions of the Grinch and even shows us what the Whos look like. Naturally, its usually a story that parents read to their children but I believe that any person, no matter what age they are, should read this story.

The story is well thought out. It sticks with the message it was trying to get across and does it in a way that anyone can understand. The pictures keep the reader interested and offers another level to the story.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a timeless story that will never go away. I have a feeling that this story might have people trying to re-do it in the future in e-books and other movies but it’s perfect just the way it is. No one can make it any better than it all ready is.

This story is definitely one of my favorite stories of all time. If you haven’t read this book yet then apparently you’ve been living under a rock and you simply are unaware this exists. So get out from under the rock and go pick up this classic Christmas story.

Well, that’s all from this reviewer. Christmas is just around the corner and I’m ready to meet together with all my family and friends.

I hope everyone has the best Christmas, Felix Navidad, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or whatever it is that you celebrate around this time of the year.

This is Creative Karma saying never lose that love of books.

Vampire Hell!

2011-12-14T18:54:00.000-08:00

**BEWARE ALL WHO ENTER HERE**

*If you read on in this review there will be spoilers for the book*

Hello there and welcome back to Ink Stained Fingers where I review the books that I love hate and everything in between.

As you all know, I’ve been working my way though a vampire frenzy. All this brought about by the showing of the movie Breaking Dawn Part 1 that has hit the theaters like a whirlwind.

Granted, I have not yet seen the movie myself but I know I have super high expectations of it. So far the series in movie form has been less than impressive and there are many things I would’ve changed or not done at all.

But this isn’t the place where movies are reviewed, this is for books. Unlike the theater, I’m going to review all of Breaking Dawn the book at the same time. There is just no feasible away for me to break it up into two parts like the movie when I haven’t seen it yet.

Oh sure, I could scour the internet for the movie and figure that out but that would ruin the movie going experience.

So, let’s dive right into the fourth installment of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn.

This series has taken the route of many book series for this age bracket. Breaking Dawn is no exception to the rule. The books are getting longer and longer as the series progresses. Look at Harry Potter. Seems people are playing copy-cat.

Breaking Dawn is finally the book where everything comes to a head. We know we have a wedding, a honeymoon, and Bella becoming a vampire to get to so in a way it does make sense for the book to be a little hefty.

However, this book takes a different approach than the typical series ender. The book is split up into three “sections”. The book starts off in Bella’s perspective as the whole series has been. However, after the honeymoon is over, it switches over to Jacob’s perspective and then later back to Bella’s when she wakes up as a vampire.

Why was this done you may ask? Now, I’m not all together sure. I’m sure there is some reason out there on the net from the author herself. But I feel that this was done because of the way the events unfold in the story itself. It allows for a time lapse between the honeymoon and their return as well as for the days that Bella is unconscious. Also, there are emotions expressed and explained about the situations that arise that normally would never have been shown to the readers.

This is a great way to slide that into play as well as something new and different. I personally enjoy seeing how the events are really affecting Jacob. We have what Bella thinks but most of the time those turn up to be wrong and it’s just not as moving or heart wrenching.

The wedding itself is done really well. You’ve got great description, the characters interacting more with each other than they ever did in the other three books. I may not be one for uber romantic moments but having a wedding at one’s house with the party outside…now that’s something I can jump on board with. Even this tomboy had to admit being a hopeless romantic.

Now, the honeymoon. Here is where things are simply not what I expected them to be. The honeymoon, believe it or not, was Bella’s idea. NOT Edward’s despite the fact he wanted to marry her in exchange for being the one to turn her. Odd yes?

Well, he had a good reason. We all know vampires are super strong and they have to work not to break things around them simply because they don’t know their own strength. What usually happens on a honeymoon boy and girls? Sex. Edward is afraid that he will hurt her however, he makes the choice to give this a try. Apparently, he is easily won over by Bella’s award winning arguments.

Before every gets all squeamish, the book never goes into details about Edward and Bella having sex. It was kept very carefully in a range that would at least be acceptable for teens. I still wonder what parents think it’s all right for their 10 and 11 year old girls to be reading things like this.

However, the honeymoon is not talking about in much detail after this simply because Edward finally gains back his nerve after breaking the bed they had sex in. Oh, we get Bella constantly trying for more, which she does get actually. However, nothing else is in much detail. Just small summaries of things they do while on their honeymoon.

Here comes a spoiler so avert your eyes.

The honeymoon has to end abruptly because apparently Edward is a stud. Apparently, they were completely wrong about vampires being unable to reproduce because Bella becomes pregnant. Not knowing what to do they have to race home.

However, Bella knows that they will try and get rid of her baby and the one thing that Rose said would happen happens. Bella wants to keep her child. She suddenly has maternal instincts.

Now, this is the point I want to backtrack a bit for a bit of a rant. I completely understand wanting to have a honeymoon because you get married to someone. However, the fact that she doesn’t want to be turned till she has sex with Edward seems like a complete 180 to her need to become a vampire as soon as possible. Where did that come from? Did Rose’s talk with Bella have that effect? If it didn’t why care about having sex before you are turned into a vampire?

Some of my friend have pointed out this very thing. Seems odd to not be worried about the fact that having sex with your husband could end your life or make things very uncomfortable for a long time. And for crying out loud it’s your honeymoon. You can stay on it as long as you want because they OWN the friggin island that you are staying on. So, get changed into a vampire, wait the three days and then have sex with your husband all you want. To me it seems more logical to get over not being around humans sooner rather than later. Despite the fact that this is a plot device it doesn’t make a lot of sense in the long run.

I digress.

The story changes pace and tells the story onward in Jacob Blacks point of view. This is one of the more effective tools that they have used in this entire series. The reader gets to witness more pain and anguish than the other characters get to see and we see and hear it from a person other than Bella.

It’s in this perspective that we see Bella have complications while having her baby that was killing her the majority of the time. Edward and the others fight to save her and the baby.

After all of this, then we switch back to Bella’s point of view when she wakes up. Edward had saved her by turning her and helping to deliver the baby while the other were out. It’s here were Bella defies the odds and isn’t rampaging for blood from every place she can get it from.

Despite the good vibes they have going that they could end this series on they bring in the last drama with the Volturi. Even though Bella is human, her child looks more like the new borns that the Volturi fought to rid from the South when they were being used to fight in vampire wars. This brings them back into the Volturi’s attention and so the Cullen’s now need every vampire they know on their side to prove this isn’t a new born.

Now, I personally think they should have ended the series with the arrival of Bella’s baby. It doesn’t make sense to me to throw this in at the last moment and force another confrontation out of this book. Even though they wanted to have some heavy moment at the end of the book where they have to face off with the Volturi, it really seems to fall flat. There’s no grand battle, there’s no punishment, there’s barely even stress because of impending possible doom.

It’s rather disappointing to add something like this in at the end of the book and not fully commit to the moment. They just give us something that’s more for show than to actually give the big finish they had hoped for. Everything just ends happily ever after.

This book has its highs and lows in my book. If I had to rate this book against the others it’d only come in third place. While there are some beautiful scene likes the wedding and the change in point of view to give the readers another angle on the story, my problem is the rest of the story.

The rest of the story seems jammed in there, it doesn’t flow very well, and the ending was not only rushed but a serious let down. Bella’s actions don’t make any sense and Edward looks like a push over to whatever Bella wants from him.

The series as a whole feels like, to me, that they could have separated this up into more books than just four. The author would have given herself much more room to expand on various aspects of the characters and more breathing room to really get the story across.

In the last review, I rated Eclipse against the other books and said it was number one in my head and that’s just as true now. The books in order of best to worst, for me, are as follows: Eclipse, Twilight, Breaking Dawn, and finally New Moon.

While this book isn’t as good as it should be; it still wraps up every loose end which is more than I can say for other books out there. While there may be a few plot holes in the series they are rather light and don’t add anything more to the story if they had been added.

Breaking Dawn is the end of the Twilight Saga for good unless the rumors of creating the series again from Edward’s point of view appear on the shelves.

My final analysis: while the book isn’t great it does its job well. It moves us from the last days of Bella’s life as a human into her vampire years. It wraps the family up in a nice little package that seems like they will never have a problem ever again. Every member of the family now has a husband or a wife so there won’t be anyone else joining the family unless they come across some murder or other later. The book needs to be read if for no other reason alone except for ending out the series.

While I’m not a fan of the white picked fence look, it’s the way the author chooses to end her story so I don’t really have room to gripe.

All in all, if you just like reading about different ways to look at vampires then this series is for you. If you like mushy romances, then this series is also for you. However, if you don’t like either then I would suggest to turn around and start running especially if you don’t think vampires should sparkle in the sun like a human disco ball.

And this ends the Twilight Saga book reviews.

Hope you enjoyed our little roller coaster ride through the vampire as viewed by Stephanie Meyer.

Until next time, I’m Creative Karma and the next time you see me I might be reviewing your favorite book.

Round Three, Fight!

2011-12-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

Hellooo, all those out there on the web. This is Creative Karma and I’m back again for another book review.

For those of you that have been keeping up with my book reviewing, you’ll know I’ve been shamelessly playing into the Twilight saga that is rampant in our movie theaters. And, of course, giving the birth of a new phenomena known as the “Twilight Mom”. It’s a little sad to me that now they actually have stickers of that slogan for sticking in the window of your car. Yes, I’ve seen it myself and no I don’t know where they got them from. I really don’t wanna know.

Besides, this is a book review blog. Not a movie review blog. We are now one review away from diving away into book Breaking Dawn in which part one is now being shown in theaters. The book separating us from present day hysteria is Eclipse.

Now, while most people have their favorites elsewhere in the series, I personally finally Eclipse to be the best book of the series.

Why you may ask? Well, let’s delve into the book and see why. Here is Eclipse.

This book may have some of the same elements as in the other books but Eclipse is one of those books that doesn’t make it just about Bella, Edward and Jacob. While many screaming fan girls out there yelling at me, I may have been drawn into the romance to a degree but I just never found Edward or Jacob as the kind of guys that I’d want to spend my time with.

In this book, we actually get some insight into the characters that have been pretty much ignored the rest of the series. Namely, Jasper and Rosalie Hale. I appreciate that this is the place where we finally get to know these characters and appreciate them for what they’ve been through that made them who they are.

If it had been me, I would have done this much sooner. It would have given the readers a chance to see what each member of the family brings to the table. However, I can see the need to keep holding this off so we can have a big reveal.

Most of my friends know about my love for Jasper in this series. Here is the book were Jasper is pulled from the background of one or two lines and is made center stage. I won’t delve into too much here. However, this shows to us why Jasper has it the hardest of all the Cullen clan.

In my mind, Jasper is the ultimate example of dealing with the issues you have and never backing down. He doesn’t simply give up and in to his urges but goes to battle against them everyday. If he doesn’t give in, then he’s made an accomplishment. Something to be proud of and strive to get better at doing. Also, we are shown that Jasper has more inner strength and knowledge and power than the readers would have given him credit for. Jasper is the one that brings the knowledge to the table about newborns and the history of making the strongest type of vampire into an army.

Newborns are what vampires are in the first days and weeks of life as a vampire. They are stronger and faster. However, they don’t have the self control of a vampire that has been around for a few years or centuries.

Now, I know they segway this into talking about the fact Bella will most likely be like that when she is changed into a vampire. However, without Jasper’s knowledge and skill Bella wouldn’t be alive to become a vampire in the first place.

Now, onto Rosalie. While most people would dislike her for her attitude towards…pretty much everyone, we learn that it’s not for some superficial reason like most teen pretty girls. Keep in mind, she hasn’t been a teenager for years. Her reasons for not liking Bella aren’t because she’s human but because she’s so willing to give up being human.

To me, that’s a more than logical way for SOMEONE to feel about someone giving up all chances for a person to have a good life. Since Bella doesn’t even remotely have feelings linked to that then someone needed to.

Rosalie becomes the voice of reason. Someone who really makes Bella think about what she is giving up. The ability to have kids, to grow old and watch those kids have grandkids and going out to do all the wonderful things that vampires can’t do because of what they are. We know that they even hide away when it’s sunny outside so that means no more lounging on the beach. Bella couldn’t go back and visit her mom because of that very thing. It’d be more than suspicious that she’d never step outside.

These two characters balance out the others and bring a more down to earth feel to this story. They keep the audience grounded and remind them that there is far more to the story than just being a romance novel in a weird love triangle. If it was only about love then there isn’t a reason for all the added drama. This means to me that while the series features a love triangle between three very different people that this series isn’t just a love story.

It features the much deeper emotions and conditions that brought various and highly different individuals together to face these problems all together. Without each individual in the Cullen family and the pack of wolves that all come together for the sake of another, then Bella wouldn’t get to dream of a happy ending with Edward. She would have died in the first book or been on the run.

These things aside, this is the book where everything comes to a head with Victoria and her newest companion Riley. This book becomes more a tale of revenge and triumph over evil than the love triangle story that somehow runs along in the background without interruptions.

It seems only logical that all this tension being built up so bring about an epic fight scene. Where we didn’t get it with James and Edward, we get it here. I will say this for the movie, they did an amazing job of bringing the fight scene to life. You don’t get much a sense of it from the book but you get Edward’s dialogue of what is happening. I would have liked this scene better if they actually had jumped down into the fight scene that was going on below them at least from an omnipresent perspective.

However, once the fight is over, the drama isn’t. The Volturi arrive on the scene leading them to realize that they knew damn well what was going on and let it happen. Of course, no one calls them out on this directly but through sly turns of phrase.

Once they give another warning about the fact Bella is still human, the Cullen’s know they have to watch their backs and Bella’s even closer now that the time is drawing nearer to her impending change after her graduation from high school.

The story ends as we finally pick back up the events that happened in the last book. If you remember, Edward offered to change her sooner if she would agree to marry him. Apparently, she has constantly kept him at bay on that subject not wanting to get married. Then again, it was Edward’s goal for her to put off turning into a vampire as long as she could. Even though it is planned for after graduation, he’s still getting his way and showing her that there is still one thing that stands between her and becoming a vampire.

Here’s a thought, if Bella wanted to become a vampire so badly then why not take him up on it? Isn’t it usually the girl who is asking for this sort of thing and the guy that is completely against it? It’s a nice role reversal and cunning device by Edward. He finally gets some points on the board in my book.

However, Bella seems to have been thinking about the offer and, before the battle against the newborns, had finally agreed to marry Edward in exchange for him being the one to turn her into a vampire. So far everyone in her life, save for the Cullens has been unaware of this change in plans for Bella because she hasn’t been wearing the ring.

The story closes on them attempting a more dangerous mission than dealing with newborns…telling Charlie about the engagement.

Now, while this may seem corny and silly it’s something to think about. In the previous books, Charlie has been given a more and more prominent role in his reactions to what Bella is doing. Many times we don’t see him actually punishing her while other times we hear his loud yelling and raving over Bella’s stupid actions that get revealed.

I personally would have loved a little side story at the end of the book to see Charlie’s reaction to her declaring she is getting married to Edward. In the back of my mind, I know that Edward is definitely not Charlie’s favorite person in the world. Who could blame him?

While the ending is rather anti-climatic, it’s the story in the middle that we are meant to remember. Everything from the funny to the action and the drama and even the telling of the most revealing stories in the entire series.

I have to say, I still get a chuckle every time I read about Bells talking with Emmett about how she didn’t break her hand by falling down but by punching a wolf in the face. It’s such an Emmett moment.

All in all, I love this book. This is one of those books that I find hard to let go of when the last page is turned over. Why? Because this book is not just about Edward or Bella or Jacob or some combo of the three. It’s about everyone. Jasper finally gets to stand center stage and we find out that he can more than hold his own which is a huge change from the “boy that looks like he is in pain” from the first book. Rosalie becomes an actual human being to the reader when we really get to understand what is behind the very actions that is against Bella joining the Cullen family.

Who would have thought that Rosalie is the voice of reason? I sure didn’t.

So while you my have the hots for Jacob or Edward, give this book a fair try and just maybe you’ll find that there are other characters that are far more relatable than an emo vampire and a jealous werewolf.

Keep it tuned in to this site as next week I will finally tackle Breaking Dawn.

Until then, I’m Creative Karma and the next time you see me I might be reviewing your favorite book.

On the Crazy Train to Vampire Land

2011-11-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone on the internet. It’s Creative Karma again. That means it’s time for another book review.

Like I promised, over the next couple of days I will be tackling the Twilight series. Last Wednesday I went over Twilight. Today it’s time to tackle the second book in the series New Moon.

This time around I won’t be going into as much detail since you have the basic foundation for the way the characters work. The only thing that really changes is the amount of “face time” the characters receive in the story.

Without further adieu, here is New Moon.

This time the book really takes the readers on a ride. In the first book, it was all about Edward and Bella. This time the readers get thrown for a loop as Edward completely removes himself from the field. I won’t say why because if you haven’t read the story then I don’t wanna ruin it for ya.

However, this allows the readers to really see the relationship between Bella and Jacob which is something the reader didn’t have. It was only ever implied that they had a friendship. Now, we get to see how deep the friendship goes.

That is something I really appreciate about this series. They don’t just give a straight forward romance and stick with it. They have ups and downs and they let it fall together completely. At least they offer Jacob as a true friend to keep Bella from being completely alone.

There are some issues I have with the Bella acts in Edward’s absence is that she is in a very deep depression. I get that a girl could be upset when her first boyfriend disappears on her. However, she is so depressed that she cuts herself off from all her friends. We may not see if her friends try to help her out but it is presumed that friends would help each other. This leads to my second issue, Edward and Bella were only together for what…half of one school year? Maybe the summer and a bit into the next? Even so, seems like a really short amount of time to be so depressed over the loss of a boyfriend.

Now, Bella has completely alienated herself from her friends and the only one she has to turn to is Jacob. By the way, those school friends of hers. Time to start saying your goodbyes. They will be making their last large appearance in this book. In the next one they are the minority.

So now that Bella has a friend to talk to and hang out with, she can hang out, talk about how she feels, get over Edward, and move on with her life right? Wrong. Despite how kind Jacob is being in trying to distract Bella from the loss of Edward, Bella spends all her time doing stupid stuff in order to have hallucinations of Edward. The picture of mental health.

This continues no matter where or who she is with. You would think she’d try to just maintain a sense of normalcy but no. She’s too obsessed with Edward that she will do anything to see his ghostly figure again. This is really turning out to be healthy relationship.

Unfortunately, this crazy train doesn’t stop here. Nope, we have our last stop. All of this comes to a crazy head when Bella decides to take up cliff diving. Now, to make this a stupid thing she goes alone despite the fact Jacob had offered to take her to do this very thing. Nope, she’ll do it alone and maybe die because she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Reeeaaalll smart move there Bella.

Of course, the series doesn’t end here so we know she doesn’t die but she gets really close. Jacob saves her life and berates her for her actions. This being the normal part of this scenario. He takes her back to her home and we see the return of a Cullen. My personal favorite (besides Jasper) named Alice.

Just to review for those that don’t know, Alice has visions of the future based on a line of choices a person has made. Until the choice is made the future remains foggy. Alice can always see Bella’s future except when she is around the wolf pack. This being said, Alice saw Bella jump off the cliff but didn’t see her being rescued. Like any sane person, this led Alice to believe that Bella was dead. So, she rushed back to Forks to see for herself.

However, the problems start mounting immediately. Through Jacob’s hatred of the Cullens and the lack of correct and complete information lead Edward to believe what Alice came to confirm or deny. That Bella was dead. This is where we truly see that Edward, despite his disappearance from Bella’s life, still was just as in love with her as ever because he would rather be dead with Bella than alive without her.

Now, you may think I’m crazy but everything after this is more logical. Hear me out first before you throw things at me.

If there was someone you cared deeply about who thought you had died and it was up to you to go and prove otherwise so they wouldn’t kill themselves, wouldn’t you go? I know I would. And this is exactly what Bella does. However, unlike for most of us this requires her to get on a plane and fly with Alice to Italy. In

Italy

, is the group of vampires known as the Volturi who are more or less the vampire police. They were the ones that made the rules about what not to do and what the punishment would be for doing it. Rule number one: don’t reveal the existence of vampires. Ole Edward is gonna break this rule in order to make the Volturi kill him.

As I said before, this book series wouldn’t have more in them if one of the members of the love triangle died. It just wouldn’t be interesting to most people anymore if they killed off Edward.

But now they have a bigger problem. Here they all are together in front of the Volturi. Let’s see here. Aro, vampire. Caius, vampire. Jane, vampire. Marcus, vampire. Dimitri, vampire. Felix, vampire. Alice, vampire. Bella, human. Edward, vampire. Oops, Bella is a human that knows about vampires. Now, those that read the book know that the Volturi have a human working for them. However, they are more than willing to kill her or turn her if she either becomes more useful or a hazard. Edward on the other hand…not so much.

This is the drama in the book that I actually appreciate. Emo girlfriends. Just no. But because you’ve fallen for a vampire and are discovered for it, that is something I can get behind. It creates a sense of urgency and fear. If they don’t agree to turn Bella by a set time then the Volturi will definitely make Alice’s vision of Bella’s death come true. I will ignore the fact for now that Bella is way too willing to become a vampire.

If Bella hadn’t been as willing throughout the books and then this happened, I think it would have been much more believable and riveting. Then, it’s not just about Bella and her wants that have to come to pass but about her survival. Thanks to Alice’s visions, Bella is saved because everything is back on course for Bella to be a vampire one day. Obviously Edward is no longer thinking about staying out of Bella’s life.

So after a less than thrilling anti-climax where they get to go home, we get to the end of our story where Charlie gets to be a dad for a page or two, Bella gets around Edward’s wishes by voting with the rest of the Cullen’s for her to join the family after she graduates high school, and a nice little time skip.

The rest of the pages afterward doesn’t seem to be much of anything. One might think they could skip these pages and leave the book alone. But don’t do it. They are there for a reason. It’s in these pages that Edward finally has something over Bella. These pages make me laugh. All this time Bella has been completely eager to become a vampire. However, she’d rather have Edward change her into a vampire. Oh, but Edward gets an idea. He would be more than happy to turn her tomorrow if she agreed to marry him tonight. Makes me laugh thinking that Bella is finally out done.

Personally, I would have taken the offer. However, Bella’s odd way of thinking has her completely against being married so young but she’s more than willing to be a vampire at nineteen. Kinda backwards isn’t it?

Anyway, the book ends with no decision made and a nice little prologue which I will keep secret. To me it’s like the icing on the cake. Funny, drama, Charlie doing what he does best and Bella in actual trouble for once.

Now, with all this said about New Moon, I do like the book. However, it’s still not my fave. Wait for my review of Eclipse for that. But this book changes things up. It’s not all about Edward and Bella. It shows us just how deep the friendship goes for Bella and Jacob. We get more details that wouldn’t have been revealed if this book never came out. Edward’s reactions my seem to come out of nowhere but if you read between the lines then you can see the act he was putting on in hopes that Bella would try for her own life without him in it. Sounds like a decent guy to me.

However, this book has some serious negatives. Bella’s reactions to Edward leaving are WAY too over the top for me. It doesn’t feel logical or real. It feels like an overly obsessed emo girl going crazy over a boy who she barely knew much about and knew only for a short time. Bella’s friends are a little too forgiving in this book as well for all the psycho things she’s done.

I don’t hate this book, but I don’t love it either. If I had to rank this book against the others then it would come in last place. However, there are other books I hate far worse than New Moon and with any luck you’ll hear about them soon enough. Now, this judgment might change with the next reviews but we will see how it goes.

For what it’s worth, give it a shot. You need this book to at least understand what is going on in the last two books. Every book series has a book that’s not as great as the others and for the Twilight saga New Moon is that book unfortunately.

Well, that’s all for now. Tune in next time for my review of Eclipse and you’ll see why that book is my personal favorite of the series. Until next time, I’m Creative Karma and I love me a Southern vampire.

Werewolves,Vampires and Humans Oh My

2011-11-23T20:08:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, Creative Karma here again.

Lately, the entertainment world has been swept up into a frenzy about vampires. However, looking ahead into the newest videos and books coming out, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of vampire lore. Maybe the end of the vampire era is coming.

True you still have The Vampire Diaries on TV but that has taken on a life of its own and just become something that only the die hard fans will watch.

But the biggest craze out right now is the Twilight saga craze. Most people know it for the movies but I know it for the books because I read all the books before they showed them in the theaters.

Now while some people see the movies as a horrible rendition of the books that are an abomination, I see things a bit differently. So I’m shoving aside the movie and just looking at the book which I think is the key especially when talking about the Twilight series.

With the recent release of Breaking Dawn Part 1 into theaters, which part of me thinks is a rip off from Harry Potter, I think it’s about time I delve in with them. Now, if you are looking for a full on rant about the movies themselves then it’s best to jump over now to my friend Cinema Chic’s movie review site at http://thecinemachick.blogspot.com/2011/07/twilight-rant-part-1-cast-and.html. Here, I am just going to start off with the first book and end with the fourth one in four different reviews.

So, enough of the sweet nothings and let’s dive into the first book Twilight.

This book starts off with a bit of foreboding. When I first read it, I’ll have to admit that I was rather confused about the whole thing. Then again, I didn’t even know it had been a book series until a friend told me I should read them.

Thinking back about it, it does set the reader up for something evil and horrible to come and might want to make you know just what would happen to get us to that point.

Immediately after, we are finally introduced to the main female character named Isabella Swan, Bella for short.

According to her, her parents had divorced and her mom Renee is seeing someone new but misses him because he has to travel a lot. Bella seems to be rather convincing as she has convinced her mom to go and travel around with Phil, which we will never see, while she moves back to Forks, Washington to live with her dad named Charlie.

However, during all of this intro it become abundantly clear that Bella doesn’t have a very high opinion of herself. Either she is very self deprecating or simply has a case of low self esteem. Most people who saw the movie preferred to choose the former. But in reading the books, I really wanted to believe that she had some severe case of low self-esteem and needed something to help gain her confidence and learn where she truly fit in.

Isn’t that what we all really want? A place where we really fit into the world.

In any case the conversation is as lacking between the pair as one might expect from a father and daughter who have barely spent any time around the other and a father who doesn’t really know what it takes to raise a teenage daughter.

Yet, as a father he does the best he can and has even gone so far as to purchase a truck for Bella to drive around town and to school in without any strings attached.

Sounds pretty good to me.

This is where we meet Billy Black who happens to be a long time friend of Charlie and the one that Charlie purchased the truck from and his son Jacob. Apparently, when Bella used to live in Forks the pair had been good friends as kids and spent most of their time together causing for an easy friendship for Bella to cling to in her new environment.

After the friendly scene, Bella heads off the next day for her first day of school. Her thoughts are what every kids might be if they had to start school in the middle of the year. She comes off really shy and somewhat insecure in this new school despite the fact it’s not the biggest school in the world.

After making it through her first class, we get the first few shy meetings with some of the students of Forks high that take it upon themselves to introduces themselves to the new girl. It is here we meet Eric and Jessica specifically. Apparently, Bella doesn’t have the best memory so those are the only two names she remembers.

Seems to me that if Bella is really looking for a place to fit in that maybe she needs to work on that memory problem. I don’t think any of my friends would stick around very long if I forgot their names. Unless I had a concussion of course.

However, it is at lunch that things start to change for Bella. All day long she has had the other students gawking at her. So it becomes all the more obvious when a group of students isn’t doing that very thing. This is where we are finally introduced to the Cullen children who are Dr. Cullen’s foster kids their names being Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice and Edward.

According to the various students Bella talks to about the Cullen kids, they had been are still are the talk of the school for various reasons. Mainly because they keep completely to themselves and seem to be hooked up in pairs. The only one who hasn’t followed this pattern seems to be Edward who hasn’t accepted any of the various advances of other girls in the school.

Now, this is where the author, Stephanie Meyer, has really set it up for everyone to get hooked onto the relationship of Edward and Bella. Edward along with Jacob have been left utterly available and are thrown at the readers for them to notice. Plenty of fodder for a love triangle and droves of fangirls who want one or the other for themselves.

Now, this is where I personally deviate from the rest of the fans out there. Yes, I’m a fan of the books however I’m not one of the many who has gotten sucked into the Team Edward and Team Jacob. While at this point in the book, we haven’t gotten much detail on the others in the Cullen clan, I didn’t feel like Edward was that attainable. He was single but there was just something about the way the other girls were so attracted and obsessed with him that made me not want to go after him myself.

As the book goes on, I become more attracted to the character named Jasper Hale. True, he doesn’t have an abundance of lines and he’s described as the “one that looks like he’s in pain”. I think it’s the fact that he’s not really noticed all that much. The very fact that he is outside of everyone’s view makes me more determined to really want to know him.

That being said, Jackson Rathbone if you ever read this I’ll look forward to the day I can make it to one of your concerts or see you in person.

But I digress (always wanted to say that).

Well, it’s here that slowly, Bella’s world becomes more and more about Edward. She becomes just as curious as the other kids about the mysterious Edward Cullen and his family…but mostly Edward let’s be real here.

But things don’t start off smoothly like everyone would expect. That’s the one thing I appreciate about this book series. It’s not like in some movies where they run into each other one day and the next day it’s like they’ve known each other forever and then they suddenly decide to get married. No, if that would have happened then I would have put the book down and walked off never to return.

This becomes very apparent in Biology when they are forced to sit next to each other. Edward doesn’t even talk to Bella when she sits next to him. He sits there in his seat and practically glaring at her the whole class in a very stiff posture. There gives the readers a place to pause and wonder why does Edward have this sudden aversion to have her sitting there next to him? What was it that caused this reaction?

Well, we don’t get the answer here and we don’t get it for a long time as Edward does everything in his power to avoid her. Then, he up and disappears. His siblings are seen at school everyday but he’s no where to be found. This leaves Bella having to get along in her life without his presence which she does rather well. But, of course, the book wouldn’t exist if things stayed the way they are now.

A week or so passes and this brings with it the return of a somehow calmer and changed Edward. This change is once again shown when Bella sees him sitting at now their table in Biology. We finally get the first awkward conversation between Edward and Bella. Through these interactions it becomes clear to Bella that something is up since the first time she saw Edward his eyes were black and now they are suddenly this amber color.

Awkward…that pretty much sums up the early days of their conversations. The venue may change slightly but they barely scratch the surface of regular conversation that friends would reach let alone the friends Bella has been hanging with since the beginning who are slowly getting less and less actual face time.

Then, the reader gets the first huge clue that at the very least Edward Cullen isn’t all what he seems to be. On a snowy day, Bella becomes endangered by a van skidding through the parking lot at her school that’s on the course to squish her like a pancake against her own truck. In a flash of action, Bella is surprised she wasn’t killed when she finds that not only is there a dent in the truck where something stopped the truck but that Edward Cullen is now by her side making sure she is okay.

It is from this moment on that Bella becomes more than obsessed with discovering what Edward is because he can’t be human with the things she has witnessed. It’s this very obsession that leads a conversation with Jacob later into her first clue. We get the legend of the Quilete tribe that Jacob is from that they are descended from wolves and his ancestors fought against a creature he calls “the cold ones”.

Now, I like how they have this connected. It may be a small scene that is rather glossed over in the movie but it gives a good connection to the surreal world that Bella finds herself in that her other school mates aren’t aware of.

Her curiosity now peaked about the creatures Jacob spoke of has her going to shop with some of her female friends for a dance that she has been avoiding going to.

I have to interject here. I can understand that this book series is all about Bella, Edward, and Jacob. However, realistically, I never really saw why all the boys were going after Bella as if she was the only single girl in the whole school. She may have her charms to some boys but I’ve only seen a reaction like this in movies that play up this popular girl that everyone wants to be like and all the boys want to date. Maybe I’m missing something here but it seems a little nuts to have these boys so attached to someone they barely know like I mentioned earlier.

Back to the shopping (*shudders*), where Bella splits off from the girls as she goes off to find a book store for something she can read. However, she doesn’t find what she’s looking for and wanders off hoping to find another bookstore. However, despite the stupidity of wandering off the beaten path, she gets herself lost and then she is followed by a group of guys who are either drunk or horny or both.

In any case, this leads to the Edward as a hero moment when he saves her from the goons and chases them off before speeding off with Bella in his car. Unlike any of the previous awkward scenes in Twilight, this one actually means something to the plot. Edward finally reveals that he isn’t what he appears to be. He can read minds. But it’s the ride home that provides the most telling information. Edward is a vampire.

Oddly enough, it’s that simple sentence that sums up the conversation. Yeah, they go through all the typical vampire lore questions but there’s barely any shock. The only shock Bella has is to find out that it’s true. That her assumption is right. Granted, he has only protected her this whole time but even I would pause for longer than she did but I’d be slightly more concerned about their diet than she is.

Oh, remember these amber eyes I mentioned before? Those amber eyes is the way that Stephanie Meyer decided to use to show that feeding on animals has a noticeable change at least in eye color which I will explain further later.

Despite the typical hysteria that usually follows someone meeting a ghost, ghoul or vampire, I found that if I were in the same situation I don’t think I’d be as panicked as most either. Now, if this vampire had done me harm or vampires were something to seriously fear then things would be different. But the vampire in this book hasn’t been made up to be something even remotely scary. This vampire is the final evolution: the dateable vampire.

Slowly, this book forget about the human element and focus entirely on the relationship between Edward and Bella. There is even a scene that is remotely basic. Bella goes and meets Edward’s family. It’s almost normal if you ignore the fact they are all vampires and not remotely related save for the fact they feed on animals instead of humans.

Yes, that’s right, in this world of vampires they are able to feed on animals if they choose to instead of humans. But I want you to keep in mind a fact that most skip over in the book. The fact that the Cullen family feeds on animals is not normal by vampire standards. They are different even in their own world. They have set themselves apart from other vampires who feed on humans.

After a couple of time skips and various dialogue we have our first scene of Edward and Bella at “his” field. Now, I won’t go into huge detail here and trust me you aren’t missing much. There will be more scenes like this than you can shake a stick at. Bella is self conscious around the “gorgeous” Edward and he keeps trying to get across he is the monster here and that he’s dangerous. It happens the same way in ever book just with a topic or two added here and there for flavor.

However, here is where another sticking point does occur for people who prefer the traditional vampire. Unlike even, the Dracula vampire, the “Twlight” vampires sparkle when the sun hits their skin. Now, despite the fact I’m rather accepting of a new version of the vampire even this made me stop in my tracks. It was hard to try and picture a human looking creature sparkling in the sun. My mind went so far to make it an anime sparkle. Don’t tell me you haven’t been there. I was worried it would make them look like one of those disco balls. The movie handled it rather well in my opinion. Not too much sparkle.

Once again, Bella is only mildly surprised with this revelation and they continue to see each other. Is it just me or is Edward not really trying to scare her off. If that’s his intention then there are far more scary things he can do. But I can see also why he wouldn’t want to scare her off. We are only seeing Bella’s half of this story. If Edward really wanted to stay away from her then he would just do it but he doesn’t. Edward is just as enamored with Bella as she is with him.

Of course, even with all the lovey dovey stuff in the world that they could add to this movie they decide not to go all in with the romance for which I am very thankful. No chick flicks for me thanks so much.

Then we get to the scene that I personally loved the best. The world’s next incoming sport: vampire baseball. I really liked that they still have those human tendencies. I mean, I’ve really had enough of vampires who only kill everything or dress up in fine outfits and go dancing in lavish ballrooms. I like the fact these vampires actually still love things like playing baseball, solitare, working on cars and things like that.

Of course, the peace can’t last as we finally meet the protagonists of this book. Namely, the nomad vampires called Laurent, Victoria, and James. These vampires however don’t have the golden eyes of the Cullens. They have crimson red eyes which is how this type of vampire can distinguish who feeds on humans and who feeds on animals. So remember, if a vampire’s eyes you are gazing into are red he isn’t checking you out, he’s wonder what you taste like.

It’s this group of vampires that brings the real issue to the forefront. They discover that Bella is human and James becomes more than interested in her…as dinner. This is heightened by the simple fact that Edward protects her from him. To James, the game is on and he’s ready to do whatever he can to get past Edward and feed off of Bella.

Now, everything changes as it becomes all about saving Bella’s life. Suddenly, vampires are dangerous again and not someone you’d want to take home to meet your parents. I appreciate that all the vampires aren’t like the Cullens. The author has showed us that the traditional idea of a vampire still does exist in this world. Vampire who could care less about humans till it’s time to feed on one. They actually enjoy the thrill of the hunt of humans. Most people I talked to about Twilight seemed to forget that little fact even if it’s not the main focus of the books.

The Cullen’s hatch a plan for Jasper and Alice to whisk Bella away to safety while the others protect her father and try to lead James away to kill him so he won’t kill Bella. However, they underestimated James who gets around their plan and discovers where they have hidden Bella. Through trickery and vampire wiles he is able to get Bella alone. This leads up to a fight scene between Edward and James.

I won’t go into complete details here but while Bella isn’t sucked dry by James, he did manage to bite her just once which seems to be more than enough to start turning her into a vampire.

Again, here is where the lore changes. In other vampire movies, the change is inevitable and quick. In the Twilight series the change is not only incredibly painful but it takes three days to complete. However, in the first moments after being bitten it can be reversed which becomes Edward’s only option who doesn’t want Bella turning into a vampire yet.

He tests his will by actually sucking the “infection” out of her like one might do for other wounds. This effort prevented Bella from turning into a vampire. Bella later wakes up in a hospital, goes along with the lies to her mom about what happened, freaks out when Edward talks to her about moving back to live with her mom before he gives in and they all head back home to Forks.

The book ends with Bella being taken to the prom by Edward despite all her earlier denials that she’d ever go to a dance. Apparently, she was more taken over by Edward’s offer.

And that’s Twilight.

Now, despite all the problems the movie caused in my book, the book itself had some very strong points that could have been something great. Things are left out and changed to the point that I had been seriously concerned that anyone who went to see this movie would be very confused if they hadn’t read the books to begin with.

That aside, Twilight has its perks. The vampires may not be those traditional blood sucking and evil creatures of the night but they have their place in the changing views about vampires. Maybe one day we will see a rotation back towards the original idea of a vampire as the popular idea.

While this story is heavily centered around Bella and her feelings for Edward, it does make sense. This book is all from her perspective and that’s what we have to work with. Jacob is placed solely in the friend category because that’s where he’s always been to Bella. Edward on the other hand is something new. She has to get to know him in order to see where if anywhere that he fits into her life. It’s then she sees that her feelings about Edward aren’t something simple.

It’s through Edward that she has found a calling and a purpose that she aspires to. Now, most people don’t aspire to become a vampire but as far as we are aware vampires are just fiction. Who can really say what they would do in a world were vampires did really exist like they do in Twilight.

My opinion: read the book. Even if you saw the movie first. There are things in the book that aren’t covered in the movies and things are portrayed in a different light. Some that like the movie may hate the book and vice versa. However, the one thing I always stress is that when a book comes out and a movie is made off that book that it’s the book they are basing the story off of not the other way around. Keep that in mind the next time one of your fave book turns up as a movie and see if the way you view the movie is different.

As for me, the movie was all right but I prefer the book.

That’s all from this chic for now. I’m Creative Karma and I will always be Team Jasper.

Interview With A Vampire

2011-11-15T23:51:00.000-08:00

Hello all you internet surfers. If you’re reading this then you’ve made your way to my book review blog. I’m Creative Karma and for fun I’ve decided to jump out there and review books I’ve been reading lately. Any books I choose to review could be mainstream or off the beaten path. They might have been made into movies that broke the box office records or completely flopped. Beware, this blog and future ones will have spoilers for the books themselves. So, if you want to read them yourselves just jump to the end of the blog for the final summary.

For this first installment, I’m dragging along an old friend of mine Pop Rocks, Roxie for short. She’ll chime in every now and then and add her thoughts in on this grand opening review. Say hi Roxie.

What up guys and dolls, I'm Pop Rocks. Please call me Roxie since we're all friends here. I'm a pop culture junkie so I study everything from music to movies to fashion. I'm also Karma's stalker, so I sleep in her closet. So kind of her to let me out tonight.

Be nice Roxie. Don’t make me close you back in. Anyway folks, tonight we are gonna start off following the current trend in movies. That’s right, the vampire genre. Many people are familiar with the current Twilight craze working its way across the world. However, that book review is for another time. Tonight, we are starting with the book that some people consider being the starting point for what’s called the modern or romantic vampire, Interview with a Vampire.

Yeah, don't get started on Twilight. People have to tie me to chairs when we talk about that. Interview with a Vampire came out in the late 1970s, back before Twilight was even in its embryonic stage. It's one of my favorites because it doesn't try to make the vampire seem glamorous. Instead, it's a realistic account told by our protagonist, Louis. Oh Louis...I have a literary crush on him.

Louis is a character you can actually understand and feel for as a person. This is mostly because of the way he sees life. The book starts of with Louie in the apartment of an unnamed writer and interviewer. In the book, this character is only ever referred to as boy or the boy. Well, this boy is about to have the interview of a life with the vampire Louis. The interview itself starts off with the usual question about how long Louis has been a vampire. This is where we discover that Louis was turned when he was 25 in the year 1791 on a Louisiana plantation. I’m such a sucker for Southern vampires.

You have to admit Karma, Southern vampires just have a charm that others don't they? Louis, in the film, is played by Brad Pitt. He is oh so yummy in the movie. Louis is a man struck with grief and he's suffering from some bad depression. He's suicidal and when things seem their worst, Lestat magically appears. Lestat turns him into an immortal. They become companions, though things aren’t exactly happy between them. Louis has human compassion, finding it damn near impossible to kill another person for blood. Sounds familiar, don't it?

Oh, I do agree Roxie and I do believe that sounds very familiar. Though, I will save our audience by not going there for now. But as you mentioned, Louie does spend all of his eternal days hunting and feeding on rats and the like having trouble adjusting to the feeding upon humans as well as having a disdain for Lestat. He tries to distance himself from Lestat despite his need for him. It is through this series of events that leads to the introduction of the next important character. In Louie’s wanderings, he ends up feeding on a human despite his issues. A young girl named Claudia.

Lestat turns Claudia in order to save her and to keep Louis close. I know, I know, Lestat is a manipulative guy. Well, keep in mind she's only about five years old. In the movie, they made her eight because...it's less creepy? But yes, they "raise" Claudia together and she becomes unhappy, stuck as an immortal child. She realizes she'll never mature, never become a woman and this somehow leads to one conclusion: Murder Lestat

Actually, I believe there is a good reason for this conclusion in Claudia’s mind. She may have the mind of an adult but that doesn’t mean it’s a balanced one. It’s hard to think that any child that was taken as a vampire as young as Claudia was would be able to keep from going crazy in some form if it’s not kept in check. However, having Lestat being the one as the vampire tutor wouldn’t keep her from that. Also, as a child she could never really comprehend what had happened to her and so now that she has the ability to think it through it’s reasonable for her to be angry.

I'd be pissed too honestly. You know...this situation sounds even more familiar now. Claudia becomes a vicious and cruel child, tricking Lestat into drinking poison and slitting his throat. However, Lestat apparently can't die and attacks them only to be set on fire. With all that out of the way, Louis and Claudia head to Europe to seek out other's of their kind. This is the time they meet Armand. By the way, Antonio Banderas, you failed as Armand.

While Antonio may have failed as Armand in the movie, it is Armand that plays the key role in Louie’s life to set him on the right course to leading his own life. Through their discussions, Louis comes to terms with his own existence. Although, we get a moment of Claudia’s own selfishness. In a way, she is like Lestat and is able to manipulate Louis to get the things she wants. Claudia finds a woman named Madeleine and has Louie turn her into a vampire. I guess in a way to be a surrogate mother to Claudia. A way to have a complete family.

Too bad Madeline doesn't last long. As punishment to Louis, Armand has him locked in a coffin while Claudia and Madeline are kept in what looks like a well. They have no safety from the elements, which sadly leads to fried vampire.

That is the movie version. I checked with the book and the movie changed this part of the story. In the book it is Lestat that wanted this. He wanted them to bring him Claudia. His ultimate goal being to force Louie back with him. It was Lestat that told the other vampires that Claudia was the one that had tried to kill him which is against vampire law according to them. Then, it becomes Armand who rescues Louie from the coffin that had been bricked up into an alcove.

I'm a bit rusty on my literature, so pardon my inaccuracies. Talk to me about movies and I'm an expert. It's still a heart wrenching scene. Louie does love Claudia in their own twisted little way. He isn't able to save her, which kills him. If you think about it, Louie has lost almost everything he's cared about. First his brother, now his unofficial daughter. He's a sympathetic character. At this point, I wanted to give him a hug and a sandwich...well, blood.

I completely agree. Louie is a character that you will always feel for in some way. He’s not the romantic vampire like in Twilight or Vampire Dairies. He doesn’t look to be more human but as you get to know him you feel compassion for him. You see him as something other than an evil creature that’s only out to kill and feed. In a way, the characters in Interview with a Vampire embody the transition from evil creatures of the night to possible boyfriend material. Lestat would represent the classic vampire that lives as the monster and revels in it. However, Louie is more compassionate towards humanity. He doesn’t want to make anymore vampires and he loathes having to feed off of them.

You have to admit, Lestat always seems like he's having fun with what he's doing. Everything he does is calculated and planned. Even when things go wrong, he still has a whimsical charm to him. Keep in mind he's also sort of batshit crazy.

Oh, I agree. Lestat loves being the monster. He “lives” for being what he believes vampires to be. He may be crazy and manipulative but he’s also very calculated. To me, a vampire is always calculated about their actions in one way or another. This is really showing that not all vampires are alike. That becoming a vampire doesn’t make you any more evil or good. It’s the way that that vampire was brought up and if that changes the way they feel, think, or act as an undead being.

Time to hurry this along a bit. After finding the roasted vampires, he has the heart to heart with Armand after burning the place they lived down and killing the vampires inside, he left with Armand and traveled about various parts of the world, Armand tells him Lestat didn't die in the fire, and then they both headed to New Orleans. Louie finds Lestat with other vampires that have been helping him. After telling Armand about that and Armand finding out that Louie doesn't need him anymore he leave Louie. After all that, the "boy" he was telling the story to gets angry about the way the story ended. He wants to know more and he wants that life. Louie gets angry at him and tells him that there is only one way to show what it's really like and he feeds on the boy but doesn't turn. He wakes the next morning to find Louie is gone. So he goes to his tape recorder and uses in info there to find where to look for Lestat and leaves to find him.

Don't worry about "boy". He shows up again in a later book. Fun fact: His name is Daniel and in the film adaptation is played by Christian Slater.

Thanks for that Roxie. That’s the only thing that bothered me a bit about the book. In the book, he is never named. There is never even a hint at this guy’s name or even his age. They say “boy” which makes me think he’s much younger than the movie suggests.

I'm not sure of his age, but remember, back in the day of Louie and Lestat, boy was a derogatory term deemed for servants. Servants didn't have names, they were just called "boy" or "girl" in order to prove who was superior. Remember kids, if you said it loud and with authority, that makes it true.

In any case, that’s Interview with a Vampire. Now, the story itself is full of tons of rich detail and ideas that weren’t touched on here. If we had, this blog would have you sitting there for hours. However, the story itself is definitely a turning point for what makes a vampire a vampire. There will always be those movies of the vampire that would rather kill you than feel sorry for you but Interview with a Vampire gave the literary world a new way to look at vampires. This book is one of those books that I feel everyone should read at one point or another. Though it made it possible for the Twilight series to exist it doesn’t dumb itself down for the readers. It is definitely a book for a more mature audience.

And as we all know, different authors will interpret the vampire story in different ways. Some are tragic creatures while others are feral things hellbent on killing for the sake of killing. Lately, they all seem to be emo kids, who experience vast emotional problems. They all have some huge inner turmoil about love, which for me, detracts from the idea of a vampire. Ah, but what do I know? It's late, I'm getting sleepy and rambly.

Yes, it’s time to say goodnight to everyone. Once again, give this book a chance. It’s definitely worth the read. Say goodnight Roxie and then you can head off to bed.

I'm Roxie and I'm totally in disguise right now...as far as you know.

And I’m Karma, Creative Karma and the next time you see me I might be reviewing your favorite book.