Primevera by Francesca Lia Block

This is the "companion novel" to Ecstasia. I'm not sure. You know, this isn't the type of book that I usually read but I do love FLB's writing. These just are not my favorites of her works. Ecstasia was dark but this is even darker, more violent. It struck me this morning that what I was reading was almost horror.

After the band arrives in the desert and together create a paradise, Primevera is born. She is Calliope and Dionisio's child and she has the ability to simply sing flowers into being. However, as she grows this power becomes suffocating and she wants nothing more than to visit Elysia, the carnival city her parents escaped from. When a stranger appears with the gift of a motorcycle, Primevera is able to make her escape from the suffocating flowers, her smothering parents, and her intense desire for Paul.

On Primevera's journey, she see's many sad things but she also makes a number of friends. There is a boy whose mother was half bird but has gone missing. There is a girl who looks like her, Arcadie who is Lily and the Doctor's child. There are a number of "mutants" trapped by a cold, hating man.

Like I said, this is a dark and sometimes violent book. It took me a while to get into it but this morning I read the second half. I enjoyed it, I suppose. It had the ability to keep me on the edge of my seat for a while. It's worth a try if you don't mind the sadness.

Stephen King's The Stand: American Nightmares

Finally, I got it. I wish that I would have gotten it sooner because I would have blown through this book when it came for me three weeks ago. If you recall, I was slightly disappointed with the first in this series of graphic novels. It didn't feel right. I'm not sure what changed. Part of it, I think, is that I started watching the movie which is very different than the book and that made the graphic novel seem much more like the book.

This is how reading a graphic novel should be. While I was waiting for the computer at work to get on with something, I opened the book and read. In just a few moments I would be sucked into the story. In all fairness, the author does spend more time with each character instead of bouncing around every other page as in the first one. Also, I think that Flagg starts to look like I've always seen him: A sinister Chuck Noris.

I'm glad I gave the second book a chance. I've already ordered the third.

Ecstasia by Francesca Lia Block

Imagine a world of carnivals. A world where you can have all of the luxuries you have ever dreamed of. Hot house flowers. Champagne. All of the sweets you can eat. An endless world of pleasure. What price would you pay for such a life? Would you be willing to live only your youth in such a world knowing that the moment you begin to age, at the first sign of graying hair or wrinkling skin, you would go and live underground with the other old people, wrapped in bandages until your death so that you don't have to see the aging?

This is life in Elysia. This is where Rafe lives with his older sister, Calliope, and the boys from their band, Paul and Dionisio. Here he watches Lily, a tight rope walker in the circus, from afar until he works up the nerve to talk to her. It is love for him in an instant and when Lily goes Under to get a drug that will bring back her parents for a few hours, Rafe will follow her and face the dangers of under.

The city is full of beauty but it is not as it seems and below there are just as many dark things. This is the story of how one boy returns to Under again and again until he can make his escape from Elysia.

This is very different from the other Francesca Lia Block books that I have read thus far but I like it. It took a while to get into just because it is so different but it has that characteristic beauty that is present in all of her writings.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

And so we are back to the Harry Potter again. Book five dragged on and on so long that I was a bit hesitant about actually sitting down and reading Half Blood Prince instead of breaking it up. However, soon after I started reading I decided that this is possibly my favorite HP book.

You see, I picked it up with some relief. Harry seems to be a bit out of his pubescent emo cry baby stage. He doesn't seem to yell as much, which is a huge improvement. I spent half of the last book not knowing if I would rather throttle Harry or Umbridge. Umbridge made me angry. Harry annoyed me. Harry starts to regain some of his control in book five and he seems a bit more like himself. He is, obviously, sad about the loss of his godfather but he has a lot going on. First, he now knows the prophecy and what is expected of him. Second, he is going to have double lessons with Dumbledor. Third, he is now Quidditch captain.

There are a lot of fun parts in this book, just as many as there are serious parts. I love watching Ron and Hermione's relationship growing and changing. This is like the perfect teenage book, just more innocent. And I feel like we learn a lot about a lot of characters. One of my favorites dies but it had to happen which makes it easier to accept. Even Harry accepts it.

Like I said, possibly my favorite in the series.

Death of a Charming Man by M.C. Beaton

I really am enjoying listening to the audios of this series. The reader, Davina Porter, I believe, has a fantastic accent and does the voices. This was great to listen to during the fall, too. Something about a little murder mystery while the leaves are falling and Halloween is creeping up just evokes a real seasonal spirit.

In the Highlands, Hamish's beat includes a little town called Drim. It is a dreary and quiet place usually but the arrival of a charming, handsome young man, Peter, stirs up the ladies of the village. Soon, they are getting perms, dying their hair, wearing heels and make up, and even taking aerobics classes. However, when Peter leaves suddenly and mysteriously, Hamish cannot fight off the feeling that the man was murdered. What follows is a lot of Hamish poking about where he shouldn't in his typical manner.

I don't want to ruin anything for you if you are reading this series but Hamish and Priscilla's engagement was one of my main interests in this book. Priscilla seems suddenly not as friendly and then she pulls some amazing stunts to save Hamish's butt and you end up thinking she is awesome. At the end though *spoiler* I couldn't help but think that Priscilla is not a great lasy simply because she always tries to change Hamish. I feel for Hamish, you know. I never plan on leaving my small town. I am not very ambitious. It is more important for me to have a home life and be happy than to work my arse off for some good paying position and have a heart attack before I get to enjoy it. I'm just not sure about that woman...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

It took me so long to get through this book. I couldn't get into it so I started reading in 100 page sprints between other books and that helped for a while but it's so long that it started to feel like I'd never finish. Sunday I took out this and the final two Harry Potter's, stacked them on the table, and told Matt that I would finish them by next Sunday. I won't but it's the thought that counts.

The debate is whether or not this is an AWESOME book or a tedious one. A lot of important things happen in this book and it certainly does make you feel a lot of emotions. However, I find this to be the hardest HP book to get through for two reasons. The first is that Harry is going through puberty and we are aware of this because he spends most of the book being a big cry baby or an enormous jerk. His moods are vile. The second is that Umbrige is just as vile and frustrating. It's easy to spend a bulk of this book grinding your teeth.

I'm not saying that this book isn't without its moments. Fred and George alone make it worth the read. Plus, the death at the end is enough to bring tears to your eyes. I came across that scene while sitting in my car at a park and did my best to choke back the tears in an attempt to not be a COMPLETE weirdo.

I guess that the conclusion I've come to is that this book is important to the story and worth reading but also endlessly frustrating. Ha ha.

This is book 69 or 70. Egads. So much left to read!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

For many years I worked with a boy who was a little pompous about some things some of the time. It wasn't intolerable. In fact, I counted him as a good friend unless he was being pompous about something. There were three books he was always trying to talk me into reading and because he was a bit pompous about them, I resisted. They were American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Dune by Frank Herbert, and Hitchhiker's Guide. A couple of years ago I tried listening to American Gods on audio but decided it need to be read. Maybe the boy had something to be pompous about after all. I loved this book.

Of course, he's not the reason I read it. I read it because the other day my boyfriend walked into the room I was in and asked, "Look, what are you reading after that?"

I looked down at the book in my hand, closed my eyes, and visualized the stack. "Next I have So Many Books, So Little Time followed by Ecstasia followed by Will Write for Shoes."

He shook his head. "You're going to have to read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy next." He was holding a thick book that was the omnibus of the five books in the trilogy. (I know. But it's a trilogy with five books. I didn't make it up.)

I took my book with me to work the next day, intending to read it only when he wasn't around and then surprise him. The fact that I haven't been reading very much lately would make it perfectly plausible that I made it no farther in my book when he wasn't around. I was quite pleased with myself until I got home that night and realized that I had left the other book I was reading at work. The jig was up. He was still pretty pleased.

Hitchhiker's Guide was unlike anything that I had ever read. A big part of this is that I don't read science fiction pretty much at all. The jargon slowed me down a bit but I laughed ridiculously and it was loaded with lots of little jokes that you can use with other people who have read the book. Don't panic. Always have a towel. 42.

I don't know who to suggest this too. I really enjoyed it but I feel like a lot of my friends would think it was stupid. My bestie told me she had looked at it once and thought it might be a little "off." Well it is, but aren't we all?

Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block

Marina and her brother have always been close. When she was just a baby, Lex would come to her when she cried. They were always together. When they were young, Marina tried to dress like him and followed him everywhere. Instead of being annoyed, Lex showed her off to his friends. As teenagers, they would surf together. But things also started to change. Lex started going to punk clubs and he shaved his head. Marina wore short skirts and went on dates. They were still just as close as ever though, until Lex committed suicide.

West sees Marina running from the school, crying. He holds her but doesn't know what to say. He loves her. Her brother is dead. What can he do? Eventually, Marina asks West to help her investigate her brother's death, which she doesn't think is a suicide. Only, while helping Marina, he has to face the truth about Marina and Lex's relationship.

This is a wonderful book. It is written from three points of veiw and while the reader suspects the truth from the very beginning, the ending is still a gut-wrenching twist.

Stephen King's The Stand: Captain Trips by Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa

Due to my latest Stephen King craze, I decided one day to click around on his website and find a list of books by publication date. What I discovered was that there is a whole world of Stephen King that I didn't know about. That's how I found these graphic versions of the classic, which I read earlier this summer, The Stand.

Honestly, I'm not impressed.

Alright, so, The Stand. Well, I read the actual novel first. I read the original, not the uncut, version. I loved it. It took a while to get through because of its size but I loved it. Then I picked up the first graphic novel and it felt, well, wrong. I don't know if it was the story (which had to have been different from the original book and understandably) or the artwork. It just didn't feel right. Then I started the movie. I'm over halfway through and it seems better.

I ordered the second book just to see. As always, I'll let you know what I think.