strange and random happenstance

Midnight, Texas is one of those shows that qualify as cheesy fun. Based on the trilogy of the same name by Charlaine Harris it's halfway between True Blood and Grimm, so don't go in expecting Emmy worthy acting, it's pure summer fun in the spirit of the first few seasons of Under the Dome. With David Solomon, veteran of the Whedonverse producing and directing you know that at least it will handle the more supernatural elements correctly, am I sensing a hellmouth? Centering on a small town in Texas where the veil protecting the earth from hell is fraying, aka a hellmouth, the denizens are every kind of "other" from witches to angels to vampires to bounty hunters to talking cats. The show is seen through the eyes of Manfred Bernardo, a psychic and a character Charlaine Harris first introduced in her wonderful Harper Connelly series. While some may complain that Manfred isn't what they pictured or that Creek should just go and die already or that all three books are happening simultaneously, I say so what? No adaptation is perfect but within the first episode I just felt it, they had gotten it right. There may be little things I'd fix, mainly there not being nearly enough Mr. Snuggly because every show needs more talking cats, but even if this isn't how I pictured things when Fiji first spoke, I knew I was going to like it. This was a show for me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, And the Emmy Goes To, Cats, Charlaine Harris, David Solomon, Fiji, Grimm, Harper Connelly, Joss Whedon, Manfred, Midnight Texas, Mr. Snuggly, Sookie Stackhouse, True Blood, Under the Dome

Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 5th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Manfred has settled into Midnight, Texas quite well. He feels like it's home. He's still furiously working away telling fortunes and giving advice psychically, but he's one with his life. The small community has welcomed him with open arms and they are his friends. The biggest gossip around town is that the old hotel is going to be refurbished and reopened as a short term residence for older people waiting for a place at a nursing home and for employees of the Internet company Magic Portal. Now that Manfred has settled in he has decided that he will once again do in-person readings for select clients. He has a weekend booked in Dallas to do just that when one of his favorite clients, Rachel, unexpectedly dies on him during the reading. She had recently been ill, so it wasn't that shocking she died, but when Rachel's unhinged son Lewis accuses Manfred of stealing his mother's jewels as well as being a false psychic, things start heating up for Manfred. But what really worries him is that this unpleasant incident has brought unwelcome light on his small town and all the people living their with their secrets. Manfred's problem is now the town's problem, and they have the ruthless Olivia to help. But can they resolve this fiasco before their secrets are revealed? At least Manfred knows why he's been so determined in his work lately; it's to pay for his high priced lawyer.

Charlaine Harris is an author I love flaws and all. When she is on, her books are delightful fun. Though she's not always on. She is an uneven writer who I am always ready to give a second chance to. Was the entirety of the Sookie Stackhouse series amazing? No. Seeing as it lasted thirteen books that would have been a miracle. I was very excited to see her going back to her mystery style epitomized by the amazing Harper Connelly series with the Midnight, Texas series that started last year. I felt disappointed in the first installment, Midnight Crossroad, which I felt was using the supernatural elements more as a crutch to bridge the worlds of Sookie and Harper. But upon picking up Day Shift all the failings of Midnight Crossroads are now forgiven. While there are similarities to the two known worlds she has built, I see now that Midnight Crossroads was needed in order to set up this new world. It took awhile to settle in and get to know these outcasts, and now that we do? Oh my, the action starts almost on the first page and doesn't let up till the last moment creating a fun escapist read that I actually didn't want to end.

The key to Day Shift's success lies in the mystery. Yes, you could say that most of the town and it's inhabitants are a mystery, but the disappearance of Bobo's girlfriend was laughably pedestrian in scope in the first book. But again, the first book isn't about the mystery, it's about the people. Now that we know the people, well, to a certain extent, they do like to keep their secrets, the "mystery" can take a front row seat. The death of Manfred's wealthy client Rachel isn't a shock. If you'd read the book's blurb you knew she'd be down for the count. It's the way she died coupled with the familial complications that make the mystery intriguing. It is also the way in which Manfred experiences her death, with her dead husband's spirit literally spiriting her away through their connection that adds a spine tingling frisson of spookiness. It was a rare moment in Charlaine's writing that felt so real and so deliciously "other" that I smiled to myself knowing that I was going to enjoy the ride. The fact that in trying to solve Rachel's murder we get light shed on that most mysterious of Midnight's inhabitants, Olivia, that the book develops some real depth. Olivia's story also helps to take the edge off my hatred of her vampire lover.

It's this slow reveal of all these characters having hidden depths that is what makes this book work. They are all there for a reason, and slowly, we're going to learn those reasons. With Charlaine's Sookie Stackhouse books, despite how much they tried to book them as "Southern Vampire" or even as an ensemble like with True Blood, the truth is there was one heroine and it was her series. In Midnight Crossroad it seemed very much like Manfred was going to step up and take on the mantle of "star" but as I read this book I realized that he's not the star, he was just our avatar to enter this little community. Now that the town is established, he's just one of the denizens and each and every one of them is a star. I was OK with this shift, in fact it lends itself to the series's longevity going forward. We won't see the world just from Manfred's POV. Here we got quite a lot of Olivia, but who knows who will be next? Personally, I want to know all the stories hidden in this town so I don't care who takes center stage in the next installment. It really is becoming a great ensemble in this wacky little southern Twin Peaksy town.  

I do want to know though why Charlaine feels it necessary to keep having these Sookie cross-overs. Yes, I can see that her publishers might have foisted this on her in order to lure in the readers from her most successful series, but how much longer will it go on? I can see it as useful in the beginning, to an extent. But the truth is that there wasn't really any connection in the first book other then vampires and werewolves. Did the first book do so badly that she was ordered to put someone, anyone, from the Sookie-verse into Day Shift to pump up the sales? Thankfully she minimally used Barry the telepath and Quinn the were-tiger. But I don't want this to continue. Yes, the supernatural community is small and they probably do all know each other, but perhaps I want something new? The small town of Midnight is very closed and secretive so I wonder how realistic it is that they would let these strangers show up and not run them out of town? Or do they have some special sensor that makes them know if the people are "one of us"? Only time will tell, but I do hope that this series is given a chance to stand on it's own versus being some sort of spin-off of Sookie Stackhouse. This book was great and it deserves to grow beyond the obvious comparisons.

Though I did find one aspect of these cameos interesting. And that's that it appears there has been a shift of some kind in the supernatural world. Something has changed and it appears that the supes are going underground. Texas no longer as a thriving vampire population, it seems that all vampires are congregated now in Louisiana. So what happened? Was there a big backlash from the were reveal? Did the non-supernatural world say enough is enough? Olivia references vampire hunters, which makes it seem that perhaps they are more common than they once were. I find it interesting that with just a few little mentions here and there that Charlaine was able to permeate her book with a sense of unease for the supernatural community. This also makes me wonder what future refugees might turn up in Midnight. Who will take over the gas station? Why was the Midnight Hotel really rebuilt at all that cost for almost no return? There's a shift coming to this world, and I can't wait to read what happens next.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charlaine Harris, Day Shift, Harper Connelly, Louisiana, Manfred, Midnight Crossroad, Midnight Texas, Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire Series, True Blood

City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments Book 4) by Cassandra Clare
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Every action has it's consequence. There is a price to pay for bringing Jace back from the dead, as there is for Simon being a vampire who can now walk in daylight and repel attacks on his person because he bears the mark of Cain. Yet when Jace was brought back or when Clary traced the mark onto Simon's forehead, none of them thought that the punishment for that one action would be so severe. They all are trying to resume their normal lives and are planning for Clary's mom's wedding to Luke when the repercussions start to be felt. Simon has apparently the most to deal with, what with his mom finding out about him being a vampire, resulting in his being kicked out having to move in with one of his band mates. But that family squabble could happen to anyone, minus the vampirism, it's the threats on his life that are more disturbing, as well as different factions of supernaturals having an unhealthy interest in his ability to walk in daylight. Though it's Jace's problem that could be their undoing. Nightmares seem like a mundane concern when stacked up against Simon's problems. Though the nightmares might be what undoes them all.

Have you ever been reading a book or a series of books that just turns you off reading altogether? There's just something or a lot of somethings that piss you off so much that the thought of picking up another book and reading any written word makes you panic and flee into fits of hyper productivity in anything other then your "to be read" pile. This is a rare occurrence for me, the last time happened to coincide with the final Twilight book and put me off reading for the entire month of August. I'm thinking that I can overcome this malaise quickly... or at least I hope I can because I really have other books to read, but in the meantime, well, my office is getting clean!

As you have probably guessed I am not the biggest fan of this series, even if I have been taking a sort of gleeful revenge by writing scathing reviews. Yet after this forth book I almost think I can't take it anymore. And there's two more books! OK, I am getting a little twitchy thinking about those final two volumes. Power through, power through. Yes, I have developed a mantra in an attempt to just get done. Also, it's not that these Mortal Instrument books are the worst I've ever read, it's just lazy writing (how can a windowless room have a stained glass window later in the scene?) with predictable plots, like, stop hitting me over the head with you "subtle" foreshadowing Clare! I just don't like these books. There. I've said it. I. Don't. Like. These. Books.

I shall now illuminate my reasoning like a window magically appearing in a windowless room, seriously, editors, how could you not fix that. I had hope with City of Fallen Angels because the book did shift it's primary focus off the angtsy Jace and Clary (have I mentioned before how much I hate these names?) and Simon has became our protagonist, and I was all hyped. Simon, someone different, a geeky little vampire and how he's handling his transition... which somehow became the most boring story ever. One is that Simon's vampirism has made him sexy so he's juggling two girls, please, no. Stick to who he is. The other is that there are SO MANY good becoming stories out there about newbie vampires and this one didn't even come close. I think my common refrain for this series is just go watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and leave it at that. But other great shows with becoming stories... how about Being Human? I'm talking UK NOT US people. If it wasn't for the fact that I know there is so much great literature, films, and television shows about vampires, this series would have sworn me off them for good. As it is, I could do with a supernatural reprieve for a few months. Thankfully I swore off True Blood awhile ago otherwise I wouldn't be able to watch it's final season.

But nothing is getting to me as much as Clary and her budding artistic abilities. Thank Lilith that Clary has stopped talking about the sky, it literally made this book shorter by a hundred pages. As an artist, illustrator, and designer myself, I have one thing to say: Get the Terms Right Clare! It is very apparent when someone is writing about things outside their skill set and they don't bother to do the research. This gets on my nerves. I'm sure that everyone who has a specific trade or knowledge of something will cringe when it's wrongly applied. I sometimes catch it with things I have a passing knowledge of, but like when I'm watching the new series of Father Brown, I'm not the person on the message boards posting about how his vestments are wrong for the time period. Also, this guy does exist, go check out the imdb boards!

However, on art, I'm going to call you out! Firstly, art terms and writing terms aren't interchangeable. So while artists sometimes use the word "draft" it rarely means the same thing, but I'll let this one slide, because sometimes common vernacular ends up trumping actual meaning. But you're not getting away with Clary calling her drawing of Jace an illustration. It could be a drawing, a sketch, or a portrait, but NOT an illustration. See, an illustration is an image that accompanies text. I mean just look at the freaking definition in a dictionary! An illustration is "something that illustrates, as a picture in a book or magazine." Unless Clary is writing some erotica about Jace that she needs an illustration of his sleeping body for IT IS A DRAWING. I'd say do better Clare, but after four books, I see you can't do better, it's the same thing over and over again. I'll finish your series, but then we're done.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Art, Being Human, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels, Clary, Father Brown, Illustration, Jace, Mortal Instruments, Simon, Summer Series, True Blood, Twilight, Vampires

Name: Jessica Stroup

Dream Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Fantasy Movie Adaptation: Julia Conley

First Impression: Reaper. Damn, I really loved this way too short lived show with gay demons played by Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black. The show was about Sam, a normal guy who finds out he's the son of Satan. One of his love interests, played by Jessica Stroup, may or may not have been his half sister and yet another of Satan's childern. Seriously, it's funny and a little sick all in one.

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Dream Movie Adaptation: There's something no nonsense and tough about her that I think really gets to the heart of who Julia is.

Lasting Impression: The Following. Joining this deliciously campy show about a serial killer and his followers in season two as Kevin Bacon's niece Sam, she's a kick ass female Ryan Hardy who better hook up with Mike, that's all I'm saying.

What else you've seen them in: She's been around for years popping up here and there. When she showed up on The Following it was really bothering me where I had seen her before until I was able to get on imdb and go, oh yeah, Reaper! Jessica has been on Grey's Anatomy, Family Guy, True Blood in the memorable opening scene of the series before it went to shit, among others.

Can't believe it's them: 90210. Seriously, why, just why?

Wish they hadn't: Again, shall we discuss 90210? I tried to watch this when it came back and barely lasted to the reveal of who is the father of Kelly's baby, it's Dylan by the way. Just no.

Bio: Born in South Carolina, she headed to LA at the age of 17, turning down a scholarship to the University of Georgia. Taking acting classes she was soon being cast in horror movies, which also happens to be a genre she likes, with The Shining being a favorite film. She's one of the characters I hope will survive on The Following to come back next season. But if she doesn't... maybe we can get this whole Lauren Willig dream movie franchise off the ground?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 90210, James Purefoy, Jessica Stroup, Julia Conley, Lauren Willig, Reaper, That Summer, That Summer Spotlight, The Following, The Shining, True Blood

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 7th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

By saving Sam, Sookie has forced Eric's hand. He will go with the Queen of Oklahoma. Sookie didn't realize that this is what would happen. She just knew that seeing Sam dead she had to save him. This is Sam! Now Eric is all off being his aloof self and all Sookie wants is to talk everything through with him to see where they stand. It doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon. So Sookie goes back to her life. She works at Merlotte's, though Sam is being very odd since he "came back." Then one day the last person in the world she would have expected walks through the door. Arlene shows up. Arlene who has been in prison awaiting trial because of the whole trying to kill Sookie with the aim of crucifying her on a nice big wooden cross to make a point about what happens to those who sleep with vampires. Well, Arlene wants her job back, or at least she has been told to ask for her job back very publicly. Sookie flat out refuses her and then Arlene shows up dead. Sookie soon is the prime suspect, not because of any real evidence, but because someone wants her to suffer. All Sookie's friends and family gather round to help her clear her name. All Sookie wants is freedom and a simple life. Enough is enough.

We have come to the end of the Southern Vampires books, and some of you, myself included will be saying about time. Yet there's something poetic about ending a supernatural series on the thirteenth book, sadly a lot of the overly long series have overshot this by quite a ways. While the series has definitely had it's ups and downs, I have to say I enjoyed the ride and now I really don't know what book will fill that end of semester/start of summer gap at the beginning of May. That is why I picked up Dead Until Dark ten years ago. It was 2003 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer had ended and I had no supernatural outlet. The third book in the series, Club Dead had come out, and this was still when they were released in paperback, so Charlaine wasn't a household name. To try to drum up readers Charlaine's publishers put an ad in the Buffy magazine, and, well, I was an easy sell.

I remember being on a road trip to Pennsylvania, ironically for a Buffy convention, and I actually longed for each night when I could crawl into bed to pick up my book. I would read it any chance I got, even curled up on my friend's floor on my uncomfortable air mattress. I didn't want the book to end, but when it did and as I was home again I went straight out to Barnes and Noble and bought the next two in the series. Since then, every year, round about May I've gotten to hang out with Sookie, and she has become a bit of a friend... one who I believe deserved her happily ever after.

A few weeks before Dead Ever After came out the ending was apparently leaked by some fan in Germany. Much like the Doctor Who leak of more recent history, this caused a furor online. The reason, because the Eric fanbase didn't like that Sookie ended up with Sam. You know what I have to say to that? Suck it haters, I loved the ending. I have been rooting for Sookie and Sam since DAY ONE! Bill was always blah, Eric, well, he's too much the sexy undead vampire viking, and while yes, very sexy, especially as played by Alexander Skarsgård on True Blood (his apparently leaving the show is hurting Eric fans as well right now), well, you don't get a nice happily ever after with an vampire do you? Yes, I'm looking at you Twilight! That's not how things work, even in a made up land with fairies. Sookie got what she deserved and needed. She lived a sheltered half-life before the supes, the supes made her come out of her shell and become herself. The scene in the courthouse shows how far she's come. Real people love her and support her. Sookie is no longer a freak of nature, but just one of the many supernatural and magical things that exist in the ever expanding world Charlaine has built. Her time with the supes has taught her to control her "gift" and given her love and happiness... sure death and destruction too... but Eric's final gift of protection means that she now has a valid chance at her happy ending.

And you know what? Sookie just hanging around her house, doing laundry and cooking... well, there's something a little magical in that to me. I know I might sound a little crazy... but I admire the simple life that Sookie has tried to hang onto despite all that has happened. I'm glad she gets this life, I'd kind of like that life, supes aside. Because, let's face it, the vampire politics can get a little overwhelming. Thankfully, Dead Ever After was almost bereft of vampire politics, with Eric and his new Queen's machinations going on behind the scenes. Instead we get human threats. Though the glimpse of "the" Devil and his creating soullessness was really intriguing to me, I was happy that we stuck to the more human threat. Also by seeing some of the action through the eyes of these evil men, well... it gave a greater sense of peril then some of the other books. Sure, there was more then just humans behind it in the end... but it showed that we don't need something supernatural to show the evilness of man. That actually goes back to the first book. The Big Bad was human. So I guess we've come full circle. Sookie may have changed, but she has changed for the better. Though I can't wait to read the little "what happened next" book that is slated for this fall. Sure it might be more like the Sookie Companion... but I still need to know!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charlaine Harris, Club Dead, Dead Ever After, Dead Until Dark, Doctor Who, Sam Merlotte, Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire Series, True Blood, Twilight, Vampires

The Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 30th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
Challenge: Vampire Challenge, Horror and Urban Fantasy
Rating: ★★
To Buy
If this book proved one thing to me it's that, while I consider myself a Sookie fan, I'm truly a dilettante. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about Sookie, truly. I enjoy the books, they are fun, do I need a Sookie Encyclopedia? Perhaps a pared down one because the general plot lines and characters are getting unwieldy and out of control. Do a need more than three hundred pages of this? Hell no. While I agree it is fun to have reference books to your favorite authors, these really aren't meant to be read cover to cover but only picked up on occasion for a query here or there. Consisting of some fun elements, like a map of the town (which seems to have too little distance between some locations like Sookie's and Merlotte's) and correspondence snarkiness that takes place during the books between Eric and Bill, it also contains questions and answers with Charlaine and Alan Ball that are deathly dull and a recipe section. Now that's what I find odd. Recipes! Now, I can see that with all the mention of food in the books that a recipe book for the series is a good idea... but... do a separate darn book don't put it in a book that I don't want anywhere near food or a kitchen, especially when the foods use a lot of deep fryers. The mere thought makes my blood boil and the risk to any book, even if it's one I'm not overly wild about. No books near anything that has heat or flames or grease people, jeez.

The main reason to buy this book though is not the minutiae of every character that was ever mentioned or ever had a line, or even the book summaries which by the final book are so long and incoherent, you can see how this series is getting the better of it's author, the reason is the short story. Well... it's really more of a novella. I originally thought when we first had mention of Sam's little brother's wedding that it might be a full book, heck, it would be more plot than some of the more recent installments. But instead we got a little novella, which showed more about Sam, resolved some issues with Quinn and Sarah Newlin, and felt more like Sookie than a lot of the short stories do. It was a quick little story that once again made me wish that Sookie ends up with an actual human like Sam. But like all the short stories it just seems like a way for us to spend more money on this ever greedy franchise. These books are fun quick reads and that's all. This Companion seems to be giving the series more weight than it rightfully has. A "companion book" indicates something of note, something worthy of further discussion and research, and I don't know if Sookie and her vampires are that... but perhaps I'm wrong and all those people who watch True Blood and actually liked it past the second season will disagree.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Alan Ball, Charlaine Harris, Companion Book, Encyclopedia, Sam Merlotte, Sookie Stackhouse, True Blood

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran
Published by: Crown
Publication Date: February 15th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire . . . but who was this woman who became one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous and amazing story comes to life as only Michelle Moran can tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin.

Smart and ambitious, Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, and even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, yet her greatest dream is to attract the attention of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; their stamp of approval on her work could catapult her and her museum to the fame and riches she desires. After months of anticipation, Marie learns that the royal family is willing to come and see their likenesses. When they finally arrive, the king’s sister is so impressed that she requests Marie’s presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. It is a request Marie knows she cannot refuse—even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

As Marie gets to know her pupil, Princesse Élisabeth, she also becomes acquainted with the king and queen, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. From lavish parties with more delicacies than she’s ever seen to rooms filled with candles lit only once before being discarded, Marie steps into a world entirely different from her home on the Boulevard du Temple, where people are selling their teeth in order to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, many resent the vast separation between rich and poor. In salons and cafés across Paris, people like Camille Desmoulins, Jean-Paul Marat, and Maximilien Robespierre are lashing out against the monarchy. Soon, there’s whispered talk of revolution. . . . Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? And more important, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

Spanning five years, from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom."

Wonderful new book from Michelle Moran. Don't believe me? Enter to win a signed edition here on my blog!

Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree by Nancy Atherton
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: February 15th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Cozy lovers' favorite otherworldly detective cracks a classic country-house case.

In Atherton's sixteenth mystery, Lori Shepherd returns from Down Under to her normal life in the village of Finch. But Lori's normal quickly becomes anything but.

Her debonair father-in-law has moved to town and is renovating Fairworth House, a grand estate nearby. William Sr. expects a quiet, small-town life, but among the spinsters vying for his attention, shifty servants, and the discovery of a mysterious painting of a family tree in Fairworth's attic, he discovers that life in Finch is anything but quiet. On top of it all, Lori and William are embroiled in a case of deception and false identity by one of Finch's own. It's nothing the plucky Lori can't handle, but once things get truly peculiar at Fairworth-moving furniture, strange sounds, and mysterious visitors-she calls on Aunt Dimity for her otherworldly guidance and uncovers the shadowy past beneath the estate's magnificent surface.

Nancy Atherton's titles continue to delight fans who eagerly anticipate each new book. Her latest will draw cheers and bring new readers to this charming series. "
Ok, I'll admit I've never read these book yet. But the cover art is to die for and people swear by them!

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: February 15th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"First there are nightmares.

Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.

When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.

Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember."

Sounds fun in that typical YA Sci-Fi way.

The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by Alexander Theroux
Published by: Fantagraphics Books
Publication Date: February 15th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 168 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"An intimate, revealing look into the life and art of an American original. Originally released as a slim paperback 10 years ago (now out of print and fetching collector's prices), this in-depth illustrated monograph on the late, great Edward Gorey returns as a thoroughly rewritten, expanded and redesigned hardcover. Drawing from a multitude of reference and his own personal relationship to Gorey, literary heavyweight Alexander Theroux has accomplished an amazing feat of illuminating the real Edward Gorey with ambiguity, wit, fervor and reverence, combined with honest and clear-eyed appraisals of his work. No Gorey fan can be without it. Black-and-white illustrations and photographs throughout."

A "new" biography on one of my favorite artist's. YEAH!

True Blood Volume One by Alan Ball
Published by: IDW
Publication Date: February 15th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 160 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Blood and sex mix on a hot rainy night at Merlotte's, when Sookie and her friends are trapped by a vengeful spirit who feeds on shame. People die and dirty secrets are revealed as Sookie, Bill, Eric, Sam, Tara, Jason, and Lafayette and are all coerced to dig deep and tell painful memories from their past - those things we all have locked within us that we never tell another living soul! Bon Temps, Louisiana has never been stranger, or more twisted, in a story co-plotted by True Blood series creator Alan Ball, with a script by David Tischman (Bite Club) and Mariah Huehner, and lush art by David Messina."

Ok, so good artists... I'm just going to say I'm SICK of the trend of making ALL sci-fi series into comics now. Really!?! Do we need another? NO!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander Theroux, Angelfire, Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree, Coutrney Allison Moulton, Madame Tussaud, Michelle Moran, Nancy Atherton, The Strange Case of Edward Gorey, True Blood, Tussaud Giveaway