Day 13 – Your favorite writer

Difficult choice. I think the only writer that makes me want to read everything he's ever written in the French author Marc Levy. You probably know the movie Just Like Heaven with Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon. That movie is based on one of Levy's books, If Only It Were True. So if wanting to read every book he's written makes him my favorite writer, then that's what he is for me.

But honestly, I have a lot of authors that I love and try to read as much of their works as possible. I'm really weird, if I get to read something by an author and I like it, chances are really high that I'll like his/her other books.

Book Review: Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Author: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Series: Saint-Germain #1

My Rating: 5 cups

Blurb: (from Goodreads):

France 1743 (Sun King era). Le Comte de Saint-Germain - cultured, well-traveled, articulate, elegant, learned, honorable, an alchemist, and a man of many secrets - he is a mystery to the court of Louis XV. For Madelaine de Montalia, making her debut in society, he is as fascinating as he is enigmatic, an admiration he returns. But others are interested in her as well. The dark folly of her father's youth exposes her to danger that only someone of Saint-Germain's vast experience can comprehend or repulse.
In this first book of the Saint-Germain cycle, Saint-Germain establishes himself as the compassionate hero whose adventures span continents and millennia.

This is one of the books that have a real special meaning for me. First of all, it was the first vampire book I read after Anne Rice's that I loved. Second of all, it was a book recommended to me by a girl from college (the same one who introduced me to Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman). There's another reason, but I'm going to tell you about it a bit later.

If you haven't yet read this book (and the series), you shouldn't wait any longer. I think this is one of the best horror books I've read. Saint-Germain is one sexy vampire. I was actually disappointed by the fact that he can't have sex, but the author makes up for it. He's dark, sexy, mysterious, compelling. I can't think of a flaw this vampire has (besides being impotent, of course).

Madelaine is a sweet, innocent young woman that becomes a target for the villain, Saint Sebastien. She also catches the eye of our sexy vampire. Saint-Germain falls for her, though he tries hard to hide his true nature from her. He ultimately decides to risk exposure to save her from the bad guy and his friends and followers.

I loved the difference between what is believed to be evil (the vampire) and what really is evil (the Satan worshipers). I really wasn't that surprised by the ending, but it still made me hold my breath a few times.

The thing I loved about this book were the letters. I loved how every chapter started with a letter. It was something very new, a glimpse "behind the scene", small subplots that developed at the same time as our main story.

I have the second book in this wonderful series, The Palace, but I'm pondering about reading it. The reason for that is that you can read these books in two ways: either in the order in which they were published, of chronologically. I decided to wait a little while and buy the entire series and then decide how I'm going to read it.

Remember there was a third reason this book was special to me? Well, this is going to sound weird a little. I first read this book 5 years ago, during my first semester in college. I think it was either November or December. I remember it was a work day and it was about...7 or 8 pm. Anyway, there was a blackout for about an hour, no electricity whatsoever. This book gets creepier if you read it surrounded by candles and with classical music as a soundtrack.

Anyway, I loved this book and I can't wait to read the entire series.

Top Five Things I Hate About a Book

I was recently chatting with a friend about what we love and hate about books and series. This made me think about the things that make me want to scream in frustration about a book. I'm not talking about the content, but the ACTUAL book, as an object. So here are the five things that I hate about a book, in no particular order:

• Hardbacks

I know all the reasons why hardbacks are better than paperbacks. The binding is done more carefully, the paper that's used has a higher quality, the book has a better chance of remaining in good, if not perfect, conditions over the years. I know all that. But the hardbacks are so huge and heavy! For a girl used to carry one book in her  bag, a hardback is inconvenient, especially since my bags are small. And let's face it. If you're in college and you want to read during class,  you need a paperback. Less chances of getting caught with those small books :D

• Dust jackets

I've always had a problem with dust jackets. I always tear them or bend them or, even worse, loose them. I like my covers attached to the book. 

• Paper errors

This sometimes happens with manuals or text books. When there's one page (or more) where there's a lot of extra paper in one corner and it's bent in a really odd shape. I know I can cut it, but I'm weird about books and scissors near each other.

• Price tags

This is something I often find in bookshops, small or big. They stick the price tag directly on the cover. Sometimes I manage to take it off nicely, sometimes I don't. Why would you stick something on the book? I'm crazy like that, yes. 

• Size

When it comes to series, my OCD takes over any rational thought. Some of the series I have (like The Southern Vampires and Lord of the Rings) have books the same height and width. And I'm so happy with that. Others, like Harry Potter, aren't the same size. You might blame the edition. It's not. It's the same edition, only the guys who published Harry Potter in my country decided the last 4 books were too big for paperbacks so they made those 4 books hardbacks. While I grumbled and whined and moaned at that, at least they were acceptably big, not weapon-like huge. BUT. It wasn't enough they changed from paperback to hardback, they changed the shape for books 6 and 7. So now I have 3 paperbacks, 2 hardbacks that look like actual bricks, and 2 hardbacks that are smaller in width and the spines are rounder and softer-looking. And before you asked, no, they didn't publish a paperback version for those 4 books, only hardbacks. I like my books to look like they actually belong in a series. Not to mention that I love to be able to arrange them in  order. *blush* I did say I'm a freak!

• White Paper

The white paper...it bugs me. I have really sensitive eyes and the white paper makes it uncomfortable to read sometimes. I have to read books with white paper in certain conditions for my eyes not to hurt. And I can't read with my glasses on *oops*


Keep in mind though, just because a book has one or all of the above "qualities" doesn't immediately mean I won't read it. The exterior has nothing to do with the content of the book. If I don't find another version of the book, one that isn't a hardback or with a dust jacket, then I'll silently curse my luck and still buy it, because ultimately it's the content that matters. So this is my bitching about the book as an object. Is there something that bugs you in a book as an object, not it's content.

Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore

No book comes to mind that fits this category. I mean, if I loved a book five years ago, chances are I still do. Of course, I believe every book has it's moment when it makes more sense and it has a special meaning. If I would read now the first romance book I've ever read, I probably would have a more cynical take on what happens in that book. That doesn't mean I'd hate it.

Do you have a book that you used to love but now you don't?

Cover Love (4)

This feature is hosted by Carmel @ Rabid Reads. The rules are very simple. Choose a cover (or two, or three), preferably new-ish, and share what you like about it. Grab the graphic or don't just so long as you link back.






It's so cold here, in Europe, I believe we need some hot, hot covers to counter the chills. So here are my two hot picks this week:

If you don't recognize the hottie on this cover, it's Paul Marron, the cover model from Lothaire, Lover Avenged, Nauti Intentions and many more covers. (By the way, fans of Lora Leigh, he is exactly how I pictured Alex in Nauti Intentions). What can I say, he looks good on this cover, with scars on his chest and longish hair. And that gaze *shivers*

I believe Jaci Burton has some of the sexiest covers in the world. I really do. Especially her Play by Play series. I'm not much of a sports girl, but the covers for the books make me want to reconsider that. I can't wait to read this book. And please, please, please, don't let it be the last one.

Do you still feel the cold? I know I'm starting to feel warmer. Just a little bit. (Though I really, really miss spring right now.)

What is/are your pick/s for this week's Cover Love?

Day 11 – A book you hated

I missed yesterday's appointment and I'm sorry. Had to do some stuff and I didn't have time. Ok, a book I hated.

After I started being what could be called a "serious reader" (one that reads more than 3 books a year and finished those books in less than a month) I wanted to see how far could I go in terms of genres and explore my limits. Like I said a while ago, my first contact with horror stories was through Anne Rice's vampires and while I loved the books, I wanted to see if I could handle stories that where scarier, bloodier, with more graphic details and more...let's say gore. Before you think I'm a psycho, I'm not. I come from a family full of doctors, so detailed stories about surgeries and bodily fluids during lunch where a daily occurrence. That and I studies psychology. So to say I can handle a lot of gore and graphic details is to put it mildly. (Just please, no insects or injured kids. That I can't handle!!)

So I started to ask around and most of my friends that liked horror novels told me Stephen King was so much more than Anne Rice. I was excited. I immediately tried to find a book that had the two things I loved most at the time: suspense and vampires. My best friend heard me talking about that and she bought me Salem's Lot for my birthday.

Color me excited. I tried reading the book twice. There where so many things that drove me crazy about that book. First of all, nothing happened for about 200-250 pages. NOTHING. The only thing I remember was that the main character was going out on a very, very boring date. There where also tinny, tinny details about the house. I don't exactly remember why the house was so special or so scary, but it was.

Also, no vampire in those first pages. I was disappointed. You know how in the movies you sometimes get a little scene with a guy/girl going inside a house and it's dark outside and the door closes after him/her and a second later you hear a scream? I was waiting at least for a scene like that. There wasn't one.

I remember seeing a colleague of mine from college reading the book and I asked him at what page he was and if something had happened until then. He was halfway through it and he said "Nothing new".

I can't deny that I liked his descriptions, the way he built his characters. But I think this book is for someone who likes slow-paced books. I am aware that this is one of King's first books, so maybe his writing style improved, but I'm not really sure I'm ready to try another of his works.

Anyway, this is a book I didn't like. What's yours?