Vampire Diaries, Extraordinary Girl, and Angels' Pawn reviews

I decided to pick up the Vampire Diaries books by LJ Smith because I've started watching the TV show. If you were wondering, the TV show is better than the books. They were written back in the early 90s when young adult literature was dumbed down. I've only read the first two so far, The Awakening and The Struggle. I already have the next two so I'll read those soon, but I definitely recommend the show and suggest you skip the books altogether. {Please note the photo of Ian Somerhalder; he's the reason I watch the show. *wink*}

I also recently read the Extraordinary Girl series by Gena Showalter, which includes Playing with Fire and Twice as Hot. Belle is an ordinary girl with a sassy mouth who develops super powers of controlling fire, water, wind and earth. This series is a fun and funny way to explore what would happen if a normal people developed super powers. I definitely recommend these.

Somehow Angels' Pawn slipped through the cracks when I was reading Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series. It's a novella set in the "world" but doesn't involve the main characters of the series. It's good, and I recommend it if you've read the other books in the series.

Pat Benatar Rocks!

I just read Pat Benatar's autobiography Between a Heart and a Rock Place and I love her even more now than I did when I was eight (if that's even possible). I played my Crimes of Passion tape over and over and over until it literally wore out. I found it fascinating to read how she succeeded in a male dominated industry that wouldn't listen to her. Instead they exploited her as much as they could, and many of the people around her who were supposed to be looking out for best interests weren't. But she rocked it out anyway and bulldozed a path for women in the recording industry.

The best part about this book is that a dear friend of mine bought it for me when Pat Benatar was in her town signing autographs...so I have autographed copy!!! SQUEE!!! This is definitely one of the coolest things I own. :)

Blameless by Gail Carriger, the latest in her Parasol Protectorate series, was good but not as good as the first two books. The humor was there but the story lacked the mystery that kept me interested in the first two books. It was obvious where this one was going, even though it was a fun ride to get there.

Sin Undone by Larissa Ione is the fifth and last book in her Demonica series. It did a good job wrapping up various story lines, as well as setting up the spin-off series about the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I like Ione's writing so I'm looking forward to the new series coming out next year.

I rented a couple movies recently. Bronson starring Tom Hardy is a British film about the man considered to be the most dangerous prisoner in Britain. It was well made and done slightly over the top, reminiscent of Clockwork Orange but with better focus. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a heavier movie done in a slightly artsier way.

I also rented A Threevening with Kevin Smith which was slightly disappointing. It wasn't nearly as funny as the first two but was still entertaining. Toward the beginning Kevin went off on an excessively long story about how he ended up with all his dogs that had me bored stiff. After that I never really got into the rest of his musings. But I'd still recommend this to any fan of his.

Review for Mortal Instruments, No Mercy, and more

I finally got around to reading the three books out so far in the young adult Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, which includes City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass. I'm glad I forced these into my reading line up because they were a lot of fun. It's an alternate reality of vampires, werewolves, and nephilim. It's your typical epic saga format where the good have to unite against the evil, but it kept me captivated throughout. I definitely recommend these to fans of YA UF books.

I also read No Mercy, the latest book in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. It was good, but I was slightly disappointed in the main plot because there wasn't really anything original about it. Also, she didn't do too much with the primary subplot involving Nick. She didn't reveal anything new about him, nor did she put him in an interesting situation. Overall, I liked this book but it didn't advance the series in any way which left me wanting more.

I re-read Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison, the first book in her Hollows series, for my book club on Shelfari. It was great to be able to soak in more details this second time around! I love that Rachel's life is a mess, but she stubbornly fights the good fight because it's the right thing to do (even though it may not be the best thing for her). It's one of my most favorite series and I highly recommend it everyone.

I also picked up I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore, another young adult urban fantasy novel. A decade ago, an alien species sent nine children to Earth when their planet was destroyed by another evil race. The children are discovered on Earth and hunted by this evil race, but they can only be killed in the order in which they were numbered. When the novel opens the first three have been killed and number four is next on the hit list. It's a fast-paced entertaining read.

Regina in the Sun was a free Kindle download I picked up somewhere along the way and finally got around to reading. It was an OK vampire book, but I don't plan to read more in this series.

I've seen several movies recently, but Get Low is the only one I recommend. Starring Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Bill Murray, it's one of the year's best movies and sure to get a few Oscar nominations. This is one of the very few must-see movies out this year.

However, you can definitely skip The American with George Clooney (well made but slow and boring), The Other Guys with Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg (predictable and not funny), and The Last Exorcism (slow and not scary).