BookLizard's fanged 999

I wish I had found this group sooner! I'm moving my challenge over here from another group. I'm going to tweak it a bit to make it fit this group. If you want to see some of my earlier reviews, check there:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/64441

Edited to show categories

1. Vampire (closed world) 9/9
2. Vampire (open world) 9/9
3. Vampire Graphic Novels 9/9
4. Anthologies 9/9
5. YA Vampire 9/9
6. YA (non-vampire) 9/9
7. Werewolf 9/9
8. New-to-me authors 9/9
9. "Other" paranormal 9/9

Come and join us, we'd love to have some other members. I am doing alright on the challenge so far, just want to get some good reading done over the summer, so that when term starts again I can focus on work and not books. :) Welcome!

Welcome, BookLizard! I'll have to take a peek @ your other 999 thread. I love vampire books, too (even though I'm not doing so hot on this challenge).

1. Vampire (closed world) 9/9

1. Lover Revealed by J. R. Ward ***
2. Lover Unbound by J. R. Ward ****1/2
3. Lover Enshrined by J. R. Ward ***
4. Immortal Hunter by Lynsay Sands ****
5. Secret Life of a Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks ****
6. Lover Avenged by J. R. Ward****1/2
7. Zen and the Art of Vampires by Katie MacAlister **
8. Undead and Unwelcome by MaryJanice Davidson ***1/2
9. Crouching vampire, Hidden Fang by Katie MacAlister ***

2. Vampire (open world) 9/9

1. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris ****1/2
2. Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton ****1/2
3. Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill ****
4. Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison ***1/2
5. Bound to Shadows by Keri Arthur ****
6. Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill ***1/2
7. Deadly Desire by Keri Arthur ****1/2
8. Darkest Kiss by Keri Arthur ****
9. Embraced by Darkness by Keri Arthur ***

3. Vampire Graphic Novels 9/9

1. Vampire's Portrait v.1 ***1/2
2. Vampire Knight v.5 ****1/2
3. Vampire Knight v.6 ****1/2
4. The Vampire Lestat: The Graphic Novel
5. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Guilty Pleasures Vol 1 and Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Guilty Pleasures Vol 2 ****1/2
6. Blood Alone by Masayuki Takano ***
7. Nightschool, Vol. 1 by Svetlana Chmakova ***1/2
8. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, The First Death ****
9. Vampire Knight Volume 7 ****

4. Anthologies 9/9

1. Highland Thirst by Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands ***
2. Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance ****
3. Night's Edge by Maggie Shayne, Barbara Hambly, & Charlaine Harris ****
4. On the Prowl by Crystal Jordan ****
5. Tapestry by Lynn Kurland, Madeline Hunter, Karen Marie Moning, & Sherrilyn Kenyon ****
6. On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, & Sunny ***1/2
7 Never After by Laurell K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, & Sharon Shinn ****1/2
8. A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris ****
9. Strange Brew by P. N. Elrod ****

5. YA Vampire 9/9

1. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead ****
2. Hunted by PC Cast and Kristen Cast ****
3. Evernight by Claudia Gray ****
4. Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and the Struggle by L. J. Smith ****
5. Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L. J. Smith ***1/2
6. Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber ***1/2
7. Pretty Dead by Francesa Lia Block ****1/2
8. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead ****
9. Tempted by P. C. Cast ****

6. YA (non-vampire) 9/9

1. Raven by Allison van Diepen ****
2. If I Stay by Gayle Forman ****
3. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt ***1/2
4. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan ****
5. Need by Carrie Jones ***1/2
6. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins *****
7. My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent ***1/2
8. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater ****
9. Ruined: A Novel by Paula Morris ****

7. Werewolf 9/9

1. Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur ****
2. Dangerous Games by Keri Arthur ****
3. Forbidden Nights with a Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks ****
4. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs ****
5. Wicked (The Pack of St. James) by Noelle Mack **
6. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs ****
7. Wild by Noelle Mack **1/2
8. Wanton (The Pack of St. James) by Noelle Mack ***
9. Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs ****

8. New-to-me authors 9/9

1. Dead Perfect by Amanda Ashley **
2. If Angels Burn by Lynn Viehl ***1/2
3. Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon
4. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs ****1/2
5. Touch the Dark by Karen Chance **1/2
6. Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane) by Jaye Wells ****1/2
7. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters *
8. Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost ****1/2
9. Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow ****

9. "Other" paranormal 9/9

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith ****
2. Dead if I Do by Tate Hallaway ***1/2
3. Destiny Kills by Keri Arthur ****1/2
4. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs ****1/2
5. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind *****
6. Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur ***1/2
7. Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs ****1/2
8. Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank ***1/2
9. her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger ****

So I've moved my challenge over here and I need to still tweak it a little bit to make it fit.

Do other folks include Science Fiction as paranormal? In particular, I'm wondering about The Hunger Games. I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't read it, but for those who have . . . do you think the final scene in the arena is more science fiction or paranormal?

I haven't read The Hunger Games (the one by Suzanne Collins, right?), so I don't know if it has any paranormal bits in it, but you can definitely add any cross-genres (romance, fantasy, historical, western(??), mysteries, etc), as long as it has some otherworldly factor in it (vampires, fairies, aliens, werewolves, etc). Great list so far! Obviously a vampire, huh? Me too. :)

Yes, I'm a vampire aficionado. :^)=

Some folks have The Hunger Games tagged as fantasy. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, so it's definitely speculative fiction. There's something creepy that happens at the end that I don't think was explained scientifically. Maybe I'll go ask in the YA Fiction group since they did it for a group read.

Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur ***1/2

This novel was Arthur's first published book and it shows, but it's still enjoyable. I really like the characters - it's the plot which takes too many contrived twists that makes it just average. Nikki is a private investigator with psychic powers who is hired by a rich man to find his wayward daughter who, it turns out, has fallen under the thrall of an evil vampire and doesn't want to be found. That part of the story is resolved too quickly and then it's just the bad vampire trying to get Nikki and the good vampire Michael trying to stop him.

I plan to read the whole series since I love her Riley Jensen series, so I'll let you know if they get better. I stuck this in my "other" paranormal category because that's where I had room for it! LOL. Normally I'd stick it with vampires, but since she has all these psychic powers, I think I can get away with putting it here. ;^)

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs ****1/2

This book in the series was pretty unputdownable. Mercy's vampire friend Stefan "drops in" with a warning that the queen of the local vampires is out to get Mercy. Afraid of putting her friends' lives in danger, Mercy decides to leave town for a few days to help an old college friend whose house is haunted. Of course, trouble follows Mercy wherever she goes.

Wicked (The Pack of St. James) by Noelle Mack **

This novel just didn't work for me on so many levels. I expected it to be hot, but it was borderline erotica. I wouldn't mind it being so racy if it was satisfying, but it wasn't. If you're really into S&M you might appreciate this story more than I did. However, the so called hero was stupid and weak and the author relied too much on coincidences to move the plot. I can believe in werewolves, but I can't believe that the heroine was able to see all of London from the rooftop and just happened to see the hero who left the house hours ago and just happened to notice that he was being followed and then just happened to be so friggin' STUPID that she forgot to tell him about it when he got home.

I should take back one of the stars, but it was a quick read so I'll give it a brownie point for that. If you can't be good, be brief.

UPDATED 12/10/09 OK, I am taking back one star. I read the first book in the series, Wild, and it was better than Wicked but still not good, so I need to downgrade the rating on this one.

On the Prowl ***1/2

This is an anthology, so I'm going to break it down story by story.

Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs. I picked up the anthology for this novella and it was worth it. It's set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson series, but with different main characters. ****

Inhuman by Eileen Wilks was OK. I guess it's also part of a larger series, but it didn't make me feel the need to read any further. ***1/2

Buying Trouble by Karen Chance redeemed the author in my eyes. I really didn't like her novel Touch of Dark, but this story was more original and I enjoyed it. ***1/2

Mona Lisa Betwining didn't do much for me either. It appears to be part of a larger series, but it was more erotica than romance -- all sex and not much plot. Nothing wrong with that, but the male characters (yes, more than one) just weren't real enough to engage my interest. ***

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison ***1/2

Rachel Morgan, a witch, has a price on her head after she leaves her job as a runner for the I.S. - a police force for the supernatural. She joins forces with Ivy, a living vampire, and Jenks, a pixy, to form a private detective agency. Rachel hopes that if she catches a big-time drug dealer and turns him over to the I.S., they'll let her live.

This book took me forever to read. I download the e-book from the library over three weeks ago, but only made it through the first few chapters before the lending period expired. So I checked out the paperback thinking it would be a faster read, but it still took me a week to finish. The novel just didn't grab me, maybe because of the lack of a sexy male romantic interest. I didn't dislike it, so I might eventually try the next book in the series, but I just didn't find it all that compelling.

Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank ***1/2

Jacob is The Enforcer for his people - when a demon gives in to lust for a human, Jacob is there to punish the transgression. That is, until he himself falls under the thrall of a human.

I was really disappointed in this book. Maybe it's because I've been reading so much urban fantasy lately, but I finally "got" what critics mean when they talk about purple prose. It took me over 2 weeks to finish reading it, so it really didn't grab me and hold my attention. I might eventually try the next book in the series, because it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either.

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent ***1/2

Teenager Kaylee Cavanaugh begins having premonitions about people's deaths, but she can't warn them because if she opens her mouth, all she can do is scream. One of the hottest guys in school has suddenly taken an interest in her, but she's afraid that if he discovers her secret, he'll be the one to run screaming.

This was OK. Didn't love it, didn't hate it, didn't think it was good enough to be the start of a series, but apparently it is. I think the biggest problem for me was that none of the characters were that compelling.

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

I liked these 2 stories more than I should have. LOL. The writing isn't that great. Elena is Too Stupid To Live.
But boy are Damon and Stefan hot! (They're both hundreds of years old, so it's legal.) LOL. I'm sure I'm influenced by the TV show, but the Elena on TV isn't TSTL like in the books and Stefan on TV isn't as sympathetic and attractive. I guess I just like love triangles, and the books give you a better idea of the characters' motivations.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater ****

Ever since she was attacked and pulled from her swing as a young girl, Grace has been fascinated by the wolves that haunt the woods behind her house every winter. Now that a boy from her high school has been attacked and killed by wolves, the men in town want to eliminate the wolf pack, especially after the boy's body disappears from the morgue. When Grace sees a new wolf with the same bright blue eyes as the boy who was attacked, she wonders if he was ever really dead or just changed into something different, something impossible to believe . . . a werewolf. Grace must somehow save the wolves, especially the one with the golden eyes, the one who saved her as a child and has watched her all these years.

Ruined: A Novel by Paula Morris ****

I'm giving this novel 4 stars because I really enjoyed it - not because it deserves it. The 12 year old cousin is too childish; the history is poured on too thick - doesn't come naturally; I got confused by the narrator on several occasions; the ending is too difficult to believe -- everything is just swept under the rug instead of realistically resolved. BUT, I still really enjoyed the novel, maybe because I love New Orleans so much. The ghost was believable, her back story was well done, the main character was likable and not too stupid . . . Great story, I just wish the writing had been better.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters was terrible. The writer overdid the monsters and everything else, so it wasn't as clever or as funny as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Cry Wolf was really good. I have the next in the series checked out from the library. It's going to be difficult to wait, but I have something else that is due this week that I have to read first.

Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block ****1/2

I've always wanted to like FLB more than I actually do. Violet and Clare was good, but I didn't like Weetzie Bat as much as everyone else does. Well, vampires fit FLB's style perfectly!!! Her books deal with relationships and emotions and identity. The plot is never as important as the characters. You don't read her books - you experience them, and Pretty Dead is worth experiencing.

On vacation, I got to catch up on some of my reading. Finished Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion. The ending was really annoying, but I requested the new book in the series from the library anyway.

Read a really good anthology of "fairy" tales, Never After.

Finally got to read Bound to Shadows by Keri Arthur. I was a little bit disappointed because the stories are getting formulaic and Riley made some really stupid decisions.

I also reread Dead Until Dark. I didn't count it as part of my challenge since it's a reread, but I reserve the right to change my mind before December 31st! LOL. I really need books for my open-world vampire category and it fits the bill perfectly.

Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill ***1/2

I didn't like this novel as much as the first one in the series. It took me like a week to read it - it just didn't grab me the way some books do. The ending just didn't ring true either. The villain needs to read the Evil Overlord List to learn what not to do.

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost ****1/2

I don't know why I waited so long to read this book. I borrowed it from the library months ago but had to return it before I read it. So I borrowed it again last month and today I finally found out what I was missing. I just requested the next two books in the series from the library, which is always a good sign. LOL.

Cat Crawfield is a half-vampire with a vendetta against all vampires. She hunts and kills them until the night she meets a master vampire who puts her in her place. He strikes a bargain with her. If she'll work for him helping him catch master vampires, he'll let her live.

This novel has the feel of a Mercy Thompson or Riley Jensen book, but with a little more romance than either of those series. It's not as good as either of those, but it could easily be added to my list of favorites. It reminds me a little bit of the early Anita Blake books which I loved, so I hope the author can sustain the action and the passion.

A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris ****

All the Sookie Stackhouse short stories gathered in one anthology. I had read some of them before, but not all of them, and those I had read, I read out of order so they didn't make much sense at the time. Worth reading for Tru fans.

Vampire Knight Volume 7 ****

I read it, but it's been so long since I've read the series that it took me awhile to figure out all the secondary characters. I thought I had read Volume 6, but I feel like I'm missing part of the story, so I requested 6 from the library. I have volume 8, but I'm going to hold off on reading it.

6 to go. The open world category is just too difficult. I might move 2 of the werewolves over to open world and replace them with a werewolf I read and one I have to read. I'm going to count the second book in the Night Huntress series as open world. Not everyone knows about vampires, but enough humans know for it to be an open secret at least.

So that will take care of three. I'm reading one anthology now, and I have the YA novel and one I can use for a new-to-me author. So I only have to read 5 books in 8 days . . . it's doable. If I start a book on New Year's Eve and finish it after midnight, I'm still counting it! LOL.

Strange Brew by P. N. Elrod ****

Interesting anthology. It deals with magic, but there were enough vampires in it to keep me satisfied. LOL. I might have to try Jenna Maclaine's Cin Craven series and a few others as well.

Tempted by P.C. Cast ****

Another good installment in a good series.

Wild by Noelle Mack **1/2
Wanton: The Pack of St. James by Noelle Mack ***

I really don't recommend this series to anyone. You would think werewolves would be alphas, but they're not. And there's not enough plot to make up for the lack of sexy manliness. I read the third one first and only read the other 2 because I had already ordered them from the library and I could use them to swap out other titles in the werewolf category.

Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow ****

Plenty of action, but not enough romance for my tastes. Overall it was enjoyable and I'll probably read further in the series, but it's not on my list of favorites.

So I'm off to start my last book now. I can't find where I put the second book in the Night Huntress series (I really should be cleaning house instead of reading), so I'm going to move another one of the Riley Jensen books to the open world category and read another werewolf book. And since I'm starting book #81 before the end of the year, I consider this challenge a success!

Happy New Year!

Hunting Ground by Patricia Brigg ****

I don't like this series as much as the Mercy Thompson series, but it's still very good.

And with that, I am finished with this challenge!!!!

Awesome! Congrats. :)

Thanks!