I was tagged by A Reciprocal Love Affair With Books!

What are your favorite books about the following supernatural creatures and why?

• Vampire - There are a lot of answers for this one that I could give. But I think I'm going to go for the one you might not see coming, not as much as what are considered the vampire classics. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I even love this more than the Swedish film adapted from it, and I love that film a lot, to give you an idea of just how much I love the book. It was what put Lindqvist on my radar, and he has to be one of the best horror novelists I've ever read. He has that thoughtful, character-driven aura around his writing that makes it especially bleak and frightening.
• Werewolf - This is an easy one: Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King. I love everything about that book, including the amazing illustrations by Bernie Wrightson of Swamp Thing fame. I even love the adaptation, Silver Bullet, that most people... do not love. But then of all the creatures on this list, werewolves are my favorite. There is a depressing lack of fiction concerning them, even in films. If vampires and zombies have over-saturated the market, then werewolves are the exact opposite of that.
• Zombie - I've watched many zombie films but haven't read any zombie books really. So I'm going with the easy standby: Cell by Stephen King. This novel has one of the most explosive openers. Everyone's phone rings. Everyone answers it. And they all go ballistic, tearing each other apart. While the one guy in the crowd without a cell phone watches in horror and runs for his life. If that doesn't sell you... cell you. Hehehe.
• Ghost - I'm not one to find ghosts scary. It's just one of those things where ghosts often seem ridiculous to me, and I struggle to enjoy those stories. But I do have those books that I cannot deny were scary. Books that made the thing I shrug at actually frightening. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a good example. The atmosphere, the wrongness in the air, permeates this whole book. There's a reason that so many horror authors, usually anyone who attempts a haunted house story, point to her as inspiration. She did it best.
• Witch/Wizard - The Walking by Bentley Little. One of the most original witch stories out there, but that's typical of Little. He can never do anything the way anyone else would do it, and it's what always draws me to him. Especially well done in this book are the flashbacks to ye olde west times, wherein we see how all this started. And while the villain in this story is a witch, there are also good witches in this story, which I especially liked.
• Fairy - The only thing I've read for this category is The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. But they aren't particularly scary, though I know fairies in other stories certainly can be. I own a couple of books where they appear to be more mischievous, but I haven't read those yet. So Sandman it is!
• Demon - The book I'm currently reading has demons in it. It's actually called Demons by John Shirley. And I'm loving it. But then it's very satirical with some pitch black humor thrown in. Still can't deny that it's also bloody and violent and scary.
• Angel - Wracking my brain here, and the best I can do is Weaveworld by Clive Barker. There's a supernatural creature who thinks he's an angel and calls himself Uriel. So... I'm counting it. Especially when he was kind of scary, so it fits with the "creatures of the night" theme. And hey, wait. How in the hell do angels count as creatures of the night?
• Alien - I'm gonna go with one that never gets talked about: Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. Was it a perfect book? No. But it was really enjoyable. And the idea of people you know being replaced, and you can tell in some vague way that they aren't right, but you can't put your finger on it, and no one believes you... That's a nightmare.
• Super-powered Human - I read a lot of comics, so this is easy. I'm going with the easy answer of Watchmen by Alan Moore. Mainly because there is a sinister vibe to it. It's more realistic in its approach to the politics and personalities surrounding people who are vigilantes and, in the case of Dr. Manhattan, ridiculously super-powered.
• Reaper - Can I cheat and say Sandman again? But then that version of Death isn't scary. That's sort of the point of her. Death isn't scary. Or shouldn't be.
• Necromancer - I wouldn't have had an answer for this if A Reciprocal Love Affair With Books hadn't reminded me of Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee. Yes. That. Very good answer.
• Serial Killer (Adding one because I can) - Now I get that serial killers are human, but can you think of someone who is a serial killer without the word "monster" lurking in the back of your mind? And for my own category, I am listing Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. Jame Gumb specifically is who comes to mind. He is a pastiche of real life serial killers, like Ted Bundy and Ed Gein, with their most heinous parts mashed into one, terrifying and twisted person.

If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged.

Sidekick Showcase, previously known as Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC’s Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn’t have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! I will post my Sidekicks on Saturday, and so will Jaclyn, then whichever day during the week that you would like to post yours, you can put your link in on Jaclyn’s page.

 

Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in the week’s topic
• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don’t include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their’s throughout the week as well

 

Sidekick Showcase #24 – Sexy and Lethal

For the whole month of October, the Sidekick Showcase will feature a creature of the night in honor of Halloween! Today, I have chosen Justine from Jenna Maclaine’s Cin Craven series. This series doesn’t get nearly enough love in my opinion, but it is truly excellent. The main character, Cin is a vampire and a witch, and she’s made of awesome, as is her partner, Michael. Devlin is Michael’s best friend and loyal acolyte, and he’s both sexy and lethal in his own way, Justine is Devlin’s girlfriend and she sure can hold her own! The books in the series are : The Wages of Sin, Grave Sins and Bound by Sin. Sadly, there are only three books in the series so far, and I don’t know if Ms. Maclaine is planning on writing any more.

 

From The Wages of Sin:

“And if it were any other beast who stalked you, you would be free now. Last night, Kali, she came out of nowhere. I have trained for centuries to be prepared for anything in battle, but I wasn’t prepared to see her. I told Justine to run. i thought she was with me. I was twenty yards away from her when Kali lent her power to Monford and Justine was wounded.” He smiled. “Though my girl did get the bastard before she fell.”

Justine was right; it would be the hardest, bravest thing I’d ever done. I felt a deep kinship with her in that moment. I looked at her, as serene and coolly beautiful as ever, and I knew that she knew what I was thinking. She’d thought it once too.

At the corner of the building Justine stopped and took a deep breath. Tears welled up in her eyes and she started to scream. She ran tot he door of the tavern and wrenched it open, screaming. “Murder! Murder! Oh my God, come quickly! Please!”

From Grave Sins:

Thus, no killing and no meddling. Even if they did have it coming. Justine had to be reminded of this sometimes. She had a very strong sense of what was right and what was wrong. For someone who had lived for centuries she still had an almost child-like view of the world. Things were black or white to her.

“Us two? Don’t try to tell me that you aren’t throwing Devlin’s clothes off every chance you get. I love with the two of you. I know.” She gave me that coquettish smile. “Well, he is particularly lovely without his clothes on.”

 

 

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Who did you choose today? Please link up so I can check it out :) Thanks for stopping by today! Have a peaceful Sunday.

 

Sidekick Showcase, previously known as Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC’s Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn’t have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! I will post my Sidekicks on Saturday, and so will Jaclyn, then whichever day during the week that you would like to post yours, you can put your link in on Jaclyn’s page.

 

Just do the following:

 

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in the week’s topic
• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don’t include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their’s throughout the week as well.

 

Sidekick Showcase #23 – Endearing and funny

For the whole month of October, the Sidekick Showcase will feature a creature of the night in honor of Halloween!

 

So who did you choose for the Sidekick Showcase for a creature of the night? Please do share, and don’t forget to leave your link so I can find yours as well! My choice for today is Bubba (formerly known as Elvis) from the Sookie Stackhouse series. First of all because I was laughing so hard when he was introduced to the series, and then afterwards because he’s such a great comic relief as well. I know the night-creatures are supposed to be all scary and halloweeney, but I felt more like laughing now that it’s dark so early in the evening, and so late in the morning. Bubba is very sweet, and he’s also very fond of sookie. At the same time he both respects and is afraid of both Eric and Bill. Here are some quotes for you :

 

From Dead to the World:

“Bubba made a sound of disapproval “You’re not supposed to be kissing on anybody else, Miss Sookie” he said “Bill said it was okay, but I don’t like it.”

From Deadlocked:

“Do you want a drink?” “You mean synthetic blood,” she said after a slight hesitation. “Yes, that would be nice. A sociable gesture.” “I’m all about the gestures. Bubba, you, too?” “Yes, ma’am, I reckon so,” he said.”

 

Unfortunately, because I read these books before I started blogging, I have so few highlights it’s difficult to find anything at all in my kindle. Now, I usually have several pages of highlights with quotes I want to remember for when I write my review. Oh well… At least there was a little ‘bite’ of Bubba here

 

This is a Blog Hop!

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1. JC's Book Haven

2. Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a spectacular Saturday and a wonderful weekend

Sidekick Showcase, previously known as Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! I will post my Sidekicks on Saturday, and so will Jaclyn, then whichever day during the week that you would like to post yours, you can put your link in on Jaclyn's page.

 

Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in the week's topic

• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character

• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in

• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick

• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their's throughout the week as well

 

Sidekick Showcase #22 - Night Terror

 

For the whole month of October, the Sidekick Showcase will feature a creature of the night in honor of Halloween! I actually had a little trouble to choose today, because I didn't want to be too obvious. I still ended up with a vampire, though, but she's very special. It's none other than Amelie, the founder of Morganville. She is a very complex character, you never know what she's thinking, and she might just as easily help you as bite your neck off. She can seem almost human in some instances, and so cold and alien she's plain scary in others. The most important thing in Amelie's life is to protect Morganville and its' inhabitants. And most of the time, she does a pretty good job, even if I do find her pretty frustrating sometimes!

 

Here are some quotes just to remind you of her awesomeness :)

 

From Fade Out “When I want to be lectured on strategy, I'll consult someone who's actually won battles," Amelie said. "Not one who ran away from them." "Snap," Eve said. "You know what they're talking about?" Shane asked. "Don't need to know to get that one. She smacked him so hard his momma felt it.” “Me neither,” Shane put in. “Homie don’t play that.” “I wonder, sometimes, if your generation speaks English at all,” Amelie said.”

 

From Ghost Town “Promise me, Amelie, that you’ll crucify me with silver before you allow me to fall in love.” “I hardly think there’s any chance of that,” Amelie said. "I doubt you have the capacity.”

 

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So who did you choose for the Sidekick Showcase for a creature of the night? Please do share, and don't forget to leave your link so I can find yours as well! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a spectacular Saturday and a wonderful weekend :)  

I'll pretty much read anything with Gaiman's name on it, so when I saw this with the blurb of "Magic, mystery, and ethereal intrigue" it was a no brainier that I should check it out. Unfortunately, I've been left disappointed by what I got. It's short. Like, unbelievably short. This book has two stories, one about cats and the other about owls, both of which are only some twenty pages long. Seeing it on the shelf made me think it was much longer than that. The hardcover is deceptive in its bulk. Although, it should be said that the art is very beautiful and the writing is incredibly imaginative. I just don't understand the length! The stories here have tons of potential to be further fleshed out and frankly should have been for the sake of the stories themselves. Although the quality is there, the substance isn't. It's that comparison of going to a really fancy restaurant and ordering the salad only to be served a teeny-tiny piece of lettuce and one single cherry tomato. I need a little bit more bang for my buck, especially when it comes to a hardcover that would cost me $17 without tax here in Canada.