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Goodreads Updates: Winners + Review

Have you heard of the site goodreads.com? Seems like I'm living over there these days. I describe it as a Facebook for those who love to read.

I held a giveaway of my new novel With Good Behavior, and would like to announce the winners! Because I don't know their Goodreads usernames, I'll refer to them by the first name here (you know who you are). Congratulations to the winners, and I'll get your books out to you next week!

Lisa
Marsha
Rosalyn
D.M.
Timothy

I also just reviewed a book on Goodreads. Seems like vampire books are all the rage, so I figured I'd give The Vampire Diaries a try. Some of my Twilight friends suggested that I read it because I'm writing a little story about Edward and Bella in therapy (hee hee).

The Vampire Tapestry: A NovelThe Vampire Tapestry: A Novel by Suzy McKee Charnas


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


What an interesting vampire book. I'm not very familiar with the genre (Twilight is my only reference) and The Vampire Diaries is very different from the Twilight series. There are five novellas featuring Dr. Edward Lewis Weyland: a tall, suave, gray-haired, slightly stooped vampire. (This book was published in 1980 and due to the name "Edward Lewis" I kept picturing a taller version of Richard Gere from "Pretty Woman"!)


Dr. Weyland scoffs at those who believe vampires have fangs (his method for sucking blood is rather cool, I thought) and he is more destructable than the Cullens but still manages to live for centuries. His palpable disdain for the humans upon which he feeds is realistic yet kept me at a distance from his character. I found it hard to connect to Dr. Weyland's austere personality.


Of the five novellas, the one I liked the best (and the one that won the Nebula Award) is "Unicorn Tapestry", featuring Dr. Weyland in therapy. I give this novella 4 stars . . . it is fascinating to see a vampire come clean about his true nature in therapy. At first the female psychologist thinks he must be delusional but then she begins to wonder if he's really telling the truth, which prompts her colleague to recommend therapy for the psychologist, worried that she's enabling and buying into the delusion. This section ends in a very satisfying (and sexy) way. The only reason I don't give this novella 5 stars is that the psychologist's style seems quite cold to me, like many of the fictional therapists I've read in books or watched in movies (but that's my little pet peeve). I think effective therapists are likely much warmer in real life.


Overall, it's an intellectual read. Besides Dr. Weyland, I grew attached to the characters Katje, Floria, and Irv, and wished their stories were woven throughout the novel. I disliked the extreme detail about the opera Tosca, which I've never seen.


For those vampire lovers out there, I think you will enjoy this book.



View all my reviews

Comments

Unknown said…
CONGRATULATIONS winners!!!!!

I enjoyed reading you review, Jen! I've seen promos for the Vampire Diaries tv series...
I can't say that I've been "sucked" into the vampire craze, but I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Goodreads rocks! Just be sure to visit your old breeding grounds once in a while! ;)
Jennifer Lane said…
Hmm, I'm not sure if the Vampire Diaries TV show has anything to do with this book? I kind of doubt it because this book is not flashy at all.

I love my old breeding grounds. ;) Thanks, Janine!