Reading.

So apparently I've been in one of my I'm-just-going-to-watch-TV-instead-of-reading-a-book moods, because up until a few days ago, I hadn't touched a book all week.  I blame this on a few things: Number one, I was busy and using my brain to read felt like a huge deal and I wasn't into the idea of it, and Two: I'd been plowing through a lot of books and I think I burned out a little.  Either way, I've made a nice recovery the last few days and this was helped by really good books.

Honestly?  I completely imagine you all groaning and clicking the red X every time I mention the Vampire Academy series because it's all I talk about, but I can't help it this time!  I finally gave in and read Bloodlines by Richelle Mead this week, which is a companion book to the VA series.  I'd put off reading it because, while every book in the VA series was out when I started reading them, this book is brand spanking new and I knew I'd have to wait for the next one.  And I also knew what the last line of this book was and understood that I would be in physical pain if I read it now and had to wait until summer 2012 to read the next book.  But I'm a masochist, so I read it anyway.

Fantastic.  Just fantastic.  I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy this book as much because I was never a huge fan of Adrian in the original series and thought I'd be bored with him, but not so!  I mean, sure every time I saw the name Belikov, I giggled and Adrian isn't giggleworthy for me, but it's still very, very good.  Can't wait until The Golden Lily comes out next summer.

Last night I sat down to read the first few chapters of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick just to see what it was about and whether I should be excited to read it.  I. Read. The. Whole. Thing.  Granted, I got very little sleep last night, but still.  I'm pretty interested in the whole nephilim/angels thing being a big fan of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare but I haven't actually read that many books about them.  This was good.  Yes, it's very Twlight-esque, and some things the main character's best friend did made me want to slap her very hard, but in the end, I read the whole damn thing in one sitting.  That says something.  Also, this book probably has one of the most kick ass covers I've seen in a along time.  And of course the next book in the series, Cresendo, doesn't come out for another year.  *forehead slap*

Soooo, what are you reading?

Brandy

Writing frustrations.

I'm sure I'm not the only struggling writer out there that reads books that are so good, so consuming that you just want to throw things and shake your fist at the sky while yelling, "I want to write like this!" Right?  RIGHT?  Because that's what I've been doing the last few days.

I know I've tweeted about my love of the series The Vampire Academy but I don't think I've mentioned it on the blog before.  I'm in serious love with these books.  Yes, I'm a few years late but still, it's love.  I also know that there are a lot of people who will shake their head and sniff at vampire books because they're so overdone and "on the way out" but I. Love. Them.

I'm reading the series for the second time and I've done so just as fast as I did the first time and with the exact amount of awe as well.  For me, these books aren't even about vampires but amazing characters that I find myself thinking about throughout the day.  In fact, a friend asked me what I'd been up to the other day and I answered honestly, "Well, I'm wondering what Dimitri Belikov is up to."  It's just the way I think.  I can't help it.

What's so impressive though is how ballsy Richelle Mead is.  If you've read the series, you know what I'm talking about.  The end of the third book and all of the fourth are heart wrenching, gut twisting and breakdown inducing.  By nature, I'm not a crier, but I think every time I put down the fourth book in the series, Blood Promise, I bawled my eyes out.  And in a show of how good the story is, the next day, I picked the book right back up, tissues in hand.  I'm also about to read that book for the second time, ready to cry for a few days again.  But Mead went there anyway.  She KNEW that she was turning the world she created upside down and she pushed on.  Even when you think things are about to get better for poor Rose Hathaway, they don't.

I've also heard people complain about decisions that Rose makes throughout the series, calling her selfish or immature, but that's because she is.  Mead allowed Rose to be imperfect and to do things that the readers may disagree with because it's what made her real.  She got away with this because the story is just that good and because it's honest. This is so brave and as a struggling writer, SO admirable.

I have a lot of the same feelings about the writing on Sons of Anarchy.  You just don't leave seasons hanging the way Kurt Sutter does.  You don't flip the whole world around, leaving everyone at risk.  You can't write characters that do horrible things and expect people to pull for them.  Except that he does.  What makes these stories so good is that when I either put the book down or walk away from the TV, my mouth is hanging open and my heart is pounding.  I can't believe these writers went there and that they continue to go there.

I haven't read Bloodlines yet, the companion book to the Vampire Academy series, but I have heard what the very last line of the book is.  Mead went there again, leaving us hanging yet trusting her that she'll bring it next time.  And I'm positive she will.

*shakes fist at ceiling*   Why must they set the standards so high? Why??

So, what story, book, TV or otherwise, leaves you shaking your fist?  I'll be sure to grab a pen and paper so I can check them out too.

Brandy