This will be the last book in my Dracula series, and I'm really glad I chose to start off the RIP challenge in that way. These three books have gone together really well. Dracula and Renfield were both excellent books, but neither really gave me that eerie, spooky, creepy feeling...The Historian does, and I love it for that! It's the first book that's really captured that mood for me. Reading these books in this series type of way has also helped me to appreciate Stoker's work even more than I already did. With both Renfield and The Historian, I get to re-examine parts of Bram Stoker's original masterpiece and see the amazing influence that he had on other writers and really on society in general!
Different topic - I'm joining another challenge :p Kailana is sponsoring this one in memory of her dog Sandy who passed away the other day. She was a beautiful dog and I know that her and Kailana had a very special relationship. I'm a dog lover myself, so I can empathize with her and I think that this is a wonderful idea for a challenge. Its' the Four-Legged Friends Challenge and the challenge is to read 3-5 books with animals as a central character. Here are my books:
1. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
2. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
3. Surrender by Sonya Hartnett
4. Varjak Paw by S.F. Said
5. Watership Down by Richard Adams
While reading these, I'll be thinking of my little white mini poodle, Buddy. Me and Megan bought Buddy together 6 months before Katrina. He's the sweetest dog that I've ever met and has the cutest personality that I've seen in a dog. He's as curious as a cat and is always looking to get into anything that he can. His favorite trick is "give me a kiss" and he does great little "jump in the air and spin around" tricks :) When Katrina came, Buddy evacuated with Megan, so I don't g
et to see him too often these days, but whenever I make trips to visit with Megan, he gets super excited and cuddles up in the bed right between me and Megan when we go to sleep. It'll be nice to be all back together in one place again soon.
28 comments:
aww...! he looks cute! :)
"the historian" looks very cool and is one that i've had my eye on for a while. but i thought i should read "dracula" first.
Great post! For some reason your other blog always shows up on my bloglines first, even if you are linking to this one in it. I am glad that he made it through Katrina too!
He is :) He's a very cool dog!
I'd definitely read Dracula first, though the book would stand on it's own. Having said that, reading Dracula first would certainly add so much to the experience of The Historian..so yeah, read Dracula first, but definitely pick up The Historian after ;)
Kailana, Thanks :) Bloglines is weird sometimes...there are times when people's posts don't show up on my bloglines until the day after they actually post them!
Yeah I was worried about Megan and Buddy right after Katrina. The place they had originally evacuated to got hit pretty bad and cell phones were down for 2 weeks, so I had no way of getting in touch with her! Those were the longest two weeks of my life...
That's so horrible! Where I live we rarely ever have weather of that nature, so I could not even imagine what it would be like. We just have snowstorms and blizzards, but we have those every year (I say so nonchalantly, talk to me in Jan or Feb when I want to throw the shovel at the plow who just pushed snow into the driveway we just finished shoveling.) Usually we just lose power once in a while, which sucks in the dead of winter, but there are a lot worse things you can lose. That being said, not everyone makes it through those storms.
I can't even fathom snow! We see it so rarely here that it's a treat when we do get it...we celebrate it! In fact, I've only seen snow twice in my life in New Orleans. Losing electricity in a blizzard...that's a scary thought! Do you have backup power for heating?
haha, no. We have a wood stove and some people have generators. Actually, we lost power for about four days in the winter my first year of university, I am sure a lot of people have generators now! Some places have it worse, there were bad ice storms in Ont and Que a few years ago that knocked out power for a couple weeks. It's not so much the weather a lot of the time, usually it is things falling on the lines. It doesn't even have to be a big branch, earlier this summer a little tiny branch caused a chain reaction that put us without power for an entire day.
I couldn't imagine not having snow! I hate it a bit by Jan/Feb, but up until that point I love snow. And, I hate green Christmas', which we have had before. How does Santa get around in New Orleans? When we have green Christmas' he acquires a helicopter. Or does his sled have special abilities?
I'll have to add The Historian to my list. But my RIP list is getting awfully long. I'm not sure I'll have time to fit in everything I want to read. :) But it will go on my library list.
Just about to start on The Historian - pleased to hear that it's really good and that you're finding it nice and creepy. Might add the Renfield one to my list of things to read in 2008. Can't believe I'm already planning my 2008 reading!
Awww, he's cute. Are you sick of rain, yet?
Buddy is so cute! I love that picture of the three of you, you look like such a happy family. I hope time passes fast until you can be reunited!
The Historian sounds like such a cool book. I've had my eye on it for a while. It was one of my options for RIP, but I was a bit discouraged by its size. I definitely plan on reading it eventually, though.
you enjoy all books! (why, I'd bet you'd enjoy reading even about an old woman tromping through a forest! lol)
Awwwwwwwwwww love the pic of you and Megan and Buddy!!!
can't wait until you read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane ..if it's good I may put it on the old wish list..(laughing at myself heh)
Kailana, Santa's sled runs on swamp gases down here ;) We had a white Christmas the year before Katrina down here. It's one of the two times I saw snow! It was amazing! We thought the world was ending with it snowing on Christmas in New Orleans ;) As much as I would love to see snow more often down here, I don't envy your situation come January/February. I've always wanted to visit Canada though...It wouldn't be to hard of a trip, I'll have to do it one of these days!
Becky, The Historian is great so far and it just keeps getting better with each page turned! All of your challenge lists are too long! lol...I know what you mean though...My RIP list is way too long and I'm really starting to get nervous looking at it!
Cath, I can sympathize! I think I've already planned about 30 books for 2008 with the challenges I've joined! I can't believe what I've committed to. I'm starting to wonder if my heads really screwed on straight, lol. But Renfield wouldn't be too much of a commitment. It's a quick read, but a great one!
Bookfool, Isn't he :) I'm never sick of the rain! It didn't last long enough for me...The meteorologists all told me that it was going to be here all afternoon and well..they just lied, it only rained for a couple of hours here. Looks like y'all got in on quite a bit though huh?
Nymeth, :) That picture's often been referred to as the "happy family picture". I hope that time passes fast too. It's been over two years now, so the worst part is over! It's the final stretch...
The size of The Historian is definitely discouraging, but it's such an engaging book, which makes it go by so quickly. I've been reading it in 100 page intervals/day...sometimes more, sometimes less. But I'm trying to set some kind of reading goal for myself so I finish this challenge in time with the 17 books I have left after this one! But you have to read this one at some point..I know you'd love it! It's written so well and researched well, and it's got a wonderfully, gothic, creepy feel to it.
Deslily, Now what would make you think I'd enjoy reading something like that ;) That's a great description...you should put that on the back cover, LOL!!
I'm glad you like the "happy family pic" :) It's one of my favorites...we kept trying to get Buddy to look at the camera too, but he refused...I think he was mad at having his picture taken and just kept looking down, lol
I can tell you now that Edward Tulane's going to be good, haha! But I'll wait until I read it to give you the official heads up! I've peeked at the illustrations and they're gorgeous. I love DiCamillo's books. They're amazing.
Wonderful picture, Chris! It must be fun when Buddy has fits of joy over seeing you.
I have had The Historian sitting here for months and months - it's funny, but I haven't read it because it's not a library book! So, no deadline! How pathetic is that? I'd kind of forgotten about it, so your pre-review was a great reminder. I just need to read a few non-vampire books between now and then. We've both been on a roll, haven't we?! :-)
Thanks Darla, You're right...we've both been reading quite a few vampire novels! I think it's time for something else after this one! I'll be sticking with the horror genre all the way through Halloween and I'll have a few more vampire novels in the mix, but I'm taking a few weeks off after this one ;) But definitely give it a go sometime!
Awww...what a cutie!! The three of you make such a cute little family! I'll be happy for you when you all get the chance to be together again.
I told Kailana I'd join her in remembering Sandy too. I may be stealing some of your ideas! I am having a hard time coming up with animal related books!
Thanks Stephanie :), I'll be happy when that day comes too! I was having a hard time picking out books at first too! I had the 2 DiCamillo's and Surrender on my shelf already and then Nymeth reminded me that I wanted to read Varjak Paw and Watership Down...so problem solved! In addition to the two DiCamillo's I picked, I'd also recommend her other two, The Tiger Rising and The Tale of Despereaux...both are excellent! There's an Orson Scott Card book that would fit perfectly too! It's one of my favorites of his and it was written with Kathryn Kidd. It's called Lovelock and it's about a monkey named Lovelock who is part of a new space station colony being formed. It's a wonderful book, but a little sad. It would work for this one and the Cardathon Challenge. I think you should read it ;)
Oh Chris, I just love that picture of you all!
I love that idea for a challenge...even if I don't do it, I know Annie will. (She's wanted to sponsor an "animal challenge herself for months, but I didn't have a clue how to help her do it.) She will be very excited!
So glad you enjoying yet another book for the R.I.P. I'm currently reading Frankenstein, and I'm embarrassed to admit that so far I just can't get into it. (But I am NOT giving up...I just have a feeling things will turn around for me.)
Thanks Debi!
I hope Annie enjoys this challenge! I'm sure she will...How fun would that be for her to host her own challenge!! Y'all should do it sometime!
I love Frankenstein..It's one of my favorites. It may be a little slow to start off, it's been so long since I remember, but it's one of those beautifully tragic stories, I hope it picks up for you. If not, no worries - it's one of those books that's not for everyone. I tend to like darker things ;)
Sounds like Buddy is a very special dog. Love the pictures! I have The Historian, but haven't read it yet. I'll get there someday :)
Thanks Ex Libris! You'll enjoy the Historian whenever you get around to it...it's a wonderful book! I can't believe it's her first novel, it's written so well!
Awww-buddy's adorable! And that picture of the three of you is just precious! I love Buddy's getting squished, lol.
I'm going to try to squeeze The Historian in for the R.I.P. II challenge, but it'll be a reread for me. I read it soon after reading Dracula last year, and I really loved it!
I felt the same way when I read The Historian - it was a great follow up after reading Dracula. It was also spookier than Dracula. I can tell I need to add Renfield to my list.
Forgot to mention what a cute couple you and Megan make.
We got a lot of rain. It was really nerve-wracking because we've been flooded several times, due to a drainage problem created by the husband altering a garden I told him not to mess with (he'll never hear the end of that) and now we've got erosion trouble from the drought. So, I read and then paced and moved things away from the walls where it flooded, in the past. Read and looked outside a lot. Read and paced. Sigh. It was an exhausting day. :)
Great picture of you and Megan! Very cute!
Dracula didn't give you an eerie, creepy feeling? That surprises me.
Carl, Thanks! I guess what I was trying to say in this post was that The Historian was the first book that really freaked me out and had me looking over my shoulder! Dracula most certainly had that haunting feeling to it and immediately put me under it's spell, and had I read it as a child, I'm sure it would have kept me up many nights. But I guess my wording in this post was wrong... Stoker certainly creates an eerie atmosphere with Dracula and I'd say he's the master at that. I think Kostova's book was more creepy to me because it's set in a more modern time and is therefore more imaginable as something that could actually happen today...even though it really couldn't, lol!
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