Insatiable by Meg Cabot

This is the first book I have felt like blogging about in quite a while (obviously, since it's looks like it's been almost a year since I blogged.) In any case, this book is the anti-Twilight. Our heroine, Meena, is in love with a vampire, and not just any vampire — the prince of darkness (i.e. Dracula's son). Meena's gets caught in the middle of a war between two brothers for the vampire throne. I won't say who wins or loses, but I will say that this book pokes just a bit of healthy fun at the flood of vampire books and television series out there. What's the best part? Prince Lucien wants to turn Meena, but she doesn't want to be a vampire, no matter how much she loves him. She'd rather be alive. Smart cookie! Meg Cabot does a great job with this adult novel.

The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter – what a great book. Hooked me from the beginning and had me reading the whole weekend through. It’s tough for me to find a book that keeps me interested beyond the bubble bath lately. This one did. It’s about a guy who gets laid off from his job as a business reporter at a newspaper. He’s trying to hold on to his house, his marriage and his writing, while parenting his two young sons and caring for his elderly, memory impaired father. His answer to his financial troubles is to become a pot dealer and the book takes off from there. Matt Prior, the main character, is likable enough that you just want to stop and him a various places in the book and say, “No, don’t do that …” and then he goes and does it anyway.

What I really liked is how he tied the book up so neatly at the end. It didn’t end abruptly in any way. I hate when you start to care about characters and then the book just ends without you finding out what happens to them later. This one wasn’t like that. Walter also wrote The Zero and Citizen Vince.