My birthday wishlist, 2010

My birthday is coming up! I'll be turning 25 on August 18th this year. This is not a big deal, but on the off chance that you were wondering what I wanted for my birthday:

Books. Here's my Amazon wishlist, which is fairly up to date. I read almost anything (almost always fiction, never chicklit or high fantasy, often fantasy, science fiction, general literature, young adult literature, and classics, with a particular love of Shakespeare and tiny little subgenres), and always want to read a book which comes with a personal recommendation and plenty of love.

Shinies. Wyrding Studios and Sihaya Designs tend to be my stores of choice, although I've also had my eye on Kendra Tornheim's pendants. I love handmade, organic jewelry. I tend towards necklaces, but wear the occasional bracelet or ring (I don't wear earrings). Peridot and amber are my favorite stones and colors, and I prefer brass and copper metals. This old post is a good introduction to some of my tastes, but I don't have a current shinies wishlist.

Smellies. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is my drug of choice, of course. My BPAL wishlist is a little out of date, but it's a good introduction to my tastes. Philologus (ancient books, crackled parchment, faded incense, and candle wax) is currently at the tippy top of my wishlist. The Halloween update, which is traditionally my favorite update of the year, will be a few days after my birthday—so that's when I'll really be making grabby hands. Spending money for the update would make my (birth)day.

I sometimes collect bears (of the teddy variety in particular). I always collect pennies. My body pillow Henry could use a new modal pillow case. I could always use a few more modal shirts. I am a materialistic desirous beastie in many ways, and none of this matters! I don't expect gifts, but would certainly welcome well-wishes. So there you go.

Book Review: The Last Vampire (Thirst Book 1) by Christopher Pike

Title: The Last Vampire (Thirst Book 1)
Author: Christopher Pike
Published: New York: Simon Pulse, 2009 (1994)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 197
Total Page Count: 91,192
Text Number: 261
Read Because: review requested by an acquaintance, borrowed from said acquaintance
Review: Alisa is a five thousand year old vampire living a life of comfort until she learns that someone is tracking her—someone who seems to who who and what she is. The Thirst series is intended to be literary junk food: each installment is a quick 200 pages chock full of cliffhangers, simple writing, and gratuitous characterization and plot—a cheap guilty pleasure to be consumed in bulk. This sort of junk reading isn't to my taste, but I don't begrudge that others may enjoy it—except that despite such intentions, The Last Vampire is no guilty pleasure: it's just plain bad. A combination of stunted first person narrative (intended to sound ancient, it just sounds awkward and distant) and telling when Pike should be showing makes for a narrative which is so bland and passive that not even murders and cliffhangers can add intrigue to the plot. Alisa's idealized characterization crosses the boundary of irritating, and the reader soon grows tired of hearing how beautiful, talented, and powerful she is. Her unusual vampiric origins could be interesting, but clunky delivery makes the backstory as bland as the main plot; underdeveloped secondary characters with arbitrary and unsubstantial connections to Alisa strip away all other potential motivation and passion. The Last Vampire has no redeeming qualities—its brevity would be one if the book didn't end in another silly cliffhanger. Lifeless, heartless, and joyless, The Last Vampire is satisfying neither as a good book or as a fun easy read. It's a waste of time, and I don't recommend it.

Review posted here on Amazon.com.