by Brian Greene

This is an unusual book. It’s a retelling of the Greek Icarus myth, about a young man who uses wings made of wax to fly. Unfortunately, he flies too high, his wings melt, and he falls to his death. Fortunately, this version isn’t so depressing. Icarus at the Edge of Time is set on a spaceship in the future, and this Icarus is a teenage genius who flies too close to a black hole. He survives, but things don’t work out quite the way he expected.

Icarus at the Edge of Time looks like a book for kids – it’s a board book with only 44 pages, and there are only a few sentences per page. Mostly, it’s illustrated with photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. The story isn’t particularly complex, either. However, it’s a neat little story, and it does involve actual physics. It might be a good book to read with your children, if you want to get them talking about science, but I think it’s neat enough that you can enjoy it as an adult, too. I did.

The author, Brian Greene, has written a couple of big books about physics. If you are expecting more of the same, except for kids, you’ll be disappointed. If you are looking for a serious sci-fi version of the Icarus story, you’ll be disappointed. It’s somewhere in between the two. It uses the Icarus story to introduce a little science and have some fun along the way.

I linked to Brian Greene’s official college website at the top of this review, but the book itself has another site at icarusattheedgeoftime.com.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Brentwood	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library
Clayton	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library
Concord	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library
Danville	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library
Martinez	.	FIC GREENE, B.	Checked out, due 2/8/12
Moraga	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library
Orinda	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library
Pinole	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC GREENE, B.	In library

This list was last updated February 5, 2012 at 9:10 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Mark Haddon

Christopher is 15 years old, and he tells us he has “Behavioral Problems.” He carries a knife with a saw-blade that (he thinks) would be good for cutting off somebody’s fingers. He wouldn’t mind if everyone else in the world just vanished one day. He likes math. However, he’s not a serial killer or anything even remotely like that.

Christopher’s brain works in a different way. He has trouble understanding feelings or interpreting facial expressions. He pays attention to everything, so crowds or some kinds of noises or lots of signs or even looking out the window while he’s on a train overwhelm him. He really hates being touched. That’s part of why he doesn’t like people.

The story is told entirely from Christopher’s point of view. It begins when he discovers that his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, has been murdered. Since Christopher loves Sherlock Holmes, and since he really liked Wellington, he decides to investigate the murder and bring the killer to justice. The murder is solved about half way through the book, but it leaves Christopher in the middle of an even bigger problem, and he spends the rest of the story dealing with it.

People seem to either love or hate this book. I think one reason some people hate it is the writing style, which I can kind of understand. Since Christopher is telling the story, he tells it his way. However, this didn’t bother me. I actually thought it was pretty easy to read. However, I’ve noticed that a lot of people feel cheated because they thought it was a very different kind off book than it really is. Let me try to clear up some of the most common myths I’ve seen about this book.

Myth 1: This is a murder mystery. Well, that’s what Christopher says, but he’s wrong. This is a novel about Christopher, his life, and his family. In fact, Christopher spends every other chapter writing about his daily life, his hopes and dreams, and his hobbies. He is very fond of mathematics and physics, and he talks about math a lot.

Myth 2: This book is for kids. Actually, the author got tired of writing books for kids, so he wrote this one for adults. His agent decided that it would be good for kids, too, so one edition was published for adults and one edition was published for children. Just so you know, there’s a lot of swearing in it, and bodily functions appear more than a few times.^*

Myth 3: This is an accurate, scientific portrayal of autism. It isn’t. In fact, the author never says that Christopher is on the autism spectrum. He never claims that Christopher has Asperger syndrome. The author used to work with people who had autism, and he says he basically combined various traits of people he knew to create Christopher. He didn’t go out and do any research. You might want to check out this interesting article about the book written by a man with Asperger syndrome.

If you want to give the book a try, you can read an excerpt of it at the publisher’s website or Google Books.

*: One way to get a book marked as “Literature” is to kill an animal, talk about bodily functions, and make the main characters people you wouldn’t want to hang out with all the time. Having the main character talk about academic topics also helps.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the school library.

School	Location	Call Number	Status
Contra Costa College	Stacks	PR6058.A34 C87 2003	AVAILABLE
Contra Costa College	Stacks	PR6058.A34 C87 2003	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Stacks	PR6058.A34 C87 2003	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Adult Basic Education	PR6058.A34 C87 2003	AVAILABLE

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Antioch	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Brentwood	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Clayton	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 2/23/12
Concord	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Concord	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Crockett	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Danville	Paperbacks	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Dougherty Station (San Ramon)	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 2/11/12
El Cerrito	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
El Cerrito	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
El Sobrante	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Kensington	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Moraga	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 2/17/12
Oakley	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Orinda	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Orinda	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Pleasant Hill	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Pleasant Hill	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 2/10/12
Richmond	Main Adult Books	Fic Haddon. M.	CHECK SHELF
Richmond	West Side Adult Books	Fic Haddon. M.	CHECK SHELF
Richmond	Bayview Adult Books	Fic Haddon. M.	CHECK SHELF
Richmond	Main Adult Books	Fic Haddon. M.	CHECK SHELF
Rodeo	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
San Pablo	.	FIC HADDON, M.	On Hold Shelf
San Pablo	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
San Pablo	Young Adult	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
San Pablo	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
San Ramon	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 2/23/12
San Ramon	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 2/18/12
San Ramon	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 2/24/12
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC HADDON, M.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC HADDON, M.	Checked out, due 3/17/12
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	Paperbacks	FIC HADDON, M.	In library

This list was last updated February 5, 2012 at 8:32 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

Table of contents for Old-school Vampires

1. Varney the Vampyre
2. Carmilla (short story)
3. The House of the Vampire

The House of the Vampire

by George Sylvester Viereck

So you’ve read all the popular vampire series and you still want more? Do you consider yourself a fairly good reader, who doesn’t mind slightly old-fashioned writing? Are you interested in seeing the origins of today’s vampire novels? If so, you might want to check out this old-school vampire story.

The House of the Vampire is probably the first psychic vampire novel. Psychic vampires don’t drink blood. Instead, they take energy or life force or spirit or something like that from their victims. In The House of the Vampire is about a group of artists – writers, sculptors, and painters, whose creativity and spirit are being sucked away by a psychic vampire.

Reginald Clarke is a master writer, a man who can use words like nobody else. He also happens to have fantastic taste in all other forms of art, and he tends to take in and nurture less successful artists.

Reginald’s current protege is Ernest Fielding, another writer. Ernest is currently living with Reginald and trying to write the great American novel.

Jack is Ernest’s college friend, former roommate, and best friend in the whole world. Jack is away at school during much of the story, but he plays an important role.

Ethel Brandenbourg is, or was, a painter. She and Reginald were also briefly a couple. She hasn’t really painted in years, though.

Most of the story is about nervous artists being nervous artists. They make such good victims for a psychic vampire because it’s so hard to tell when they are being drained of their energy. They’re artists, after all. Are they just being overly sensitive? Are they having (absolutely natural) trouble coming up with the next great novel or painting? Are they having their life essence stolen by a vampire? Of course, evidence starts to pile up. Ethel and Ernest think they have it figured out, but nobody else believes them.

So how does The House of the Vampire compare with the Hollywood vampire stereotype?

• Drinking Blood ✘ The vampire sucks the creative energy out of our artists.
• Has Fangs ✘
• Vampires Spread by Biting ✘ According to the vampire, it just happens. It’s how you are born.
• Amazingly Strong ✘
• Unkillable ✘ As far as we know, vampires are physically pretty ordinary people. It’s all in the mind.
• Weak Against Wooden Stakes ✘ Well, no weaker than a normal person.
• Weak Against Sunlight ✘ Not even a little bit.
• Must be Invited In ✘
• Weak Against Flowing Water ✘
• Weak Against Holy Symbols ✘
• Weak Against Garlic ✘
• Get Confused at Crossroads ✘
• No Reflection in Mirrors ✘
• No Heartbeat/Breath/Blood/Temperature/Other Signs of Life ✘
• Pale, Corpse-like Appearance ✘
• Doesn’t Age ✘
• Changes Shape ✘
• Flight ✘
• Wall Crawling ✘
• Hypnotic Powers ✔ Psychic powers and a ton of charisma! What a combination.
• Sleeps in a Coffin ✘
• Wealthy ✔ Not insanely wealthy, but certainly very well off.

How about some of the more modern trends?

• Sophisticated and Elegant ✔ Everybody likes this vampire, and he certainly has style. Not capes and things like that, but a really good sense of normal human style..
• Angsty ✘ This vampire doesn’t feel the least bit bad about sucking people’s energy or even killing them. In fact, he sees it as his duty.
• Dark and Brooding ✘ A little nutty, yes, but far to arrogant and cheerful to be dark or brooding.
• Really Just Misunderstood ✘
• A Sucker for Love ✘
• Looks Young and Sexy ✔ ✘ I’m not sure about young, but this vampire has the charm. Women pay attention to him. So do men.
• Fluid Sexuality ✔ ✘Well, maybe. The House of the Vampire has been called the first gay vampire novel, but I’m not familiar with the cultural norm of the early 1900s. We never see the vampire get it on with another guy, but you might infer that he isn’t altogether 100% heterosexual. You might not. It’s all in how you read it.

Where to Find It

You can read copies online through Project Gutenberg, Google Books, HorrorMasters.com, or Wikisource.

1. Read all the directions.
2. Click here to go to the Link+ search.
3. Pick the volume you want. The first volumes are near the bottom. The most recent volumes are near the top.
4. Click "Request this item."
5. Pick your local library. This will probably be "Contra Costa Public."
6. Give them your library card number and whatever else they need.
7. When the book comes in, your library will call you.

You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything.

If you want to check on the book or cancel your order, go here.
This list was last updated May 4, 2010.

by Peter S. Beagle

When I was a kid, I saw a really amazing animated movie called The Last Unicorn. Later, I found the book it was based on. While the movie is really good, the book is even better.

Unicorns live forever, and they tend to stay in one place and not travel. Places where they choose to live become special – the animals learn a little bit of magic, and winter never comes. One day a group of hunters visit a unicorn’s forest but cannot find anything to hunt. They eventually realize that something is wrong, and as they leave, the warn the unicorn that all the others are gone, and that she is alone in the world.

The unicorn had never minded being alone before that, but she is disturbed by the thought that there were no other unicorns left. She isn’t sure what to do, or even whether to believe the men, but she decides to leave her forest and find some answers.

She soon learns that humans can no longer see unicorns. When they look at her, they see a fine horse, but not a magical unicorn. Eventually she meets a butterfly, who appears to be a little bit crazy, but he also seems to know about unicorns. He claims that something called the Red Bull chased all the other unicorns, but that she can save them if she is brave. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell how much of that is serious and how much of that is the butterfly just saying random things.

The unicorn is taken prisoner by Mommy Fortuna, a witch who runs The Midnight Circus, a pathetic collection of animals that she has enchanted to appear magical. While in the Circus, the unicorn meets Schmendrick the Magician. Schmendrick is a real magician, by which I mean he can actually do magical stuff. However, he isn’t a skilled magician, by which I mean he can’t really control what happens when he does magical stuff. However, he does recognize a unicorn when he sees one, and he is able to help her escape.

Schmendrick and the unicorn meet up with Molly Grue, the wife of a second-rate bandit king. Molly knows a unicorn when she sees one, too – she has always believed in them, and she has always dreamed of seeing one. Together these three head toward the castle of King Haggard, who owns the Red Bull.

They eventually meet the Red Bull, but it proves to be too strong for them to deal with. Schmendrick works his most powerful spell yet, and that’s when things take a sudden left turn. Eventually, our misfit heroes triumph, and unicorns and wonder are returned to the land, but the ending is kind of bittersweet. Unicorns are unicorns, and people are people, and the two don’t really mix. It will make sense when you read it.

One of the things that I really like about this book is that none of the villains are really evil. They’re bad people, but they aren’t evil in the same insane way that a lot of fantasy villains are. They’re people, and you kind of feel sorry for them. Mommy Fortuna is a sad old woman running a sad old monster show. Captain Cully is a two-bit bandit lord who has to write heroic folk songs about himself, because nobody else will. King Haggard rules a vast country and his son is a great hero, but he can find no joy in life. Actually, I think pretty much all the characters are more complex than you usually find in stories.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Antioch	Science Fiction	S BEAGLE, P.	In library
Lafayette	Science Fiction	S BEAGLE, P.	Checked out, due 2/9/12
Moraga	Science Fiction	S BEAGLE, P.	Checked out, due 2/17/12

This list was last updated January 24, 2012 at 1:34 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

Table of contents for Old-school Vampires

1. Varney the Vampyre
2. Carmilla (short story)
3. The House of the Vampire

Carmilla

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

What do you do if you have read all the popular vampire books and still want more? You might want to check these lists from Reading Rants or The Monster Librarian. However, if you consider yourself a fairly good reader, you don’t mind old-fashioned writing (like from the 1800s), and you want to learn more about the history of vampire literature, you might want to give an old-school vampire story a try.

Carmilla was written in 1872, making it 25 years older than Dracula. I can think of three reasons to recommend it. First, unlike Varney the Vampyre, it seems to be reasonably well written. In some parts, the writing is even beautiful. Second, it features a vampire who isn’t super obvious about being a vampire. The vampire actually tries to blend in, and she does a reasonably good job of it. Third, it’s historically significant because it is the first story about a lesbian vampire. It’s not at all graphic – there’s a little bit of kissing and hugging and talk of loving someone forever, but that’s all. It seems very PG these days, but I’m sure it was sensational when it was written.

Laura lives with her father and a few servants in a castle out in the middle of nowhere in Styria, a region of Austria. Her closest neighbors live at least 15 miles away, so she doesn’t get to spend much time with anybody her own age. Then one day a carriage has an accident on the road near her castle, and one of the people in it, a girl of about Laura’s age, is injured. This is Carmilla, and her mother is in some kind of trouble. Mom needs to travel fast, but she doesn’t think Carmilla is well enough to sit in a speeding carriage all day. Laura’s father offers to take care of Carmilla until the mother returns, and Laura is thrilled. Laura and Carmilla appear to form a bond almost instantly, and Carmilla appears to be quite fond of Laura.

Some time later, Laura and Carmilla hear about a disease that is killing the peasants in the area. The victims are fine one day, but at night they often feel as though something is trying to strangle or smother them. The next day they grow weaker, and then they die. Carmilla is frightened by this, so she and Laura buy charms to ward off the disease. It’s just in time, too, since they both have a similar experience one night. Laura left her charm somewhere, but Carmilla kept hers under her pillow, so while Carmilla isn’t too bothered by her experience, Laura is is more upset. After that, they both have trouble sleeping and seem to feel unwell, although Laura seems to be suffering far more.

Nobody really seems to know what is going on until the end of the story, when several people arrive, unmask the vampire, and kill her. The problem with the ending, other than one character just coming out of nowhere to solve the problem, is that only part of the problem is solve – I’m pretty sure the vampire they killed was only one out of a group, and most of the peasants who died should also have become vampires. We can assume the peasant vampires were taken care of, but we never do find out what happened to the others.

So how does Carmilla compare with the Hollywood vampire stereotype?

• Drinking Blood ✔ Yeah, although apparently this vampire also sleeps in blood.
• Has Fangs ✔ They’re hard to notice, but yes, there are fangs and puncture marks on the neck.
• Vampires Spread by Biting ✔ Yes. Vampires can also be created through suicide sometimes.
• Amazingly Strong ✔ It’s more than just physical strength – the touch of a vampire can make you weak.
• Unkillable ✔ Pretty much. Apparently you need to stake, decapitate, and burn the vampire, and then maybe scatter its ashes.
• Weak Against Wooden Stakes ✔ That’s just one step of the process.
• Weak Against Sunlight ✘ Not even a little bit.
• Must be Invited In ✘
• Weak Against Flowing Water ✘
• Weak Against Holy Symbols ✔ The story never mentions crosses, but vampires do not like certain religious things, and priests seem to be some kind of protection against them.
• Weak Against Garlic ✘
• Get Confused at Crossroads ✘
• No Reflection in Mirrors ✘
• No Heartbeat/Breath/Blood/Temperature/Other Signs of Life ✘ In fact, before they kill the vampire, our heroes have a doctor make sure she is still breathing and has a pulse. She also bleeds a lot.
• Pale, Corpse-like Appearance ✘
• Doesn’t Age ✔ The vampire that dies is about 150 years old and still looks fairly young.
• Changes Shape ✔ This one turns into some kind of cat when it feeds.
• Flight ✘
• Wall Crawling ✘
• Hypnotic Powers ✘ Charisma yes, hypnotism no.
• Sleeps in a Coffin ✔ In a coffin full of blood under rock and dirt. Nobody knows how she gets in or out without disturbing the dirt, but our heroes do wonder.
• Wealthy ✘ ✔ At least one of the vampires was, but we really don’t know much about the others.

How about some of the more modern trends?

• Sophisticated and Elegant ✔ These vampires seem to be able to move in high society.
• Angsty ✘
• Dark and Brooding ✘
• Really Just Misunderstood ✘
• A Sucker for Love ✘ At the end of the story, we find out that vampires sometimes become obsessed with somebody and they act like they are in love, but that’s all just part of the feeding process.
• Looks Young and Sexy ✔ ✘ At least one is, and there might be one who isn’t. We never find out if that person is a vampire or not, though.
• Fluid Sexuality ✔ We’ve got a female vampire who only feeds on women and seems to be very interested in a few of them. At the end of the novel, we find out that it’s not really romantic interest. It’s just lunch.

Where to Find It

1. Read all the directions.
2. Click here to go to the Link+ search.
3. Pick the volume you want. The first volumes are near the bottom. The most recent volumes are near the top.
4. Click "Request this item."
5. Pick your local library. This will probably be "Contra Costa Public."
6. Give them your library card number and whatever else they need.
7. When the book comes in, your library will call you.

You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything.

If you want to check on the book or cancel your order, go here.
Make sure you don’t request Carmilla: A Vampire Tale unless you want to get the libretto for a chamber opera.
This list was last updated August 12, 2010 at 6:29 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

Table of contents for Old-school Vampires

1. Varney the Vampyre
2. Carmilla (short story)
3. The House of the Vampire

Varney the Vampyre, or, The Feast of Blood

by James Malcolm Rymer (or possibly Thomas Preskett Prest)

What do you do if you have read all the popular vampire books and still want more? You might want to check these lists from Reading Rants or The Monster Librarian. However, if you consider yourself a fairly good reader, you don’t mind old-fashioned writing (like from the 1800s), and you want to learn more about the history of vampire literature, you might want to give an old-school vampire story a try.

Varney the Vampyre was written in the 1840s, about 50 years before Dracula. It tells the story of Sir Francis Varney, a vampire who isn’t all bad. Yeah, every so often he will sneak into a young woman’s room and drink some of her blood, but he doesn’t enjoy it. Okay, well, maybe he does, but not a lot. In fact, he often feels sorry for his victims, and he tries to help them out somehow. On the other hand, Varney is kind of unpredictable, and does kill a few people because they have stuff he wants.

Varney the Vampyre is such a long and strange book that it’s kind of hard to summarize. It starts out like a classic vampire tale, where the vampire breaks into a woman’s room in the middle of the night and sucks her blood. This poor woman is Flora Bannerworth, a member of the English aristocracy. The Bannerworth family owns a lovely mansion and has a few servants, but they are about out of money and are occasionally worried about having to sell Bannerworth Hall and move somewhere cheaper. We’ve got a fancy, old building, a helpless woman, and a blood-sucking fiend. Sounds like Dracula, but it’s not. Not even close.

The writing in the first chapter is just awful, and I was really not looking forward to reading all 800 pages. It got a little bit better in the second chapter, but I was still a little worried about finishing it. Fortunately, things improved a lot in Chapter 4, where the novel first shows a sense of humor. Flora’s brother Henry has figured out that they are being haunted by a vampire, but he wants to keep the whole thing a secret. On his way in to town, every single person he meets says something like, “Hello there, Mr. Bannerworth. How’s the vampyre?” Everybody.

Then, a few chapters later, the vampire is after Flora again. This time, though, she whips out a pistol and shoots him! We never find out how Flora learned to shoot, but she is pretty good with a gun. Unfortunately, Flora is never quite this cool again, and most of the other women in the story are either helpless victims, second-class citizens, or dishonest schemers, but that’s not uncommon for this time period.

Then we meet Admiral Bell and his servant/friend/shipmate/nemesis Jack Pringle. They both spew stereotypical sailor nonsense (like “shiver my timbers” or “you may give the devil a clear berth, and get into heaven’s straits, with a flowing sheet, provided you don’t, towards the end of the voyage, make any lubberly blunders”) and swear about as much as anyone can in this kind of story. Jack and the Admiral are always fighting with each other and always making up, and somehow they manage to be genuinely funny.

At some point, the Bannerworths realize that Varney isn’t really interested in sucking blood. He wants their house, for some reason. Quite a few things happen after that, and, while I don’t want to spoil anything, Varney ends up spending a few days as Flora’s house guest. Yeah, this is different.

About the first 50 chapters (out of 237) deal with Varney and the Bannerworth family. Basically, that’s a whole regular vampire novel. Then Varney vanishes, and the action moves about 25 miles away. We get another 25 chapters of a story that sort of involves vampires, and sort of involves the Bannerworth family, but we don’t see Varney much until near the end. Then the action moves to London, and again, we don’t see Varney or any of the other “regular” characters until the very end. After that, we get a bunch of short stories about Varney that almost always end with something bad happening to him.

Varney the Vampyre has its flaws. For a start, the writing is really uneven. It bounces from good to bad to so-bad-it’s-good. There are also a lot of subplots that never get resolved and a lot of details that get forgotten. What ever happened with that Quaker who was living on the Dearbrook estate? Why was Marmaduke Bannerworth’s coffin empty? For that matter, wasn’t Marmaduke originally named Runnagate in Chapter 2? Why did George Bannerworth just disappear from the novel? Well, the author was writing it pretty quickly, and apparently he was also busy writing nine other stories at the same time! Fortunately, this got better as I read more of the book. I don’t think the writing got better. I think I just got used to it.

Another problem is that the author was paid by the word, so he often tries to use a whole paragraph when a single sentence would do. Even worse, though, is that sometimes the characters will sit down and tell each other little stories that have nothing at all to do with the novel. Actually, that’s not the worst part. The worst part is when Varney himself decides to read a story because he has an hour to wait and nothing to do, and we have to read exactly what Varney reads.

I mentioned before that the story has a sense of humor. However, since it was written in the middle of the 19th century, there are some things that the author thought were funny that are actually kind of racist, or are otherwise not okay anymore. Fortunately, there aren’t very many of these.

However, the story has its good points, too. Some of the writing is really good: Varney has some really excellent lines when he’s messing with people, for example, and every so often there is a really nice description of a place or an event. There is some good humor, too. Varney can be snarky when he wants to, and the author does a good job of showing the little ways in which ordinary people suck. Admiral Bell and Jack Pringle are just hilarious, too. Also, at one point, one of the characters sits down and reads a really awful vampire novel.

The author does a really fantastic job with some of the characters. It took me about five lines to get a good picture of Mr. Marchdale, for example, and the more I read, the more right that image seemed. I was also really impressed by Admiral Bell and Jack Pringle. While they are the zany comic relief, they are also real people, and we eventually get to see their serious sides. I think they are my favorite characters.

How can I sum up this book? It’s not great writing. It’s not even great that great a vampire story. When pretentious professors of literature say that popular books are bad because those authors write for money rather than for Art, this is what they are thinking about. Still, I actually enjoyed most of the book, and it’s an interesting piece of vampire literary history. I can’t recommend it to everyone, but if you really want to learn more about early vampire fiction and aren’t scared off by the thought of 237 chapters, give it a try.

So how does Varney compare with the Hollywood vampire stereotype?

• Drinking Blood ✔ Although Varney doesn’t always bite the neck. Sometimes he goes for the arm.
• Has Fangs ✔ Actually, Varney may be the first vampire in literature to have fangs.
• Vampires Spread by Biting ✔ Apparently you can also become a vampire if you are a really bad person.
• Amazingly Strong ✔ Varney may be the first vampire in literature to have amazing strength.
• Unkillable ✘ Varney actually gets killed a lot. I think he is shot to death five or six times, at least. He also gets stabbed by a sword once and drowned twice. However, moonlight brings him back.
• Weak Against Wooden Stakes ✘ Well, they will work, but they aren’t any better than a sword or a gun. However, at several points, drunken mobs try to stake people they think are vampires, and one vampire is actually killed by a stake through the heart.
• Weak Against Sunlight ✘ Varney doesn’t really enjoy sleep, since he has nightmares, so he is often out at night, but he’s also up during the day. It’s easier to scam people during the day, usually.
• Must be Invited In ✘ Varney is polite, but he doesn’t actually need your permission to enter your house.
• Weak Against Flowing Water ✘
• Weak Against Holy Symbols ✘ Actually, Varney hangs out with a priest for a while, and he breaks into a church.
• Weak Against Garlic ✘
• Get Confused at Crossroads ✘ However, one drunken mob does try to bury a vampire they’ve staked at a crossroads. Varney helps out, and he seems just fine.
• No Reflection in Mirrors ✘ Varney specifically mentions seeing himself in a mirror. Of course, he might be lying.
• No Heartbeat/Breath/Blood/Temperature/Other Signs of Life ✘ Varney has all the signs of life, except that he won’t stay dead and he doesn’t need to eat or drink (except blood).
• Pale, Corpse-like Appearance ✔ This might be because Varney was dead for two years before he came back as a vampire. Or he might be lying.
• Doesn’t Age ✔ We don’t know how old Varney is, but the story covers at least 30 or 40 years, and he never seems to get older.
• Changes Shape ✘ The best Varney can do is put on a disguise. He does that a lot.
• Flight ✘ Varney can jump pretty high, but that’s probably because he has supernatural strength.
• Wall Crawling ✘
• Hypnotic Powers ✔ As long as Varney can stare at his victim, she can’t move or scream. Of course, he has trouble doing this and actually biting her at the same time. Varney may be the first vampire in literature to have this power.
• Sleeps in a Coffin ✘ Varney likes his beds to be aired out and clean.
• Wealthy ✘ ✔ Sometimes Varney has lots of money, and sometimes he doesn’t. Usually he does, though.

How about some of the more modern trends?

• Sophisticated and Elegant ✔ Varney has a sense of style and he likes the finer things in life. He can really put on the charm when he needs, too.
• Angsty ✔ You don’t see it at first, but Varney really isn’t happy as a vampire. He’d rather be dead for real. He doesn’t spend a whole lot of time whining about it, though.
• Dark and Brooding ✘
• Really Just Misunderstood ✘ ✔ Varney is somewhat misunderstood, he really does need somebody to talk to, and he occasionally goes out of his way to do good things for people, but he’s not a good person. Still, Varney may be the first somewhat-sympathetic vampire in literature.
• A Sucker for Love ✘ Varney’s not going to fall in love with the first person who tries to stake him. He never falls in love with anyone in the story, although he does respect Flora and a few other people. He also wants to get married, although we’re not sure why. It’s clearly not for love, though.
• Looks Young and Sexy ✘ Varney is late middle-aged, pale, and ugly.
• Fluid Sexuality ✘ Varney is never sexually attracted to anyone in the story.

You can read some commentary on this blog. At five chapters a month, the blog should get through all 237 chapters in just under four years.

You can also check out a new graphic adaptation. Unfortunately, at their current pace of one chapter in two months, they will be done some time in 2050.

Where to Find It

You can read the whole thing online thanks to the University of Virginia’s Electronic Text Center. There are a few typos in this edition, but then, there were some pretty serious typos in the original printing.

1. Read all the directions.
2. Click here to go to the Link+ search.
3. Pick the volume you want. The first volumes are near the bottom. The most recent volumes are near the top.
4. Click "Request this item."
5. Pick your local library. This will probably be "Contra Costa Public."
6. Give them your library card number and whatever else they need.
7. When the book comes in, your library will call you.

You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything.

If you want to check on the book or cancel your order, go here.
This list was last updated February 9, 2010.

by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

I really enjoyed this book, but it’s hard to describe. It’s by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, formerly a community college creative writing instructor at Foothill in Los Altos, and it’s set in Oakland (not the expensive, yuppie side of Oakland, but the more interesting and sometimes dangerous areas). It’s usually just listed as fiction, literature, or magical realism, but I disagree. It’s fantasy start to finish. I would even say, given the role the San Francisco and Oakland play in it, with the immigrants’ and locals’ hopes and dreams and crimes, urban fantasy. Yes, it’s fantasy based in on cultures that have been continuously alive (India) rather than the more common urban fantasy that’s loosely based on what we know about ancient Celtic cultures, but there’s also plenty of Catholic- and Haitian Vodou- and other continuous-living-tradition-derived-based urban fantasy out there, so I hope nobody from the Indian subcontinent will be upset if I label this as urban fantasy of a kind. (Anyway, my impression is that the details of the magic in the book were totally made up by the author, besides the traditional elements of Ayurvedic medicine and whatnot, but please let me know if I’m wrong.)

The main character is Tilo, a “Spice Mistress” who can use power-infused spices from around the world to solve the problems of the customers who step through the doors of her little shop in Oakland. To wield such magic, she has had to pay a high price. She’s a young woman trapped in an old woman’s body, trapped in the store, but because she chose this life, she doesn’t view it as a trap. Until she meets someone who’s different …

One of the things I thought was interesting about this book was that it doesn’t shy away from racial issues–Tilo is aware of her ethnicity, her customers’ ethnicity, and so on. That’s not the main focus of the book, but it comes into play. There is a movie, but from everything I’ve heard, it removes all of the most interesting parts of the book, including Tilo’s fascinating back story before she becomes a Mistress of Spices (AWESOME). And speaking of ethnicity, as far as I understand, they actually change one of the most important characters’ backgrounds to be completely white, which is totally obnoxious because that character’s background is really important to the story. The movie might be interesting if you really like Aishwarya Rai, the famously beautiful Indian actress, but I don’t have any interest in seeing it, because it turns a complex, multilayered fantasy that includes a love story into a fluffy romance.

Be warned that the writing style is unusual and sometimes almost poetry-like. One reason for this is that the author is trying to convey the different patterns of the characters’ voices, I think, so that you will notice the way characters from different regions of India have different ways of speaking English. (English is one of various native languages for many people in India and Pakistan, and one of the reasons this is so, even after the end of colonialism, is that there are multiple language families in that part of the world that are not related to each other at all. There is no “Indian language” or single “Indian accent.” Many of the languages within India are mutually unintelligible, being far more different from each other than French and Spanish–since those come from a single language family.) Other times there’s unusual punctuation or sentence structure just to convey a sense of dreaminess, I think. Just go with it! It’s definitely not for everyone, but give it a few chapters and see if you can get into it.

This book is a great demonstration of the American literature market’s weirdness about “genre fiction,” which includes fantasy, science fiction, mysteries, romance, horror, and other things that book critics, some so-called intellectuals, and many literature and creative writing professors look down on. (Not all of them–I have a master’s degree in English myself.) This book is usually referred to as literary fiction, but as far as I’m concerned, it and similar things like Chocolat are fantasy. There seem to be some unspoken rules that most critics and professors would apply to books like this, like If It Addresses Real Issues Such As the Immigrant Experience It Cannot Be Genre Fiction, and If It Has Interesting Punctuation or Other Fancy Writing Tricks It Cannot Be Genre Fiction, and If There Are Parts Where You Can’t Tell Metaphor from Reality It Cannot Be Genre Fiction, and Basically If Reviewers Liked It It Cannot Be Genre Fiction, Because They Have Never Actually Read Any. So in order for a book critic, etc., to speak positively about a genre book, they can’t admit that it’s a genre book (unless it’s “for kids,” like Harry Potter). They have to pretend that despite the blatant use of magic (Chocolat, Mistress of Spices, Practical Magic, etc.), being set in the future (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Sparrow, etc.) and so on that something isn’t fantasy or science fiction. (Actually, I think that’s part of how the term “magical realism” got invented, to be totally honest.) It’s pretty funny in some ways, but it also backfires when students, writers, and others can’t get taken seriously because their books got labeled one way while some very similar book got labeled another way.

But this is genre fiction. And if you read widely within genre fiction, you will encounter all of these concepts and everything else that literary fiction does well, because just like all other things in life, genre fiction has a wide range from “complete crud” to “utterly excellent.”

Anyway, although this book is definitely not for everyone, I recommend it if you think you might enjoy a fantastic journey into a dreamland of spices, magic, and love, firmly grounded right here in the Bay Area. But be warned that you’ll be craving an aromatic cup of masala chai afterwards!

Where to Find It

You can get it from the school library.

School	Location	Call Number	Status
Los Medanos College	Stacks	PS3554.I86 M47 1997	AVAILABLE
Contra Costa College	Stacks	PS3554.I86 M47 1997	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Stacks	PS3554.I86 M47 1998	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Stacks	PS3554.I86 M47 1997	AVAILABLE

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Clayton	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI, C.	In library
Concord	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
Danville	Paperbacks	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
Dougherty Station (San Ramon)	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
El Cerrito	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
Hercules	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI, C.	In library
Kensington	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
Martinez	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
Moraga	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library
Pittsburg	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI, C.	In library
Richmond	Main Adult Books	Fic Divakaruni, C.B.	DUE 03-02-12
Richmond	West Side Adult Books	Fic Divakaruni, C.B.	CHECK SHELF
San Ramon	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI, C.	In library
Walnut Creek Park Place	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	Checked out, due 2/16/12
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC DIVAKARUNI	In library

This list was last updated February 5, 2012 at 3:11 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Terry Pratchett (UK website here) and Neil Gaiman

Do you like stories about the apocalypse, complete with evil nuns, prophecies, angels, demons, and the Antichrist? Well, either way, you might like Good Omens. It’s a spoof of these kinds of stories – sort of like End of Days, except deliberately funny. And with no Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s also like Dogma, but without Chris Rock or Jason Mewes.

The End Times are near, but there’s a little problem. There was a little accident at the hospital when the Antichrist was born, and he was accidentally switched with a normal baby. Eventually, the forces of good and evil figure out that the guy they think is the Antichrist is just some kid, while somewhere out there the real Antichrist is living a normal life. Several different groups are out to find him. Unfortunately, figuring out which ordinary eleven-year-old boy is actually the Spawn of Satan and Prince of Lies is kind of difficult. In fact, the only person who had any clue about all this died 300 years ago. Her name was Agnes Nutter, and before she died, she wrote down her prophecies in a book called The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. Agnes didn’t really understand the 20th century, though, so she had a lot of trouble explaining what she saw. As a result, her prophecies are almost useless – you’ll only understand one after it’s too late.

The cast of characters includes Elvis, evil nuns, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (who now ride motorcycles), the elite Witch-Finder Army (two people), a demonic Hell-hound, an unlikely team of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley (who happen to be good friends), and quite a few other strange and amusing people.

If you take Christianity so seriously that you can’t laugh at it, you’ll probably hate this book. Also, if you don’t like sly humor, you’ll probably dislike this book. Otherwise, give it a try. How often is the end of the world a laughing matter?

To get the most from Good Omens, you need to be pretty familiar with the history of Christianity. The book is still very funny even if you know next to nothing about religion, but if you want to get every little joke and reference, there are a couple of sites that you might want to check out. One is http://goodomenslexicon.org, and another is http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/good-omens.html.

You can read a chapter online at the publisher’s website. There are funnier parts to the book, though. Also, for some strange reason, the people at HarperCollins couldn’t be bothered to proofread the excerpt. Basically, the book is way better than this excerpt would lead you to believe.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the school library.

School	Location	Call Number	Status
Diablo Valley College	Paperback Rack		AVAILABLE

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Bay Point	.	S GAIMAN, N.	In library
Clayton	Science Fiction	S GAIMAN, N.	In library
Danville	Science Fiction	S GAIMAN, N.	In library
Dougherty Station (San Ramon)	Science Fiction	S GAIMAN, N.	In library
El Sobrante	Science Fiction	S GAIMAN, N.	In library
Hercules	Science Fiction	S GAIMAN, N.	In library
Lafayette	Science Fiction	S GAIMAN, N.	Checked out, due 3/27/12
Pinole	Science Fiction	S GAIMAN, N.	Checked out, due 3/21/12
Richmond	Main Adult Books	Fic Gaiman, N.	CHECK SHELF

This list was last updated February 5, 2012 at 6:10 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Julie Kenner

Kate Connors never went to high school or college, but she had a job she loved and was good at. Then she married a co-worker and settled down to raise a family, and she never even thought about going back to work. She used to be a demon hunter, and that’s not really something you can do while also raising kids.

Kate has been a full-time mother and a full-time wife for the past fifteen years. Her husband doesn’t know about her past, and she’d like to keep it that way. She really wants her husband to see her as a wife and not an unstoppable killing machine. Her daughter doesn’t know about her past, although Kate might tell her one of these days. Her son doesn’t know and wouldn’t care if she told him, since he’s only two years old. Kate doesn’t really like keeping secrets, but since she’s not longer fighting demons, nobody really needs to know.

Her husband is running for a political office and has to win important people over, and one day he calls her to ask if she can put together a dinner party for that evening. Then an old demon jumps through her window and tries to kill her. Now she has to clean up the glass, hide the demon corpse, and make the dinner party happen.

This is where Kate’s life gets fun. Some big, bad demons are moving in on her town, and due to budget cuts and recruiting trouble, she’s the only demon hunter around. She does eventually get the help of an alimentatore, an advisor who is the brain while Kate is the brawn. Unfortunately, her alimentatore has a day job, so he makes Kate dig through records. She also gets the help of another retired hunter. Unfortunately, he’s currently in a nursing home. She also finds a sidekick. Unfortunately, when danger threatens, her sidekick plans to scream and run. Then, of course, she’s got to deal with her husband, teenage daughter, and two-year-old son. With help like this, how can she lose? Oh, and she’s a little out of shape, too. Not a lot, but enough to make fighting demons dangerous.

You can read some of it online at Google Books.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Antioch	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Concord	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Dougherty Station (San Ramon)	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
El Cerrito	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
El Cerrito	Paperbacks	FIC KENNER, J.	Checked out, due 2/23/12
El Sobrante	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Hercules	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Kensington	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Oakley	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Pinole	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Pleasant Hill	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Richmond	Main Adult Books	Fic Kenner, J.	CHECK SHELF
San Pablo	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC KENNER, J.	In library

This list was last updated February 4, 2012 at 1:57 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Ramsey Campbell

Simon Lester is a film critic, but he isn’t doing that well at it: he works part-time at the local gas station. Then one of his old college professors asks him if he is interested in writing a book on Tubby Thackeray, who was a comedian from the era of silent movies. Tubby used to be famous, but now it seems like nobody has heard of him. In fact, Simon has a terrible time finding anything about him. His films seem to have been removed from film archives, and things written about him seem to have been lost or destroyed. When he asks people about Tubby, they often get hostile. Clowns threaten him. Some guy on an Internet forum starts giving him trouble.

Finally, Simon finds people who know about Tubby Thackeray and are willing to share information and copies of his old films. Some of his work is really bizarre and troubling, and it seems to follow Simon home. The spirit of Tubby starts to take over his life, and it seems to be possessing his girlfriend’s son. Simon has enough trouble in the real world without any supernatural events, and he starts to crack up.

This story is dark and disturbing, but it doesn’t have much blood or gore. Supernatural things happen, but the real horror is in Tubby’s films and Simon’s head.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Antioch	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Brentwood	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Concord	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Danville	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
El Cerrito	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Kensington	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Martinez	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Moraga	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Orinda	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Pinole	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Pinole	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Pittsburg	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Walnut Creek Park Place	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library

This list was last updated January 28, 2012 at 9:14 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information.