I'm not "back"

Okay I know I'm blogging, but this does not mean that I will be doing this on a regular basis. I don't think that I can blog while I feel like this. I have mentioned before that I have struggled for most of my life with depression and well that is what I am fighting right now. That's all I am going to say about it because there is a huge level of guilt and shame that comes along with these "episodes" for me.

So what I do want to talk about (because the second that I "declared" that I wouldn't be blogging so many great things to blog about popped up) is reading.

One thing about it being winter is that I have a lot of time to read. I have really fallen in love with the "horror" genre and I know that that makes me a huge nerd, but I DON'T CARE! :P

So the following is a list and synopsis of a few series I have been reading;

Kelley Harrison's "Women of the Otherworld" series

This series is a lot of fun. The series starts with "Bitten" a story told by narrator Elena, who is the only known female werewolf. (She was "bitten" by her ex-boyfriend.) It's a great introduction to the Wolf Pack and the world in which she lives. Elena actually has no idea that there are any other supernaturals in existence until book two "Stolen" in which she is kidnapped and housed in a compound with other supernaturals, like witches, shamans and half-demons. Through this introduction the series is opened to include other narrators, like Paige the witch, Hope, the half-demon and Jamie, the necromancer. These narrators take us through their own adventures in the other novels in the series. I love it because there is so much overlap (ie the narrators all show up in each other's stories) which gives you such a good picture of each of the characters, as you see them through so many points of view. What I also love about this series is that Armstrong released online stories to fill in blanks or to give background and she also has "Men of the Underworld," which is an anthology of some of the men's stories. I just think that this is a fun series for those of us who love a bit of fur or magic with our adventure (and of course there's a bit of romance!)

Kelley Armstrong's "The Darkest Powers" Trilogy (Young Adult Fiction)

This series is about a teenage girl named Chloe who gets sent to a group home and discovers that she hasn't been sent to just any regular group home. With the help of some of the other residents she discovers that they are all subjects of a science experiment by the sinister "Edison Group." The first two books are the only ones that have been released thus far and I really enjoyed them both. I like the way that this series is completely separate from the Otherwold series, but Amstrong still hints that there is some awareness of the Otherworld characters by Chloe's friends. This series is great because it is a coming of age story, but with these teenagers having to deal with their supernatural traits maturing as well.

Kim Harrison

This is the series I am currently reading. It follows Rachel Morgan a witch "runner" in a future world where a disease from biologically engineered tomatoes wipes out enough of the human race to make their numbers low enough that the supernaturals feel safe enough to "come out of the closet." So in this world there are human races and supernatural races like witches, vampires, werewolves and pixies. Rachel is a "runner" which is basically like a supernatural PI/ Bond officer who runs her own firm with her roommate Ivy, a living vampire who is trying to convince Rachel to share blood and Jenks, a Pixie with serious attitude. These books are a little more mystery than Armstrong's and they took me a bit longer to get into,but now I am really enjoying them. Rachel gets herself into a lot of tight spots and I am just really loving seeing how she gets herself out of them!

Suzanne Collins - "The Hunger Games" Series

This series is just plain haunting. It takes place in the future where the world as we know it has been eradicated and North America is one country called Panem, which consists of 13 "districts" and one central "capital." Panem is an autocratic state run by the all-powerful Capital. Each district is specialized in it's industry and is completely contained. Due to an uprising in Panem's past the Capital does not allow districts to mingle, ensures that the districts support the capital both politically and practically with food, textiles etc and force each district to send two children, one male and one female to compete against all the other children from all the other districts in a televised battle to the death. District thirteen was also destroyed by the capital in the district uprising as a demonstration of the Capital's power. The series follows sixteen year old Katniss who volunteers for the Hunger Games after her younger sister is chosen in the annual lottery. Katniss' Games end up stirring and uprising that will change Panem forever.

This series is so so haunting, between Katniss' almost cavalier attitude towards her condition, to the contestants' acceptance of their plight and their knowledge that most of them will not survive, this story just captivated me. It also made me inevitably draw parallels between the children of Panem and the children in war-torn countries and child soldiers. I could barely put either book down and am anxiously awaiting the final book of this series.



So there you have it. That was my two cents, if you like me enjoy these types of books and are looking for something to get you through the last bit of winter, give 'em a go! :)