Erin McCarthy’s Vegas Vampires series is adorable. I love a good vampire tale, and there are a lot out there (MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead series, Susan Sizemore’s Primes series, and Jennifer Armintrout’s Blood Ties series are all good examples), but I also love Vegas, and this is a snazzy combination of the two.

Set in Sin City, the stories follow sisters Alexis and Brittany Baldizzi, vampire president Ethan Carrick, his campaign manager Seamus, and a host of other characters, both good and bad. There’s a shy stripper, a brainwashed assassin, a ditzy secretary, and an immortal baby to round out the cast. Full of snappy dialogue, steamy scenes, and a host of ridiculous problems (what do you do when the woman you love gets smashed by a car? Make her a vampire, of course!), these are entertaining and amusing and I look forward to the next one, Sucker Bet, which lands in December.

I was shelving in the Fantasy section the other day, and I stumbled across Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld. I’d checked out some of his books before, but they were from the Teen collection, and just didn’t really hold my interest. Peeps is a whole other story, though. In short, it’s about parasites. In this case, the term “peeps” refers to parasite positives, i.e. people who have been infected with a particular disease. Main character Cal, a biology major, has a vast knowledge of various nasty parasites, but he’s primarily concerned with one that’s plagued humans for eons: vampirism. Cal himself is infected, but slightly immune; he’s not a full-blown vampire, but he is a carrier for the disease. As such, he’s been enlisted as a hunter for a secret organization known as the Night Watch; his mission is to track down the women he inadvertently infected before he was aware of his condition. All goes well until he is sent after Morgan, his progenitor. His search leads him to the apartment of a beautiful girl named Lace, who’s immediately suspicious of Cal. As he searches her building for clues to Morgan’s whereabouts, he begins stumbling upon very disturbing things: rats, cats, and a very evil presence. And unfortunately for Lace, she’s right in the middle of it.

A compelling read, with an interesting spin on vampires. I also learned way more about parasites than I ever wanted to know.

Chuck Klosterman is my favorite non-fiction writer (he’s in the middle of the picture above. He has glasses and shaggy bangs). I fell in love with his work several years ago, when I read his debut book Fargo Rock City, which discusses the impact heavy metal had on rural kids (particulary those in Klosterman’s home state of North Dakota). His other works include Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story. His insights are always funny and interesting, regardless of whether or not I agree. His latest book is no exception. An anthology of previously published articles and a new novella, Chuck Klosterman IV dishes on Britney Spears, Radiohead, Val Kilmer, and more. One of the most interesting passages in the book is his discussion of the American need to be liked by other countries, and why this notion is patently ridiculous. There’s also an excellent story about an old man, a zoot suit, and the police and a convincing article on why we shouldn’t be afraid of our toasters. Also, many of the articles start with a weird, hypothetical question, such as the one on page 225:

Think of someone who is your friend (do not select yout best friend, but make sure the person is someone you would classify as “considerably more than an acquaintance”).

This friend is going to be attacked by a grizzly bear.

Now, this person will survive this bear attack; that is guaranteed. There is a 100 percent chance that your friend will live. However, the extent of his injuries is unknown; he might receive nothing but a few superficial scratches, but he also might lose a limb (or multiple limbs). He might recover completely in twenty-four hours with nothing but a great story, or he might spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Somehow, you have the ability to stop this attack from happening. You can magically save your friend from the bear. But his (or her) salvation will come at a peculiar price: if you choose to stop the bear, it will always rain. For the rest of your life, wherever you go it will be raining. Sometimes it will pour and sometimes it will drizzle–but it will never not be raining. But it won’t rain over the totality of the earth, nor will the hydrological cycle be disrupted; these storm clouds will be isolated, and they will focus entirely on your specific whereabouts. You will never see the sun again.

Do you stop the bear and accept a lifetime of rain?

Seriously, how can you not love writing like this? I definitely recommend this (well, really all his books), especially if you are in your late twenties/early thirties or have a real interest in popular culture. You’re guaranteed an entertaining read.

Until I read this, I didn’t know much about Mariel Hemingway, other than she’s Ernest’s granddaughter.  But she’s also a self-proclaimed health nut, and in this book she describes her methods. Divided into four quadrants, Food, Exercise, Silence, and Home, the book details how she maintains her health and sanity by integrating those four components into a unified whole. She explains that the body naturally wants simple, healthy food, and that by listening to the body and avoiding "noisy" foods, you can greatly increase your health. I like the idea, but her diet seems very restrictive (no bread, no sugar, no alcohol, no processed foods) and she eats a lot of pureed vegetables. Fortunately, she offers tips on how everyone can modify the diet to suit their own needs, which is helpful. She also explains that it isn’t necessary to exercise to extremes in order to be fit. She stays in shape by walking and doing yoga, and the trick is to really be present and pay attention to the breath. She touts the benefits of silence and meditation, as well as having a soothing home environment in which to do it. Hemingway offers this all in a convenient four week package: try her methods for one month and see how you feel. If you don’t like it, no harm no foul, but if you do, it could certainly change your life.

All of this has a potentially very high "woo woo" factor; it could easily come across as new age or granola. But Hemingway keeps it real, and for me, the book is inspiring and powerful. I’m definitely going to integrate some of her practices into my daily life. In fact, I’m already changing.

I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for ways to find calm and balance in their lives, or who might be searching for healing practices beyond conventional medicine. For more info, click here.

For Christmas, my grandmother mailed me Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. I had heard of the book, mostly because it’s my job to know about books, and I had read a review of it in People, but I didn’t really know anything about it. So I sat down to read it with no expectations or preconceived notions, and honestly, it kind of blew me away.

The story revolves around Margaret, a bookshop keeper and amateur biographer. One day, completely out of the blue, she is contacted by Vida Winter, England’s most famous novelist (and liar!), who asks Margaret to come to her estate and write her biography. Margaret agrees, and in preparation, reads all of Vida’s works, something she had never bothered to do. She finds herself enthralled, particularly by Vida’s first book, a collection entitled Thirteen Tales, which contains only twelve. Upon arriving at Vida’s estate, she finds the author beautiful, smart, and prickly. Nevertheless, she takes the job, and soon finds herself consumed.

Vida’s story is that of a most dysfunctional family, including the disturbed siblings Isabelle and Charlie, and the strange and viscious twins Adeline and Emmeline. The story is also full of minor players: servants, a governess, a missing baby, and perhaps even a ghost. But Vida is known for telling outrageous lies, and it is up to Margaret to suss out the truth…and only then will she really learn the thirteenth tale.

This was definitely one of my favorite books of 2006. Typically when I read mystery or suspense, I find myself figuring it out halfway through. But with this book, I forced myself not to try to figure it out; I wanted to be swept along with the story at its own pace. I loved all the twists and turns, and now that I know how it ends, I want to reread it and look for all the hidden clues. A spectacular book!