We’ve got some new books for October reading, and they look great! If the title is hyperlinked, click on it for my review.
iDrakula by Bekka Black
An updated version of Dracula told through a series of text messages, instant messages, e-mails, and Web browser images. Eighteen-year-old Jonathan Harker comes down with a rare blood disorder after meeting mysterious Count in Romania. His girlfriend Mina and pre-med student Abraham Van Helsing investigate the source of the disease, learning that the Count is a vampire. (quick read)
Drain You by M. Beth Bloom
Even after Quinn Lacey learns that the coast of Southern California is crawling with vampires, she still tries to keep her job at the video store, convince her parents that she is eating well, and rescue her best friend from a fate worse than death.
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
“Ava can’t see or touch him, unless she’s dreaming. She can’t hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she’s crazy, but she knows he’s here. Jackson. The boy Ava thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. He’s back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds. (A novel in verse–short, easy, good for students working on reading and language skills as well as anyone who wants a book about love and letting go.)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd
Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill–an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss. (a quick read, truly wonderful)
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
A classic by a master of horror, this novel was recently reisssued. Jackson is the author of the short story “The Lottery.” OK–here are the publisher’s notes on the novel:
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers-and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
School Library Lady 