Thursday, August 6, 2009

A Book with Real Bite - Scott Westerfeld's Peeps

Now, this is what a GREAT teenage vampire novel should be about! Scott Westerfeld’s brillantly imagined Peeps totally rocks all over the badly written schmalzy Twilight series.

Peeps is a riveting combination of sci-fi, thriller, horror and overall a rollicking good read. I absolutely devoured this book. I loved the main character, Cal Thompson, a geeky biology graduate who becomes a reluctant vampire hunter.

The melding of science, biology and vampire mythology into a contemporary story works really well. In this novel vampirism is caused by a parasite, and infected humans are known as “parasite positives” or peeps for short. In the alternate chapters, Westerfeld provides a humerous account of how specific parasites work in nature.

The book really works because of Westerfeld’s grasp of characters and his razor sharp dialogue. I was really quite sad when the book was over and wanted more. I hope Westerfeld is working on more tales of Cal and his adventures.


I’m about to check out Westerfeld’s other books, which means a foray in the teenage section of my library as his books are classified as ‘teenage’!

Oh speaking of great things, I am now officially addicted to David Lebovitz blog! I've been reading his blog while waiting for the arrival of his book
Living the sweet life in Paris. As well as brillant photos of mouthwatering food, he is just such a sharp funny writer who brings a distinct view to living and eating in France. I must also admit a large amount of envy at Lebovtiz's Parisian life!

On the topic of food, another of my special order has just been approved -
Under the table : saucy tales from culinary school by Katherine Darling. The book is Darling's account of her time at New York's famed Frency Culinary Institute.

I absolutely love these "kitchen confessional" type of books.