The full title of this book is My Pet Virus The True Story Of A Rebel Without A Cure. I enjoyed this book so much! Who knew a book about contracting HIV could be hilarious?

Decker uses his somewhat twisted sense of humor, (my favorite kind), to tell his story. He was born a “thinblood”, which is his word for “person with hemophilia”, and contracted HIV from tainted blood products when he was a child, (in the 1980′s, before blood was checked for HIV). This made him a “positoid”, his word for “person who is HIV positive”. I really like the creative new words Decker made! He eventually was diagnosed with AIDS, and, “thanks to modern medicine”, Decker is living his life, not so differently than any of the rest of us. In fact, he’s done some things (such as meeting Depeche Mode, writing a regular column for a Poz Magazine, and doing book tours for his wonderful memoir), that most of us readers will never do.

Decker and I are pretty close to the same age, so, I can remember how paranoid people were back in the 1980′s when we were all first hearing about AIDS from the news on TV. People were scared, and uninformed, and often prejudiced against and mean to people with HIV/AIDS. Imagine being a child with HIV in a world so very freaked out by it! Imagine starting to date under those circumstances. In spite of this, Decker had a fairly normal life (if anyone’s life can really be described as “normal” that is), with a brother who picked on him, friends he did stupid things with, and even girls he dated.

Included in the book are photos of Decker from the time period that each chapter focuses on. In the first one, he’s a toddler, and he and his brother are dressed alike. Very cute! Other photos include friends, famous people he met, and his wife Gwenn, (who remains HIV negative).

The two of them do public speaking, educating about HIV, AIDS, and how to stay negative. They show people that you can live with HIV and AIDS, without making it seem like a picnic. The two of them are very honest, which takes bravery in a world where ignorance abounds.

This a quirky memoir about a serious subject, that manages to remain lighthearted and positive, without glossing over the difficult stuff. Its a quick and extremely entertaining read. The book is slightly smaller in dimension than most paperbacks, and would make a great “stocking stuffer” Christmas gift for your friends who read.

A Star Is Found is a memoir-style book written by two Hollywood casting agents. On the surface, this book promises to tell a lot of stories about famous people. And in that case, it delivers. For example, Hirshenson and Jenkins gave Julia Roberts some of her earliest roles as an actress, and the pair were also responsible for casting the first Harry Potter film as well as the newest James Bond release. During all of this time, the pair met and worked with many of Hollywood’s top-name actors and directors. And while all of that information is interesting, what I found to be most fascinating about this book was the behind-the-scenes look it provides into the work of casting. It’s amazing to see that, for even the seemingly smallest film role, the agents might have auditioned hundreds of different actors. And even when they believed they had the right person for a part, there was no telling if a director or even the film studio would end up selecting someone completely different.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone aspiring to become a professional actor. Hirshenson and Jenkins spend a lot of time discussing the qualities they like to see during an audition. I found it remarkable to learn how many prospective actors (from children to adults) will turn up at an audition completely unprepared.

A Star Is Found is a fast read, and would be enjoyed by anyone interested in the entertainment industry. Whether it’s behind-the-scenes information you’re after, or just a little bit of tabloid fare about some famous names, this book delivers.

If the Lifetime Channel made a vampire movie, this is the book it would have to be based on. The book actually has the label “Romance” printed on the spine, which should have been a clue for me, had I noticed it before I was halfway through the story. Romance is not my genre of choice. But hey, I like vampires, so I gave it a shot anyway.

The first part of this book was confusing enough that I thought perhaps I had accidentally picked up a book that belonged in the middle of a series. Ashley introduces several characters almost simultaneously, and has many of them remembering a very important event that happened…. sometime before this story began. Was I supposed to already know about that part? I wasn’t sure. It didn’t help that characters in this book are sometimes referred to by their first name, and sometimes by their last name, but rarely by both. It took a while for me to piece together just what was going on, and who was involved. If you keep reading long enough to unscramble this first part, it gets easier to follow.

Edward Ramsey is a vampire hunter, who comes from a long, long, line of vampire hunters. He sort of inherited the family business. Until one day, when he is trying to kill off a very powerful vampire, things go horribly wrong. Marisa, the girl Edward is in love with, urges her husband Grigori Chiavari to save Edwards life. He does so by turning Edward Ramsey into a vampire, which he can do, because he is a vampire himself.

So, Edward has become the thing he hates the most, and he spends a lot of time depressed. He yells at Chiavari a lot, about how Chiavari should have just let him die instead. He craves blood, but at the same time, can’t drink it without feeling really guilty. He makes a half-assed suicide attempt, but then crawls out of the sun and into a basement, where he stays in the dark for a while.

Edward is very, very “emo”.

One day, Edward finds Kelly, as she throws herself off a pier. They have that whole “I want to die” thing in common. Edward takes Kelly home, and basically holds her prisoner there for a while, drinking her blood. She gets away, but then returns to Edward, because she’s in love with him. Stockholm syndrome, anyone? So, Kelly moves in with Edward, and they start a relationship. Right away, Kelly wants Edward to make her into a vampire too, so they can spend forever and ever together.

Kelly is very, very, codependent.

Then you have Marisa and her vampire husband, Grigori Chiavari. Marisa can’t quite decide if she wants to eventually become a vampire or not, mostly because it means she won’t be able to have kids. Chiavari spends part of the book super concerned that Marisa and Edward have feelings for each other, and that Edward will make a play for Marisa if given the chance. Their marriage has trust issues.

Then this super powerful vampire named Khira comes to town, (Los Angeles), and she starts by kicking out or killing off most of the vampires who “live” there. Khira is violent, narcissistic, and gets off on being the most powerful. She and Chiavari used to be lovers, and now that Chiavari is married, Khira of course wants him back again. Demands it, in fact, and threatens to do bad things to Marisa if Chiavari doesn’t agree to spend a year with Khira. Oh, and he can’t communicate with Marisa the whole time. Chiavari, being a wonderfully devoted husband, unhesitatingly goes right back to Khira, telling Marisa that he doesn’t want to, but its for her protection. Marisa is left alone, lonely, scared, and wondering just what Chiavari really feels about his former lover. Chiavari then asks Edward to “watch” Marisa in his absence. Edward, who he so recently was nervous about even talking with Marisa. Its a fresh batch of trouble cooking up, but its not quite out of the oven yet.

Through the entire book, no one ever swears. They “utter and oath”. Over and over again. There are some “sex scenes”, but they leave most things to the imagination. Its the kind of book where two characters kiss, and then later one wakes up in the other’s bed and gathers up discarded clothing. You could easily throw commercial breaks right in between!

Anyhow, towards the end, a whole bunch of characters band together and decide that Khira has to be stopped. It all happens pretty quickly, and I won’t give away here exactly what goes down. I will say that you can probably guess how it ends, just like all the movies on the Lifetime Channel.

If you kind of like vampire stories, but really, really enjoy romantic stories involving psychologically damaged characters, then this is the book for you! It was kind of a fun read, even though its not usually what I look for.

The full title is “Queen of the Oddballs and Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan”. This is a memoir of some of the oddball things that Carlip has done in her life. There were many parts I found to be laugh-out-loud funny, and also some chapters that were just heartbreakingly poignant. This is one of those books where I found myself impressed, over and over again, at how much personal stuff the author was willing to share with the world.

Many of the stories in this book involve Carlip’s interactions with famous people. As a child, she was selected to appear on Art Linkletter’s House Party. As a teenager she met Carly Simon and Carole King. “Met” isn’t exactly the word I’m looking for here, but I can’t quite think of a word that fits better. What’s another word, that means: “endearingly stalked”? Carlip also won The Gong Show, with her juggling act that was both skillful and funny when paired with the song she chose. The list goes on. Each chapter ends with some photos and souvenirs from the story she described in the chapter. These are presented in scrapbook format, and are really cute! Each chapter begins with some little facts about what was going on in the world in that particular year, to help put things in perspective.

In addition to all the humor, Carlip gives the reader some of her very personal memories. There is a chapter about when her father was dying that just broke my heart. Reading it is like standing next to Carlip while the experience is going on, and reminded me very much of when my beloved Gram was dying. She also tells the reader details about her relationships over the years, giving us the good, the bad, and the ugly. I don’t think I would have the guts to be so honest in writing meant for lots of other people to read, and I admire Carlip’s bravery. She even gives us snapshots of what was going through her mind, and what she was doing, while going through adolescence,(the time when we are all at our most awkward), including thoughts about her own developing sexuality. She holds nothing back from her readers.

Overall, one idea comes shining through. “Be Odd and Proud”, (to borrow a phrase from Carlip). Be who you are, and do what makes you happy. Don’t worry so much about if other people, or the society you live in, thinks you are uncool, or an “Oddball”. It’s really ok! In our consumer culture, we get a million little messages every day telling us to buy this or use that to fit in, to be more perfect, to be happy. How refreshing to hear that its wonderful to be an “Oddball”! Kudos to Carlip, for encouraging “Oddballs” everywhere to be themselves!

This book was a challenging read. It took a whole lot longer to finish reading than I ever expected it would. Parts of this book were so good that I was willing to overlook the parts that were boring, or confusing. I would not recommend attempting to read this book while on your break at work, while talking to coworkers, (which is what I did, in part). It requires way more concentration than that.

I knew from the moment I picked up The Historian that it was basically a vampire story. From there, the plot gets complicated. The main character is a woman, who I think is named Helen,(but Im not really sure), after her mother, who is dead. She starts out with a note to the readers, basically telling us she never intended to tell her story, but decided to now. The next page jumps back in time to when “Helen” was sixteen. She finds a note addressed to her father many years ago, the begins with “My dear and unfortunate successor…”.

She of course, asks her father, Paul, about this letter. He tells her, reluctantly, in bits and pieces about its significance. So now, we are reading a story told by Paul to “Helen”, through the eyes of the 16 year old “Helen”. At the same time, Paul and “Helen” are traveling around the world, because Paul is some sort of diplomat, and he is working. So, right away, the story is jumping around from “Helen’s” past, (and her memory of her father telling these stories), to Paul’s past, (and his memory of what happened), and, in between, the…. present time…. of Helen and Paul traveling, and what they see, and eat, and where they visit, (which, we know from the first few pages of the story, is also in the past).

Confused yet? I was. I found myself having to flip back pages, and read some parts over again, trying to figure out who said what to who, and whose memory it all came from. I ended up needing to do this, again and again, for most of the book. Much of the book is presented in the form of letters that one character wrote to another, or pages from the historical documents and books the characters are studying. Some of it, at first, was interesting. It reminded me of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, where much of the story was also in letters and diary entries. So I continued reading.

Paul tells about events from his college days, where he was working with an advisor named Rossi, who he was good friends with. One day, Paul finds this strange old book that has a dragon printed in the center of it, and blank pages. He brings it to Rossi, who freaks out, and shows Paul an identical book. This is the part where The Historian starts to mention Dracula. Rossi was, at one point, studying him. In this book, Dracula is tied to the legends and history of Vlad Tepes, also known as “Vlad the Impaler”, which is an interesting take.

Then, bad things start to happen. (Some of this may be a bit of a spoiler, so be warned before you read on.) Rossi’s disappears, and Paul takes up his notes and letters, trying to find him. He is joined by a woman named Helen, who claims to be Rossi’s daughter. She is from Romania, and has never met her father. The two are also in search of Dracula’s tomb, hoping to find Rossi there, and save him.

Sometime before Paul finished telling his story to “Helen”, he disappears. Well, he leaves a note behind, saying he was looking for “Helen’s” mother, who was said to be dead. Without permission, “Helen” tries to follow her father, taking with her a new friend named Barley. On the way, she reads a packet of letter’s and notes her father has left behind. So, again, we have layers of story going on. We have the “Helen” of the past, reading about Paul’s past, as if it were the present, and traveling by train, once again, in the “present”. To add to the confusion, these letters go into much more detail about the historical books that Helen and Paul find. There is an entire chapter that consists entirely of research about certain monks who traveled from one monastery to another, possibly with a relic. This, for me, was the most boring part of the book. I couldn’t understand, until after I had read the whole chapter, how that related to the main story. Also, there are a whole lot more characters added. By the end, the reader does get to meet Dracula, more than once, and finds the answers to all the mysteries that all the characters set out in search of finding answers to. It just takes a while to get there.

Now that I am finished reading, I’m not really sure what I think about this book. It’s long. Parts are really scary and action packed, but they are in between much longer parts of history and letters. It was confusing much of the time, as I struggled to keep track of which character was “speaking”, and which one wrote the letter being read, and where the reader of the letter was at in the world while reading it. This book has more layers than an onion! On the other hand, it was pieced together like a quilt. All the parts, no matter how disjointed they seemed at first, fit together beautifully by the end.

I think this book will appeal mostly to readers who enjoy a good mystery, and especially to readers who find research itself fascinating. (So much of this book described old libraries, and the books found within them). If you are looking for an action packed vampire story, this is not the book for you.

Oh, and it just came out in paperback recently. I would advise that you carry around the paperback while you are reading, instead of hauling around the much heavier hard cover, like I did!