the historian by elizabeth kostova

this is my second time reading the historian. it's a story about a vampire, so of course i love it. but there is also an amazing amount of history in it, which is fascinating.

the book tells the story of three generations of one family and their pursuit of the historical dracula. their journeys begin when they discover an ancient book, which is blank except for a woodcutting of a giant dragon in the center of the book, among their possessions.

i enjoyed this book even more the second time because i just finished writing a research paper on vlad iii dracula, so i understood so much more of the history they were referencing. i thought they were a little harsh on him, but what can i say? i'm a sucker for blood-thirsty tyrants ;)

i would recommend this book to most people. and i hear they're making it into a movie, which i'm excessively excited about, as long as they do it justice!

stargirl by jerry spinelli

i can not express how much i love this book. it overwhelms me every time.

stargirl is a celebration of individuality. through the character of stargirl we experience the joy of being true to yourself. we learn how interesting and productive life can be when we focus on others. we learn how insecure and discontented we become when we are constantly trying to please others or keep up with the crowd.

after reading stargirl i always feel braver, kinder, more confident, inspired to build others up.

i think every young girl should read this book. probably more than once. but it doesn't have to be limited to girls! i gave my 22 year old brother this book and he loved it too. there's so much for us all to learn.

dracula by bram stoker

i can't believe i haven't ever read "dracula" before with how much i love vampire stories. it was pretty good. i found dr. van helsing really distracting. i really dislike it when people attempt to write accents into novels. most of the time it makes it incomprehensible so i stop paying attention to that character. and i found a lot of his actions nonsensical. i felt like his actions weren't necessary for the plot or for the well-being of the characters, but just to create drama, which is obnoxious.

i also felt like the characters were overly naive.

but dracula was great. he was terrifying and the whole time i was anxious that they wouldn't be able to overcome him.

definately a must read for vampire fans.