Uninvited

Uninvited is about Jordan, a high school senior who is being stalked by her dead ex-boyfriend. The plot is far from complex, the writing is juvenile, and the characters are weak. But I just can't resist a new vampire story. Jordan and Michael spent two months together before they broke up and Michael slept with half the girls in school. Jordan thought it was true love and tried to get over it by binge-drinking, doing drugs, and hooking up with strangers. Then Michael killed himself. Or so everyone thought. But a few days later Michael shows up outside Jordan's window begging her to let him in so they can be together forever. Jordan spends months with a self-imposed sunset curfew drinking alone in her room having midnight conversations with someone who likely wants to kill her, and she considers opening the window. Finally, with the help of two friends, she successfully destroys Michael and lives happily ever after. She decides to get clean, finds out who her true friends are, and finds a nice, chaste relationship with another boy. The story is far from great and the characters' actions are unlikely and at times inconsistent, but it only took a day to read. On to the next.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand

The first book in the series gave me a sort of Harry Potter feel and is set in modern-day London as ruled by magicians. Unlike Harry Potter, commoners are aware of the magic surrounding them but are completely unable to control it, so the government is composed solely of powerful magicians who summon demons to do their bidding. The Bartimaeus Trilogy is told alternately from the view of Nathaniel, a 12-year-old magician's apprentice, and Bartimaeus, a middle-level djinni summoned by Nathaniel to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from one of society's most revered magicians. Ambitious Nathaniel is more powerful than even his master knows and is fueled by his desire for vengeance. Bartimaeus just wants to be left alone, but is bound to Nathaniel until his mission is complete. The two must rely only on each other as they become entangled in a dangerous web of theft, murder, and conspiracy, and ultimately face powers neither can imagine. I enjoyed the originality of the book and Bartimaeus's sarcastic humor, and I look forward to continuing the series.

Beatrice and Virgil

I felt very uplifted after reading Yann Martel's first novel, Life of Pi, but I felt entirely opposite about Beatrice and Virgil. I think the author likes to confuse his readers by disguising the true theme of his stories. This book is about Henry, a successful author who is solicited to help a strange, elderly taxidermist finish writing a play. The play is about Beatrice, a donkey, and Virgil, a howler monkey. The play is very simple and vaguely simbolic of the Holocaust. As Henry throws himself completely into the world of starving talking animals, he gradually unravels the full truth of the horror he has agreed to involve himself in. I have a hard time with genocide, and the end of the book was difficult for me to get through. Let's hope for something lighter next time.