Books by Morticia

Hey yall!  Morticia Addams here.  I tried to, um, color my hair this weekend and I went just a wee bit dark with it.  I'm naturally dark brown, but I picked up a box that said 'darkest brown'.   Memo to self:  darkest brown is actually black.  My hair is now so black it is almost blue.  My kids accused me of trying to go 'Goth'.  Did they even have Goth when I was in high school?  Moot point, really. I am now Goth.  I also see that this is the beginning step to having purple hair when I get old.  Older, that is.  BUT, it is really kind of perfect, because we are getting closer to Halloween and I was trying to think of good Halloween books.  Classic Halloween books.  But first things first. 

This weekend I finished a book of short stories entitled 'Strange Candy' by Laurell K. Hamilton.  (I'm on a short story kick right now.  Don't worry, it will pass)  LKH is the author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, series (which I haven't read, but my sister-in-law (SIL) has and to which she is completely addicted).  LKH also writes the Merry Gentry series, which I HAVE read.  Merry is a faerie princess in the Unseelie Court, living in America, for the most part.  I'm generally not much on the fantasy genre, but really have enjoyed this series.  So, I wanted to read this book of short stories.  With stories like 'Those Who Seek Forgiveness' (this one is about a woman whose husband died suddenly and she wants to raise him as a zombie so he can forgive her for things she has done) and 'Here Be Dragons' (the title of this story is somewhat misleading, it is about a sociopathic psychic child), I think you'll enjoy this book for the most part.  There are stories about elves and sorcery, which aren't my favorites, but one entitled 'A Lust of Cupids' makes the whole book worth a second look.  (I know, the cover of the book might make you a tad embarassed to carry it with you to the doctor's office, but if you can get past that, there's some good stuff in there).

Another one that I want to read, but haven't yet is 'The Graveyard Book' by Neil Gaiman.  It is about a family that is stabbed to death in the very beginning of the book.  The only family member that escapes is the 18-month old baby who toddles over to a graveyard and is taken in by the ghostly residents.  They name him Nobody (Bod). The story follows Bod from babyhood to his teens.  This book is for ages 10 and up, but was named on Time Magazines top 10 fiction books of 2008.  I'm dying to read this one!!

  
The last one on my list, is 'halloween' by various authors.  This one is on my 'To Read' list.  I'll let you know.

In the meantime, this is Morticia, signing off.