My Fairy Fae

I have always had a thing for fairies, gnomes and other mystical creatures.

My favorite book as a kid 
(Thank You, Aunt Kathy!)

As a kid I read all I could on Irish, English and Norse Mythology.  (Yes, I was a little different.)  I'd make little chairs and tables out of moss and sticks hoping to catch a glimpse of a fairy.  I would make my family wave to a whirlwind, just in case.   Must be my Irish or English blood shining through. 

Arthur Rackham's "Faeries Sing"

Maggie Stiefvater has done it again with: 

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception 

and the sequel,  

Ballad:A Gathering of Faerie. 

The first novel introduces Dierdre, a sixteen year old musical prodigy (harp) who excels at traditional Irish harp music.  She has a best buddy, James, who is also a musical genius (bagpiper.)  Dierdre falls for the mysterious Luke, who it ends up is a hitman for the fairy queen.  (The plot thickens...) 

In the second novel Dierdre and Luke have gone to a special music conservatory.  It ends up that this is no ordinary college, with some of the other students and teachers possessing some of the special gifts of fairy sight that they do.   Nuala, a mysterious lone fairy of death is introduced.  I won't tell you more- just read them.  And as an added bonus- on her website the author has music that goes along with the novel (some of which she wrote herself!)  Very cool.

*These books aren't as steamy as the Wolves of Mercy Falls books so probably okay for younger teens and older tweens.  There was some kissing and some scary bits, but nothing horrible. 

Hoping she makes it a trilogy!

I'm Shiver-ing Now

Are you a Twilight fan?  If so, you probably will love Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater.  This is the first in a trilogy (The Wolves of Mercy Falls.)  The second book Linger is available, and the third Forever comes out in July 2011. 

Yes, it's a sappy love story about a girl and a werewolf. 

That being said, I rather enjoyed it.  Grace, our heroine, is mauled by wolves (werewolves) when she is a child.  From then on a strange, beautiful wolf with yellow eyes watches over her from the woods behind her house.  Fast forward six years and Grace is now 17.  She meets Sam, a beautiful boy with eyes just like her wolf's quite by accident when hunters invade her forest.  Grace's parents are basically not "present" and quickly Grace and Sam become inseparable.  He visits her bedroom secretly at night (like Edward in Twilight.)  First there is just some heavy "petting" (ha!) 

But parents be wary, werewolves aren't quite the gentlemen that vampires are I guess and let's just say that the chastity thing is not quite the lesson here as in the aforementioned vampire series.  

As an adult I'm on to the next book...