Vampires inspire series books. I think it must be because vampires are known for being immortal, and therefore lead such long “lives.” I’ve written about Anne Rice, MaryJanice Davidson and Christopher Moore’s short series. How about a few more to fill out your reading lists?

Laurell K. Hamilton writes about vampires in a series with a slightly different viewpoint. Her main character is Anita Blake, a vampire hunter. The novels are a bit on the racy and violent side, so be forewarned.

1. Guilty Pleasures
2. The Laughing Corpse
3. Circus of the Damned
4. The Lunatic Cafe
5. Bloody Bones
6. The Killing Dance
7. Burnt Offerings
8. Blue Moon
9. Obsidian Butterfly
10. Narcissus in Chains
11. Cerulean Sins
12. Incubus Dreams
13. Micah
14. Danse Macabre
15. The Harlequin
16. Blood Noir

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro writes the long-running series about the vampire Saint-Germain. With the first book published in 1978 and the 20th book published just last year, you’ll be able to keep your vampire thirst quenched for a long while. Interestingly, Saint-Germain is portrayed not as a blood-thirsty paragon of evil, but as an heroic being; his stories are often set against the most horrendous periods of human history in order to make the reader wonder just who is the real monster. These novels combine elements of horror, romance and historic fiction. If GCPL doesn’t have a copy (and there are several that we don’t), we can usually get the book from another library system in about a week. Just ask at the reference desk.

1. Hotel Transylvania
2. The Palace
3. Blood Games
4. Path of the Eclipse
5. Tempting Fate
6. The Saint-Germain Chronicles
7. Darker Jewels
8. Better in the Dark
9. Mansions of Darkness
10. Writ in Blood
11. Blood Roses
12. Communion Blood
13. Come Twilight
14. A Feast in Exile
15. Night Blooming
16. Midnight Harvest
17. Dark of the Sun
18. States of Grace
19. Roman Dusk
20. Borne in Blood

Hope you find something you enjoy!

Probably the most popular vampire books right now are Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. These novels are written for teens, but I’ve had plenty of adults come in raving about them. One mother even guiltily admitted to me that she needed to borrow the library copy of Twilight because she’d picked up her daughter’s copy and got so engrossed reading that her daughter started complaining about wanting her book back. Here’s the list of Ms. Meyer’s novels in order: 1. Twilight, 2. New Moon, 3. Eclipse, 4. Breaking Dawn.

Another recent addition to the vampire phenomenon comes from an old source. I Am Legend came out in theaters in 2007. While the movie monsters weren’t exactly vampires, many people went back to read the 1954 Richard Matheson book of the same name. In this book, the monsters are far more recognizable as vampires, though they do have some zombie characteristics as well. The book is more thought-provoking than the movie and has a very different ending, so even if you’ve seen the Will Smith adventure, the book is worth reading.

One of my favorite vampire novel series is the Undead series by MaryJanice Davidson. Basically chick-lit with vampires, the main character Betsy is 30, single, newly unemployed and even more newly undead. She has a phenomenal designer shoe collection and some remarkable abilities that make her seem to be the prophesied Queen of the Vampires. An irritatingly hunky vampire and a tacky nemesis make for more than enough drama.

1. Undead and Unwed
2. Undead and Unemployed
3. Undead and Unappreciated
4. Undead and Unreturnable
5. Undead and Unpopular
6. Undead and Uneasy
7. Undead and Unworthy

Christopher Moore has another particularly funny take on vampires with his two book series - Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story and You Suck: A Love Story. With a crew of late-night grocery store stockmen who love to bowl with frozen turkeys, a homeless man known as the Emperor of San Francisco, and a goth girl minion there’s a little something for everyone in these two. Don’t read it if you want dark, brooding vampires.

Stay tuned for even more vampire novels in the next couple of days.

I have several people who come to the desk to ask for books about vampires. Vampire books are so hot right now. For the people out there who’ve been wanting something new and haven’t asked yet, here’s the beginning of the list I’ve been working on. I’ll get to some newer, more obscure books in the next couple of days.

Let’s start with the classics. If you didn’t read Bram Stoker’s Dracula in high school, you’ve likely seen the movie. This edition of the classic novel is hauntingly illustrated. While Dracula wasn’t the first book about vampires, it was, and remains, a hit.

After Bram Stoker, I always think Anne Rice.  Maybe you saw the blockbuster Interview with the Vampire starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt? It was a book first, and an entertaining one at that. Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series starts with Interview with a Vampire, and continues:

2. The Vampire Lestat
3. The Queen of the Damned
4. Tale of the Body Thief
5. Memnoch the Devil
6. The Vampire Armand
7. Merrick
8. Blood and Gold: or, The Story of Marius
9. Blackwood Farm
10. Blood Canticle

Who ever thought we’d get hit by a hurricane in Ohio?!!! Not me, that’s for sure. It sure was something, wasn’t it? At my house, we lost quite a few huge tree limbs, and as of Tuesday morning, we still do not have power. At least the library is open.

As always, we have a few books to recommend on the subject of wind storms and hurricanes. Try reading them in bed under the covers with a flashlight if you don’t have any power. You’ll feel like a little kid, and begin to understand even more about what we’ve all just experienced.

Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes by Kerry Emanuel

Isaac’s Storm: A Man, A Time, and the Deadliest Hurrican in History by Erik Larson

1001 Questions Answered About Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Other Natural Air Disasters by Barbara Tufty

Windswept: The Story of Wind and Weather by Marq de Villiers

Inside the Hurricane: Face to Face with Nature’s Deadliest Storms by Pete Davies

Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book by Christopher C. Burt

Personally, the only chicken I like is the one on my plate. I’ve decided that, while I do enjoy the small, cute, chattery yard birds, anything bigger than a pigeon just kind of grosses me out. Other people, however, do like chickens. And we have books about it, of course.

I’ll admit that Extraordinary Chickens and Extra Extraordinary Chickens are kind of cool.  These two books are filled with gorgeous pictures of unusual fowl. They will knock your socks off. I’ve never seen such interesting, unexpected, extraordinary chickens. Maybe if most chickens were this fancy, I wouldn’t find them so disturbing.

I’ve been assured that aside from providing delicious dinners and the eggs for lovely breakfasts, keeping poultry has other benefits. Apparently chickens eat all manner of bugs and creepy-crawlies. Chickens help gardens by providing chemical-free pest control! I was unaware of that. I thought they ate corn. See? Even librarians learn something new everyday.

To help people who already understand the positives of chickens, we have a whole slew of books about keeping chickens. Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens seems to be a classic. You could also check out Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds if Extraordinary Chickens has inspired you. Living with Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock and Keep Chickens!: Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs and Other Small Spaces both appear to be good choices for many people around Fairborn who want to have a backyard flock. We have a relatively new book about housing chickens called, of all things, Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock.  We also have a book called Hen and the Art of Chicken Maitainence: Reflections on Keeping Chickens if you’d like a little more philosophical approach to the whole endeavor.

Click here for a more complete list of books about chickens. If I keep looking at these books, maybe I’ll even change my mind about chickens.

But I doubt it.