sj, this is my usual recommendation for the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire. And depending on how cotton-candy fluff she likes her books, the Vampire Kisses series is adorable.
Damn it! You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt monkey!
Xander ,'Lessons'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Atropa - Jun 11, 2026 6:54:01 pm PDT #28687 of 28699
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
Steph L. - Jun 11, 2026 7:23:25 pm PDT #28688 of 28699
That which does not kill you should RUN
And depending on how cotton-candy fluff she likes her books, the Vampire Kisses series is adorable.
Oh, it really is!
sj - Jun 15, 2026 9:09:47 pm PDT #28689 of 28699
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
I have already given her my copies of Vampire Kisses. She is not interested in anything cotton candy or fluffy or really any romance. Although she will make an exception for a really adorable lgbtq couple. Straight couples give her watch from the hall feelings. The girl wants violence and dragons.
She finished the original Hunger Games trilogy yesterday and cried her eyes out. She was a little distressed by the other books in the series but no tears. The end of Mockingjay finally got to her though. I have not read the Wayward Children series, is it okay for a soon to be fifth grader? I thought the series was more for high school kids.
sj - Jun 17, 2026 8:39:33 pm PDT #28690 of 28699
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
I finished the second Dungeon Crawler Carl book today and it was so so so much better than the first one.
Atropa - Jun 22, 2026 11:22:17 am PDT #28691 of 28699
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
No spoilers for the show, but let me tell you: the cognitive dissonance and discourse in the Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat fandom from the fans who've only seen the show, not read the books, is WILD. Not just around some of the larger plot points, but that everyone is an unreliable narrator.
I'm not getting involved in the discourse because I don't need the pointless frustration, but I'm still reading some of it and boggling.
-t - Jun 22, 2026 12:49:44 pm PDT #28692 of 28699
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
What do you mean, one group doesn't recognize the unreliable narrator thing, or is only slowly picking it up? Something like that?
I haven't watched any of Season 2 yet so I have been staying out of online discussions (actually did re-read TVL pretty recently but can I remember what happened in that particular book? No. But not worried about plot spoilers, just looking forward to reacting to the show's choices myself when I get around to watching) but I am curious about what people are saying in general
Atropa - Jun 22, 2026 1:18:16 pm PDT #28693 of 28699
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
It's more of a case of "How dare the writers make my favorite character an unreliable narrator, it's the other characters that are, HOW DARE."
And I've seen this sort of thing said about every one of the main four characters.
Atropa - Jun 22, 2026 1:21:56 pm PDT #28694 of 28699
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
I've also seen book fans loudly flounce from the show fandom because the show is "disrespectful to Anne Rice's works" and "They just wanted to make a version of True Blood with Anne Rice's name slapped on". (Mostly because those fans are offended that vampires have sex.)
Which, if you've ever read any interviews with Anne Rice, it's pretty apparent she'd love the show.
Jessica - Jun 22, 2026 2:17:06 pm PDT #28695 of 28699
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
I am also seeing a fair amount of "why isn't there more fanfic of the books???" discourse which just demonstrates how very New To Fandom these folks are.
Atropa - Jun 22, 2026 2:24:46 pm PDT #28696 of 28699
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
I am also seeing a fair amount of "why isn't there more fanfic of the books???" discourse which just demonstrates how very New To Fandom these folks are.
They're interrogating (all) the text(s) from the wrong perspective.