Call them reimaginings, retellings, alternative literature or historical horror. Classic literature or famous figures with a horrific something added to the story has become terrifically trendy. Not for literary purists. These books are geared to those of us who find the absurd hysterically humorous, and can easily imagine Abraham Lincoln planning the elimination of the undead to save the nation.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter

Paul is Undead: The Beatles Zombie Invasion

"On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back." 

~ from I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Vampires, vampires, vampires! You've got Bram Stoker's Dracula, Anne Rice's Lestat, Sharon Drake's Carpathians, Bill from the Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris, Edward and the whole Cullen clan who sprang forth from the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyers, and numerous others. They're sexy. They're cool. They may not drink blood, but they want to. And right now vampires and their undead friends are riding a big wave of popularity.

The vampires of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend may not be pretty, but they are downright scary. Written in 1954, the story takes place in the future 1976. Robert Neville is quite sure that after a horrible plague, he is the last living man on earth. But he is not the only moving creature. The plague has left behind monsters, bloodthirsty vampires who fear and hate Neville for being different, and at night they attempt to attack and destroy him. Although he quests for the cause and a cure for the vampire virus, Neville is forced to realize he is the only member left of the "old race". Recommended for thrills, chills and plain good writing.

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read 

September 25−October 2, 2010

Banned Books Week Proclamation

From the American Library Association

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and
WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others; and
WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and
WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and
WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and
WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and
WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and
WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and
WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and
WHEREAS, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and
WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.


For more information, go to the American Library Association website.

Did anyone else love The Tudors series from Showtime? I thought the show did an excellent job of portraying the world of Henry VIII. Although Henry was an authoritative and powerful diplomat with a roving eye and a penchant for chopping off heads, he was also charming, amiable, seductive and terribly charismatic. But overall, women and children definitely got the short end of the stick.

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir is a historical fiction about a young woman in the Tudor dynasty forced onto the throne for nine days. Lady Jane Grey had a strict upbringing by a highly disciplinarian mother and overly ambitious father. Educated and groomed to be the wife of King Edward VI, Jane was ordered to become queen when Edward died, essentially to prevent Henry's daughter Mary from taking over. Only fifteen years old, Jane did her best to rule with intelligence and benevolence, but was usurped from power nine days later by Mary and her followers. Jane became the scape goat for those who had pushed her to the top of the ladder, but her fate was her own choice- she stayed true to her beliefs. 


If you like Innocent Traitor, Alison Weir has written many other fiction and non-fiction books set in Tudor England. You can get them at the library!