17. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld.

So, I just finished Peeps by Scott Westerfeld and it was pretty amazing. Okay, so if I explained to you that it was about a vampire-like parasite transferred from one human to another through sexual intercourse (like an STD) then you'd probably think the story was retarded..but really, it's not. It's actually quite interesting. In the book, Mr. Westerfeld talks about a different type of parasite every other chapter and the information is gross, scary, and intriguing all at the same time. The characters in the book aren't annoying (one of the main girls does say "dude" a lot, but I can get over that) and the story doesn't feel like it's dragging on and it doesn't take forever to get going. It's a pretty dope concept and I'm excited to buy the sequel. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys vampire novels that AREN'T like Twilight (not saying Twilight is bad, I'm definitely a Twilighter) but not all about blood and biting necks and coffins. It's definitely not THAT type of vampire, it's a...well, it's a motherfucking peep.

I give it a 3 1/2 - 4 out of 5 stars.

Quotes I enjoyed:

"Her face was lit up with happiness, so different than it had been the night before. An almost orgasmic look of contentment came over her as she breathed in the scent of bacon."

"Maybe the natural world wasn't so jaw-droppingly horrible---appalling, nasty, vile. Sometimes nature could be quite sweet, really, as delicate as a confused and horny butterfly."

"The subway platform trembled under us again, another train coming. Eventually, we'd have to return to the surface, to face the sunlight and the coming crumbling of civilization, to rid out whatever tumult the old carriers had planned now that the old strain was surging into daylight. But for the moment I was content to stand there, the thought of an apocalyptic future suddenly less panicking. I had something that I'd thought lost forever: another person warm in my arms. Whatever happened next seemed bearable."

"My voice trailed off, an answer dawning on me. Not so much words or images, but a feeling---a generations-forgotten dread, an enemy long buried, a warning never to lose the old knowledge, because the sun can't always protect us from what lives in the lower depths. I felt again the shuddering revelation from my first biology courses, that the natural world is less concerned with our survival than we ever admit. As individuals, even as a species---we are here on borrowed time, and death is as cold and dark and permanent as the deepest fissures in the stones we walk on."

Time to start on #18.

Adios!
Kristen