The Blood of the Vampire

This was a pretty entertaining vampire book from the 1800's.  It was released around the same time as Dracula.  It doesn't have the traditional neck biting so it's different.  It's about a woman who drives people to their death.  First, it happens with a baby she takes care of.  It also happens with lovers.  The first lover is driven away by her past.  Her father was a disturbed scientist and her mother a voodoo priestess. Then she meets a man who could care less about her past but unfortunately, his love isn't good enough to beat her curse.  You root for the girl but know she's destined to doom.   It didn't blow me away but it was interesting enough to read the whole way through. 3/5

The Ways of White Folks

I’ve never read Langston Hughes until my American Literature class where we learned about the Harlem Renaissance.  I read some of his poetry.  I was surprised at how easy it was to read and how unpretentious it was.  Poetry can be hard to read sometimes.  It’s a literary art form that I’ve never really gotten into.  I need to sometime though.  Anyway, I found out that Langston wrote a book of short stories.  I love short stories so I definitely had to read it.  The Ways of White Folks is easy to read and full of interesting stories about racial conflict.  Three stories stood out to me.  The Blues I’m playing is about an African American pianist who has a rich patron but cares more about romance than music, something her patron doesn’t understand.  Little Dog is about a middle-aged woman who has a crush on a black man.  She asks him for dog bones as an excuse for his company.  The final story though is pretty cool.  Father and Son is about a mixed boy who refuses to let his white father have control over him.  The story ends pretty tragically.   The stories were interesting and it was involving enough that I read it within a few days.  I definitely need to look more into Langston Hughes’ poetry.  4/5

O Pioneers

Growing up I dismissed Willa Cather as probably a more adult Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I was not interested in reading her books.  This is weird since I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder as a kid.  However, I had to read Death comes for the Archbishop for school and I loved that book.  It was moving and yet funny at times too.  I had to read more.  I watched the Jessica Lange tv movie of O Pioneers before I read it.  Yet it was forgettable.  I forgot most of it before I read the book which is just fine.  This book is not boring.  It has murder and adultery in it.   The book is centered around Alexandra, a smart businesswoman and her brothers who farm the land.  She has a thing for her friend Carl.  Alexandra's brother Emil falls for a perky married woman Marie and that eventually leads to their downfall.  Luckily my library has a number of Willa Cather's books and I will be reading more.  3.5/5 stars