arc review: strange angels by lili st. crow

from the back:

dru anderson

night hunter. knife wielder. heart breaker.

dru: sixteen-year-old dru has what her grandmother called the touch - a sixth sense that drives her from town to town to hunt ghosts, suckers, wulfen, andthe occasional reanimated corpse. but when evil comes knocking, can this loner tough girl stand the heat? or is it just a matter of time before her blood turns cold?

graves: goth boy graves has a big crush on new girl, dru. and with his lopsided grin and shaggy hair, she's noticed him right back. then a wulf bite threatens to change him for good, and dru will have to keep her distance... or else.

christophe: christophe's ice cold baby blues and wicked smile are the special kind of looks that kill. he's got a hunch that dru is way more special than she knows. trouble is, he's not the only one who has caught her scent. and it will take more than his razor-sharp fangs to ake out whatever - or whoever - is hunting her.

can dru stay alive long enough to fall for one - or both - of the guys hungry for her affection? find out in the thrilling new paranormal series from razorbill, strange angels.

dru anderson's not afraid of the dark. but she should be.

ages 12 and up; on sale 6/11/09

from the author's website:

Dru Anderson has been “strange” for as long as she can remember. She travels from town to town with her father, hunting the things that go bump in the night and eat the unwary. It’s a weird life, but a good one–until it all explodes and a zombie busts into her new house.
Alone, terrified, and trapped in an icy town, Dru’s going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. Can she trust the boy who is just a little too adult–and just happens to get bit by a werwulf? Or the strange blue-eyed boy who tells her she’s heir to a long-forgotten power? Can she even trust her own instincts?
Because Dru is not the first in her family to be killed by the darkness of the Real World. The monsters have decided to hunt back–and now Dru has to figure out who to trust, who to fight, and when to run. And not incidentally, she has to figure out how she’s going to get out of this alive.
And she has to do it by sundown, or it’s all over…

my take:
i have been reading a lot of young adult books recently, and lots of fantasy in general. this book was a fresh take on the whole vampire vs. werewolve theme, as well as combining all the best parts of the uncertainty and general angst that comes with being a teenager and different in some way from everyone else at school. dru also has to deal with the loss of a parent, make some really hard decisions, and deal with some scary monsters.

this book was a little more gritty and realistic as far as content and language than some YA lit, but nothing in it was too objectionable for high school age students.

i really enjoyed the story and anxiously await more books in the series. i have also put several of lili st crow's adult lit books on hold at the library and am excited about that. she writes under the name lilith saint crow for adult and the shortened version for young adults. i also follow her on twitter @lilithsaintcrow or find out more about this book and the upcoming ones in the series at strangeangels.com. you can also watch the book trailer here.

final days in topeka

after we headed home on memeorial day from the campout and had showered (some of us RAN home and others drove...) we ate lunch and then jeremy and i drove back over to grandma and grandpas house so that grandpa could take us out to see the shane 80. aunt gertrude was otu with grandma helping her pick strawberries when we pulled up. those women sure harvested a TON of strawberries!

jeremy always talks about the land his grandparents own but i had never been out there. we got to see the old barn and some of them cows. i thought the cows were all really adorable and wanted to pet them but jeremy said no. i settled for taking a couple of fun pictures.






these are all the mama cows due in the fall. they didnt look too pregnant (and i certainly have NO authority on what a pregnant cow looks like) but they were pleasant company. i couldnt get too close but grandpa drove the truck right into their area and no one ran away. and they had cool hair. on our way back home we saw the marples out fixing a fence. it was great to run into family everywhere we went. :)

monday night we cooked out at shane and darci's. jeremy's best friend from high school and his wife emily and their two kids came over along with barb and jeff and jessie. we shot clay pigeons with shotguns and then a target with rifles and handguns. i didnt do too much shooting because it was hurting my poor baby ears (that still have random shooting pains in the inner ear from whatever problems i was having months ago that never completely resolved) but i did try the shotgun and one of the handguns. it was really fun. the burgers etc were really good too and it was fun to see casey and emily again.

tuesday morning grandma and grandpa drove us to kansas city. we stopped at ryan and amy's hosue to see them and we all went out to lunch before we had to head to the airport and back to california. it was a wonderful trip but i was SO ready to be back home sleeping in my own bed with my baby cat... :D

memorial day camping

the koci family camps out by grandma and grandpa koci's pond every memorial day. i had come once with jeremy when we were dating, and then the next year we were on our honeymoon and the next years since we have been in los angeles. it was wonderful that we were able to time out trip this year to coincide with not only max's graduation but also the campout. it was SO much fun! we got out there sunday afternoon and set up our tent. we just shared jeff's old tent with shane and darci and the kids. the boys immediate went to get the boat and stuff for fishing. jeremy set me up with a pole and i caught three fish, one of which was the first bass of the night. like i've said before, i'll catch 'em but i'm not touching them or any live bait. thankfully shane was a good brother and helped me out.

jeremy and shane rowed out into the pond and jeremy came out with a total of eight or so little fishies to eat.

then all of them boys all went up to the house and cleaned the fish while the girls got dinner ready. trekker ride!

the fish were great. uncle mike cooked them on cedar planks with some yummy lemon something or other seasoning. we went to the sporting goods store when we got back to LA to buy cedar planks for our next camping trip, which is next weekend. yay! the girls took turns out in the paddleboat and we did a lot of sitting around the campfire. aunt tam and grandma made some apple pies for dessert, along with the obligatory smores. around 10pm or so i was exhausted and the kids were ready for bed, so everyone settled in for the night. everyone except jessie and paige, who talked until about 3am. or so i'm told, as i fell right asleep and didnt wake up until 6 something when my bladder said it was time to make a trip up to the house.

monday morning involved more fishing (i was quite unlucky on monday), some horseshoes, some horsing around, and funnel cake for breakfast. if i had known funnel cake was involved in koci camping i think we would have structured our past visits to kansas a little differently.

im just saying.

weekend in topeka

we spent memorial day weekend in auburn with shane, darci, the kids, and the rest of the family. my mom dropped us off in the afternoon. jeremy and i got the tour of his parents' old house where he grew up which shane and darci now own they have redone every room and it looks amazing! i love the red kitchen especially. grandma brinkman, dennis and vera, and jessie came over for dinner on saturday night. we ate koci steaks and pasta salad and bread from darci's bread machine with grandma koci's strawberry jam. oh it was good eatin', let me tell you! it was nice to see the brinkmans and hang out for a while after dinner. when they left we played with the kids (jeremy got soundly trounced in hi ho cherry o) and after their bedtime went downstairs to play cards and x-box. shane, jeremy and i stayed up defeating the universe until about 2 am when we decided we couldnt make it any longer.

sunday morning when we woke up, the kids were delighted to tell us that the momma cat had kittens right on the back porch. when we got up she had had four during the night, and during that day she had four more (only one didnt make it). they were possibly the littlest cutest things ever. i didnt think that cricket would want a baby brother or sister, but i asked jeremy just to make sure. he said no. i had promised andrew that we would play wii, so we went downstairs and raced some cows and played a few innings of baseball. that thing really wears me out when i'm not used to it. swinging the bat and bowling the ball use really strange muscles. i had also promised brooklyn that we would go swimming, so the three of us changed into our swimming suits and headed out to the driveway where the pool was sitting, warming up in the sunshine. well, the water wasnt quite warm enough for me, but it was wonderful to sit with my feet in the pool while the kids played. they were really fun to watch and didnt splash me TOO much. after pool time we went over to jeff and barb's house to see it and hang out with them for a little while before the big family campout. it was nice to see jeff's new house and spend a little more time with barb, since we barely had a chance to meet her last trip. we also met barb's daughter kelli, so now i know who jessie is always talking about. :)

final days in wichita

on friday of our trip to kansas, we spent the entire day just hanging out with the fam. my dad and jeremy took my mom's car to get it fixed while i went for a run with murray. the five of us went out to lunch at hu hot mongolian bbq. it was yummy. a great cheap place to eat if you live in wichita (21st and rock in the best buy strip mall).

my mom and i didi a little shopping and we headed home to cook out on the grill. after a delicious dinner of steaks and all the trimmings, jeremy, me and my mom met ed and beka at oeno's for drinkies and fun. it was great to see beka again (once every other year really sucks) and to meet ed, my new hero. starting tomorrow he is riding a bike all the way across the state of kansas. im pretty impressed. 15 miles on the bike and i cant sit for a week. laura and joe came too and we had a great time. jeremy snuck me into the men's bathroom to show me an ad flashing on the mirror in there. the girl in the ad was wearing a dress he thought i would look good in. he's so sweet. i felt awfully naughty sneaking into the bathroom - the last men's room i have been in was in high school when we were absolutely obsessed with taking photos in the bathroom (just to clarify NOT of anyone actually using the bathroom ever).

we made plans to run together on saturday morning but i set my alarm wrong and didnt wake up in time. :( it was all good. after sleeping in we packed and loaded up the car so my mom could take us to topeka. we saw the same dead cow on the way to topeka that we had seen on the way to wichita from kansas city. my mom was very concerned that the farmer didnt check on his cows often enough. it was really really gross.

you just dont see stuff like that in california.

Good Little Helper

She likes helping us with all sorts of stuff, especially helping me with my crocheting projects. Jeremy is restoring a violin that belonged to his great grandma shane and she wanted in on some of the action.
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Bike win

Jeremy fixed it while I was in the shower, with assistance from the lovely princess cricket. She doesn't really like to get her baby paws dirty.
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bike fail

on monday when i left work i got on my bike and realized something was wrong. the chain had derailed and pedaling wasnt doing anything to help get me home. i called jeremy to tell him while i walked my bike back to our apartment. there is nothing so sad as seeing some loser walk down the sidewalk, pushing a bike. monday night was gym night, so jeremy and i were at the gym forever (ok it was closer to 3 hours than forever). completely forgot about my bike.

yesterday jeremy planned on driving me because i had to bring a cake and my cake box for prom cake decorating. so this morning, at 6:55 when i was leaving the house, i had no memory of my bike being broken. i carried it down the stairs, strapped on my bike helmet, and tried to go. oops. then i realized i had locked myself out of the apartment and had to get jeremy out of bed to let me in, then beg him to drive me to work so i wouldnt be late for turning off the alarms. he, being the amazing husband that he is, agred and got some shoes and brought me to work.

now i sit here, trying to keep my eyeballs propped open, aching all over, but most specifically my abs and thighs (thank you to joelle for your kick ass step sculpt class), wondering if i will remember to remind jeremy to fix my bike when we get home tonight. i do not know how to fix anything on my bike and bike chains kinda scare me. ive gotten pinched one too many times. i am very thankful i married such a handy guy.

having to drag him out of bed in the morning if we both forget about the bike again would be sad.

Fickle, Fickle Thing

One morning she snuggles me; the next, jeremy. Is she sharing the love or did she forget that I love her more and jeremy "barely tolerates" her?
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cricket in bed

This is how I wake up most mornings... I love my cat.
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8th grade graduation day

thursday morning the whole family headed to central. max had graduation rehearsal, my dad had some work to do, and my mom, jeremy and i had a photo op spot to make and decorations to oversee. we stapled the mural to a little wall and collected plants from all over the church. i got to sprinkle grad confetti on the cookie tables (i dont know why i love this task so much but i really do) and finish max's tri-fold.

then my mom and i left so i could get my hair cut and we could go get fantastic pedicures. the girlie afternoon was interupted by some minor car trouble (like most of the time it wouldnt start, wouldnt start, then all of the sudden it started) and by lunch with the boys at chipotle. we all headed home to shower and change for the ceremony in the evening. that was the longest graduation ever. the kids "recited" (read from a cue card) their class verses, "sang" a class song (only about 8 of the 54 kids actually sang), lots of awards were handed out (the ross lamp and trey fraser awards being the most notable of those) and received blessings from mr pew, then finally they could get their diplomas. after receiving the diploma, each kid would walk down the side stagwe where all the teachers were standing to give hugs and high fives. the stupid teacher that almost failed max told him something about how she was surprised he did it, or something equally rude. ick. i got to see tons of my old middle school teachers, including mrs turner and mr pew, mr crow, mrs matticks... and lots of old friends and friends' parents. we went into central court for some punch and cookies then hit the road to a real restaurant for some drinks and appetizers before heading home for more SNL and sleep.

hanging with the fam

when we got to kansas on wednesday afternoon, my mom picked us up at MCI. we went to legends and ate lunch/dinner at granite city (city? granite something). when we walked in jeremy realized that he knew a whole table of men from k-state. ben kohl, the head of the housing and dining ambassadors when i was there, and dr. tracz, the head of the band for jeremy, shane and ryan were with two other guys i dont know. we talked for a while and then they left to a royals game and we left forwichita. the main project for wednesday night was to finish max's tri-fold board for graduation the next day. my mom had the board and most of the pictures so we did almost the whole thing (there were a couple pictures to print and a few words to print that we did on thursday)

after craft time was over we snuggled on the couch and watched season 3 of saturday night live. there were some funny sketches but overall i would say they hit their stride sometime in season 4 and beyond. although "two wild and crazy guys" is always good for a laugh. i fell asleep on the couch watching tv (hey thats jeremy's job!) and we all headed to bed for graduation day on thursday.

running

since i now have successfully completed runs in two states and three cities (and maybe next year i will have goals related to racing in different states) i feel i am fuly qualified to discuss the differences in running in different parts of the USA.

i posted already about wichita but to recap: humid and even though there are sidewalks and crosswalks, no driver is prepared to see anyone actually using them

auburn: i ran home after camping from grandma and grandpas to shane and darcis (2.91 miles). there are TONS of cyclists on aubrun road. they all at least did a head nod and smile (we were headed opposite directions on the same side of the road, so i could see all their faces) and one guy even gave me a high five. later in the day we saw some members of jeremy's extended family and they asked if i had been "that pretty girl running down auburn road". i guess there isnt a lot of foot traffic over there. there was also the humidity and auburn has some little hills that were great to "try" and run (walk) up. also, i learned that it is hard enough to walk on gravel roads, much less run/jog. so the last little section of my run was really a power walk.

north hollywod: this thursday i went back to running my usual route (although i switched it up and ran in reverse) in our neighborhood. i saw lots more runners than usual (it was a particularly gorgeous day). at the end my mouth and throat were bone dry - i love running in the desert! several cars pulled into the crosswalk, saw me coming, and reversed for me. thats how it is supposed to be people. pedestrians have the right of way. lapd tickets people for pulling into the crosswalk on main streets. i have a long, very gentle hill when i run in reverse which is nice. (by running in reverse i mean turning left from our apartment building not right... NOT running backwards. that would just be weird.)

i am excited to learn a new running route soon - as soon as we have any more moving details i will let you all know!

yay for max!

Make a Smilebox photobook

i hate bugs

one great thing about living in socal is the lack of bugs. we have prolly swatted about 4 flies in the 3.5 years we've lived here. there is the occasional spider on the ceiling, and you all know about the cockroach infestation in our apartment building, but other than that there are literally NO BUGS here. when we go camping we may encounter a mosquito or two, but even then it is nothing like normal places.

all this to say: one thing i noticed when we were in kansas is the insane amount and types of bugs that were around. gnats, june bugs (i really really really don't remember these from when we lived there and could there possible be a nastier sounding and looking bug?), mosquitos, and... TICKS.

last night i fell asleep before jeremy and woke up in the middle of the night when he got out of bed. i asked him what he was doing and he didnt reply. then i told him i was cold and he covered me up and i fell right back into and sound and dreamless sleep. this morning i was getting in the shower and he came into the bathroom (he ususally doesnt even get out of bed until i leave in the mornings). i asked him what he was doing out of bed and he replied "checking you for ticks. i found one on your back last night - thats what i was doing when you woke up - throwing it away." squeeeeee! he did his inspection and i felt around on my scalp and i believe myself to currently be tick free. but im super itchy and paranoid now. i feel like the spot on my back is itching and am worried about rocky mountain spotted fever, even though i dont even know the symptoms. quick someone - distract me!

there are no blood sucking ticks in los angeles... or at least the ones that are here have the decency to walk on two legs and wear power suits. im not nearly as afraid of that kind.