Dracul; We Sold Our Souls; The Plantagenets

Dacre Stoker is Bram Stoker's great grand-nephew. I read his previous book, "Dracula the Undead", and enjoyed it, and this one was even better. Stoker argues that Bram's "Dracula" was meant to be a warning, fictionalized non-fiction, and his publishers refused to publish the first 100 or so pages, in which Bram discusses the strange things that happened in his childhood with his nanny. It was fascinating. This book tells that story. Bram is a young, sickly child on the brink of death who is miraculously healed by his nanny, who then disappears. Years later, Bram's sister swears she saw the nanny in Paris, and Bram admits he dreams of her often. Adult Bram is in perfect health and a star athlete at college. He and his sister and their older brother, who is a doctor with a sick wife, go off on a search to find the nanny and discover the truth about what really happened to Bram as a child.

Grady Hendrix is always fun, and I really enjoyed "We Sold Our Souls". Former guitarist for a metal group named Durt Wurk, Kris is a broken soul working at a hotel when she hears about her former bandmate, Terry, and his wildly successful post-Durt Wurk band, Koffin, putting on a farewell tour. Kris is determined to confront Terry and find out what happened the night Durt Wurk broke up. It was a lot of fun, although he got a bit musically technical for me. I like listening to music, but I don't understand what makes good music good :)

And finally, Dan Jones' hefty tome about the Plantagenet dynasty, which ruled England for 250 years before the Lancasters usurped the throne and started the whole Wars of the Roses mess. Starting with Henry II, he went through every Plantagenet king until Richard II. It was very lively, he made it interesting.