Flowers in the Attic cover

I got off work early to pick up a copy of Flowers in the Attic at the local library this afternoon. Yipee! It is an August 2005 printed edition. The cover is bright and cheery - very unlike the original keyhole edition I owned long ago. I miss the deep, dark and sinister look of that 1979 edition which you can view at the Complete V.C. Andrews site (VCA). You can also see the rough sketches, paintings, and photo shoot pictures there.

While checking out fellow participants of this challenge at The Chick Manifesto, I came across a great portrait drawing of the four Dollanganger children by Farahnq inspired by this book. Also, came across a participant who is doing a vlog on his V.C. Andrews experience at Book Chic. And, another participant got a used copy with highlighted passages at Monty On Movie Novelizations.

Oooh, interesting to see that V.C. Andrews dedicated Flowers in the Attic to her mother. And, it said that her mother never read any of her books!?!

I liked the inside cover teasers to the series:

Be sure to read the entire shocking story of the Dollanganger Family:

The saga begins with ... Flowers in the Attic

The secrets are unleashed in ... Petals on the Wind

The darkest desires take root ... If There Be Thorns

And the scandals are busind with ... Seeds of Yesterday

Then discover where the family sins were first planned, in a ... Garden of Shadows

Okay, now it's time to get down to some reading.

VCA FAQs

Here are some interesting sites to visit:

The Complete V.C. Andrews site

Taren's V.C. Andrews Primer

Steph's V.C. Andrews Movement/ Reading Challenge info

List of VCA challenge participants

Check out my progress.

* Found this lovely image of V.C. Andrews draped over her typewriter here.

Original name: Cleo Virginia Andrews
Birth: June 6, 1923 - Portsmouth, VA
Death: December 19, 1986
Cause of death: breast cancer
Burial: Olive Branch Cemetery - Portsmouth City, VA

2009 V.C. Andrews book challenge

~~ not completed ~~

While catching up on USA Today's Pop Candy blog entry for January 2009 by Whitney Matheson, I came across this interesting book reading challenge. Basically, it is to read 11 books written by V.C. Andrews by the end of the year. More details can be found here.

V.C. Andrews is one of the first authors I fell in love with at age 13. I read all her books up to the Orphan series at which point I stopped. Maybe I'll pickup on the newer series after this challenge. I've been meaning to re-read the originals (those before the ghost writer came on the scene). So now is a great time with so many others out there joining in with this challenge.

I searched my piles of books for the V.C. Andrews books I had collected and found that I donated them all to the library when I moved a couple years ago. Boo-hoooooo.

I'm headed to the library this week for the first book that started it all for me, Flowers in the Attic.

My V.C. Andrews reading list will be as follows:

Dollanganger series

1. Flowers in the Attic (movie review)
2. Petals on the Wind
3. If There Be Thorns
4. Seeds of Yesterday
5. Garden of Shadows

Casteel series

6. Heaven
7. Dark Angel
8. Fallen Hearts
9. Gates of Paradise
10. Web of Dreams

Stand-alone book (no series)

11. My Sweet Audrina

Beyond the challenge selection picks:

Secret series
Secrets in the Attic

Secrets in the Shadows

Gemini series

Celeste

Black Cat

Child of Darkness

About Me, Review and Contest Policy

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Review Set-up
Format for my two-bit review:
bit #1 In-a-word(s): a word or two that sums up the story for me (for reviews before 2014)
bit #2 VERY short and somewhat spoiler-free thoughts and comments (for reviews 2014-2020)
bit #3 even shorter, posted on list post the book appears - usually a challenge post (for reviews 2021 to present)

AND a 1 to 5 rating scale.
Rating 5: Loved it!
Rating 4.5
Rating 4: Liked it
Rating 3.5
Rating 3: Just OK
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Review Policy
--For Authors, Publicists, Publishers

R E V I E W S: I am happy to accept review copies (print and ebook) for any genre with interesting descriptions.

E V E N T S: I am also happy to create promotional and giveaway events for book launches or book already released.

Contest Policy
For most contests and giveaways, the winner will be selected randomly by List Randomizer at Random.org or via the old-fashioned "name out of the hat". Sometimes, I hand-pick winner(s).

Along with a winner posting, I will attempt to contact the winner via email for mailing address information at least 2 times. If I do not receive the mailing info within a week of the 2nd attempt, the book goes back into giveaway pile or to a runner-up.

For giveaways that require a guestbook signup, I will attempt to contact the winner for a confirmation email reply. This is to ensure that address I have is still active for prize shipment.

Runner-up winner may be selected if the original winner forfeits prize or for an unclaimed prize.

Winners MUST claim their prize by commenting on the winner's post AND replying to my email with address info (if needed).

Prizes:
Book prizes are usually my gently used review copy of the book unless otherwise specified.

On Comments:
Depending on time, I try to comment on favorite blogs and on bloggers who have commented here as best I can.

Here are interesting thoughts on commenting etiquette by:
Rebecca of The Book Lady's Blog
Matt of A Guy's Moleskine Notebook
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vvb32 reads - welcome

This is my first book blog in which I will start off by sharing thoughts on V.C. Andrews books. I hope to expand into sharing other books read in the future.

Here is a shot of my bookshelves. They are made up of IKEA units. These cubes house a variety of books which is mostly of fiction. One cube is devoted to the Harry Potter series and another is for Paperback swap. Because of a recent move, the rest of my books are still housed in boxes in the garage.

As you can see from my posts in March, I started posting YA book reviews. From reading YA book bloggers who are also part of the V.C. Andrews book challenge, a spark for YA books was lit in me. I usually read an eclectic bunch of fiction (YA being one of my favorite genres). However, I decided to focus on and contribute to the YA book blog world because of its infectious fun!

So, please visit me from time to time to check out my latest posts and leave me a comment.

What is YA?

Wikipedia says:
Young-adult fiction, whether in the form of novels or short stories, has distinct attributes that distinguish it from the other age categories of fiction: Adult fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, and Children's Fiction. The vast majority of YA stories portray an adolescent as the protagonist, rather than an adult or a child. The subject matter and story lines are typically consistent with the age and experience of the main character, but beyond that YA stories span the entire spectrum of fiction genres. The settings of YA stories are limited only by the imagination and skill of the author. Themes in YA stories often focus on the challenges of youth, so much so that the entire age category is sometimes referred to as problem novels or coming of age novel. YA novels are often as short as 16000 words. Writing styles of YA stories range widely, from the richness of literary style to the clarity and speed of the unobtrusive. Despite its unique characteristics, YA shares the fundamental elements of fiction with other stories: character, plot, setting, theme, and style.

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