Friday 16 March 2012

Diary of a Wimpy Vampire - Tim Collins - AKA Notes From a Totally Lame Vampire

Diary of a Wimpy Vampire (UK Title)
Tim Collins
Michael O Mara Childrens Books
ISBN 9781843174585

Notes From a Totally Lame Vampire (US Title)
Simon & Schuster Canada
ISBN 9781442411838

This book took me completely by surprise. Its humor and style are pure genius. It is a parody of most of the mainstream vampire fad that has been taking the book and movie world by storm the past few years. Though to be honest, I would love to see a film version of this done, but keeping the British sense of humor. The story is told in journal format by Nigel, a vampire who is almost 100 and never been kissed. It's like a cross between Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Twilight, Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, and The 40 Year old Virgin. And it is done in such a wonderful quirky way that you will be glued to the pages to see what will happen next to poor Nigel.

Follow Nigel's thoughts and self-torment as he tries to work up the courage to ask Chloe out, only to be beaten by the class bully, Wayne. Then as time progresses he ends up in a relationship, in a vampire dual, also finding out the truth about his 'Father' and so much more. It's a lot for a 15-year-old to process even if he has been 'undead' for 100 years! The story is hilarious. I found I wanted to keep reading even when I had to put the book down. It was a delightful read with a humor and sensibility similar to Sue Townsend, Adrian Plass or Fred Secombe. You could almost say it is Twilight the way either Monty Python or the Black Adder would have done it. It was a wonderful read and I look forward to laying my hands on the next two volumes in the series!

Books by Tim Collins:
Fiction:
Diary of a Wimpy Vampire (UK Title)
Notes From a Totally Lame Vampire (US Title)
Prince of Dorkness
Adventures of a Wimpy Werewolf

Non-Fiction:
Mingin' or Blingin' (2005)
The Little Book of Internet Dating (2005)
The Ginger Survival Guide (2006)
Are you a Geek? (2005)
The Book Club Bible (contributor) (2007)
The Baldies' Survival Guide (2007)
The Little Book of Twitter (2009)
Behind the Lost Symbol (2009)
The Northern Monkey Survival Guide (2009)

Author Profile and Interview with Tim Collins






































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