My Book Boyfriend: Eric Northman

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Missie at The Unread Reader, all about fictional boys who make us swoon. As I'm currently buried in Bon Temps via Charlaine Harris' latest Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead Reckoning, plus drooling over Alexander Skarsgard in GQ and anxiously awaiting season four of True Blood, naturally the book guy at the front of my mind this week is none other than the amazing Eric Northman.

About Eric

• He's a vampire who's been around for more than 1000 years. When he was alive, he was a Viking.
• He's tall, built and blonde. I don't normally go for blondies, but Eric is just divine. In the books he has long hair, but I REALLY don't go for guys with long hair, so I still picture him with the short hair Alexander Skarsgard (who is the perfect Eric) sports from season two of True Blood.
• His maker was a creepy Roman named Appius Livius Ocella, and his vampire brother was the Tsarevich Alexei Romanov. His "child" is the awesome Pam.
• As the vampire Sheriff of Area Five, he's fierce, brave, calculating and powerful, but he also has a softer - and extremely passionate - side. He's very protective of those he loves and has a (sometimes literally) wicked sense of humour. 

Swoon-worthy Quotes
(Spoiler alert if you haven't read the books)

"We could go back to your house. I can stay with you always. We can know each other's bodies in every way, night after night. I could love you."

"'Sitting here on your bed, smelling your scent,' he said in a voice so low I had to strain to hear it. 'Sookie ... I remember everything... I can’t believe I felt something so strongly and was so happy for the first time in hundreds of years.'”

"My eyes flew open, and I pushed back against rock-hard shoulders. I let out a little squeak of horror. 'It's me,' said a familiar voice... 'Eric, what are you doing here?' 'Snuggling."

"'Let go,' he advised me, and I loosened my grip on his hands. 'No, not of me,' he said smiling. 'You can hold on to me as long as you want. Let go of the pain, Sookie. Let go. You need to drift away.'"

"I hurt with you. I bled with you - not only because we're bonded but because of the love I have for you."

Related
Alexander Skarsgard is just about the best thing in Zoolander.

Better still is this:

Reading Icons: Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe's Fragments, featuring her personal notes and poetry, is currently at the top of my wishlist. Like most of the world, I find her fascinating. Although she had a "dumb blonde" reputation, she was an avid reader with a large personal library. Apparently, some of her favourite photos of herself featured her reading, and I can see why.

Related
Hot guys reading books 

Mag Monday: Alexander Skarsgard On The Cover Of GQ

I love to read anything and everything, and while books were my first love, the glossies grabbed a piece of my heart from the moment I got my hands on my first issue of Disney Adventures. From there I graduated to TV Hits (R.I.P.), then Dolly and Girlfriend, and by the time I was 16, I felt very grown-up reading Cosmo and Cleo (even though my mum tore out all the pages that mentioned sex). My first part-time job was at a newsagency, surrounded by magazines, and my first (and current) full-time job is in magazines. They're a big part of who I am. So I've been toying with the idea of having a new feature on my blog, spotlighting my favourite thing in magazines each week - partly inspired by my post on the Darren Criss GQ shoot - and the fact that I also really, really wanted to post the Alexander Skarsgard GQ shoot. It's completely swoon-worthy! I'd love to hear your thoughts, dear readers, on whether this is something you'd be interested in seeing on my blog each Monday, or, well, not! In the meantime, I give you this food for thought:

 

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Bookish Fun: I'm Lizzie Bennet!

According to this quiz, that is. I don't know that I'm very much like Lizzie, though I do hope I have more in common with her than, say, Emma Woodhouse, Fanny Price or poor, silly Catherine Morland. Who is your fave Austen heroine? Mine is Lizzie (no surprise there), followed closely by Anne Elliot. Coincidentally, that's also the order that I prefer the books (Pride and Prejudice, then Persuasion), and the men (Mr. Darcy then Captain Wentworth).

Darren Criss Appreciation: A Very Potter Musical

It's only fitting to end Darren Criss Appreciation Week with the video that made him a star (online, at least) long before Glee: A Very Potter Musical, Act 1, Part 1... It's totally awesome!

Darren Criss Appreciation: Da Man Shoot

I've never actually heard of Da Man magazine, but I have to say, they put on a good spread.

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Bookish Buys: Holiday Edition

I'm finally getting all the crap awesome stuff I accumulated overseas out of boxes and into their rightful places (well, I'm trying to find places for them, anyway). Turns out I bought a lot more than shoes! Including a bunch of cute stationery and bookish things I thought I'd share...

I nabbed an Alice in Wonderland mug from Urban Outfitters - it's extra awesome because the Cheshire Cat disappears (except his smile) when you fill it with hot water. Then from The Strand, I picked up a tote and these pretty editions of Grimm's Fairy Tales and Heidi - I could have bought SOOO much more from there, but somehow I managed to limit myself.

I went a bit crazy at the New York Public Library and bought these notebooks that look like little leather-bound books, a pen that looks like an old-school quill, and another two pens that look like flowers (complete with a vase!). I'm such a sucker for novelty stationery.

And yes, if you spotted it in the background, that is a Beauty and the Beast figurine. My fiance bought it for me for my birthday at Disneyland (because yes, I'm still a seven-year-old at heart). The rose is a little glittery snowglobe, and it plays "Tale As Old As Time" - soooo sweet.

And of course, I bought Betty Freakin' White's book If You Ask Me - and got it signed by the golden girl herself. Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited?!

Follow Friday: Top Five Characters I'd Switch Places With

Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee's View. This week the question is: "The magic book fairy pops out of your cereal box and says, 'You and your favourite character (from a book of course) can switch places!' Who are you going to switch with?"

So because I was thinking of doing a top five along these lines (not to mention the fact that I’m chronically indecisive), I've decided to turn this into my top five for the week! That’s not cheating, is it?  Anyhoo, here’s who I’d switch with…

1. Diana Barry from the Anne of Green Gables series. My initial thought was to switch with Anne and get myself some Gilbert action, but then I realised that this would mean I wouldn’t get to actually meet Anne. I love her so much that I’d rather be best friends with her than in a relationship with Gilbert – just like Diana! Plus Anne and Gil belong together - I wouldn’t want to get in their way. 

2. Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.  I know, I know, Elizabeth and Darcy belong together, too, but screw it – I want a piece of Darcy for myself! Plus being mistress of Pemberley wouldn’t be disagreeable.
 
3. Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride. She won Westley’s love and the affection of Fezzik and Inigo, but she’s the dumbest dumb dumb ever. I’d totally kick more butt than her, and keep Westley, Fezzik and Inigo, too, thankyouverymuch.
 
4. Peter Pan from Peter Pan.  I was going to say Wendy, but I think I’d rather stay in Neverland. I never want to grow up.
 
5. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series.  It would be awesome to be magical. And attend a school like Hogwarts. Not so much the whole, y’know, fight to the almost-death with a Dark Lord and his Deatheaters, but I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.

Who would you switch places with?

Darren Criss Appreciation: GQ Shoot

If there's one thing I love more than a cute guy, it's a cute guy in a suit. Thank you, GQ. 

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Bookish Fun: Paper Cuts By Olly Moss

How awesome are these silhouettes? You can check them all out here and here. These are some of my faves:

Inigo Montoya

Fezzik

Hook

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Mary Poppins

There's Wally!

I don't know why, but I love silhouettes (actually, I probably do know why - they may have something to do with my Austen obsession). I've been wanting to get my fiance's and mine done for awhile, thinking we could possibly use them for our wedding invitations, so I was excited when we got the chance at Disneyland. The lady there was amazing - she did them in about 45 seconds! I think they turned out pretty great: