Best Book to Read... When Crying Over Your Undead Boyfriend

Best Book to Read...  is an original feature created by the Lost Book Girls.

Girls, girls. I know it's tough to have an undead boyfriend. You can't go out in the daylight with him, and it's so hard to go out to dinner -- he doesn't want to pay, because he won't be eating! Plus, he's got that annoying habit of zoning out and staring at your throat while you're talking...

But you still want to be with him forever, right? He might be wanted in several states for murder have some flaws, but he's your undead bloodsucker. And that means you love him, no matter what. Even after your ex-boyfriend, a friendly werewolf, disappears. Even when his shenanigans put your family in danger. Even after you pass out from blood loss and he claims it was because he would have died otherwise. (I can see why you're tearing up at this point.)

Girls. What you need is a little guidance and inspiration, courtesy of Chief Cook and Librarian Cimorene. She once was a princess, it's true. But after she ran away from an arranged marriage to a perfectly dull prince and found an occupation with the dragons, "Chief Cook and Librarian" to the King of the dragons was a more suitable title. (Plus, it kept those pesky princes away. Who wants to say they've rescued the Chief Cook and Librarian?)

Cimorene would never put up with the unruly undead. Faced with unacceptable behavior from a suitor, she would kick him through the front door and escape out the back, seeking out her own adventures and standing on her own two feet. In Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede, she faces off against devious dragons and other foes, never backing down, never accepting what stupid boyfriends suspicious wizards tell her, and in the end, saving the day all by herself. (Along with her group of trusted companions, of course, which does not include any emotionally stunted vampires.)

Want to get off of your bed, stop crying, and take control of your life? Cimorene will teach you how. You don't need a vampire boyfriend just because everyone else has one, and you certainly don't need a man (vampire or otherwise) to have adventures. Cimorene's tale is a delight from start to finish, standing fairy tale tropes on their heads, cooking delicious cherries jubilee, and proving once and for all that princesses don't need to be saved. And neither do you.