Currently Reading: Parasite

 by Mira Grant
Science Fiction/Horror

“A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.

We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system – even secretes designer drugs. It’s been successful beyond the scientists’ wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.

But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives…and will do anything to get them.” — Goodreads

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1/5/16 : With as much as I loved the Newsflesh triology by the same Author, I couldn’t help myself from getting another book from her.  This has been sitting on my shelf for awhile and I thought it’d be a great way to start out 2017.  So far, it’s done is a much similar style as the previous books I’ve read by Grant.  We’ll see if she can keep up the story as well too.

FINISHED READING: Deadline

by Mira Grant
Science Fiction/Horror

“Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn’t seem as fun when you’ve lost as much as he has.

But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun has a newfound interest in life. Because she brings news-he may have put down the monster who attacked them, but the conspiracy is far from dead.

Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun.” — Goodreads

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I read this book far too fast.  Don’t worry, I took notes for my review.  There were just a few things that bothered me (though as I’m reading the third and final book in the series, it kinda makes sense).  I totally called the surprise ending, though I expected that part to happen sooner in the book than later.  And I’m fairly certain I’m in love with Dr. Abbey.  Check back soon with my review…  

FINISHED READING: Blackout

by Mira Grant
Science Fiction/Horror

“The explosive conclusion to the Newsflesh trilogy from New York Times bestseller Mira Grant.
Rise up while you can. — Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn’t end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there’s one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it’s this:

Things can always get worse.

BLACKOUT is the conclusion to the epic trilogy that began in the Hugo-nominated FEED and the sequel, DEADLINE.” —Goodreads

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July 31st: Obviously started reading because I need to finish the trilogy.  I know I haven’t posted my review for Deadline yet (or that I didn’t even post that I read it! AHHH So much reading… so little updating blog… bad Siri).  I love this series so far.  I love the way this third book is set up.  I had know idea how she was going to do it with the way the other two were done (and what happened in them).  

Are you reading it?  Let me know what you think!

Reading is Better with Cats #7

  

Finished Reading: Hell House

By Richard Matheson
Fiction/Horror

“Can any soul survive?
Regarded as the Mount Everest of haunted houses, Belasco House has witnessed scenes of almost unimaginable horror and depravity. Two previous expeditions to investigate its secrets met with disaster, the participants destroyed by murder, suicide or insanity. Now a new investigation has been mounted – four strangers, each with his or her own reason for daring the unknown torments and temptations of the mansion…” — Goodreads.com

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6/5/2015: I picked up this book as I participate (semi-regularly) in the Evil Book Club of Evil.  Feel free to join in on this one!  We’re pretty loosey-goosey about how we do things in this book club.

Book Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Goodreads Rating: 4.06 stars
My Rating: 2 stars (I was being generous).
Recommendations: Don’t bother.

What I Liked: The author had a different take on zombies than anything I’ve read/seen before.
What I Didn’t Like: Almost everything else.

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To be horribly truthful, this book was painful for me to get through. I picked it up because this years is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Figured, Alice and Zombies… that has to be a pretty interesting read, right? No.

This books reads as if the author took writing tips from Stephenie Meyer. It read like a Twilight knock off. There was very little to do with the zombie part of things… and almost nothing of the Alice in Wonderland aspect. The only four references: the main character’s name was Alice (though she goes by Ali), one her friends went by the name Kat, Ali dressed as a gender-swapped Mad Hatter for Halloween, and that there were ominous white rabbit shaped clouds that somehow predicted something bad was going to happen. The latter was explained at some point. But I wasn’t happy with these references. Seriously.

And here come the spoilers…

Book Review #1: FEED by Mira Grant

Goodreads Rating: 3.87 Stars
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Recommendations:  Get this book.  Immediately. 

What I Liked:  The main characters, the setting, the pace, the formatting of story vs blog posts in the book.

What I Didn’t Like: Some of the “incorrect” science, a few things were overly repetitious, the big bag villain was a little too easy to pick up before the big surprise was revealed.

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First, I’d like to start out by saying that by TBR list on Goodreads is getting a little out of control. I keep adding books and then forgetting that I have them there.  I had planned on grabbing a copy of the Count of Monte Cristo to read between semesters and needed something to fill the time before I picked it up.  So, perusing through my TBR list, I saw FEED.  It’s been on my list quite a while.  To the point that I’d forgotten when or why I added it and what it was about.

That being said, I thought this book was going to be about some psychopath feeding people to death while it would be live streamed on the internet.  There’s a movie about that right?  As impulsive as I am, I didn’t bother actually reading the synopsis of the book.  I just sent in the request to my local library.

A week later, picked up the book and finally read the back cover.  I was wrong.  This book isn’t about some dude trying to kill people.  It’s a post-apocalyptic zombie book!  I love zombie books!

But this isn’t quite your typical zombie book.  While the zombies hold a large presence in the story, it’s more of the backdrop.  Here is this world where humans have created a cure for the common cold.  They’ve also created a cure for cancer.  But those two cures didn’t interact well with each other.  ZOMBIES! The story follows Georgia and Shaun Mason, and Buffy, three professional bloggers that have teamed up to bring up the best news you can get. Each blogger has a specific role in their team: Georgia is the “Newsie”, she wants the cold, hard facts, and reports on just that; Shaun is the “Irwin” and goes out in the field to video tape himself poking zombies “for science!”;  Buffy is their technical support and the Fictional blogger, she deals with all of their equipment such as servers, cameras, recorders, etc… all while writing poetry about zombies. The three of them have the bases covered. Early on, they’re invited to cover a presidential election, because life is supposed to be as normal as possible, even when zombies are walking around.  And that’s where things start to go wrong.

About this point, there may be SPOILERS!!!  You may want to stop reading if you haven’t finished the book yet.  Or keep reading if you don’t mind spoilers…