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.

All Work No Play…

With the change in jobs, I’ve been doing what I can to pick up more hours and all that fun stuff. And since it’s for a movie rental place, I’ve been trying to watch some of the latest movies that are out on DVD so I can actually give honest suggestions to customers and whatnot. This hasn’t left much time for reading. I’m about half way through Blackout and I’m loving every moment of it.

In a couple weeks I’ll start college courses again. At that point, I’ll re-evaluate my “schedule” and figure out how to squeeze in 1-2 hours of reading each day.

So my question to you now: Do you want my movie ratings/suggestions? I was debating doing a quick list once a week. A perk of the job is that we get to watch all the movies that are coming out the weekend before they’re released on Tuesday. I could do a Movie Monday thing! Oh, brainstorming while I type. Haha. What do you think? Leave me a comment, shoot me a tweet (@Owl8bit) or hit up my Tumblr and leave me a message. Hope to hear from you soon!

Reading is Better with Cats #9

and Sunshine

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!

2044

I just finished reading Deadline by Mira Grant and am getting ready to start reading Armada by Ernest Cline. Giving my brain a bit of a break, I decided to start cataloging my physical book collection (using Google Spreadsheets).

In doing so, I realized that the Newsflesh Trilogy and Ready Player One take place in the mid-2040’s. It made me chuckle. I’m not sure how many of you remember watching movies like Blade Runner and the original Mad Max trilogy. They were filmed in the 1970s and 1980s, projecting a dystopian future in the late 1990s to 2010s… about 30 years out.

As we are writing dystopian/futuristic books now, in 2010s… is it coincidence that we are setting them in the 2040s, about 30 years out from our current time?  I know I’ve only seen these two books so far… but how many others have as well?

Don’t mind me… just some random thoughts…

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…

Finished Reading: Feed by Mira Grant

Feed, by Mira Grant
Science-Fiction

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new,something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

FEED is the electrifying and critically acclaimed novel of a world a half-step from our own—a novel of geeks, zombies, politics and social media.” — Amazon.com