Zombies vs. Unicorns

5 out of 5

Zombies vs. Unicorns is 5 stars all the way. The banter between Team Zombie and Team Unicorn is hilarious and creates a worthy story of it's own. Each short story was intriguing and compelled me to read on, and I'm sorry to say, want for more.

It also changed my mind a bit on the subject of unicorns. Being a zombie supporter, I lean much more toward science fiction than I do fantasy and I had only previously had silly, shiny pictures of unicorns in my mind. Thanks to the superb writing and imagination of these authors, I've had my imagination expanded and I'm actually intrigued enough to seek out atypical unicorn tales.

High Justice by Garth Nix

In true Garth Nix style, the writing was enticing and a quick read. His story was listed as Team Unicorn, which surprised me, but it wasn't that simple. I figured in the fight between zombie enthusiasts and unicorn loyalists, Nix would have fallen on the side of the zombie after all of the detail in his series on Necromancers and the inevitable undead that came along with it. Even though a primary character was a unicorn, there were undead present. Garth Nix; sneaky line-straddler.


Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson

This zombie-human love story stole my heart from the very beginning. I did suffer from my usual want of more information out of a short story, but the entire tale was well kept in these short pages. Her description of the zombie's prions inflicting humans like a hyperactive pheromone reminded me of the vampire-seduction explanations in Twilight.

Some of the themes in this love story that caught my attention were the zombie's explanation on the guilt of killing people, which was centered around music; 'It only bothers me sometimes. Like when they love Joy Division.' Social comments on our race in the sense of existence; 'Humans are lousy stewards of the earth,' and 'There are certain theories of suicide that propose that the more self-loathing one feels, the more violent the method one chooses.'

Needless to say, Johnson has a new and fast fan.


Purity Test by Naomi Novik

All I can say about this story is that it was rife with humor. And I may be pro-zombie, but who doesn't love the mental image of a heard of baby unicorns all calling out for chocolate milk?


Bouganivillea by Carrie Ryan

I loved the classic reformed, post zombie apocalypse format. The idea of defending and island, both from the undead and invasion, and the tierany it requires to maintain such defense always fascinates me. I wanted something more from this story, though.

The line 'Gravity pulls harder on troubles than on anything else,' is a line I can apply to life.


A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan

An interesting, if somewhat superficial, rumination on the idea of mixing human and unicorn DNA. Touted as beastiality, this story only dealt with the pregnancy of something so odd.


The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson

This story delved into the strange idea of keeping zombie children as some sort of house pet. No detail on whether they were acquired before or after they became infected. It didn't have the pandemic aspect that I enjoy in zombie stories.


The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund

I am going to look up what else this author has written. Her idea of a unicorn as a dangerous and nearly extinct animal was breath-taking. It was a little hard to take at times, due to the sadness and harsh look at reality, but it sucked me in. The main character struggled with religious expectations and moral dilemma over her new-found ward, the rigors of being an adolescent, and listening to the voice inside of her. Deciding that the voice inside of her was right, if only for her, struck an easy chord with me.

Wonderful, wonderful story. I'm glad it was the longest.


Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld

Class reformed society, trapped behind a fence, waiting out their days kind of zombie tale. I loved taking this ride with these kids; seeing how they managed to function on a daily basis and waiting, page after page, for the change. There's always a change.

Inoculata put the 'cure' idea in the hands of children.


Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot

This story took the bitchy, teenage girl in all of us and proved her wrong. Isn't that what parents always secretly hope for? For their teenagers to see the error in their ways?

As the title warns, this your traditional, gallant unicorn story with a lot of humor. So suck it up, cupcake.


Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare

I don't usually gravitate toward the voudin idea of possessed and risen dead (being the traditional sense of a zombie and not necessarily the brain and flesh consuming undead), but Cold Hands was a solid story in general. I like the underdog and a story about murder and zombie uprising was easily palatable.


The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey

If animals have the same percentage of instability and corruption than humans, I think this unicorn might have been a psychopath. Creepy. I'm almost tempted to read it again and see if I can figure out whether he was lying or not.


Prom Night by Libba Bray

Reformed society of teenagers after infection spread to the adults and caused them to attack their children. There is the bleak realization of diminishing resources, but the characters find lightness in their sorry example of a prom. I was worried at every turn, waiting for bad things to happen. It was a good ride. :)


I love how the concept of fear in media and current events has such a relevant impact on each decade and generation. It reminds me that whatever the situation, whatever the threat, it is only the current one that is the worst.

Everything Is Illuminated

4.5 out of 5

I love how the concept of fear in media and current events has such a relevant impact on each decade and generation. It reminds me that whatever the situation, whatever the threat, it is only the current one that is the worst.


My favorite part of this book was the flashback story of Jonathan's family in Trachimbrod. The novel could have been just that strange and fantastic description of the supposed shtetl and it would have been enough for me. I'd actually like to know more about that facet of the story. All of the narration involving Brod and times passed were so alluring, it's all I found myself making note of. Ladended with a unique sarcasm and life.

'Everything was just a thing, mired completely in its thingness.'

'There were so many things to attend to - so much gathering and throwing away; and after gathering and throwing away, saving what was salvageable; and after saving what was salvageable, cleaning; and after cleaning, washing down with soapy water; and after washing down with soapy water, dusting; and after dusting, something else; and after something else, something else.'

The characters of the Ukrainian family were actually captured better for me by the actors in the film, which I'd give an +A.

Under the Dome, Stephen King

3.5 out of 5

Under the Dome is a harsh book, to say the least. It wasn't the imagery that was startling so much as the increasingly downtrodden theme of the story itself. It shouldn't have surprised me like it did, it is, after all, an apocalyptic tale. There was just such little peace to be found.

My interest lies in the recreating of society after massive catastrophe. Under the Dome described a thousand pages of societal collapse without any justification at the end. It felt like a downward slide into devastation.

I'm not usually a big Stephen King fan; I grow impatient with his slow, deliberate, descriptive pacing at times, but how could I resist such a stylized story in my particular genre of interest?

It wasn't all gloom and doom. If you avoid the rape scenes completely (yuck), the characters had wonderful depth and many aspects of a modern-day community ostensibly cut off from society caught me off guard. Shocking to see how a small town could decay is such a short period of time: political manipulation, mass hysteria, environmental impacts all piled up on the expected questions of fuel, food and water resources.

~~~

I'm sure I say this after ever book, but certain portions spoke to me. You find what you look for.

There was a character struggling with chronic back pain, dependent on medication. In one paragraph she mused over the mind-body connection of addiction: 'I think that when it comes to drugs, the body and the mind are co-conspirators. If the brain wants drugs, the body helps out. It says, "Don't worry, don't feel guilty, it's okay, I really hurt."'

In the months since I've read Under the Dome, that idea has really resonated with me.

SIERRA CLUB Guide to Close Up Photography in Nature, Tim Fitzharris

3 out of 5


This book is hard to review because it is way over my head in terms of photography knowledge.

The pictures are beautiful. The information on nature was harsh, being from the point of view of The Sierra Club, after all.

I am concerned with the environment, but sometimes it's nice to just enjoy nature without considering all the travesty that goes with it.

I will have to pick this book up again after educating myself on my camera. :)

20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill.

3.5 out of 5

Contrary to the title of this book, it's very light on ghost stories. Out of the 16 stories, including the hidden one in the Acknowledgments, only three were about ghosts.

The book was interesting and although I struggle to find contentment with short stories, as I've mentioned before, I enjoyed them and wanted to know more. Joe Hill is particularly good at adding insult to injury for me by ending some of the tales rather abruptly and in an odd manner.

Also, his writing style reminded me a lot of Neil Gamon; main characters of young boys, frightening father figures, sexual honesty that I can't relate to, and an air of creepiness that leaves me grateful that I am only reading about such situations.

I really enjoyed the story Pop Art even though it had such a strong vein of sadness. As with many of the titles, Pop Art is a sneaky, misleading title. At least three of the stories involved baseball. which I always enjoy. There were tales of supposition of Bram Stoker's sons, the manager of a major league baseball team, and even the filming of a George Romero movie. The mention of Lovecraft caught my attention early on in the book and easy comparisons could be made.

My favorites where Pop Art, 20th Century Ghost, The Cape, Voluntary Committal, and Scheherazade's Typewriter. All in all, the book had interesting characters with intelligent writing squeezed into brief packets of ghastliness.

I'm not sure I can give this book the rating it deserves since I find myself so irritated with short stories. :(

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

3.5 out of 5

This is a cute young adult fantasy story. I was familiar with the tale, but hadn't ever read it, so I was surprised to find that A Wrinkle in Time is just the first book in L'Engle's time quintet.

The book introduced the idea of time travel via the fifth dimension of tesseract. Familiar with the string theory and the concept of time and space as a big sheet that can you simply bring two points together (a straight line between two points not being the quickest route), this was the first I had heard of a geometric explanation for it.

Beyond the theme of light versus dark, there was also the subject of global (and in this case galaxial) responsibility. In addition to the scientific concepts and ominous tasks, the story had a lot of levity. Silly and flamboyant characters who spoke only in quotes, mythical creatures, and two dimensional worlds.

The only reason I have scored this book so low is that the review is based on how I felt, not necessarily the merits of the work. I found myself getting impatient, like I do with young adult works and fantasy.

~~~

Isn't it funny how you find just what you're looking for, no matter where you look? I'm highly interested in quantum mechanics as an explanation of faith. This book reminded me of conversations I have had in my own life with topics like existence and limited human understanding; accepting that things exist without understanding them.

'...there's very little difference in the size of the tiniest microbe and the greatest galaxy.'
- Mrs. Whatsit, the comforter.

Shade's Children by Garth Nix

5 out of 5

Garth Nix, a young adult fantasy writer, is easily my favorite author over the last few years. I just reread Shade's Children in an effort to sate my interest in his short list of novels. Although Nix's other books are all classically characterized as fantasy, I found this one more intriguing since it fell a bit over the line of science fiction in my opinion. I enjoy science fiction more than fantasy because it begins with a tangible basis in subjects and places I am familiar with. Fantasy can be disorienting.

I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to dystopian chronicles, but this story was exactly what I favor; featuring the the abandoned earth, after the 'Change', as a playground for otherworldly creatures. There is no human left alive over the age of 14 except for the refugees who find shelter with a resonance of human personality left in a computer by the name of Shade.

Children are the easy resource of the invading creatures and thanks to the 'Change Talents' they now possess, some escape, survive and resist. Shade is an eerie benefactor though and you get the distinct feeling throughout the story that there is no safe place.

I fell easily in love with the characters (although the underdeveloped grammar of the character Gold Eye can become tiring) and found myself physically rigid in anticipation of their safety. I was drawn in by the survivalist theme and the unraveling reasoning behind the occupation of the creatures.

All in all, I would call this book a page turner, as with everything I've read of Garth Nix. I'm not sure I can be deterred by any theme or genre Nix chooses, I just enjoy the writing too much.

The Time Traveler's Wife

5 out of 5

I absolutely loved this book. I found myself reading at times I had set aside as 'rest' times. A love story I found every bit as exciting as the Twilight saga without the teen aged ache, heroine addiction feel.

Since this book is about a man that time travels, his existence overlaps with both the woman that he loves and his own existence, in a severely random pattern. The flow of the book is chronological; each chapter begins with the date, and Henry and Clare's age or ages. In addition, there are paragraph headings to let you know which voice is currently telling the story. I've never read a novel written through the eyes of two different people in first person. The majority of the story is told by Henry, since the time traveling happens to him.

I felt a real sense of vulnerability in the descriptions of Henry's lack of control. The character equates the experience of time traveling to '...listening to a car radio that's having trouble holding on to a station.' Although he may not be able to control when and where he goes, there is a pattern to why. He finds himself visiting people and places that were, are, will be significant; including painful events.

Throughout the story, these two characters take turns being the one who knows the other intimately as their ages crisscross; old to young in most cases. Clare grows up knowing Henry as an adult, then when she reaches adulthood, she meets him in the present - before Henry is even aware of her existence. I cannot conjure the mental flowchart it must have taken to birth the concept for this story.

This love story compasses that long-forgotten brand of longing in young-hearted love, love that encompasses the realities of life, and how people persist through the craziness that comes their way. The characters contemplate quantum mechanics, Zen koans, and religious and existential beliefs in trying to decipher what causes episodes of time travel. Their chronicle was a tangent relation of danger and excitement. Heartbreak and relief. Brutality and honesty. Wanting. Energy.

My only negative comment is that in the brief moments they spoke French or German, I was left wondering things that not even Google could answer. I was, however, highly inspired to look up a lot of the musical references. If I have ever heard music while reading a book, I did while reading The Time Traveler's Wife. Two words: Violent Femmes.

Monster Island

5 out of 5

Okay, I may be a sucker for anything zombie, but this book only got better the more I read it. It sometimes takes me awhile to get the feel of a new author and though I would say Monster Island started out a solid B, it rapidly developed, leading me to read with increasing fury. It is written in first person by one character and in the third person of another character. (The protagonist telling his story and another person's story is a skill I have yet to master.)

Monster Island simultaneously follows the personal account of a living survivor and the experiences of what may be the smartest dead man alive(?) as they both find out what an invasion of the living dead means. The story goes from simple survival to the living versus the undead.

The story of the living is the redundant theme of endurance, but that's exactly what I seek these tales out for. I always wonder about the learning curve of these characters. I mean, haven't they ever seen a zombie movie? I don't think it took them too terribly long to figure out the old 'shoot 'em in the head' theory in this book. And this group of survivors had the added detriment of fighting an undead horde of varying and evolving consciousness.

The tangible concept of what it means to be the walking dead was primal and intriguing. An endless hunger, the restorative properties of eating living meat, needing to consume the life of something. Tasty, shiny life.

Without giving too much away, the author's reasoning for a zombie uprising and apocalypse was fueled by the zen koan that there is no real distinction between every thing; living or dead. That we are all the same singular being, divided into different bodies, or to be more specific - different nouns, really. The story took multiple unusual routes that I didn't expect and I really enjoyed this explanation of a collective consciousness. I mean, what does one cognizant zombie do when he discovers the ethereal thread linking him to the rest of the zombies?

The disgusting imagery of what it would be like to be one of the shambling, decaying horde did tug at my heartstrings. I'm sure I would rather be dead than one of the restless undead with such an insatiable need. And as I've said before, it's much harder to read through horror pictures. Unlike a movie, the unsavory details don't pass gratefully by with each blink. No. They linger on the page at the pace you read, making you squirm word by word.

The tempo wasn't the only thing that picked up through this book. I became invested in the welfare of multiple characters; both living and living-ish. Dark humor became more prevalent toward the end, making me chuckle a bit as I read. The style of writing even seemed to mature the further I went, keeping my attention invested in both the concept and the 'good guy's' memoir. Right down to the last line, "Please. Give me just one more minute."

I sincerely look forward to Monster Nation and Monster Planet.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen

4 out of 5

This post is more for my record keeping than review. I used to have a list of the books I've read, with little notes to help with my shoddy memory. Then I killed my hard drive and with it, a good portion of electronic memory. Now, I'm dropping my memory off in the anonymous, public, blogosphere to float in infinity until I need it again. Hopefully the only thing that steals it from me again is the apocalyptic zombie uprising. :)

Back to the book. I can't speak for all of Janet Evanovich's writing, because I tried another series of hers and was a bit underwhelmed, but the Stephanie Plum novels are a lot of fun. Reading them back to back to back can get a little boring, especially when they begin to blend into one and other.

Sure, I may not be able to remember the books in this series independently, but they are a nice, light departure from your average adult novel. It's like watching a sitcom. The stories are silly and the problems are over the top ridiculous. They literally make me laugh out loud while reading. It's nice to pick up one of these books when life is stressful.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen specifically involved a bbq cook off, much more Ranger than Morelli, and the Chipotle killer. Like the others, it was a giggly, fast read and one of my favorite sections involves Stephanie wearing a hot dog costume and her arch nemesis, Joyce:

"Who's the hot dog?" Joyce wanted to know.
"It's Stephanie," Grandma said.
"Figures. I suppose you wanted her to be the hot dog so it would have a nice straight line. Nothing worse than a hot dog with boobs, right?"
I gave Joyce the finger. "Boobs this, Joyce."

/giggle

Breathers: A Zombie's Lament

4 out of 5


This book is the first time in my zombie exploration that I have considered the affliction of the undead from the zombie's point of view.

Imagine that you have woken up in a broken body with no hope of biological regeneration. You are still you; same thoughts, same memories, same drive, hopes, fears... Everyone else knows before you do exactly what you are. Where do you go?

In this story, zombies are an abused underclass in society; mutilated by teenage pranksters, restricted from public gatherings, verbally assaulted. The main character tries to campaign against the zombie population's lack of basic civil rights, which seems just in theory. In reality, who wants their dead husband at the dinner table smelling like road kill found in a Tupperware container in the back of the fridge, sneezing out brain matter onto people's plates?

It was pushing my 'aww, poor zombie' button for more than 150 pages, before it went true-zombie.

I swear it's almost worse to read the descriptions of decay and brutality, than it is to watch it. At least while on screen, you have the option of blinking or looking away. With my horror-movie-hardened stomach, I was surprised at my gagging reaction during the slow and deliberate nature of reading.

Whoever referred to this book as a comedy is mistaken, in my opinion. 'Lament' is the most accurate description I can conjure, so the title is a better description than the back cover blurbs. Sad followed by sad is the theme in this seemingly real investigation of waking up dead.

And through the ups and downs of the characters, I'm reminded of the old adage; save one bullet.

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

Meh

I feel a bit uncomfortable commenting on a book I did not read, but that in itself is the reason for this post. I had this book on loan from the library for three weeks and how far did I get? 26 pages. That's right; I made it through the second chapter.

I rarely ever give up on a book, but every time I cracked it open, I fell asleep. Sometimes mid page. I feel bad for my reaction, but I could not seem to bring myself to care. Russell is funny in every other aspect I have seen, but the novice writing and theme of the first few chapters (further slowed by the cultural descriptions at the bottom of every other page) gave me the sense that I had better things to do with my time than tread water with this book. So, for maybe the third time in my life, I took my bookmark out and moved along.

I don't care for unfinished business though, so to placate myself, I've decided to amend my 'to be read' list with a 'to be continued' list. Haha. How's that for OCD behavior? So worried I will forget an unfinished task, I am comforted by lists.

I suppose my reaction and diversion from my usual box-checking nature says enough about my opinion of the literary Brand. In review:

Russell Brand stand-up ------ Disturbing and funny
Russell Brand acting --------- Creepy and funny
Russell Brand the author ---- Snooze-fest

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

3.5 out of 5

Reading it for the second time since high school, it didn't seem like the same book. I remember thinking it humorous and strange. I couldn't relate to this poor girl's breakdown. This time I was aware of the author's story and the semi-autobiographical nature of the book.

The writing was poetic and encompassing. I understand why Sylvia Plath is credited with helping begin the 'confessional poetry' genre. The sardonic humor in the first half of the book actually made me giggle out loud, but the second half took a much darker turn and was a bit hard to read.

Her description of planning suicide was like watching a junkie ready themselves for a fix. The right place, the right conditions; I don't think she emoted over anything in the book as much as that mediation.

If it was my tale to tell, it would have been hard to look back at that feeling. It was a bit sickening just to read the recount of someone else. So, the author's suicide after writing this novel makes me think it wasn't the distant reflection the book leads you to believe.

Sylvia Path wrote this book under a pseudonym and a few months after it was published, she committed suicide. She put her head in the oven. That takes balls. It's just my humble opinion, but if you were to do something fast and rash, there wouldn't be time to ponder and change your mind. Jumping from a height, using a gun, hanging; even if you changed your mind, there probably isn't much you can do about it. So laying there with your head in an oven sounds like a serious commitment to me.

How sad.

It was still a good read if only for the imagery and flow of the writing. Makes me think of that Imogen Heap song Let Go because she says 'because there's beauty in the breakdown.'