Thursday, July 30, 2009

Generation Dead; Neverwhere

"Generation Dead" by Dan Waters is a YA book about a strange new phenomenon going on in the American culture: recently deceased teenagers are returning from the dead as zombies. A small town in Connecticut has become a haven for these undead teens, who are trying to fit in with their living counterparts by going to school and trying to participate in activities like sports. Like "Breathers", this book puts forth the idea that zombies aren't monsters, just misunderstood. I think I prefer my zombies as bad guys to be brought down with clean headshots, but this book wasn't too bad, and the ending left it wide open for the inevitable sequel.
"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman was really brilliant. I read the graphic novel a few months ago and decided I ought to read the actual book. Richard Mayhew is living a normal life in London when his whole world changes one day when he decides to help out a wounded stranger. Richard's journey takes him to a strange world under the streets of London, filled with dangers and scary people. I loved how the story ends, and Gaiman's portrayal of the people that inhabit this otherworld is very compelling.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

In honor of movie #6 being out in theaters, all the movie channels have been replaying the older Harry Potter movies. After watching "Order of the Phoenix" for the sixth time (and I own them all on DVD but for some reason I only watch them when they're on TV), I felt the need to reread this one. Sad parts still make me cry, the ending still makes me smile, and I still hate Snape. Now I just need to get to the theater to see "Half-Blood Prince".

Monday, July 27, 2009

Prairie Tale

Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder on TV "Little House on the Prairie" wrote this dishy tell all about her life. I didn't realize both she and her younger brother Jonathan, who played Willie Olsen, were adopted. It was harmless mind fluff. Celebrity bios are my guilty pleasure. While I didn't really care for her tone and I'm not sure why, just something about it bugged me, I must give her credit for not pulling any punches or trying to duck out of responsibility for the bad stuff. She aired it all, and it was quite interesting and a quick read.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Hey There (You with the Gun in Your Hand)

Robert J. Randisi's third Rat Pack mystery "Hey There" featured Sammy Davis Jr. this time. Someone has stolen a roll of film from his house and is blackmailing him. President Kennedy is also being blackmailed for the same roll of film. Sand's pit boss, Eddie G., once again comes to the aid of the Rat Pack and discovers who the culprits are along with a few dead bodies along the way. Good harmless fluff.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Day By Day Armageddon

"Day by Day Armageddon" by J. L. Bourne was everything "World War Z" should have been--fraught with tension, emotionally charged, gripping, and realistic. The unnamed hero of the book is keeping a journal of what he is doing to survive the zombie apocalypse. Along the way he meets other survivors and they team up and keep on the move to escape the ever swarming hordes of the ghoulish undead. Good stuff, and there's a sequel promised. Can't wait!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

World War Z; Wormood Gentleman Corpse Vol. 1: Birds, Bees, Blood & Beer

"World War Z" by Max Brooks was disappointing. By telling the story of the Zombie apocalypse after all the action has happened, Brooks robbed the story of all the tension and action it should have had in order to make it gripping. Told in oral interview form, the book tells the stories of the survivors of the war against the zombies. These interviews are so short that the reader doesn’t have a chance to invest anything emotionally in these people, and as a result we don’t really care about what they went through. Great idea just badly executed.
"Wormwood Gentleman Corpse: Vol 1" by Ben Templesmith was a quick, fun read. Beautiful artwork and a dry sense of humor along with British slang made for a quirky little graphic novel. Wormwood and his sidekicks are called upon to get rid of a demon that Medusa has allowed to come through the porthole at her bar that she was supposed to be guarding. The demon is using humans to spawn, to create a little army, by spiking their Viagra. The ending is laugh out loud cheeky.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Helter Skelter

The first true crime book I ever read, at the age of 12, and still my all time favorite, "Helter Skelter" by Vincent Bugliosi. I was in the mood to reread it, and it's amazing how much detail he manages to pack into this book without losing any of the narrative. It never gets dry, like some nonfiction. Frightening, disturbing, and wholly engrossing, it is right up there in my all-time must reads.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Causing a Scene

Charlie Todd's Improv Everywhere group has "agents" who go on "missions", to create a scene. In "Causing a Scene", he shares how the ideas for missions come about, how they are planned and executed, and the inevitable aftermath when the cops get involved. Sometimes they are called pranks, but I don't see them as pranks. To me a prank is something that tries to make someone look foolish or silly. Improv Everywhere's mission is more to create a memorable experience for the onlookers, give them a good story to talk about later on. One of my favorites was the time they staged an author event at a local Barnes & Noble, featuring Anton Chekhov, the long dead Russian playwright. They had one of their actors dress up like him and deliver a talk to an unsuspecting crowd gathered at the store. Another good one was the time 80 of their agents dressed up in blue polos and khakis and wandered into a local Best Buy. It was hilarious and sounds like they have a lot of fun.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Whole Death Catalog

Harold Schechter's "Whole Death Catalog" was entertaining and informative fun. If you're just dying to know how to embalm a corpse or what the most stylish hearse of all time is, this is the book for you. I must confess, although I am not the squeamish type, his very graphic description of just exactly what happens to a decaying corpse made for difficult reading while eating. Just be warned :-)

Monday, July 6, 2009

Relentless; Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Dean Koontz's latest, "Relentless", was one of his better newer offerings. I liked it. Cubby, a novelist, gets a bad review from Shearman Waxx, and of course it bugs him. Then strange things start happening to Cubby and his family, and he finds out there are other novelists who also got bad reviews from Waxx and had their whole families wiped out. Cubby and his family go on the run in pursuit of evidence against Waxx. The characters in this one were pretty memorable and believable, unlike some of his more recent books.
"Finger Lickin' Fifteen" is Janet Evanovich's latest, and seriously I haven't really enjoyed the Stephanie Plum series since number 11. This one was kind of blah. A famous television chef is murdered and Lula witnesses the whole thing, so now the killers are after her. Morelli wasn't really in this one, and while she's staying at Ranger's apartment nothing happens between them. Boring! The fire bombs and cars blowing up is also getting to be a little repetitive and tedious. So why do I keep reading them? I don't know.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

King of the Screw Ups

"King of the Screw Ups" by K. L. Going was a really fun YA novel about a 17 year old named Liam, who gets kicked out of the house by his fed-up dad and moves in with his gay, cross dressing, glam band member uncle Pete. While living with Pete, Liam tries to become studious and academic rather than popular. Good fun.