I chose to start reading Married With Zombies by Jesse Peterson because I was a little tired of such cynical, serious, and/or heavy reading that I wanted a light-hearted break. This book was supposed to be funny and I guess it was amusing in a way. It was certainly light-hearted. Maybe it's just not my kind of humor. I guess I was a little turned off by all the foul language. I'm not such a prude that I can't enjoy a book that has foul language in it (the Joe Ledger series does), but not when it is used excessively. Sarah is the narrator in this book and she can't seem expand her vocabulary beyond four letter words.
This book starts out with Sarah and Dave headed to marriage counseling so you can already guess that there is a lot of tension in this book on top of the zombies. After waiting awhile in the waiting room they check on their counselor and she is eating the previous couple. Dave and Sarah kill her with a stilleto. At least Dave and Sarah are able to be sensible and come up with a logical plan to avoid getting eaten by zombies. I have to give it to Ms. Peterson, her characters are the most realistic, everyday Joes I've encountered in a zombie novel. Most people in zombie novels have a back-ground in the military or police force. Though Dave and Sarah seem pretty good at shooting zombies in the head and I'm not sure how they gained that experience. Neither of them own a gun and they both seem to be crack shots and from what I've heard it is pretty difficult to shoot a moving target in the head. Anyway, luckily they have a neighbor with a gun stash and they quickly pack up and leave town. Later they raid a gas station and Dave has the presence of mind to steal cigarettes even though neither of them smoke because in the future they are going to be worth their weight in gold. They encounter a few zombies along the way and a crazy cult at a casino. Pretty typical zombie stuff and like I mentioned I didn't really find it very funny.
I'd rate this one a shambler on my zombie scale. It was okay, but there are a lot better novels out there and if you want a funny zombie book I'd go with The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. It's not funny persay until you take into account that the whole book is a joke that is written in a dead serious style. I am currently listening to the second book because I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, but this one is better. I can't wait until I find out more about these "bionic zombies."
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 10
This episode was killer! Rick has completely stepped off into the deep end (there was a little glimmer of hope there at the end like maybe he was coming back). I'm not really sure what is going on between Glenn and Maggie except whatever they went through was pretty traumatic. Poor Glenn is not completely right himself now and he is stuck in the leadership role and trying to hold everything together. He was right though, they need to stay in the prison. There is no way with Judith and Herschel they can go traipsing along in the countryside. I loved when Herschel went to check and Rick and Herschel complained to Rick about Glenn and Rick told him then he should just the the leader. I'm not really sure why Herschel isn't the leader anyway unless he prefers to be in more the advisor role and less the leadership role. In my mind he seems more like Rick's second-in-command anyway than Daryl or Glenn. Though if Daryl were still there then Herschel should defer all the defenses, etc to Daryl.
What is up with Michonne? I thought she was gone as soon as she healed. I hope she sticks around because she is a very interesting character. I realize she probably changed a lot due to the zombie apocolypse, but I wonder what she was like prior.
Speaking of sticking around, what happened to the new group? Are we going to hear anymore from them? I really wish Rick hadn't run them off. Though after seeing Rick I'm sure they were glad to go.
I am so glad that this episode we got to see Daryl finally stand up to Merle. Daryl away from Merle finally got to become the person he was meant to be. Rick's group has become his family and he finally realizes that Merle has always been dragging him down. I loved how when they were walking through the woods they were arguing about which river they were coming up on and Merle was putting down Daryl and then after the bridge scene they show the sign for the river. Guess what, Daryl was right! I think Judith finally cemented Daryl's transformation to a great guy and when he heard that baby crying and rushed to save them my heart melted. Then Merle tried to "get payment" from the group and Daryl pulled his bow on him.
What is going to happen now that Merle has come back to Rick's group? Merle is not Daryl and he gets off on being cruel and vicious. Merle beat Glenn and tried to kill Michonne, except Michonne is supposed to be gone. I'm not too sure about what is going to happen there.
What is Andrea going to do? I think she realizes the Governor is not all he seems. He is trying to placate her by putting her in temporary command, but she wasn't fooled when he left on his "run." It looks like next week she is going to try to go to the prison. I hope she stays with them or convinces them to take over Woodbury knowing Rick would be better for Woodbury than the Governor (well, if he jumps off the crazy train).
Well, it looks like Rick's group has a lot to decide before the Governor strikes again. I can't help, but feel sorry for them as they look out at the fields that they so painstakingly cleared. I don't envy them the work of repairing all that chain-link fencing. When I was younger I ran my dad's brand-new lawn-mower into the new chain-link fence we had put up ourselves and it is not easy to repair that stuff. On the plus side, my dad never asked me to mow the yard again. In my defense I was trying not to run over the dog.
What is up with Michonne? I thought she was gone as soon as she healed. I hope she sticks around because she is a very interesting character. I realize she probably changed a lot due to the zombie apocolypse, but I wonder what she was like prior.
Speaking of sticking around, what happened to the new group? Are we going to hear anymore from them? I really wish Rick hadn't run them off. Though after seeing Rick I'm sure they were glad to go.
I am so glad that this episode we got to see Daryl finally stand up to Merle. Daryl away from Merle finally got to become the person he was meant to be. Rick's group has become his family and he finally realizes that Merle has always been dragging him down. I loved how when they were walking through the woods they were arguing about which river they were coming up on and Merle was putting down Daryl and then after the bridge scene they show the sign for the river. Guess what, Daryl was right! I think Judith finally cemented Daryl's transformation to a great guy and when he heard that baby crying and rushed to save them my heart melted. Then Merle tried to "get payment" from the group and Daryl pulled his bow on him.
What is going to happen now that Merle has come back to Rick's group? Merle is not Daryl and he gets off on being cruel and vicious. Merle beat Glenn and tried to kill Michonne, except Michonne is supposed to be gone. I'm not too sure about what is going to happen there.
What is Andrea going to do? I think she realizes the Governor is not all he seems. He is trying to placate her by putting her in temporary command, but she wasn't fooled when he left on his "run." It looks like next week she is going to try to go to the prison. I hope she stays with them or convinces them to take over Woodbury knowing Rick would be better for Woodbury than the Governor (well, if he jumps off the crazy train).
Well, it looks like Rick's group has a lot to decide before the Governor strikes again. I can't help, but feel sorry for them as they look out at the fields that they so painstakingly cleared. I don't envy them the work of repairing all that chain-link fencing. When I was younger I ran my dad's brand-new lawn-mower into the new chain-link fence we had put up ourselves and it is not easy to repair that stuff. On the plus side, my dad never asked me to mow the yard again. In my defense I was trying not to run over the dog.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Book Review: King of Plagues
The first book I'm going to review is The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry. This is the third installment in the Joe Ledger series. I listened to the audio version narrated by Ray Porter who is amazing! I have no idea how that guy can have a different voice for all the characters involved. And when he does a woman's voice it sounds like a woman instead of an exaggeration.
The Joe Ledger novels aren't the typical book I'm into with all the black-op special forces and crime solving, but Maberry adds that touch of sci-fi into his novels that I love. The things his villians come up with couldn't exactly happen, but there's enough truth there to make it seem credible. I read the first novel Patient Zero because it had Joe Ledger going up against zombies. I won't review that one here, but maybe later. Basically, a money hungry man funded a mad scientist to create zombies to create pandomonium which would make him rich. Well, money hungry and now completely crazy dude actually shows back up in this installment as... you guessed it- the King of Plagues.
Joe is a cop who was recruited into a secret government group called the Department of Military Sciences or DMS. In this adventure, Joe is in England when a hospital blows up and he is asked to help out the British version of the DMS. There is a secret society of which the King of Plagues is a part, plagues of course (and they use Ebola- my fav exotic disease in as far as it is completely awful), and we get to meet Aunt Sally after hearing so much about her. The author describes her as looking exactly like Whoopi Goldberg, but my version of Aunt Sally is not so much this:
Whoopi Goldberg
but this:
Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder) from Warehouse 13
I guess I just can't reconcile the image of Whoopi Goldberg being this super secret agent that everyone is afraid of, but Mrs. Frederic from Warehouse 13 she is scary. Aunt Sally and Mrs. Frederic could even be the same person. If you haven't seen Warehouse 13 you should, it's great. Awesome characters, comedy, ancient artifacts, what more could you need?
I didn't like The King of Plagues as much as the previous two books. Could be I was a little burnt out on Joe after listening back to back for three books in a row or it could be it took me awhile to get through it due to the holidays. I get kind of tired of Joe's being better than everyone and having to be so macho and antagonistic to every new person he meets. First he gets into a confrontation with a terrorism expert and then with Aunt Sally that could have both been totally avoided. I understand he is the best of the best, but no need to act like a terd about it.
The ebola scenario was pretty exciting and I loved meeting Aunt Sally for the first time. Overall, it was okay. A lot like the other two books. Disaster is imminent, we have no idea what is going on, in the final hour we piece everything together, Joe and his team save the world. I'm looking forward to the next one though. We'll see what cutting edge science Maberry uses this time for a terrorist attack and I've heard there are vampires. I'd rate this one a Walker on my Zombie Enjoyment Scale which I stole from ThinkGeek here: Zombie ID Chart T-Shirt
The Joe Ledger novels aren't the typical book I'm into with all the black-op special forces and crime solving, but Maberry adds that touch of sci-fi into his novels that I love. The things his villians come up with couldn't exactly happen, but there's enough truth there to make it seem credible. I read the first novel Patient Zero because it had Joe Ledger going up against zombies. I won't review that one here, but maybe later. Basically, a money hungry man funded a mad scientist to create zombies to create pandomonium which would make him rich. Well, money hungry and now completely crazy dude actually shows back up in this installment as... you guessed it- the King of Plagues.
Joe is a cop who was recruited into a secret government group called the Department of Military Sciences or DMS. In this adventure, Joe is in England when a hospital blows up and he is asked to help out the British version of the DMS. There is a secret society of which the King of Plagues is a part, plagues of course (and they use Ebola- my fav exotic disease in as far as it is completely awful), and we get to meet Aunt Sally after hearing so much about her. The author describes her as looking exactly like Whoopi Goldberg, but my version of Aunt Sally is not so much this:
Whoopi Goldbergbut this:
Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder) from Warehouse 13I guess I just can't reconcile the image of Whoopi Goldberg being this super secret agent that everyone is afraid of, but Mrs. Frederic from Warehouse 13 she is scary. Aunt Sally and Mrs. Frederic could even be the same person. If you haven't seen Warehouse 13 you should, it's great. Awesome characters, comedy, ancient artifacts, what more could you need?
I didn't like The King of Plagues as much as the previous two books. Could be I was a little burnt out on Joe after listening back to back for three books in a row or it could be it took me awhile to get through it due to the holidays. I get kind of tired of Joe's being better than everyone and having to be so macho and antagonistic to every new person he meets. First he gets into a confrontation with a terrorism expert and then with Aunt Sally that could have both been totally avoided. I understand he is the best of the best, but no need to act like a terd about it.
The ebola scenario was pretty exciting and I loved meeting Aunt Sally for the first time. Overall, it was okay. A lot like the other two books. Disaster is imminent, we have no idea what is going on, in the final hour we piece everything together, Joe and his team save the world. I'm looking forward to the next one though. We'll see what cutting edge science Maberry uses this time for a terrorist attack and I've heard there are vampires. I'd rate this one a Walker on my Zombie Enjoyment Scale which I stole from ThinkGeek here: Zombie ID Chart T-Shirt
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Walking Dead Midseason Premiere
So glad the Walking Dead is back on. It's the only show I watch on a regular basis. Unless it's the news or the Disney channel I don't have much time for anything else (okay I have time I would just rather read). Walking Dead is full of all the things I love about the zombie genre; zombies, people trying to survive and thrive, and the edge of your seat factor. I haven't ever read the comics that the show is based on and I keep waffling on whether to read them or not. I am not a huge fan of graphic novels or comic books. For me it is too confusing to read all the little conversation bubbles and look at the pictures too. I'm scared I'm going to miss something or I'm reading the bubbles out of order.
The third season of Walking Dead is definitely shaping up to be my least favorite season, but it is still the best tv show out there right now. I am really not liking the Governor. He is part of what I hate about zombie fiction, a bad guy taking advantage of a bad situation. He makes me want to punch him in the face or something. Plus he is weird... who keeps an aquarium wall full of zombie heads?
Poor Rick's group and Rick has gone off the deep end. I was beginning to think by the end of this season there was going to be no one left, but they are adding a few here and there (even though the new guy mortality rate is pretty high). I really hope things work out with the new group. The couple seems like they have really kept their humanity and are just doing their best to survive. (Not too sure about the father/son(?) team.) Though now that Rick has publicly flipped his lid they may decide to mosey on along.
Daryl and Merle- I cannot stand Merle, but I love Daryl. He seems like the only one who can really counter Rick. Well, Herschel can talk to Rick, but if push came to shove I think Daryl is the only one who could keep Rick under control if he really lost it. I understand why he left the group, but there was no way they could bring Merle back with them.
It looks like next week Herschel is going to try to convince them to leave the prison. Maybe it's a good idea to get away from the Governor, but I think they could stand a chance. Merle's gone and he seemed like the leader of the Governor's band of ruffians, without him being there it has to throw them off. The prison seems pretty defensible, unless they have bombs. I guess they could do a number on the chain-link fencing though and that would decrease the desirability of the prison. I guess at least both Rick and the Governor have gone a little crazy so that evens out. Looks like from the previews they have an encounter. I can't wait for next Sunday!
The third season of Walking Dead is definitely shaping up to be my least favorite season, but it is still the best tv show out there right now. I am really not liking the Governor. He is part of what I hate about zombie fiction, a bad guy taking advantage of a bad situation. He makes me want to punch him in the face or something. Plus he is weird... who keeps an aquarium wall full of zombie heads?
Poor Rick's group and Rick has gone off the deep end. I was beginning to think by the end of this season there was going to be no one left, but they are adding a few here and there (even though the new guy mortality rate is pretty high). I really hope things work out with the new group. The couple seems like they have really kept their humanity and are just doing their best to survive. (Not too sure about the father/son(?) team.) Though now that Rick has publicly flipped his lid they may decide to mosey on along.
Daryl and Merle- I cannot stand Merle, but I love Daryl. He seems like the only one who can really counter Rick. Well, Herschel can talk to Rick, but if push came to shove I think Daryl is the only one who could keep Rick under control if he really lost it. I understand why he left the group, but there was no way they could bring Merle back with them.
It looks like next week Herschel is going to try to convince them to leave the prison. Maybe it's a good idea to get away from the Governor, but I think they could stand a chance. Merle's gone and he seemed like the leader of the Governor's band of ruffians, without him being there it has to throw them off. The prison seems pretty defensible, unless they have bombs. I guess they could do a number on the chain-link fencing though and that would decrease the desirability of the prison. I guess at least both Rick and the Governor have gone a little crazy so that evens out. Looks like from the previews they have an encounter. I can't wait for next Sunday!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Introductions
So here we go... my first post. Deep breath and ... Hi, my name is ZB and I am a zombiephilic bookaholic. Okay, so my name isn't ZB, but for the time being I prefer to remain anonymous. Per the example provided in one of my favorite zombie books, Feed by Mira Grant, I'm going to provide a little info about myself. Georgia Mason, the main character in the novel, is a newsie or someone who blogs about the news and they prefer to let people know all about their prejudices so you can judge for yourself how biased they may be in their reporting.
Let's start with I'm a perfectionist introvert who is also subsequently a procrastinator (hence why it took me almost a year to write my first post). This means I cringe whenever I write anything in case it is not grammatically correct, I am scared of how I will be perceived (especially if that perception is less than perfect), and I am a little bit on the neurotic side. So if anyone should happen to read this besides me then please don't post negative comments about my comma placement or I may never post again. As a perfectionist it also means I have to finish everything even if I don't like it. There aren't many books I haven't finished (maybe one or two and I can't even think of them) and if it is in a series I have to finish the series unless it is really hard to get a copy of the next book or I couldn't stand the first book.
As I mentioned in the About Me section, I am from the South and love sweet tea, corn bread, and biscuits. I will literally read anything, especially if there isn't a book lying around. It used to drive my sister crazy that I always read the cereal box so she would hide it from me. I also have a brother, an 11 year old son, an adorable niece and an equally adorable nephew plus tons of other family. I'm a Christian and a conservative. I think those two facts will probably shed some light on where I am biased when posting my views and opinions. I went to vet school so I am a huge fan of Herschel in Walking Dead. I think that's about me in a nut shell.
As far books go I try to branch out, but my favorite genres are fantasy, historical fiction, and horror. Right now I seem to have jumped on the urban fantasy and dystopian band wagon. I try to force myself to intersperse my reading with the classics. I got hooked on zombie books in vet school. After a particularly difficult semester I wanted something to read that was pretty light and fluffy as far as content went. I picked up The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks and loved it. I found it fairly amusing and it's been downhill since then. It didn't help that in school we had to go through preparedness training and I actually found parts of this book very practical.
Horror movies have always been a thing for me. I remember as a kid (younger than 7) watching the Gremlin movies behind the couch so my parents wouldn't know. A friend and I in elementary school watched all the Jason movies (in retrospect I'm not sure why our parents let this happen as I couldn't watch any other PG-13 or above movies until high school). As I got older I started getting nightmares when I watched horror movies about people breaking in the house so that was how I transitioned to zombie movies. I started watching zombie movies way before I started reading the books. I still like the thrill of watching a scary movie, but I don't like realistic scary movies. I enjoy monster flicks (especially the really campy SyFy ones) and zombie movies. Anything with serial killers or something demonic I am out. If it couldn't possibly happen then I will watch it.
Zombies satisfy that need I have to be just a little scared. I enjoy each creator's take on the zombie story and watching where they go with it. I especially like the zombie stories based on disease. It allows me to break out the science nerd in myself. The best zombie stories to me focus on people and their survival. It's interesting to watch how different people react in disaster situations. The zombie apocalypse may not be coming, but other disasters happen daily. I do have to admit that the stories that focus on people that become barbarians really push my buttons. I guess as a woman it is all to easy to imagine society breaking down to the point where women become nothing more than slaves. Anything that focuses on just gore doesn't really do it for me either.
I know this is a super long post and the perfectionist in me wants to go back and edit everything, but if I do that I will never post so here goes. I am writing this blog as a place to talk about books and zombies. It may not be all about zombie books since I read a lot of other things. I want this to be fun for me and not a stress. If you happen to read please enjoy. If you comment please keep it nice. We don't have to agree just be civil. Also, I cannot stand profanity. It is one of my pet peeves (along with sticky hands) so please respect that. Hopefully, I will start posting regularly, but who knows!
ZB
Let's start with I'm a perfectionist introvert who is also subsequently a procrastinator (hence why it took me almost a year to write my first post). This means I cringe whenever I write anything in case it is not grammatically correct, I am scared of how I will be perceived (especially if that perception is less than perfect), and I am a little bit on the neurotic side. So if anyone should happen to read this besides me then please don't post negative comments about my comma placement or I may never post again. As a perfectionist it also means I have to finish everything even if I don't like it. There aren't many books I haven't finished (maybe one or two and I can't even think of them) and if it is in a series I have to finish the series unless it is really hard to get a copy of the next book or I couldn't stand the first book.
As I mentioned in the About Me section, I am from the South and love sweet tea, corn bread, and biscuits. I will literally read anything, especially if there isn't a book lying around. It used to drive my sister crazy that I always read the cereal box so she would hide it from me. I also have a brother, an 11 year old son, an adorable niece and an equally adorable nephew plus tons of other family. I'm a Christian and a conservative. I think those two facts will probably shed some light on where I am biased when posting my views and opinions. I went to vet school so I am a huge fan of Herschel in Walking Dead. I think that's about me in a nut shell.
As far books go I try to branch out, but my favorite genres are fantasy, historical fiction, and horror. Right now I seem to have jumped on the urban fantasy and dystopian band wagon. I try to force myself to intersperse my reading with the classics. I got hooked on zombie books in vet school. After a particularly difficult semester I wanted something to read that was pretty light and fluffy as far as content went. I picked up The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks and loved it. I found it fairly amusing and it's been downhill since then. It didn't help that in school we had to go through preparedness training and I actually found parts of this book very practical.
Horror movies have always been a thing for me. I remember as a kid (younger than 7) watching the Gremlin movies behind the couch so my parents wouldn't know. A friend and I in elementary school watched all the Jason movies (in retrospect I'm not sure why our parents let this happen as I couldn't watch any other PG-13 or above movies until high school). As I got older I started getting nightmares when I watched horror movies about people breaking in the house so that was how I transitioned to zombie movies. I started watching zombie movies way before I started reading the books. I still like the thrill of watching a scary movie, but I don't like realistic scary movies. I enjoy monster flicks (especially the really campy SyFy ones) and zombie movies. Anything with serial killers or something demonic I am out. If it couldn't possibly happen then I will watch it.
Zombies satisfy that need I have to be just a little scared. I enjoy each creator's take on the zombie story and watching where they go with it. I especially like the zombie stories based on disease. It allows me to break out the science nerd in myself. The best zombie stories to me focus on people and their survival. It's interesting to watch how different people react in disaster situations. The zombie apocalypse may not be coming, but other disasters happen daily. I do have to admit that the stories that focus on people that become barbarians really push my buttons. I guess as a woman it is all to easy to imagine society breaking down to the point where women become nothing more than slaves. Anything that focuses on just gore doesn't really do it for me either.
I know this is a super long post and the perfectionist in me wants to go back and edit everything, but if I do that I will never post so here goes. I am writing this blog as a place to talk about books and zombies. It may not be all about zombie books since I read a lot of other things. I want this to be fun for me and not a stress. If you happen to read please enjoy. If you comment please keep it nice. We don't have to agree just be civil. Also, I cannot stand profanity. It is one of my pet peeves (along with sticky hands) so please respect that. Hopefully, I will start posting regularly, but who knows!
ZB
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