Books to Watch for in 2011: Dust and Decay

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland –where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything…and not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will make it out alive.

(Goodreads)

In case you missed Rot and Ruin:

Dust and Decay coming late August 2011. Put it on your wishlist!

Books to Look for in 2011

This just hit the shelves and I totally want it! Wishlist time!


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)

Follow Friday for the Zombie Horde!

Hello Zombie Horde!

Welcome to another Follow Friday and Blog Hop!

Question of the week:

What is your favorite genre and what book made it that way?

Well, my wonderful zombie friends. No doubt, it has to be zombies, right? You just wouldn't look at me the same if I said romance novels, right? Right. As for a book that tripped me over the line into zombiedom...wow. There are so many awesome ones. Let's see...

 There are just so many awesome books. I love them all. Zombies vs. Unicorns, Rot and Ruin...

Question of the week:

How many books are in your TBR pile?

Oh. That is funny.

A few hundred I think.

Thanks for stopping by to visit on this very awesome Follow Friday!

Stop in and check out my new music blog...I am, in all my zombie coolness, doing music reviews now for www.Muzikreviews.com so come check out the awesome and amazing tunes.



Dana's YA Bookpile: Die For Me

Dana's YA Bookpile: Die For Me: "My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, a..."


Check it out! Romantic Paris with a zombie. What could be more cool, I ask you?

Bookgirl's Music Musings: Featured Artist: Aaron Stoquert

Bookgirl's Music Musings: Featured Artist: Aaron Stoquert: "Track List: Bunker Hill Soft Skin Pass Me By Last Day I'll See You Again In the world of folk rock, no one does zombie like Aaron St..."

Follow the Zombie Friday

Q. What are you doing to prepare for an upcoming zombie apocalypse and/or the return of Mel Gibson to the silver screen? (Both of which could be terrifying.)

Answer:

That's a tough one guys. Already being a zombie might actually be a good thing here. On the other hand, no one would be around to make those awesome after dinner cupcakes. That might be a crisis. I am an elitist zombie I guess. More free range room. Umm...I mean I really like people. Not just for a snack. Umm, I mean, yeah. Never mind.

Where is my moisturizer? This Texas heat is starting to be a real problem.

Thanks for stopping by. See. I didn't even take a bite! I only thought about it. Just a little. That pizza (delivery boy) wasn't very filling. 

Follow the Zombie Friday

Happy Follow Friday!

Q. How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?

Answer:

I read at least five books a week usually. Some weeks vary, depending on my new job as a music reviewer on Muzikreviews.com. I listen to them on audio, read physical books and love e-books. If I don't have a book clutched in my hand, it is rare. Not to fall asleep clutching my Nookcolor or my iPad is also rare. I hate letting it out of my hands to even charge the thing. Love=iPad. Just sayin. I get all of my music with me, my writing projects and my e-books. Awesome.

Netgalley is something I want to mention too. I get tons of galleys from there and they are amazing. If you are a blogger, check them out, Zombie Horde.

Thanks for stopping by on the hop!

 



Dana's YA Bookpile: Die For Me

Dana's YA Bookpile: Die For Me: "My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, a..."


Good evening Zombie Horde. I just had to bring you this awesome book, also posted on Dana's YA Bookpile. Check it out! You will love it. Hot zombies everywhere!

Graveminder

The New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series delivers her first novel for adults, a story about the living, the dead, and a curse that binds them.

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you."

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place--and the man--she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D--a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.

Goodreads.



This book was incredible. From the first page, it had me hooked. Melissa Marr has outdone herself with this new universe of putting the dead to rest so they don't rise again and start chomping on people. I can not recommend this book more highly. It has every element for the reader to love. Romance, sentient and drone zombies, land of the dead and a murder mystery. Thumbs up to Marr for moving steadily from the land of the fae into the land of the undead.

Warm Bodies Giveaway Winner!

Congrats to:

Titania86

Our giveaway winner!!!!

The Dark and Hollow Places Review

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters. 

Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.

But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

(Goodreads)

Greetings Zombie Horde. This trilogy, if you haven't read it, is very worth your time. I was very sad to know this is the last book but happy that I was able to read it. The publisher sent it to me for a fair and honest review.

5/5 stars. Carrie Ryan does such a wonderful job of making you feel the desperation of Annah and Catcher (hunky half zombie). I could read these books for the rest of my life and be happy. In fact, I will most likely go back and with a tear in my eye, re-read The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Check out some of my earlier posts for some YouTube film footage.

Until later...no biting!



The Cellar- Review

Meredith Willis is suspicious of Adrien, the new guy next door. When she dares to sneak a look into the windows of his house, she sees something in the cellar that makes her believe that Adrien might be more than just a creep—he may be an actual monster.

But her sister, Heather, doesn’t share Meredith’s repulsion. Heather believes Adrien is the only guy who really understands her. In fact, she may be falling in love with him. When Adrien and Heather are cast as the leads in the school production of Romeo and Juliet, to Heather, it feels like fate. To Meredith, it feels like a bad omen. But if she tries to tear the couple apart, she could end up in the last place she’d ever want to be: the cellar. Can Meredith convince her sister that she’s dating the living dead before it’s too late for both of them?

My thoughts:

I was initially thrilled to find the galley for this book on Netgalley. For anyone who is a blogger, Netgalley is the next best thing to sliced bread. (or a fresh kidney, zombie horde!) I liked the interplay between the sisters, Heather and Meredith. The death of their father haunts the whole family, but is hardest on Heather, as it was her fault because she was playing with her cell phone and caused the accident that killed him. She sinks further into depression and only snaps out of it when she meets Adrien, the new charismatic guy that just moved in next door.

Meredith is also haunted by her father's death, and feels guilt because of an optical problem that made Heather have to drive on that fateful day. She meets the new guy Adrien and gets the creeps. Out of the corner of her eye, she keeps seeing weird things whenever Adrien is around.

Things are not as they would seem and as Meredith comes closer to the truth about why Adrien and his mother are there, the more she and her family are in danger. This is the part that kind of pushed the scale to a 3 out of 5.

Zombies. I love them or I wouldn't have this blog, right? I think if you are going to put a zombie as a bad guy with sentient thought, there has to be some layering going on to make it believable. I found the "classic villan" flavor of bad guy to be a little disappointing in this scenario. I did not altogether find Heather's reaction to Adrien believable either.

While the interplay between the sisters was good and the plot tension flowed, I wanted to see a bit more depth to the zombie family's motives and inner thoughts beyond the munching sounds of the neighbor being fileted.

What I'm Reading Now: The Dark and Hollow Places

Happy Follow Friday!

Good morning everyone and welcome to another Follow Friday! This week's question from our host Parajunkee is:

Q. Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

Wow. I actually had to go and sleep on that one and I am still not sure. Let's see if I can do this.

1. Hunger Games

2. Outlander

3. Forest of Hands and Teeth

4. My Nook (until the power goes out!)

5. Breathers

6. Twilight

7. Bird Sisters

8. Visual Guide to Crochet

9. Southern Living Cookbook

10. The Mists of Avalon

That was tough. I know I will change my mind and have to switch things out at least once. If it comes down to it, I was actually thinking about what you would need if it went all post apocalyptic. Has anyone read Life As We Knew It ? It is the book about the moon coming close to the earth and everything going crazy? The power goes out, volcanoes erupt and all the Walmarts run out of Twinkies. Wait. Maybe that was Zombieland. Whatever. Anyway. Twinkies. Or, in my case, vanilla zingers with cream filling. Orange cupcakes too. OMG. How would I live without orange cupcakes?

This week my washer went out and it has been the biggest pain ever. It reminded me of the hurricane a couple of years ago when we were out of power for several days and had to try and cook what we could from the freezer on the gas stove and grill outside. Kind of feels like that I guess. At least there is a laundry facility down the street even though I hate going there.

I digress. What would I need if the world did go nuts and I had to build a bomb shelter or at least start hording can goods or something? Ten things. Here we go.

1. Lots of can goods.

2. Orange cupcakes by the case.

3. Dog food by the ton. (furry kids)

4. Water. Lots of bottled water.

5. Granola Bars

6. Toilet Paper. (no comment)

7. Knitting needles, crochet hooks and yarn.

8. A weapon of some sort to kill anyone who threatened my zinger supply. (Just sayin.)

9. Soap and deodorant

10. A book on how to garden, because I think we may need more than canned yams eventually.

Now for more hopping...

"Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

Wow. There are so many. The first one I am dying to get my hands on is the new Charlaine Harris book in the Sookie series. Dead Reckoning. It is my birthday Sunday, and it is on my list!

Thanks everyone for visiting on the Hop and Follow Friday! If you want to join the linky list, head over to:

http://www.parajunkee.com/

http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will "Like" the new Facebook fan page while you are here. I love my followers and twitter peeps, so I hope to see you around! Stay tuned for more awesome contests coming up soon! Have a great weekend Zombie Horde!



Contest: Warm Bodies

With all the excitement about the release this week of Warm Bodies the soon to be feature film, the publisher has given me the extreme pleasure of hosting a giveaway! One lucky person will win a copy of this amazing book!

Now for the rules:

* One entry per person.

* You must be over 13 to enter.

* Entries are counted from contest form only, but I do LOVE comments too.

*Publisher will be mailing out the prize. Winner will be notified by email and have three days to send a reply or the next lucky person will be chosen.

*One copy of Warm Bodies is the prize.

*Contest is from 4/27-5/15/11