World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Max Brooks)

Summary:
The "writer" opens with a forward saying that he's going to stay out of sight as much as possible in the writing of the book. He goes on to say that he did a fact finding for the US government on what exactly happened during the zombie war and the clean-up afterward. In his original report, he told all the stories of the survivors, but the government rejected it, saying that they only wanted the cold, hard facts. So he went ahead and published this book with all of those stories that the government didn't care about.

The book goes on to tell the stories of the "survivors" of a zombie invasion, and outlines all of the political, social, and economical ramifications of what a full-scale zombie invasion would look like.

Thoughts:
Honestly, it was really interesting. I was completely engaged in this book the whole way through. It actually reads like a hundred testimonials from war heros and survivors. This is exactly what I would expect from someone like Tom Brokaw, about WWII or the Vietnam War or something. It was mind blowing to think about what could happen if our planet was overrun with a fictional brain-eating menace. It's a study in hypotheticals, for sure, but truly a fascinating read.

Book 15 of 30 (Halfway there!)

Pages: 342
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Grade: A-/B+
Would I Recommend?: Definitely. If you're into the zombie thing, you'll love this, and even if you're not, it was interesting at the very least.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith)

Summary:
The story of Pride and Prejudice, with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and Wickham and Lydia, and Jane and Bingley... Only with zombies. Seriously. The girls in this "adaptation" (for lack of a better word) are expert zombie killers. Still, their mother wants to marry them off as soon as possible, to any man that might come along. Mr. Darcy is as prejudiced as ever at the beginning, and Elizabeth too proud for her own good. It follows the same general storyline that the real Pride and Prejudice does, but with a few undead insertions.

Thoughts:
Funny as hell. Honestly, if you like the old story and have a bit of a sense of humor, you'll enjoy this twisting of the classic. Grahame-Smith weaves the zombies in almost seamlessly, and leaves as much of the classic alone as he can while still giving the feeling of overall foreboding that a zombie flick imparts. Jane and Elizabeth are like Buffy and Faith, masterful killers of the undead and saviors to as many innocents as possible. (Except neither of them took the crazy person pills that Faith did.) It's a little bit silly, but keeps true to Austen's original romance twists. It just has zombies, too.

Pages: 317
Genre: Classic fiction, horror
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Yes. If you liked the original Austen, and you have room in your mind for a little silliness, you'll enjoy this.

Book 2 of 30 for the year.