World War Z by Max Brooks

4/5 stars
****

I liked this book. I really really did. Zombies that actually become scary is a rare commodity in this world and let me tell you, when you live alone, and you have cats with a penchant to knock things over unexpectedly, this book becomes terrifying.


Told post the War, World War Z does an exemplary job on describing events that we, as a reader, need to believe changed our entire world. It isn't just one country effected. It wasn't just one category of people. This books spans a variety of cultures and gives voice to several different groups who are now forever united together in a single events that was meant to destroy them. In moments that are blindingly terrifying, this novel portrays zombies in a refreshing way. It does not spend hours focusing on how the zombies move or give us countless images of them gnawing on torn limbs, blood staining their face. It instead focuses on the survivors, what they think, what they had felt during the time, who they were concerned about and whether they thought the entire scenario was a joke or not. This leaves countless things up to the readers imagination and in this scenario, it works. This is the type of novel where less is a hell of a lot more because what the brain can conjure is always going to be much more personal and much more skin crawling, than what an author can try to give you.


What I think impressed me most about this book was that there was something for every type of reader. World War Z. Brooks had a story for every type of reader here and switched between voices with conviction and ease. That alone makes me sit back in awe of him. He didn't just have one story he set out to tell in this novel. He had dozens.

For example, I do not enjoy politics. When that point in most novels is reached where the authors spends pages going over a political structure or the on going push and pull between two parties, I zone out. It is a necessary thing to have in novels, especially ones that are trying to set up and brand new world. Often you'll see me complain about this because I am not the type of reader who cares how the world functions so much as how the people inhabiting it do. My brain registers the hints of a political rant or even a financial explanation, and starts to wander to more exciting moments that I wish were taking place instead. Max Brooks had his fair share of stories told from a politician or someone who knew way more about economics or even how the business aspect of the world worked. He also had stories about parents trying to keep their children alive just one more day, computer geeks escaping from a four story apartment complex, and pilots who became so delirious that they could not explain how they even logically made it out of the war zone alive. This type of story works in the structure that Brooks has set up and does not detract from the overall enjoyment of

I am genuinely excited to see the movie adaptation of this and am looking forward to buying the audio book to enjoy this experience all over again. World War Z was a novel that I did not expect to enjoy, nor did I expect the range of emotions that poured out of me while reading. It is one of the first critically acclaimed novels that I've read in quite a while, that actually lived up to its hype.

If you want to see what else I'm reading this month, visit here: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-book-reads.html

And don't forget to like me on facebook.  Also, if you like the Zombie propoganda posters that you see here, visit their website.  There are plenty more where these came from. http://www.behance.net/gallery/WPA-Style-Zombie-Survival-Guide-Posters/9388537

Battling the Apocalypse with Sweatshirts and Off Brand Jeans

Something has been bothering me lately. Morning routine doesn't consist of much for me because honestly, I love my sleep. I'm not going to get up an hour and a half early to put on make up or do my hair or countless other things that I can't think of but apparently, women do in the morning. However, I've noticed through

traveling, or from simple human observation, that our world has suddenly become awash in ill fitting jeans and t-shirts, and, if you live in my town, pajama bottoms and stained sweatshirts. It is kind of deplorable, really. There's a certain pride that men and women used to take in how they appeared to the world and it is a pride that apparently has been shot to hell in recent years. After pondering this situation for several days, the only conclusion I can come up with is that we, as a society, are so terrified of an alien invasion that we are trying to look as unappealing as possible.


I realized this yesterday as I walking around town. Fed up with most of my clothes and the idea of feeling like a frumpy old cat lady that only toothless men seem to desire, I did the unthinkable. I put on a skirt.

I know. I know. I'm endangering our world. I became aware of this when I walked to the grocery store and I got several looks from people. A woman who dresses nice seems to be a rare breed now. Maybe not in every town, but in Eugene Oregon, we are trying our hardest to fight this constant threat of alien invasions by dressing either in clothes that we are spilling out of, or ones that hide the fact that we are even human. Walking down the street in a skirt and boots was a dangerous thing that I did. The fact that I added a nice fitting jacket to it and then entered into a store where they sold more clothes that are directly hindering the war effort.... I kind of feel like I'm not living up to my American duties. If I truly loved my country, I'd be wearing pajama bottoms and stained sweatshirts as I walked around town.




Furthermore, I have the definite plight of being a nerd girl. Nerd girls are only allowed to look like this:

The television shows us that social inept nerdom is the way to go. It is the only thing that makes you a nerd in fact unless you want to dress in a gold bikini.  Then you are the rare hot nerd that is plastered over nerd guy bedrooms. But, dressing nicely just for the hell of it pretty much means you have to hand your nerd card in. So not only was I inviting the aliens down to our lush planet with my stocking covered legs, but I was also showing my true colors. Donning a skirt is a beacon to the world that you think Superheroes are for little boys and that an x-box controller is pretty much a strange object that will explode if you microwave or put it in the blender. Nerd girls would never dress nicely or in a way that doesn't express their nerdyness. No no. Don't be fooled. Nerd girls that dress nice are just lying to you. Here are some of those posers so you are more aware.

Basically, this blog is an apology. I apologize for having the audacity to dress like a woman yesterday and I can only thank whoever is listening that the Mothership did not darken or smog filled skies. Some handy tips to dressing so we can ensure the survival of the human race? Well, it's easy.  See below.

Furthermore, I'm sorry that I disgraced all the nerd girls out there yesterday with my clothing lies. I attempted to thwart this by rolling a few twenty siders last night and found that the dice fumbled out of my hand and I suddenly couldn't remember how to do perception checks or even know what to do when faced with such things as the Whispering Way and their henchmen. The skirt rendered my nerd abilities useless. I am ashamed.



Don't make the same mistakes I did yesterday. Women of the world, continue to dress in things that suppress your confidence because it is the only way we are going to stay alive in this world. And nerd girls, make sure that you only dress nerdy. Not this type of nerdy either.

 This kind.

It's the only way to keep your nerd card. Don't be like me. Don't dress up and have it taken away. You can't be both an alien beacon and a nerd girl at the same time. The time has come to choose, my fellow Nerd Fighters.  Although, on the upside, if we do live in a post apocolyptic world, things like this will be acceptable.