A Reader Is Me!

Title: Feed
Author: Mira Grant
Number of Pages: 608 pages
Book Number/Goal: 9/10 for 2012
My Rating: 4.5/5

Amazon Summary: Twin bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason and their colleague Buffy are thrilled when Sen. Peter Ryman, the first presidential candidate to come of age since social media saved the world from a virus that reanimates the dead, invites them to cover his campaign. Then an event is attacked by zombies, and Ryman's daughter is killed. As the bloggers wield the newfound power of new media, they tangle with the CDC, a scheming vice presidential candidate, and mysterious conspirators who want more than the Oval Office.

Review: The only reason I didn't give this a full five stars is because the beginning is slow. Like, hella slow. It starts off with an action scene, but then grinds to a half with a shit ton of exposition (the book is actually pretty exposition-heavy all around, which is something I could have done without) and just really boring political stuff.

There isn't much in terms of zombies or action (well, lots of exposition about zombies), just the ins and outs of being a journalist following a presidential campaign, which I guess might be interesting for some people, but was just hugely boring to me. I actually set the book aside for several weeks and read a bunch of manga instead, while considering whether I wanted to keep trying with Feed or just give it up.

But I did decide to keep trying, and I'm really glad I did, because once it gets going, it's really good and I enjoyed it a lot. I just wish it hadn't been so slow to start!

I liked the explanation for the zombies and the world-building in general, and there was lots of intrigue. Also I would highly recommend this to anyone who read too much VC Andrews in their formative years, because wow, Georgia and Shaun. Like, there's no actual incest in the book, but only just. XD

However, Georgia dies in the end, so there's that.

I'm not sure whether I will read the other books or not. This felt pretty complete on its own (and: see spoiler above).

Title: Skeleton Man
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Number of Pages: 114 pages
Book Number/Goal: 47/40 for 2010
My Rating: 5/5

Summary: When Molly's parents don't return after a trip, she is placed in the care of a mysterious "great uncle" who's appeared out of nowhere. Everyone else believes his story, but Molly knows something isn't right. Soon she becomes convinced that he is the Skeleton Man, a monster from one of the old Mohawk stories her dad used to tell her. With the help of a rabbit who guides her in her dreams, she begins to make plans to escape and rescue her parents.

Review: This is a super short book, but I really enjoyed it. The story is pretty creepy (both the retold tale of the Skeleton Man that Molly relates as well as what happens to her in the present) and I really liked Molly. I also liked how matter-of-factly Mohawk culture was treated.

S, so apparently I forgot to crosspost anything here since the beginning of May...? D: I haven't read a ton of books this year, but it says here my last post was books 6-8 and I just posted book 34 on my journal, so it's more than I want to crosspost in whole here. Instead, here's a list of links to the reviews in my journal (along with some basic info) for those interested, and I will try to be good about crossposting in future.

( Books 9-34 behind the cut! )