Third Sentence Thursday: Zombicorns by John Green

Third Sentence Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Sniffly Kitty's Mostly Books for treating third sentences with the dignity they deserve!

This week's theme is Third Sentence Review.

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence

2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)

3) Post a link to your sentence here or if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments!

4) Prepare for next week's theme: To be announced

My Third Sentence for this week is from Zombicorns by John Green that I got free of charge as John put it under a creative commons license so it could be shared.  It's his first zombie apocalypse novella so it must be really funny and interesting!

You may download your own PDF copy of this book here in his Eff Yeah Nerdfighters Tumblr blog. 

"I wondered what we had in common aside from having lived this long."

 

-page 55, Zombicorns by John Green

Review:  I have not yet read any part of this book apart from that sentence so as this is a zombie apocalypse story, living itself is such a luxury and these two people are very lucky indeed. 

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author:  Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Publisher: Quirk Books

Language: English
ISBN-10:  1594743347

ISBN-13:  978-1594743344

Buy this book on Amazon

Rating: 

I previously said I'll be reading this but I ended up ditching it because it bored me.  Well, in between books, I tried to read a few pages and now I am done, hence this review.

At first I was really fascinated with the concept of introducing a completely bizarre story into the classics, helps stir things up and encourages a renewed interest in the books.  I even did a post on these book mashups and most of the commenters on that post said they have a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  I was also thinking of which book I could pick up, and thinking that this book is the most popular one, I know a friend who has a copy and borrowed this and started reading.  The first few chapters are funny and interesting, but I think all of you have experienced having a conversation with your parents/friends/anyone else you know where they always bring up this silly incident which makes you laugh the first few times but then the joke gets old pretty soon and all you could say when they repeat it again is, "Yeah, I think you already told me that story..." but they still insist on telling you about it again?  That's what happened in this book.  I loved Pride and Prejudice so much and I understand that that book, as well as Austen's other books are really very powerful that the magic of their stories transcends time.  I also like zombies although not too much to go gaga over them but enough to give me a laugh when I read about them, and it was interesting to see Austen's storyline being invaded by zombies.  But mere insertions of a zombie fight or some such thing is not really that riveting to me, it was just like reading Pride and Prejudice all over again, but this time it's like my mind is warping some of the passages that makes reading about zombies not very amusing.

I thought the book would be giving different twists and quirks and maybe that's what disappointed me so much.  I suppose I could not expect any of the major characters to die or turn into a zombie, but something to that effect could have been better, could have at least made the book more fascinating on its own, than relying on Austen's power and just tossing in some undead beings.  For me, it doesn't really matter if you don't stay too faithful to the original book, the point here is to create a new story from an old book and a new concept right?   This book had a lot of promise, but the execution was poorly done.

Of course, Austen's prim and proper manner of writing is preserved, the voice solid and clear, the characters charming and relatable.  I loved the graphic illustrations and the realistic tone of dialogue but that's where it stops.  If the story itself had been written with more creativity and force, this book could have been better.  I could not picture myself  buying this book and keeping it on my shelf to re-read it over and over.  Good thing I did not get this on my own, otherwise, I would be really kicking myself in the head right now for wasting a lot of money on something as useless as this book.

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title: The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

Author: Max Brooks
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Language: English
ISBN - 10: 1400049628
ISBN - 13: 978-1400049622
Rating:







This is the first non-fiction book that I'm going to do a review, and good thing this did not come off as boring and all horror. It's a very fun read actually!

As a nurse, I know what to do in virtually any kind of disaster - but could I manage zombie attacks? Definitely not. That's where this book comes in: this fully-illustrated, comprehensively comprehensive manual will not just teach you what to do in zombie survival, but will also totally freak you out! With detailed instructions and accounts of reported attacks, you may be laughing a bit while reading, but will certainly be thinking about what you read long after you're done with this book. Should you believe in zombies? This book tells you, yes you should.

Humorous but not cheap, this book will surely give you some laughs, all the while teaching you about terrain, weapons, and transportation. Actually, information found here is not only confined to zombie survival, but to survival in general. It also teaches old-fashioned cooperation, coordination, and camaraderie as the only way to thrive amidst any kind of chaos - undead or otherwise.

Parodying survival guides, this handy book is the best boredom-beater, and accounts of reported attacks make for really good campfire horror stories, guaranteed to get a huge reaction ranging from loud laughs to chilly silence. This also packs a lot of common sense in its description of the undead, and every aspect of survival.

But this book is not without flaws - actually, there is only one I would like to complain about: This book tended to be repetitive, and sometimes contradicting. But considering that this is supposed to be a detailed guide, I am forgiving those flaws.

So should you believe in zombies? Actually, it sounds risky if you don't.

I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It by Adam Selzer

(Photo taken from Books Inc.)

Title: I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It

Author: Adam Selzer
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Language: English
ISBN - 10: 0385735030
ISBN - 13: 978-0385735032
Rating:







Well would you look at that, I just posted a Teaser Tuesday about this book, and now, the review's here!

I don't like paranormal fiction much, I respected Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but I just don't get Twilight. I did, however, loved Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, but only because I thought it was brash, crude, and not at all romantic. Which is, in my opinion, everything that Twilight and most other paranormal fiction out there are. I've got nothing against that type of genre, it just does not appeal to my taste, and I think I'm one of those people who can't stand the fact that the undead are not scary anymore. They're now mystical and sentimental lovers out to conquer a special human's heart. So when I saw this book, I picked it up, knowing that it would be something that will make fun of this whole new rising genre. I read the blurb, and immediately, I was hooked!

Read the blurb:

"Eighteen-year-old Algonquin "Alley" Rhodes doesn't need to watch Twilight to know what it's like to be around vampires. Her school is teeming with them - along with zombies and werewolves, of course. A few year ago, all the post-humans "came out of the coffin," and now they're just a normal part of life. But the movies don't tell the real story. Real vampires are brooding, self-absorbed jerks who run around acting all emo. That's what Alley thinks, anyway.

Then one night Alley goes to the Cage to review a local band, the Sorry Marios, for her school's blog. Alley's known for her sarcastic wit, and she can't wait to rip apart the band's set. But when a special guest singer, Doug, hits the stage, his soft, crooning voice stops her heart. He seems like a real goth, not like the lame wannabes at her high school. And for the first time, pale skin and black clothing are hot to Alley.

When she and Doug start dating, Alley's so swept off her feet she doesn't suspect anything, despite a few odd signs: he never changes clothes, his head is a funny shape, and he says practically nothing out loud. Finally, her best friends clue her in: Doug isn't just a really sincere goth. He's a zombie.

Alley knows she has to break up with Doug but soon learns that zombies are awfully hard to get rid of. And the school's vampire clique, a group as tightly knit as the Mafia, has its own plans for Alley's future. Will Alley survive her little experiment in dating the undead?"

If you are looking for an authentic zombie romantic fiction, stop in your tracks from getting this book. This is not something that will satisfy your zombie fix, nor is it something to include in those romantic paranormal romance lit out there. If anything, this is an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek, if a bit critical, parody of all things Twilight, Plants vs. Zombies, and whatever.

First off, the good things. Utilizing the author's background, this book is filled with great music, great snarky and witty jokes, and SOME really interesting characters. I would like to explain why I typed "some" that way, but I might forget that I'm only going to be talking about the good things first. I like the fact that there are no "old soul" thing going on and the teenagers all act their obnoxious, self-absorbed, naive age. The story is realistic, up until the point where the undead come in and begin their story. Then it becomes realistically unrealistic, but in a good way. The whole book starts off as a wisecracking, humor-filled take on the vampire craze and then suddenly churns out great insight, and ends with a mature, yet low-key ending. Mature in the sense that there is something to be learned here, a moral lesson if I may say so, that teens should seriously bear in mind: Yes the teenage years are quite overwhelming and unexciting at the same time, but never, ever look through your life with myopic eyes, never make hasty decisions. Otherwise, you might just turn out to be one brain-eating zombie idiot. The author never said it in those exact words, but when you read the whole novel, you'll understand. And no, there is no spoiler here.

Readers will find themselves laughing at the snarky comments Alley makes, and the jokes that the characters toss at each other. The dialogue is light, crisp, smart, and precise. Even those of Will's that sound, according to Alley, like a "German guy who just learned English from watching the BBC." It's only understandable if you find yourself commenting, "Hey that's my line!" on some of the things the characters say, because I did, and it only added to the fun I had while reading this.

Now onto the bad things: Typo, typo, typo! There aren't that many, but man, are they noticeable. Or maybe it's just me. Right now, let's go back why I typed SOME above. I like Alley and Doug and everyone, but they all seem to lack depth and perspective. But hey, this is just a fun, light story making fun of other stuff, so I guess I can forgive that. Another thing I notice is that there are a lot of questionable "answers" given in this story, and maybe the author really wanted to keep it short, but if he explored those answers, he might have done a better, if longer, rendering of the plot.

Those things said, I still can't get enough of the fun I had reading this book, and I think that's enough to forgive any flaws and provide allowances for this one. After all, I'm not really looking for an insightful view of the world. If it's a fun read you want, go get this one.

Teaser Tuesdays (First Ever!)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

As you can see on my side bar, I'm supposed to be currently reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. But yesterday, the boyfriend and I went to the mall to go get new books (his gift for my birthday), and after he bought the one I wanted (Dash and Lily's Book of Dares -sweet!), we still went around and looked at other titles. That's when I found this book, I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It by Adam Selzer. I laughed out loud at the title and got more interested by the blurb. So today, I sort of interrupted my reading routine to finish this first before The Memory Keeper, since it's just a very short novel anyway.

So here we go:

"He climbs slowly down the ladder - I can tell that it hurts him like hell. I sit up on the mattress and he sits next to me."

-I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It by Adam Selzer, page 89

For more teasers about this book, check out this book trailer:



Funny right? Check back for my review soon :D