A Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore

ISBN: 978-0060590284

I usually like about half of Christopher Moore's books. As in, I will like half of each book and be bored to death by the other half. This is the exception. The story really pushes you through, the span is perfect, the details are pretty much all hilarious and touching at the same time... The personification of death has always been interesting to me, but this book really raises the bar. Will definitely read this again.

5/5

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

ISBN: 978-0312865047

They are turning this into a movie, and I don't see how it will work... It has a downer rating of about 6-7 out of ten, so they will have to change it, probably, to make it work as a blockbuster Will Smith flick. Meh. It is still a fun short story. Word of warning: the title story is followed by multiple other short stories, which I mistook for other chapters. Trying to fit them into the I Am Legend mythos completely ruined all of them for me. Do not let it happen to you!

3/5

Monster Island and Monster Nation, by David Wellington

ISBNs: 978-0307346605 and 978-1560258667

Books one and two in the series, these horror novels work more from the point of view of the zombies than anything else. You actually feel for the zombies way more than for some of the other people in the book (although his survivors tend to be quite smart and charismatic). Monster Nation is actually a prequel to Monster Island, but they definitely need to be read in the order they were published. Monster Planet is the last book in the series, and I still have to read it.

Monster Island 5/5
Monster Nation 4/5

World War Z, by Max Brooks

ISBN: 978-0307346605

One of the most awesome books I have read in my life. I have read this about 4-5 times since receiving it at christmas time. Part slasher flick, part War of the Worlds, and part Day of the Triffids, this is the perfect social commentary of our time. Through dozens of characters we can see how a world deals with the impossible, and how some people cannot deal with it at all. Funny at times, sad at others, this is the ultimate read for any sci-fi, fantasy or horror fan.

5/5

Failed Reads - August

Failed reads are books I could not get into enough to even finish. Sad but true.

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
- couldn't get into it at all
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
- the first person narrator annoyed me
Stray by Rachel Vincent
- put it down after the first sentence
Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allen
- the narrator is interesting, but hard to read because of the way she speaks. I am willing to try again later, perhaps
Keeping it Real by Justina Robson
- oh please... the cyborg chick who falls in love with the elf rock star she is supposed to be protecting... ugh.
Saint Vidicon to the Rescue
- very slow but interesting... Just not interesting enough for me to finish. Saints meets hackers is an interesting mix, though.

Magic Study, by Maria V. Snyder

ISBN: 9780373802494
Fantasy, sequel to Poison Study which was better but less dramatic. This Snyder woman really does like to have rapists in her novels, doesn't she... Yet it never happens, we only hear about the people being raped. Quite entertaining though, Valek is a totally sweetheart.

4/5

Soon I Will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman

ISBN: 0375424865

Hilarious and touching at the same time, the chapters rock back and forth between the super villains and the super heroes, dealing with the tough stuff such as keeping your secret identity to getting your costume right and maybe even taking over the world a few times.

5/5

Supernaturalists, by Eoin Colfer

ISBN: 978-0786851492

This was a great teen book, with more serious themes than you sometimes see in adult fiction. Lots of torture and death, and plot twists galore. The characters are really fun too, especially the main kid who is quite brilliant.

3/5

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay

ISBN: 978-0307277886

IF you ever thought that serial killers were sweet, this is the book for you. Although it has quite a few lovely moments, and it kept me reading till the end, it is not quite my kind of book. Too slow to be overly violent, and too fast at the end to be satisfying. I would like to see the television series, though, just to see what they did with it.

2/5

Taken, by Edward Bloor

ISBN: 978-0375836367
Publish date: Oct 9th

Got a preview copy at the Random House Fall Preview, and it is the best book I have picked up from there so far. As soon as you start, you know it'll be full of twists, but then it just keeps on twisting back and forth, mixing just enough sci-fi to make you happy, with all the worries of our modern age. Best Edward Bloor book I have ever read.

4/5

Uglies, Pretties and Specials, all by Scott Westerfield

ISBNs: 978-0689865381, 978-0689865398, 978-0689865404

This series of books is based in a world where when you turn 16, you get plastic surgery to make you into a Pretty, a perfect, cookie-cutter person who does not ask questions and who does not make a fuss. The three books folow Tally Youngblood, who, thank god, makes a huge fuss and gets things moving. Great book for young girls.

5/5 for all three.

Boomsday, by Christopher Buckley

ISBN: 978-0446579810

By the same author as Thank You For Smoking, Boomsday presents a world drowned by baby boomers (ours), where a bill is proposed: if you agree to kill yourself at 75, you get a tax break. More involved than TYFS, the book was more serious, almost, and just as funny.

4/5

My Financial Career and Other Follies, by Stephen Leacock

ISBN: 978-0771098925

Hilarious as always, this collection of Leacock lives by my bedside. From great works such as the book store study to new stuff I hadn't read before, all of Leacock's work makes me giggle and grin. Pick him up if you like short stories.

5/5

Poison Study, by Maria V. Snyder

ISBN: 978-0373802302

Excellent novel, and apparently her first. A girl gets the choice to be executed or to become a food taster. The rhythm is excellent, and by the end you like her so much you just want to take her home with you. Awesome fantasy world that is serious enough to be taken seriously (no elves!).

5/5

Image Sources

All images taken from Amazon.ca, for review purposes.