Books...Zombie Edition
Jan. 24th, 2023 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
under_the_silk_treeThere have been a lot of frustrations this week. I'm kind of all done and it is only Tuesday. :( On the flip side I found a new used bookstore and promptly forgot my vow to buy no more books until I read and get rid of a few. :) Also, we have finally had a week of no rain, so things have been drying out. I have been soaking in the sunshine like a cat on a windowsill. :D
This week's books ended up with way more zombies than I normally read. LOL It wasn't planned and as I think I have mentioned to a few of you Zombies in movies and tv shows freak me out and I just cannot watch them. But books are different they aren't quite so visual so I can read them especially if they are on the lighter side of the genre.
This week I read one mystery, one paranormal romance, one thriller, one YA fantasy, and one childrens/middle grade book.
The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Spencer Quinn
This was another great Chet and Bernie mystery. Although in this one Chet is off on his own a lot and since it is from his pov you don't get as much Bernie as usual. I love these two. The author does such a good job of telling the mystery from the pov of a dog that I totally forget the book was written by a human. I enjoyed the mystery as it evolved and from a bodyguard job to a missing person's case. I especially liked how Suzy and Chet got to team up in order to help out Bernie. All in all, a great book and I look forward to the next one! (I am going to use this one for the LJ Book Bingo rec for the month of January. Thanks toseverina for the rec!
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept. Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic. ~Goodreads Description
How's your week so far?
This week's books ended up with way more zombies than I normally read. LOL It wasn't planned and as I think I have mentioned to a few of you Zombies in movies and tv shows freak me out and I just cannot watch them. But books are different they aren't quite so visual so I can read them especially if they are on the lighter side of the genre.
This week I read one mystery, one paranormal romance, one thriller, one YA fantasy, and one childrens/middle grade book.
The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Spencer Quinn
This was another great Chet and Bernie mystery. Although in this one Chet is off on his own a lot and since it is from his pov you don't get as much Bernie as usual. I love these two. The author does such a good job of telling the mystery from the pov of a dog that I totally forget the book was written by a human. I enjoyed the mystery as it evolved and from a bodyguard job to a missing person's case. I especially liked how Suzy and Chet got to team up in order to help out Bernie. All in all, a great book and I look forward to the next one! (I am going to use this one for the LJ Book Bingo rec for the month of January. Thanks to
severina for the rec! 
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept. Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic. ~Goodreads Description
This is a hard book to review because there were some parts that I really loved and others that I REALLY did not. The main character Elin was an interesting protagonist to follow around. Unfortunately, when we met her, she is so very fragile, at times ridiculously so. She is suffering from PTSD from a bad case and still grieving from losing her mother a few months before the book begins and from the traumatic death of her little brother when they were kids. I did love the setting of an old sanatorium way high up in the Swiss Alps being turned into a very modern hotel. I love a good closed-circle mystery, and this was a well-done one. So that was good. Sadly, the author's writing style could be a bit on the dramatic side so there were times when I would roll my eyes at certain parts of the story. The last 25% of the book has lots of great tension which I really liked but then the killer's motivation was revealed, and I hated it so so sooooooo much. Although I had some serious hang-ups about this story, I am willing to read the next book in the series.
Girls Save the World in this One by Ash Parsons
Basically, a zombie apocalypse happens during a zombie-con and the protagonists have to fight for their lives rather than taking celebrity photo ops like they had been hoping to. I really enjoyed this book. I loved June Blue and her friends Imani and Siggy. They are definitely teenagers and I like that the author wrote them as such. It was a fun book which is a weird thing to say about a book where people are killed by flesh-eating zombies, but it was. Because the author celebrates zombie movies and tv shows and the fandoms that love them, all the while June and her friends are having to fight zombies. The story moves quickly, especially once everyone realizes that there are more than just cosplayers shambling through the convention center. All in all, this was a well put together story that had a lot of heart and definitely a lot of zombies.
My Blind Date is a Zombie by Daphne Bloom
Dianna Flowers was a starving artist, a disappointment to her parents, and a local weirdo. Not exactly the kind of woman having to beat the guys off with a stick. So when she challenged the town matchmaker to set her up with her one true love, she meant it as a joke. But when she meets Parker Smith and sparks start to fly, she begins to wonder if he could be her soulmate...even if he doesn't have a soul. ~Goodreads Description
This was a good book as long as you don't take anything too seriously and just go along for the ride. I enjoyed both pov characters. I liked how Dahlia was willing to go against her family and be who she wanted to be in both her art and her style. Parker the titular zombie, was unique in the fact he is Mystic Cove's first zombie. (Thankfully in this world zombies do not eat human flesh) Needless to say, Parker and Dahlia are adorable together and I enjoyed the way their relationship developed. This was a fun listen, and I would totally read more in this series.
A Small Zombie Problem by K.C. Campbell
Found this book a while back and we decided to finally read it. It is a charming story about a 12-year-old boy named August who lives with his agoraphobic aunt in a crumbling-down mansion. One day he accidentally wakes up a zombie who follows him around. Thankfully this zombie is not trying to eat anyone, but the little girl is definitely dead. So, August has a zombie following him around while at the same time trying to solve a decades-old family mystery. This was a charming well written grade school story that has a lot of heart. I am totally up for finding and reading the next one.
Reading Challenges 2023:
Mount TBR: Girls Save the World in this One, A Small Zombie Problem, The Sanatorium
Cloak & Dagger Challenge: The Sanatorium, The Dog Who Knew too Much
50 States Challenge: N/A
Jellybean Challenge: A Small Zombie Problem
Girls Save the World in this One by Ash Parsons
Basically, a zombie apocalypse happens during a zombie-con and the protagonists have to fight for their lives rather than taking celebrity photo ops like they had been hoping to. I really enjoyed this book. I loved June Blue and her friends Imani and Siggy. They are definitely teenagers and I like that the author wrote them as such. It was a fun book which is a weird thing to say about a book where people are killed by flesh-eating zombies, but it was. Because the author celebrates zombie movies and tv shows and the fandoms that love them, all the while June and her friends are having to fight zombies. The story moves quickly, especially once everyone realizes that there are more than just cosplayers shambling through the convention center. All in all, this was a well put together story that had a lot of heart and definitely a lot of zombies.
My Blind Date is a Zombie by Daphne Bloom
Dianna Flowers was a starving artist, a disappointment to her parents, and a local weirdo. Not exactly the kind of woman having to beat the guys off with a stick. So when she challenged the town matchmaker to set her up with her one true love, she meant it as a joke. But when she meets Parker Smith and sparks start to fly, she begins to wonder if he could be her soulmate...even if he doesn't have a soul. ~Goodreads Description
This was a good book as long as you don't take anything too seriously and just go along for the ride. I enjoyed both pov characters. I liked how Dahlia was willing to go against her family and be who she wanted to be in both her art and her style. Parker the titular zombie, was unique in the fact he is Mystic Cove's first zombie. (Thankfully in this world zombies do not eat human flesh) Needless to say, Parker and Dahlia are adorable together and I enjoyed the way their relationship developed. This was a fun listen, and I would totally read more in this series.
A Small Zombie Problem by K.C. Campbell
Found this book a while back and we decided to finally read it. It is a charming story about a 12-year-old boy named August who lives with his agoraphobic aunt in a crumbling-down mansion. One day he accidentally wakes up a zombie who follows him around. Thankfully this zombie is not trying to eat anyone, but the little girl is definitely dead. So, August has a zombie following him around while at the same time trying to solve a decades-old family mystery. This was a charming well written grade school story that has a lot of heart. I am totally up for finding and reading the next one.
Reading Challenges 2023:
Mount TBR: Girls Save the World in this One, A Small Zombie Problem, The Sanatorium
Cloak & Dagger Challenge: The Sanatorium, The Dog Who Knew too Much
50 States Challenge: N/A
Jellybean Challenge: A Small Zombie Problem
How's your week so far?
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Date: 2023-01-25 06:40 am (UTC)CHET. OH, HOW I HAVE MISSED HIM. So glad that you're still enjoying the series. This part that you said: The author does such a good job of telling the mystery from the pov of a dog that I totally forget the book was written by a human. -- is so true! And then it kind of hits me just how good it is and how difficult it must be to stay in the POV the whole time. Spencer Quinn is definitely a talent.
There's also going to be a new Chet & Bernie Mystery in October. Woot woot!
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Date: 2023-01-25 08:46 pm (UTC)Hopefully, the air clears and your week gets better! XD
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Date: 2023-01-25 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 11:12 pm (UTC)I found a new used bookstore and promptly forgot my vow to buy no more books until I read and get rid of a few. :)
What you wrote is basically my autobiography, right there. XD
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Date: 2023-01-27 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-26 05:09 am (UTC)this week is annoying AF
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Date: 2023-01-27 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-28 04:27 am (UTC)