Catch-up

Ok. I found this great challenge at http://www.read52booksin52weeks.com/. It's pretty straightforward.

My original goal for 2010 was to keep an accurate book journal, but this seems like a little bit more fun. I do have a few books under my belt so far this year, however, so I'll lead in with those. Just quick reviews of course, because I'm onto bigger and better things.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

It was my first book of the year. I went to the mall around the 1st, and saw it at Chapters. I had been meaning to buy it forever, and it happened to hop out at me from the shelf on a day that I had money with me. It was a feel-good story about an old man who dies after living his less-than-exciting life, only to find out that there were lives that he touched unawares. A very quick read, but a pleasant one.

World War Z by Max Brooks

I have wanted this book since before it was written. I had two copies of the zombie survival guide, but I NEEDED to read more. Brooks's next zombie tome did not disappoint. It takes on the fictional "Great Panic" and zombie wars through the eyes of different witnesses to its buildup, epidemic and near-elimination. The war-correspondent-style-writing allowed me the suspension of my disbelief long enough to lose myself in a silly and thoroughly enjoyable read.

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

Theme? Yeah! I felt like buying a few sillier books than I normally read. Note that all books mentioned so far came from one Chapters visit. So I'm a little bit obsessed. There's really not that much zombie stuff out and about. As an avid fan of classic literature, ninjas and zombies, I expected this book to sweep me off of my feet. Completely. The negative reviews I read before purchase could not sway me. Let's just say that although it was intended to be tacky and silly, I really felt that it could have been done better. The dialogue is altered very slightly to add in the extra elements, and much is left out that is unnecessary to the funny zombie plot. I really wish that it had been condensed to short-story form. It was simply not a funny enough gag to pull for an entire novel. And remember, I say this with the deepest love for all things zombie.

I still have Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters on the bookshelf, waiting until I read the original.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This. Book. Is. God-like. It's got everything (except zombies and ninjas). This is a re-read, finished earlier this week. I read it last summer, and then it was assigned in my British Novel class. I was excited to go through it again, especially since I had the luxury of not having to focus on the plot. This time around, I had a lot of fun analyzing as I read. The book's gothic, romantic, economic and sociological themes win it over for a huge audience, even for people who are not big fans of classic literature (well, I guess I can't say that, because I live for the stuff. I take it back). It's a fantastic novel. Read it.

Coming soon: The Ambassadors by Henry James, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte