Bingeworthy TV: iZombie

iZombie, a zombie series for people who do not really like the zombie genre.  I am not a fan of The Walking Dead and I do not generally appreciate zombie guts and gore, but if you can make me laugh its all good.  My daughters recommended iZombie to me and after about 3 episodes I was hooked.

The premise is that there are zombies among us but if they are well fed, spray tanned and properly coifed you would never recognize them as the un-dead.  The main character is Liv, a newly minted doctor who had her life all figured out. Surgeon, check; hot fiance, check; awesome best friend, check.  Perfect life, not so fast.  One night at a yacht party there were some funky drugs being passed around and before you know the ship is blowing up and zombies are making a mess of things.  Liv gets scratched and when she wakes up on the beach she is deathly pale, has a white streak in her hair and is oddly starving for brains.  So her saga begins.

She ends up getting a job in the coroner's office because of the steady supply of brains and her co-worker quickly catches her having a snack.  But he's on board in keeping her secret and even begins trying to come up with a cure for zombism.  Liv discovers that she takes on the personality of the person whose brain she has eaten and suddenly she's a magician, a gambler or a dominatrix. Whoever she is channeling is usually very different than her true self.  With the visions she has while on each brain she is spurred to  begin helping a local detective solve crimes.  

The dialog is clever and often funny.  Watching Liv come up with new brain recipes is one of my favorite little bits of each show.  The show isn't all fun and games and there are some tense moments but overall this is more Zombieland than Night Of The Living Dead. I must say I have binged the whole series and am anxiously awaiting the new season!

~Michelle, Circulation

Our Favorite Books of 2013, part two

It's time once again for the staff of Carnegie-Stout Public Library to pick our favorite books of 2013. It's a mix of books new in 2013, and books new to us in 2013. This is the second half of our list, you can check out the first set of our favorite books of 2013 by clicking here. If you're wondering what other patrons have been reading this year, you can check out the What Dubuque is Reading Pinterest Board. We'd love it if you'd share your favorite books from this past year in the comments

Andrea, Circulation: Growing up, I did not read many books that are considered “the traditional classics.” Trying that now as an adult, I finally picked up To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  Published in 1960 and set in the South, this is a time that I do not know very well.  Aware of this fact, I wanted to keep reading it once I started.  Seeing the world through the eyes of Scout and Jem in 1930s Alabama, I was able to learn many lessons about inequality and justice.  I can't imagine this is how people used to live, yet this was a normal occurrence to them with change slow in coming.   Now I am finally able to understand all of the nuances brought out by this book in the world today and how many actual Boo Radleys there are in our own lives.  I am now thankful for my first journey into the classics and I am waiting for my next trip very soon. 

Amy, Youth Services: Pure Trilogy by Julianna Baggott (Pure, Fuse, and Burn): These books take place during the post-apocalyptic future world.  A cataclysmic event has happened and all of the people outside the "dome" suffer from fusing's of materials and other people that were near them at the time.  Pressia has a doll head fused to her hand.  She meets up with Partridge who is an escaped "pure" dome-dweller.  Together they brave the desolate and treacherous countryside to find her mother that she is sure survived the cataclysm.  They also search for the secret that will free the Wretches (those outside the dome) of their fusing's forever.  I'm anxiously awaiting the 3rd installment of this trilogy.  It's due to be released in February 2014.  I liked the fast pace of these books and the intriguing story.
You might also enjoy checking out Allison's review of Pure.

Sarah, Adult Services: It's hard to pick just one book for this list, which is why it's nice that I get to post reviews for my favorites throughout the year.  Even so, I'm picking two books. A friend insisted that World War Z by Max Brooks was worth reading despite the zombies, and while I did have zombie themed nightmares, it was an amazing audiobook. It's a full cast recording, so each narrator who shares their experiences in the zombie war has a unique voice and character. Zombie stories, like much of science fiction, are used as metaphors for the problems in modern society, and Brooks does a brilliant job of that. My second choice is The Human Division by John Scalzi. I read this in a standard print copy, as opposed to its original release as a series of short stories. I think this was the strongest title in his Old Man's War series, but I'm a sucker for collections of interconnected short stories. If I have a complaint, it's that the ending is a little too open, but I'm hopeful that means there will be a book six.

Michelle, Adult Services: Jan Brett's brand new book Cinders: a chicken Cinderella is my Christmas present to myself.  Cinderella is not my favorite fairy tale, but Jan Brett's spin on the story and her illustrations are incredible.  The four page center foldout is a magical ballroom scene that gives new meaning to "chicken dance"!  I love looking at the details in the borders around each set of pages.  Brett knows chickens; this is evident in her drawings and her description of the flock's pecking order.  Cinders, her Cinderella, reminds me of Doofus and Dorcas, my Silver Gray Dorking hens.

Angie, Circulation: The House of Hades is the 4th book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan– a secondary series that follows the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Much like the Harry Potter series, the heroic adventures in this book appeal to a wide audience - middle-grade through adult readers. For those unfamiliar with the Percy Jackson world - the setting is the modern world, with a twist: The gods of Olympus (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, etc.) and the monsters of mythology like giants, the Titans and Tartarus, are real and causing chaos) and it is the job of a group of 7 demi-gods (teens who have one mortal parent, one godly parent) to defeat those monsters who are out to destroy the human race. This book takes a darker turn than some of the other books in the series, but the demigod characters really come into their own in this book. With humor and daring, the demigods come to believe that they might be able to pull off the impossible when they work as a team.I listened to the audiobook version of this book– and the performance by narrator Nick Chamian was commendable. I highly recommend anyone listen to the entire series on audiobook. The stories are exciting and funny.

Emily, Youth Services: Gulp by Mary Roach. One would not expect a "journey through the alimentary canal," which is what we now call the digestive tract, to be an enjoyable, let alone funny, read but it is! The subject is well researched with both historical and modern references. Mary Roach covers every - yes, every - aspect of the digestive process with facts, stories, and humor. Gulp is a thorough yet light-hearted examination of a serious and often unpleasant subject.

Our Favorite Books of 2013, part one

It's time once again for the staff of Carnegie-Stout Public Library to pick our favorite books of 2013. It's a mix of books new in 2013, and books new to us in 2013. And if you just can't get enough of librarian reading suggestions, check out the Twitter hashtag #libfaves13 for the favorite reads of librarians across the nation and around the world. We'd love it if you'd share your favorite books from this past year in the comments!

You can browse our favorite books from past years here:
Staff Picks 2011, new books
Staff Picks 2011
Staff Picks 2012, part one
Staff Picks 2012, part two

 

Andrew, Adult Services: I’d love this book even if it was just a chunk of paper bound together as an excuse to print the clever title, but it quickly becomes apparent that Ryan North knows Hamlet very well and is quite aware of the bizarre genius of making a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book out of what may be the most famous example of literary indecision. North’s humor is gleeful and smart, alternating between Dungeons & Dragons references and insightful critique of the play. His wry commentary on the treatment of Ophelia is particularly enjoyable. I’ll be playing around in these 600+ pages for some time to come!

Jackie, Circulation: Drinking and Tweeting by Brandi Glanville is exactly what I expected it to be and more! It is an honest, sad, hysterical, sarcastic account of Brandi's life. This book shares her ups, downs, and everywhere (and I do mean everywhere) in between! It is a candid account of her life before Real Housewives of Orange County and her separation from her cheating husband (Eddie Cibrian). She speaks openly about dealing with the loss of her relationship, having a woman move in on her life and children (LeAnn Rimes), reinventing herself, and getting back into the dating world. She briefly discusses her spot on the Real Housewives show but it is not the driving force of the book by any means. This is a great, funny, quick read! If you have ever had relationship blunders you will surely relate to Brandi!

Mary, Youth Services: My favorite read in 2013 was The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Kelsey Moore. Excellent book with touching stories and a big splash of humor. It's about the enduring bond of three high school friends though the ups and downs of life. Reminded me of the nostalgia settings in the Fannie Flagg's books.

Laura, Circulation: The Legend of Broken by Caleb Carr. This is a truly unique historical novel with the feel of a fantasy even without any supernatural elements.  Although mostly speculative, it feels natural and believable, mysteriously set . . . somewhere . . . in a post-Roman Europe, in a dangerous culture that has maybe sown the seeds of its own destruction.  Precise, flowing prose and a jaw-dropping plot twist made this my favorite book of the year.  I've never read anything else like it!

Mike, Adult Services: A book I enjoyed this year was Mississippi Solo: A River Quest by Eddy L. Harris. It was published in 1988 and is out of print, so I bought a used paperback copy on eBay. When he was 30, Harris canoed the length of the Mississippi River by himself, and his book takes readers along on the three-month journey, from camping on sandbars to locking through dams to exploring quirky river towns like Dubuque, where Harris ate Yen Cheng egg rolls under the Town Clock. Harris's bubbliness is weird, and he goes overboard with his anthropomorphic descriptions of the river, but his book reminded me of my younger days when I lived three blocks from Ol' Man River in Savanna, Illinois, especially the days I spent with friends in flat-bottom boats. Now at 60, Harris is raising money to paddle the river again, this time with documentary filmmakers in tow: www.eddyharris.com. If Harris makes it back to Yen Cheng, his crew is bound to shoot some interesting footage. If not, he has at the very least inspired one aging river-rat wannabe to save up for a canoe.

Allison, Adult Services: I picked up Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block expecting a standard YA end-of-the-world survival story, with some teenage love drama thrown in. While there is a world-ending catastrophe and romance, the book was anything but standard. Drawing on Homer's "Odyssey" (which, I'll be honest, I only skimmed in high school. It isn't necessary to be familiar with the tales, but, I appreciated Block's book more after a little review) the story begins when a cataclysmic earthquake destroys the West Coast and a wall of water sweeps seventeen-year-old Penelope's family away. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of looters, Pen sets off on a perilous journey to find her family, encountering human-devouring giants, sirens,  lotus-eaters and witches, and gathering three companions to aid her quest. Magic and the fantastic is woven throughout the narrative, which skims back and forth from Pen's present journey to her life before the Earth Shaker, when she was just on the precipice of discovering her sexuality. Even though the book wasn't at all what I though it was, I was enchanted by the magical realism and love that suffused the story.

Lisa, Circulation: Historical fiction is my favorite genre, so I really enjoyed Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jaime Ford. I learned about part of American history that I never really knew about before. Set in Seattle during World War II, the story centers around the evacuation of Japanese Americans to internment camps hundreds of miles away from their homes. They are denied their belongings and the lives they have established there. It is a story of a shamful part of American hisotry, but also of family ties and bonds between fathers and sons. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. 

Amy, Youth Services, The Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier (Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue, and Emerald Green): Gwen has inherited the time-travel gene from her ancestors.  She travels through time in London with Gideon, another time-traveler, to search for the "Circle of Twelve" which are other time-travelers and find out what her own destiny is.  She is the Ruby in the Circle of Twelve and once all the pieces of the puzzle are put together, her own destiny will be revealed.  These books were very interesting and had a refreshing story that separates it from all the similarly written dystopian YA novels of this year.

Warm Bodies Movie & Book Review

If I know I’m going to see a movie based on a book I usually read the book first, knowing full well that the movie will probably not live up to my expectations. However, I saw Warm Bodies in the theater before reading the book, so I had no preconceived notions about casting or characterization. In fact all I knew about Warm Bodies was that it was a take on Romeo and Juliet, but with zombies. I went to see this film with a group of friends who also happen to be co-workers. Of the six of us who went, only two of us really enjoyed it. So, she (Allison) and I decided to review the movie and book, which we read later.

The Movie
"Warm Bodies" Directed by Jonathan Levine. Starring  Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry &  John Malkovich



Amy: I don’t care what anyone else said, I loved Warm Bodies. It was funny, sappy, and a little bit gross. Exactly what one might expect from a zombie romcom.

Allison: Thank you! I loved it! It was exactly what I wanted it to be - funny, cheesy, with only a few bits of horror! I also really liked how short it was - I’m sick of three hour long epics!

Amy: I'm totally with you there. The thought of sitting in a theater for three-plus hours makes me dread going to the movies. Another thing I loved about Warm Bodies was R’s inner monologue. It was just funny and kind of sad. Yes there were parts that were kind of stupid, but again, it is a ZOMBIE romantic comedy.

Allison: Yes! A similar movie, Shaun of the Dead, was marketed as a romantic comedy with zombies, although that one was more about the living people than the dead. But the idea is the same - this isn't a gore-filled Romero movie. Yes, there are horror elements, but that’s not the crux of the story.

While we’re on the subject, one difference between the movie and the book is the outfit R wears. In the movie, he wears jeans and hoodie (setting up a great joke) but in the book, R wears black dress pants, a white shirt and a red tie. I like to think this is a hat-tip to Shaun of the Dead, since that’s the same outfit Shaun (Simon Pegg) wears.

Amy: Also, it was leaps and bounds better than Twilight. People need to stop comparing it to Twilight.

Allison: I admit that I haven’t read Twilight, but I was forced to see the movie version and I agree 100%. It’s unfortunate that every movie with supernatural elements that centers on a romance is now, apparently, doomed to be lumped together with Twilight. I think many people who would really enjoy the movie haven’t or won’t see it because of that false association.

Amy: Another thing I loved about this movie was the relationships between the main characters and their BFF’s. M stood by R when the rest of the zombies wanted to eat Julie and Nora stood by Julie when the rest of the humans wanted to kill R.

Allison: Rob Corddry really stole the show as M; some of the best lines were his, whether they were funny or frightening. Both he and Nicholas Hoult expressed more in a grunt or a gesture than most other actros could. M’s character in the book is a bit different (at least physically) than how Corddry portrayed him, but the loyalty, humor and hope are there in each version.

M (Rob Corddry) and R (Nicholas Hoult) in deep conversation at an airport bar.
Via Filmofilia.com

Amy: I think Rob Corddry had about five spoken lines in the movie and I absolutely agree that he stole the show. I read somewhere that the cast studied with Cirque de Soliel to get the zombie movements down. I think they did an excellent job.

Amy: Speaking of best friends, Julie's best friend Nora says during a dream sequence that if she could be anything in the world she wanted to be a nurse. As we were leaving the theater several members of our group were commenting that it was sad that she said nurse instead of doctor. I realize that being a nurse is considered to be a "typical" female profession but I think being a nurse is a truly noble profession. I have several friends that are nurses and they worked incredibly hard to get their degree. So, lets not disparage a woman for wanting to be a nurse instead of doctor in a film, especially a film about zombies. And now I will get off my soapbox.

Allison: Yeah, I know some viewers really objected to that! In the book, Nora goes on to explain that she doesn't think that civilization will around long enough for her to finish medical school. Nora’s character is a bit different in the book - she’s older than Julie and a bit wiser - so her reasoning sits well with me, at least.

Amy: I’m choosing to ignore the really terrible CGI from the movie because I don’t think it took anything away from the story.

One of the many "bonies" that
menace the Living and the Dead.
Via IMBD.com

Allison: I was pleasantly surprised that the CGI wasn't as bad as it could have been given the film’s budget. It reminded me of the mummies from the 1999 movie The Mummy - good enough for the purposes of the movie. And honestly, I thought they were pretty damn menacing!

Allison: One last thing about the movie - Richard Roeper (of Ebert and Roeper) gave the movie 3 ½ stars. In his review, he says that he preferred Warm Bodies over other zombie movies and TV shows (The Walking Dead, etc.) because those zombies are predictable. A mutual friend who saw the movie with us took exception to that, and thought that Warm Bodies was no less predictable than other zombie fare.

While I can see why someone might say that, I think Roeper meant that the movie didn't follow the usual formula of zombies being your standard unfeeling monsters, devoid of any humanity. Having zombies that retain or regain their humanity (as well as a human falling in love with one) deviates from the standard horror formula, where the story isn't at all about the zombies, but only about the human survivors, and the zombies can easily be replaced with aliens, giant robots or whatever. You're not going to find any multi-dimensional zombies staggering around in The Walking Dead.

The Book
"Warm Bodies" by Isaac Marion (Fiction Marion)

Amy: My first thought about the book is that while the movie could be considered YA, I wouldn't classify the book in that way. We have it shelved in adult fiction and I believe that is where it belongs.

Allison: Agreed. The writing style is more complex than what you might find in some YA - the use of terms like "Escheresque" and "vertiginous" might throw younger readers off. A good portion of the book is spent with R describing what life as a zombie is like and R’s thoughts on what caused the dead to rise. In these passages the author, I think, is using zombie life as a metaphor for depression - the alienation, the lack of interest or ambition, even the dulled senses of the Dead. Of course, this isn't a theme restricted to “adult” literature, but some younger readers might become bored with R’s continuous ruminations.

Amy: At the end of the movie you get a sense that everyone will live happily ever after. At the end of the book you get the sense that although things are getting better, it will take years and years before life returns to pre-plague conditions.

Allison: One of the key plot points that happens very differently in the movie and books - and which we can’t really talk about since it’d be huge spoiler - definitely contributes to that. Without giving too much away, what ultimately happens with General Grigio (Julie’s father) in the book as opposed to the movie sort of sums up the ultimate message of each.

Amy: Allison mentioned that in the book the character of Nora is different, older and wiser.  I liked both characterizations of Nora.  I liked her sense of fun and humor in the movie and how she was wise beyond her years in the book.  Maybe it is because I saw the movie first, but I think I liked the movie better.

Allison: I’m having a hard time deciding which one I liked best, since they’re both so different in tone. The movie is much lighter and the focus is on the romance between R and Julie. The book delves deeper into the inner lives (such as they are) of the zombies. We hear a great deal more from R on subject other than Julie and learn that there is even a zombie society. The zombies hold worship services, have sex, marry and raise children. At the beginning of the novel, R meets and marries his wife and later they are given two zombie children to feed and teach. There’s much more world-building in the book than in the movie, which works really well. If the movie had too much of that - aside from R’s introduction at the beginning - it would have been bogged down and much too dark.

One section I really enjoyed and illustrates the side of zombie society we don't see as well in the movie was R's (internal) explanation of why he dislikes being called a "corpse" or a "zombie." When Julie first calls R a "corpse" R thinks, "...I realize she can’t possibly know the sensitive cultural connotations of the word 'corpse' …" R also dislikes it when Julie refers to herself as "human," as opposed to a corpse or a zombie. R thinks of himself as human; a Dead human, but human nonetheless.

Amy: Marion did an excellent job giving his characters depth and making the reader feel that the "Dead" were also human. He also did a great job relaying that both the Zombie and Human populations were dead in the sense that there was very little hope that either population would survive.  That being said, I would tell people to read the book and see the movie in any order they choose.

Allison: Absolutely! After I read the book, I found the short story that inspired it, I Am a Zombie Filled With Love online. I'm also planning to read the prequel Marion is writing, The New Hunger which right now is only available as an eBook from Zola Books, but you can read an excerpt on Entertainment Weekly's website here.

And if you can't get enough of romance and/or zombies, click here for a list of similar books and movies!

~ Amy and Allison, Adult Services

Books for the apocalypse

As anyone who knows me or who follows my blog postings, I'm a fan of the apocalypse. No, I'm not looking forward to it, nor do I believe in it*, but I am a fan of all the books that have been written about the subject.

There's been a wave of books that take place in some sort of future dystopia, places and worlds where, after some great cataclysm (known or unknown) humanity has remade itself. Many of these new books are written for young adults, but by no means limited to them.

I could go on, but since we're supposedly facing the end of the world this Friday, here are some highlights from some of the best apocalyptic fiction I've read this year:

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War & The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks - I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of zombies. I avoid books and movies about them, since they tend to emphasize the gore factor a bit too much for my taste. But then I heard that a movie was being made based on the book, and that fans of the book were up in arms about it. I had to read it.

World War Z (the book) is told, true to it's subtitle, as an oral history. Divided into chronological sections, the story is told through interviews with survivors of the war. The people interviewed range from military to doctors to ordinary people, and follow the spread of the plague, the governments' responses (or lack thereof) and how people managed to survive and, ultimately, beat back the zombie hoards. The first-person narration is gripping and brings you to the heart of the crisis. The raw terror, the helplessness and the desperation are tangible, as is the toll both the war and the terrible solution that won it took on what remains of humanity.

Brooks' companion nonfiction book, The Zombie Survival Guide, is referred to a few times as a "civilian survival manual" during World War Z and is written as such. Offering practical advice from where to go to what to bring with you, the guide is written in the same world as World War Z. It also offers more information about the virus that causes people to turn and a retrospective of recorded attacks dating back to 60,000 B.C. to the attacks that set off the global war. I'd recommend reading it after you've finished World War Z, as the history, advice and scenarios will hold more meaning.

Wool: Omnibus & the Shift series by Hugh Howey
The Wool series began as a one-off Kindle single by science fiction writer Howey. But, as the novella became a best seller, fans demanded more. Wool: Omnibus collects the five novellas that have been published so far. Howey has also written two short stories in a planned trilogy (the Shift series) that fill in the history of the world of Wool. Once the third book is published, Howey has promised to continue with Wool 9, and the Shift series should definitely be read after Wool: Omnibus. As a bonus, the Kindle edition of Wool 1 is now free!

Wool takes place in an underground silo where generations of people have lived after an unknown global catastrophe made the surface of the planet uninhabitable and deadly. The story of Wool 1 begins with the sheriff of the silo, Holston. Beyond that, it's difficult to describe further without giving major spoilers. One hint, though: people do leave the silo for "cleaning," however, they do not come back. And often times, they volunteer.

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster - Written in 1909, this short story is amazingly prescient. Forster imagines a world in which people live in vast underground structures and have lost the ability to live independently. People are dependent on the Machine, which cares for their every need, and the vast majority of life is spent in isolated cells. Exile from the Machine means death and very few question the Machine's existence or actions. The story follows Vashti and her son Kuno, who wants to see the world outside of the Machine. And, as the Machine begins to malfunction, Kuno might get his wish. It's a great story, especially considering it was written 103 years ago, and it's available for as a PDF EPUB or Kindle book. (Hat-tip to Mike for recommending it!)

Good luck and happy reading!

~ Allison, Adult Services

* Although if anyone wants to buy me a spot in one of these, I won't object.

A Spiritually Cleansing Trip to the Hot Springs

NaNo writers, not to put any pressure on you or anything, but you only have four days left!!! To help push you over the edge, here are some blurbs from reviews of novels which are actually being published in the next few weeks. Enjoy! And then grab your pencil nubs and get back to work!!!

Occasional moments of fine writing cannot salvage this unpromising debut. 

Unfortunately, the combination of a melodramatic storyline and a focus on minutiae make for a forgettable read. 

A novel that badly wants to be cool but is rarely more than sophomoric. 

The climax is no more believable than its antecedents. 

It was an interesting and enjoyable story, however the numerous grammatical errors (almost on every page) detract from it. 

The odds that this book will be eliminated in the first round are high.  

... readers should be prepared for some wooden dialogue. 

... feels too overburdened with coincidences to be credible. 

Blatant metaphors of winter, spring, and a spiritually cleansing trip to the hot springs don't buoy the disagreeable proceedings. 

Readers who find the sophomoric jokes funny will enjoy the hijinks. 

Those looking for a thriller with action beyond the occasional gun battle should search elsewhere. 

... yet another religious thriller with a gimmick that fails to match that of The Da Vinci Code. 

... the excessively complicated plot makes for slow-going. 

A disappointing example of how thorough research can hobble a novel. 

Even as a spoof, which is how it reads, this lurid work is less than entertaining. 

The excitement is somewhat undermined by instances of clunky dialogue and the too-familiar setting and cast …  

... the narrative, carried by so many disparate points of view, never quite comes into focus. 

New York's hipster youth scene is ripe for satire, but unfortunately this novel fails to find the mark. 

If this all sounds more than a little familiar, it is.

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

I read quite a bit of romance and fantasy fiction but I've never read anything that could be considered Steampunk.  You may ask "what is Steampunk?"  Well fortunately Sarah has this excellent post if you need an explanation.  To satisfy my curiosity I picked up The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook which is classified as a romance.

If you are looking for a light-hearted, quick, romantic read this is not the book for you.  There is a lot of world building that goes on as this is the first book in the Iron Seas series.  In the alternate history of this world, the Horde (the Mongol Empire), led by the grandson of Genghis Khan, maintains power over all of Europe with the help of their nanotechnology and advanced machines.  This book takes place in the Victorian era (1837-1901) and for the past 200 years or so the people of England were enslaved and controlled through their nano-infested cells (otherwise known as bugs).  How did the bugs get into the cells of the people of England? Through imported sugar and tea of course. What?  That is just genius and insidious. About 9 years before the Iron Duke begins, Rhys Trahaern sailed his ship up the Thames river and blew up the tower (I assumed this was the Tower of London), thereby destroying the radio frequency device that controlled the "bugs" and setting England free.  Rhys Trahaern is a national hero, he is now the Duke of Anglesey but is better known as The Iron Duke. 

The bugs allowed the Horde to do unspeakable things to the people of England by controlling emotion and free will. When the Horde decided they needed more slaves to work they would instigate a "frenzy" that made the people copulate with anyone or anything they happened to be near at the time.  The babies born 9 months after a frenzy were sent to creaches to be raised by the Horde. People were modified based on their trade, for instance a blacksmith might have a hammer in place of a hand.  The bugs allowed people to heal quickly so a hand could be cut off, replaced with some type of mechanical modification and that person could return to work pretty much right away.  Many of the upper class and titled nobility left England when the Horde started to take over and moved to the New World (i.e. America).  Now that England is liberated, these families (known as bounders) are returning to reclaim their titles and land. They look down upon the buggers yet without an injection of bugs to keep them healthy they are doomed to die a slow death from all the pollution and smog in the cities.  Not all of the titled nobility could afford to leave England and Inspector Mina Wentworth is from one of those families.  Mina, like the majority of English children, was born as a result of a frenzy and apparently her mother copulated with one of the Horde. Mina, despite her family name and position as a police inspector, cannot walk the streets without being attacked verbally and physically due to her Mongolian features.  Mina is also unique because her family had enough influence to raise her instead of handing her over to the Horde. However her mother did have a pretty extreme reaction when she realized that Mina was a mixed race baby. 

Mina and Rhys are thrown together when a body is dropped from an airship onto Rhys front lawn.  Mina arrives to investigate and Rhys is immediately intrigued.  In the course of the investigation they discover that there is a shadowy organization out to destroy all the buggers to make sure that the Horde can never take over again. The Horde is still out there controlling many countries.  Mina, who has never been outside of London, is swept up into the world of the Iron Duke.  A world that includes dirigibles, acrobatic airship captains, contraband bazaars, mechanical flesh, clockwork devices and automatons. Oh wait, did I mention the zombies? One of the Horde's many experiments on people resulted in zombies that don't age and eat every living thing in sight. If you manage to survive a zombie attack but have been bitten you will turn into a zombie.   

This book is incredibly complex due to the world building.  The romance is sprinkled in here and there so it seems like a secondary plot.  Rhys and Mina are extremely flawed and damaged individuals due to their upbringing under Horde control.  Mina is terrified of her emotions and afraid to let anyone in. She is also terrified of losing control over those emotions and being at the mercy of someone else.  Rhys has no idea what love actually is, he grew up in a group home and was sold to slavers at the age of 8.  Rhys is not a swoon-worthy hero, in fact, I'm not sure if I would even categorize him as a hero.  Rhys doesn't like people messing with his things and initially he only sees Mina as something he wants to possess.  However, Rhys believes in protecting and taking care of his possessions including Mina, something she has not experienced beyond her family and close friends.

It took me a while to get into this book.  I put it down several times during the first 100 pages but boy am I glad I picked it back up.  By the end of the book I was really rooting for Rhys and Mina and I loved the fantastical world created by Brook.  I picked up the second book, Heart of Steel, which tells the story of Yasmeen and Archimedes Fox, two characters introduced in The Iron Duke.  Heart of Steel was a much easier read, thanks in part to the detailed world building in The Iron Duke.  Am I sold on Steampunk?  I can't really say, but I am sold on this series by Meljean Brooks.

~ Amy, Adult Services

Scare Up a Good Read

I was first introduced to the horror genre in my 9th grade English class when we were assigned Stephen King's short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes. As one prone to nightmares, I was a little wary about reading anything remotely scary. But after I finished "The End of the Whole Mess," I was hooked and quickly plowed through the rest of the collection.

Since then, I've learned that there are many, many different kinds of horror. There are the classic masters - Poe, Stoker, Lovecraft - whose stories have frightened generations of readers. There are books that explore the darkest reaches of the human mind, and those that deal in supernatural forces. Of course, tales of vampires, werewolves and zombies have always been part of the genre, as are those books that poke fun at the things that go bump in the night.

Classic horror - Classic doesn't always have to mean old (though there's certainly nothing wrong with that!) Covering many horror subgenres, the classics are those that have both stood the test of time and that have defined and shaped the genre.

The Complete Stories of Edgar Allen Poe  - "The Raven," "The Tell-Tale Hart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," and many more classic gothic horror tales by the master.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty - The classic tale of demonic possession that inspired many movies.
Dracula by Bram Stoker - The quintessential vampire novel. Try to read it and not hear Bela Legosi's voice.
Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly - Shelly's misunderstood monster still lives on today in books, movies and thousands of Halloween costumes
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Eerie and menacing, Jackson's tale of a 80-year-old haunted mansion will stay with you for months afterwards.
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells - Wells' tale of genetic engineering gone horribly wrong was decades ahead of it's time, and is even more frighting today.
Psycho by Robert Bloch - Norman Bates and his mother. Need I say more?
Tales of H.P. Lovecraft - "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Outsider" and more in this collection of Lovecraft's more suspenseful and horrifying tales.

Psychological horror - What darkness lies in the hearts of men and women? These books explore monsters and horror that we inflict upon each other.

Abandon by Blake Crouch - Investigating the bizarre and abrupt disappearance of every citizen from a gold-mining town over a century earlier, a history professor and his daughter embark on the journey aware that the last team that attempted to solve the mystery was never heard from again.
A Dark Matter by Peter Straub - Old friends try to come to grips with the darkness of the past--a secret ritual that left behind a gruesomely dismembered body--and find themselves face-to-face with the evil they helped create.
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle - Landing in a budget-strapped mental institution after being accused of a crime he does not remember, Pepper is assaulted by a monstrous creature that has been attacking patients but that the hospital staff does not believe exists.
Misery by Stephen King- Rescued from a car crash by a psychotic woman claiming to be a fan, novelist Paul Sheldon becomes a captive invalid in her secluded Colorado farmhouse.

And more ... (click on the title for a description)
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
The Terror by Dan Simmons (my review of this book is here)
What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone by Stefan Kiesbye

The Occult - The supernatural, spirits and black magic are staples of the horror genre. These books will give you chills, night or day.

Carrie by Stephen King - A repressed teenager uses her telekinetic powers to avenge the cruel jokes of her classmates. A remake of the classic 1976 movie based on the books is due out next year.
Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers - In 1862 London, the ghost of John Polidori, the one-time physician of Lord Byron, is determined to possess the life and soul of an innocent young girl, and a group of mismatched allies must enter into a supernatural underworld in order to stop him.
Horns by Joe Hill- After his childhood sweetheart is brutally killed and suspicion falls on him, Ig Parrish goes on a drinking binge and wakes up with horns on his head, hate in his heart, and an incredible new power which he uses in the name of vengeance.

And more ... (click on the title for a description)
Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker
The Thirteen by Susie Moloney
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman

The Funny Side of Horror - Are you more Shaun of the Dead than Dawn of the Dead? The horror genre is ripe for parody, and these books take full advantage. Although humor certainly doesn't mean you won't have your pants scared off!

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith - Reveals the hidden life of the sixteenth U.S. president, who was actually a vampire-hunter obsessed with the complete elimination of the un-dead, and uncovers the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of the nation.
Bite Me: A Love Story by Christopher Moore - Goth girl Abby Normal and her brainiac boyfriend pursue a vampire cat and his minions, but things become even more complicated with the arrival of three ancient vampires intent on getting some payback.
Jane and the Damned by Janet Mullany - Jane Austen, turned into a vampire against her will, joins a group of English vampires in putting their superhuman strength and speed to the service of their country and thwarting a French invasion.
This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong - The sequel to John Dies at the End in which our heroes find that books and movies about zombies may have triggered a zombie apocalypse, despite a total world absence of zombies. It takes you on a wild ride with two slackers from the Midwest who really have better things to do with their time than prevent disaster.

And more ... (click on the title for a description)
Allison Hewitt is Trapped: A Zombie Novel by Madeleine Roux
Paul is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion by Alan Goldsher
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

Zombies and Werewolves and Vampires, Oh My! - The staples of the horror genre are the creatures of our nightmares made real. While vampires and werewolves have been the classic manifestations, zombies are gaining popularity among writers and readers of horror alike.

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - On the eve of her marriage, Elena Michaels learns that her fiancé has been concealing his secret life as a werewolf, and, as a bonus, he has made her into one also.
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist  - Twelve-year-old Oskar is obsessed by the murder that's taken place in his neighborhood. Then he meets the new girl from next door. She's a bit weird, though. And she only comes out at night.
Zone One by Colson Whitehead -  In a post-apocalyptic world decimated by zombies, survivor efforts to rebuild are focused on Manhattan, where civilian team member Mark Spitz works to eliminate remaining infected stragglers and remembers his horrifying experiences at the height of the zombie plague.

And more ... (click on the title for a description) 
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Petrified by Graham Masterton
Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman

~ Allison, Adult Services

Tips to Survive the Apocalypse

You may've heard that the world will be coming to an end later this year. Well Carnegie-Stout is here to help you prepare. There are 23 weeks until December 21st, so we'd better get started.

Now, you might be feeling a little skeptical, this isn't the first time the end of the world has been predicted, and you very well might be right. But just in case the end is nigh, you might want to check out some of these information sources.

You're going to find the most practical information on the second floor in non-fiction. If you're just looking to browse, start at the call number 613.69: survival.

• Surviving the Apocalypse in the Suburbs by Wendy Brown (333.72 BRO) 
• The Ultimate Survival Manual by Rich Johnson (613.69 JOH, New)
• Sneakier Uses for Everyday Things by Tymony Cy (608 TYM) 
• The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven (613.69 PIV) 
• How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It by James Wesley Rawles (613.69 RAW) 
• The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks (818.602 BRO) 
• How to Survive a Robot Uprising by Daniel Wilson (OverDrive Audiobook)
• Please consider the potential ramifications of downloading a guidebook to surviving attack by intelligent machines. Do you really trust your mp3 player?

You may also be interested in learning more about the source for these dire predictions: The Maya. Luckily, Carnegie-Stout has the books to give you an edge when it comes to Pre-Colombian calendar systems.

• 2012: the return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck (303.4909 PIN)
• The Order of Days: the Maya world and the truth about 2012 by David Stuart (529.3297 STU)
• 2012 and the End of the World by Matthew Restall (236.9 RES)
• The 2012 Story by John Major Jenkins (001.9 JEN)
• Popol Vuh: the Mayan book of the dawn of life (299.784 POP)
• Maya Cosmos by David A. Freidel (299 FRE)
• Breaking the Maya Code by Michael D. Coe (497.42 COE)

Finally, if you want to stay updated or learn more there are (of course) many websites you can visit. Here's a list of favorites website from a staff member who wishes to remain anonymous:

• Terra Vivos- underground shelters (with virtual walk-throughs), disaster scenarios, a downloadable Doomsday clock and more.
• Missile silos converted to shelters: SiloHome, HardenedStructures.com , Survivalcondo.com
• 10 Places to Ride Out the Apocalypse
• Civil Defense pamphlets and fallout shelter plans
• Post-apocalypse art: Vladimir Manyuhina; Steve McGhee; Nice collection from i09
• NUKEMAP: Drop a nuclear bomb on your neighborhood!
• io9's Reading List for the Apocalypse
• Michigan State University course Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse: Catastrophes & Human Behavior
• Westlake Ace Hardware Zombie Preparedness Center
• Patrick Geryl's Doomsday Survival List (via CNN Money)

Good luck!

Read Alike: Walking Dead

Robert Kirkman has shown himself to be one the big names in comics for the 21st century. He's written for long standing franchises like the X-Men, as well as original series like The Walking Dead. His writing is compelling and plot-driven with complicated sub plots. Mr. Kirkman produces books that are bleak, gruesome, and aware of conventions and history of the genre.

The Walking Dead captured the popular imagination with its menacing zombies and the complicated interactions of its cast of characters. Recently adapted as a television program, which is also available at Carnegie-Stout.

If you're a fan of The Walking Dead, we have more that you might enjoy:

World War Z by Max Brooks
A dystopian world inspired by zombie filled horror movies as written by the humorous nonfiction guide, The Zombie Survival Guide. Rich with detail, with subtle dark humor, this “historical account” of the zombie apocalypse is engaging. Similar in form to a collection of short stories, the action follows multiple characters.

Y the Last Man by Brian K Vaughan
Mr. Vaughan is known for his fast-paced stories, engaging dialog, well-crafted characters, and subtle consideration of social issues. His graphic novel series Y the Last Man follows Yorick Brown, the only man to survive an apocalypse and his adventures in a world populated entirely by women. Start with Unmanned, and be warned that this series contains graphic depictions of violence and sexuality.

The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Passage is the story of a band of survivors, the last humans uninfected by terrible plague developed by the government that turns the infected into vampire-like creatures. Bleak, suspenseful, and character-driven, with subtle homages to the work of Stephen King, this gory tale of survival in the face of unspeakable horror has appeal for those who don't typically pick up a horror novel.

Preacher by Garth Ennis
Mr. Ennis' work is not for young readers, readers with weak stomachs, or those uncomfortable with negative portrayals of religion. But if you're looking for a gritty, action-packed, dialog-rich story of a rag tag group of friends and their fight for justice and against evil, this is the series for you. Start with Gone to Texas, the Reverend Jesse Custer, his gun crazy ex-girlfriend, and an Irish vampire hit the road on a quest to find God and hold Him accountable for the state of the world.

Planetary by Warren Ellis
Mr. Ellis has written for DC, Marvel, Image, and even tried his hand at webcomics. He has an ability to blend cynical dystopias with hopeful idealism. Dark humor and wit abound in his stories that draw from current events and popular mythology. His series Planetary, follows the Archaeologists of the Impossible, who are anything but ordinary themselves, and their quest for the truth behind urban legends.

From Hell by Alan Moore
Mr. Moore's work has earned him both a Hugo and an Eisner, in addition to scores of devoted fans. Known for his intricate plots, thought-provoking themes and wit, Mr. Moore's comics are meant for mature readers and contain graphic sex and violence. Start with From Hell, a bleak and disturbing story of Jack the Ripper.

The Stand by Stephen King
Mr. King has long dominated the horror genre with his atmospheric stories of good versus evil. In The Stand humanity is decimated by a menacing plague, and the story follows and increasingly small group of survivors. The novel has been adapted as a television mini-series as well as a series of graphic novels. The graphic novel series starts with Captain Trips and is scripted by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The graphic novel is a faithful translation that keeps the tension high with short scenes and creepy art (warning: the plague victims are pretty gross).

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!