Zombies Vs. Unicorns

Zombies Vs. Unicorns
By Holly Black, Justine Labalestier, et al
From Goodreads:

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths—for good and evil—of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Midnight Thoughts:


Of course you probably already realize that I'm Team Zombie.  Midnight Book Girls aren't known for frolicking with the horned ones unless they're devils, but because of the awesome writing abilities of all of these writers, I have to say I don't mind unicorns.  In fact, I'd love to a miniature zombie unicorn.  I can honestly say that I enjoyed all of the stories (yes, even the unicorn ones) and it was awesome to read the introductions by Holly Black and Justine Labalestier before each story.  All the stories were imaginative, and often off the wall.  In "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (which I knew would be good because the author had the good taste to name the story after a Joy Division song) you have a male zombie in love with a non-zombie male, and it wasn't the only story to feature main characters that were gay or lesbian, but it never feels forced or made to feel like a big deal.  Meg Cabot made me laugh with "Princess Pretty Pants", and yes, you guessed correctly, it was a Team Unicorn story.  And of course my girl Maureen Johnson had her story "Children of the Revolution" which could totally be showing on Fear Net right now (no surprise that Johnson's Team Zombie).  Overall there were a lot a great stories, and even the ones I didn't love were readable.  Plus, it's hard to find "Z" books for all of you taking the A-Z challenge!

Zombies Vs. Unicorns gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

What paranormal creatures would you like to see battle it out?  I wouldn't mind reading about Witches Vs. Vampires, or Werewolves vs. Mermaids.

The Last Little Blue Envelope Review (in which I give much love to Maureen Johnson)

The Last Little Blue Envelope
by Maureen Johnson
From Goodreads:

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.
Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

My Thoughts: There are few sequels that are better than the original novels, but it seems that every Maureen Johnson book I read is suddenly my all time favorite! Maureen is an amazingly funny writer, I was underlining quotes like crazy- the one dig at Nicolas Sparks was a particular favorite. New characters Ellis and Oliver were wonderful additions. Ginny really matured as a character and was far less passive this time around.  Her European adventures from the first book have given her some confidence, and I went from liking the first book to loving the second book. I always know I'm going to laugh when I pick up one of Johnson's books, and that's a great thing to be able to depend upon.


I hope for further adventures starring Ginny, and I now realize that I must read all of Johnson's books. I follow her on twitter (she's hilarious) and the same wit and silliness are evident in her writing. The Last Little Blue Envelope was a fantastic up-all-night kind of read, and just like Aunt Peg's letter, I don't want an ending!

The Last Little Blue Envelope gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

You, and by you I mean all of you reading this, all of you not reading this, and all of you who actively block me from your lives, need Maureen Johnson in your life.  If I could kidnap her, clone her and give her as a Christmas gift I would.  But until the technology catches up with my diabolical mind, I'll just have to settle with telling you that you must read her books.  You must.  Right now.  Okay, maybe after a few minutes if you need to grab a bite to eat or check her out on twitter.

Book Blogger Hop 10.14-10.17

It's been a long time since I hopped!  I'm trying really hard to comment everyday on blogs (at least 10 comments per day), and of course the Hop is perfect for connecting with other bloggers and finding even more great book blogs to add to my overstuffed Google Reader! ;) Hop along at Crazy For Books

This week's question:

“What is your favorite spooky book (i.e. mystery/suspense, thriller, ghost story, etc.)?”

This should be an easy question, but not for me!  So I'm going to cheat a bit and give a couple of different answers:

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
What don't I love about the Odd one?  He's become one of my all time favorite literary characters.  He see's dead people, but by gosh, he does something about it!  Although I love the series, the very first book is just magic.  Odd's voice, his personality, his sense of right and wrong, everything just drags me in.  His friends and family are wonderfully unique as he is.  I've lost count all the times I've talked about Odd Thomas on my blog, but there's a reason.  While Koontz is a hit or miss author for me, he won me as a fan for life when he breathed life into Odd.



It by Stephen King
I read It for the first time in while I was in the sixth grade and it wasn't even the first King book I'd read.  I have always fancied myself a fan of horror/scary stories, but It was really the first book that scared the crap out of me.  I wanted to be part of the Loser's Club, and when they descended into the sewers of Derry, I really was there with them.  I think King gets a lot of attention as a great horror writer, but he's just an incredibly great writer, period. It's not all about scariness or gore, he writes people so well.  I particularly love how he writes kids, he's just got an amazing talent. There are lots of King books that hold a special place in my heart, and maybe even a few like The Stand that I love more than It.  But It was my first real experience in getting lost completely in a book, and when the mini-series came out a few years later, I got to see it brought to life.  Subsequent re-reads (of which there has been many) always feature Tim Curry as Pennywise and Jonathan Bradis (RIP, Mr. Brandis) as Stuttering Bill.  "He thrusts his fists against the post and still insists he sees the ghost."  The moment Bill's little brother loses his paper boat to a storm drain and meets Pennywise, I dare you not to be terrified.

The best part of October for me is listening to scary stories while driving.  Here's a few of my favorites:

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (currently I'm still listening to this one, but it's fantastic, although it holds a lot of humor!)

And of course, the first time I read Odd Thomas was in audio book format, and the narrator is perfect!

Blog Hop and Follow 7.22

It's been awhile, but it's time to Hop!

Hosted by The Crazy Bookworm

Question of the Week: What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?

This may sound weird, since I actually follow a LOT of blogs that pretty much specialize in this genre, but Paranormal Romance.  Now, I'm not talking about YA books like Twilight, but the steamy kind of Mermaid meets Sexy Werewolf with a bit of Half-Demon joining in.  I couldn't even handle the Anita Blake series, there was just too much sex and switching up partners for my simple (read prudish) tastes.  I feel like I probably miss out on some great books, but that's part of the reason I follow bloggers who read genres that I don't normally read.

 Hosted by Parajunkee

Question of the Week: Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

Okay, this is a fairly easy one.  Stephen King, first and foremost.  I don't even care if all he wants to talk about is baseball (a sport I dislike) or his various ache and pains. In fact I could just stop there, but you know I won't.  JK Rowling, because I really want to get all the little tidbits from her head that she didn't put in the books and to ask her if she'd be willing to write a story starring me and Oliver Wood (and if she doesn't agree to do this, then perhaps I can take a page from Stephen King's book Misery and MAKE her write me a story).  Thirdly, Maureen Johnson.  She is hilarious, and I certainly wouldn't have to worry about the awkward silence that may arise as I stare slacked jawed and adoringly at King and Rowling, because Maureen Johnson does not do silence.  And since I do like writing, and if I ever actually finish anything (like my NaNoWriMo project) then it'll be in the YA genre that Johnson writes so wonderfully for and I'm sure after spending an hour with me she'll invite me into her secret writer's club with John Green and Scott Westerfeld, among others.  Right?