Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

#1 in Kate Grable series
Published July 12, 2011 by Delacorte Press
4 Stars - DAC 2011


Goodreads Review
Someone's been a very bad zombie.

Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate!

She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town. . . and stay hormonally human.

Review:  Let me start off by saying I freaking LOVE zombies.  They're my favorite horror genre, and I am very protective of them.  I'll pretty much read or watch anything that has to do with zombies, but I'm also extremely critical.  With that said, Bad Taste in Boys is a super cute zombie read (how often do you get to say that?).  I'd say it's more of a middle grade book that is great for kids who want to read a zombie book but don't want to read anything too scary. 

There are lots of cliches and over-the-top dramatics, but I still really enjoyed this book.  I think if you go into Bad Taste in Boys wanting a serious and scientific book you will be sadly disappointed.  I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did because I am usually a huge stickler for proper science in a zombie novel.  I would recommend taking this book for what it is, fun and light hearted.  Don't try and read too much into it or think too hard about how ridiculous the science is.  Just go with it.

Overall Bad Taste in boys is a silly little zombie romp.  Definitely more Shaun of the Dead then Dawn of the Dead.  There are some great quotes from the book, and one of my favorites is “Excuse me if I feel skeptical,' I said. 'Coach's foot fell off. How exactly do you propose to cure that? Superglue?”.  LOL! 

Bad Taste in Boys is the first in a series, with the second book Bad Hair Day set to come out November 2012.  I will definitely be reading the next one!

Friday Face Off Cover Reveal: Light

Friday Face Off is a meme hosted by one of my favorite book bloggers Misty over at The Book Rat.  Usually this meme focuses on different cover designs for the same book and decides which is better for the story.  I wanted to take this meme and add a little twist to it today by discussing a cover reveal!  

I haven't read any of Michael Grant's Gone series, but I have heard so much about it.  One thing that really draws me to this series, besides all of the rave reviews, are the covers.  The Sixth book in the series now has a cover! 

In particular I like the gray coloring and how it goes very well with the title.  I think it fits with the series very well, I'll have to start it soon!

Friday Face Off on a Wednesday Cover Reveal: Velveteen

Friday Face Off is a meme hosted by one of my favorite book bloggers Misty over at The Book Rat.  Usually this meme focuses on different cover designs for the same book and decides which is better for the story.  I wanted to take this meme and add a little twist to it today by discussing a cover reveal!  

So anyone who watches my youtube channel knows I LOVE Danny Marks and have been chomping at the bit for his new book Velveteen set to come out this October.  Well today the cover was revealed!

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it to be honest.  I LOVE the text, I think it's perfect.  But the models?  Not so much.  I think the girl looks a little too pointy, you know?  Like Kristen Stewart during the my-vampire-baby-is-killing-me scene of Breaking Dawn (scary).  And the boy model looks like a young Boy George.  So yeah, not really feeling it.  HOWEVER this does not diminish my EXTREME EXCITE for this book.  It's still my #1 most anticipated book for 2012 and I cannot wait for October!  Can we just release it today please!?

Also, there's a totally cool contest going on right now where you can win a super early ARC, so click on the links below!  There's also a chance to win a super secret grab bag, so you know I'll be shooting for that lol. 

The Mod Podge Bookshelf

A Good Addiction

Novel Thoughts

The Reader by Bernhard Schlick

Published in 1999 by Vintage
3 Stars

Goodreads Review
Oprah Book Club® Selection, February 1999: Originally published in Switzerland, and gracefully translated into English by Carol Brown Janeway, The Reader is a brief tale about sex, love, reading, and shame in postwar Germany. Michael Berg is 15 when he begins a long, obsessive affair with Hanna, an enigmatic older woman. He never learns very much about her, and when she disappears one day, he expects never to see her again. But, to his horror, he does. Hanna is a defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past, and it soon becomes clear that she is guilty of an unspeakable crime. As Michael follows the trial, he struggles with an overwhelming question: What should his generation do with its knowledge of the Holocaust? "We should not believe we can comprehend the incomprehensible, we may not compare the incomparable.... Should we only fall silent in revulsion, shame, and guilt? To what purpose?"

Review:  I picked up a copy of The Reader after watching the beautiful movie version (in which Kate FINALLY got her Oscar.  About time!).  Sadly the book did not live up to the movie at all.  It read like a technical article.  It was cold, stiff, and unemotional.  The best part of the book was when Michael was a teenager, and even then I had  a very hard time connecting emotionally to the characters.  Once we move on to the trial the book completely lost me.


I think that this book is best for the people who lived during the time the book was published.  It is an interesting look at the group of people trying to come to term with the crimes of their parents generation.  There was so much opportunity with the idea of this book, but while the movie executes the themes in a way that will just crush your heart, the book falls far, far behind.  This is one of those rare moments where I would say skip the book and watch the movie.  Further, you MUST watch the movie, it is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.

Friday Face Off Cover Reveal: Hidden

Friday Face Off is a meme hosted by one of my favorite book bloggers Misty over at The Book Rat.  Usually this meme focuses on different cover designs for the same book and decides which is better for the story.  I wanted to take this meme and add a little twist to it today by discussing a cover reveal!  

While I haven't read any of Sophie Jordan's Firelight series yet, I love the covers.  The third installment in the series, Hidden, is no exception.

My only complaint is that while it is beautiful on it's own, when put with the other books in the series it doesn't stand out.

The model is the same as Firelight and she's in practically the same position as Vanish.  I wish they had changed her position or made the coloring more unique to make this book more interesting.  With that said, it's still a beautiful cover to wrap up a series of beautiful covers. 

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Published in 2006 by Knopf

4 Stars

Goodreads Review

Ask any literary critic -- and most discerning readers -- to name the greatest living American novelist, and Cormac McCarthy is sure to surface as a major contender. Best known for his powerful regional fiction (Sutree, the Border Trilogy, Blood Meridian, et al), this dazzling prose stylist crafts tragic, unforgettable stories suffused with violence, alienation, and an undeniably apocalyptic vision. Now, in what we consider McCarthy's best novel to date, the apocalypse itself becomes a set piece. Unfolding in a terrifying future where Armageddon has been waged and lost, The Road traces the odyssey of a father and his young son through a desolate landscape of devastation and danger. Powerful, moving, and extraordinary by any standard, this is McCarthy at his greatest and gravest.

Review:  The Road is a REAL post apocalyptic story.  There is no technology, no government, no help.  This isn't like any other book I've ever read.  There is just a sense of pure desolation in this book, and everything about it lends to that sense.  The writing style, the imagery, and even the minimal cover all support this bleak feeling. But with the father's relentless need to preserve the innocence of his son and to give him as much safety and comfort as possible we gain a message of compassion and no matter how terrible your surroundings, there is some light on the horizon. 

There is a strong focus on little details, that some might call filler, but I think add to the overall emphasis on just how little the characters had.  Every meal, every piece of clothing, every possession, is meticulously described like rare treasures because they ARE rare treasures.  There's a scene where the father finds a can of coke and gives it to his son, who has no idea what it is.  While today people gulp down soda without even thinking about it, they treat this can of coke with reverence, because they know they will never find one ever again.  I think that shows just how bleak their world is, and how much the father loves his son.  He wanted to give his son that rare treat, that moment of pleasure that we take so much for granted. 

Overall The Road is a hopeful book where beauty can be found in the most horrific situations through love.  While I don't think The Road is for everyone, I encourage you to push yourself if you're having doubts because it is a fantastic book that will stay with you long after the last page. 

My Life Has Been Crazy!

 Hi guys, remember me!?  Sorry I've been gone so long, it's been over a three weeks!  I was super sick and decided to take a break then I found out my work was sending me to North Carolina for three weeks!  That's where I am now and will be until next weekend.  I am so busy I've had absolutely no time to blog and hardly any time to read.  I'm now officially 12 books behind in my reading challenge.  I will be back to blogging next weekend, but for now I've just been crazy busy with real life stuff.  I just wanted to give you all a quick update with where I was.  You'll be hearing from me soon!