Alice in Zombieland

I've been wanting to read this book for awhile.  The cover just caught my eye, and of course, what's not to love about a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, with zombies!  But, that's not what this books is.  Don't get me wrong, I really liked the book, but it wasn't what I expected.  To tell you the truth, I think it was better than I expected.  If I hadn't just finished this book last night (and summer is officially over for me), then it would have definitely ranked in my top 5 for books I read this summer.

Alice Bell has lived her entire 16 years believing her dad is insane.  He has fortified their home against the "monsters" that he believes roam at night wanting to devour us.  It isn't until a tragic accident takes her family away from her, that Alice learns that her dad was not crazy.  The monsters are real, and they are far more dangerous than she ever imagined.  She soon becomes involved with a mysterious group of teenagers who teach her about the monsters they call zombies.  She is determined to avenge her family and learn to fight the creatures. 
I felt that the first half of this book was much stronger than the ending.  I know that this is just the first book in a series, but it seemed to me that the latter part of the book was rushed.  I would have liked to have seen more detail towards the end of the book.  All in all, I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

My Favorite Books of Summer 2013!!!!

I've been busy reading a lot of books this summer.  Throughout the summer I tried to constantly have a young adult novel to read and an adult novel to listen to from audible.  Many of the books I read were fairly quick reads, but I was still able to get through 10 young adult books on my break.  Now, I'm going to rank them for you from least favorite to favorite, and give you a little background on each. 

#10 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


I really wanted to love this book.  The cover is beautiful and the premise was so interesting.  However, I just felt like the story was a little flat.  There was so much potential, but it was so slow in places that I nearly put it down.  I did enjoy the story, but it just needed something more to keep me going.  The story surrounds two magicians who are in competition, within the setting of a circus that appears mysteriously and is only open at night.

#9 World War Z by Max Brooks

I actually did enjoy this book, but it wasn't what I expected.  The book is divided into interviews with various survivors of our war against the zombies.  Some of the stories were a little slow, but all of them were interesting. 



 #8 The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

This was a quick, fun book.  Dusty Everhart is a magical creature.  She is a nightmare, which means that she feeds on dreams.  However, everything changes when she enters Eli's dreams.  He is dreaming of a murder at Arkwell Academy, a school for magickind.  Not only should he not know anything about the academy, but the dream comes true.  Dusty and Eli have to team up to try to solve the murder.  I liked this book, but parts of it (characters, setting, some events), were just a little too similar to things in the Harry Potter series.

#7 Unremembered by Jessica Brody

I really enjoyed this book, but I thought it needed more development in some places.  I would have liked to have seen more character development in the flashbacks.  I liked the concept of the story and I will continue reading this series. 

#6 Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 was a really good book, and so was the sequel, Sky on Fire.  My only complaint was that it was just a little too short.  I wanted more details, especially since the group was divided.  Dean and Astrid, along with some of the younger kids, stay behind in the store, as Alex, Niko, and the others search for their families and help at the Denver airport.  I felt like this book pretty much wraps up the story, so I'm curious to see Laybourne will do in the third book of the trilogy.


From this point forward, it is going to be very difficult to rank the rest of the books I read this summer. They were all really good.

#5 Eve & Adam by Michael Grant

This book reminded me a lot of The Adoration of Jenna Fox.  Evening was in a terrible accident.  She is rushed to her mother's research facility by a boy named Solo, where she makes a miraculous recovery.  When she becomes bored with her surroundings, her mother gives her the task of creating the perfect boy using new simulation software.  However, with the help of Solo, Eve learns that there is more to her mother's research than it appears. 

#4  Game by Barry Lyga

This is the second installment of the Jasper Dent series.  Like I Hunt Killers, this book is definitely creepy.  I really enjoyed it, but I am desperately wanting the next book now.  This one will leave you hanging.

#3 Stung by Bethany Wiggins

This was a different take on the zombie apocalypse story.  Fiona awakes in her home to find that the world has changed without her.  Not only that, but when she went to sleep she was 13, but she awakes as a 17 year old.  She also has a weird tattoo on her hand that she doesn't remember.  She soon learns that people who were given a vaccine and the tattoo turned into mindless beasts.  However, Fiona is unaffected. 

#2 The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

This was a great book, and would probably be my number 1, except that I got a little aggravated with it at times.  The story switches points of view too often, and left me wanting to go back to the previous person.  The others have come to destroy the human race in waves.  Cassie has survived the first 4 waves, but now she has to save her little brother before the 5th wave destroys them all.

#1  Mackenzie Bishop is a keeper who works for the Archive.  The Archive doesn't store books, but histories.  When a person dies, their lives are recorded in the archive.  Sometimes these histories become restless and wake.  It is Mackenzie's job to send the histories back to where they belong.  However, Mackenzie's job has been harder since she lost her brother to a terrible accident.  Her whole family is in mourning and they move to live in an old hotel, where there are more restless histories than Mackenzie has ever dealt with before.