Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars

Volume 3 of the Walking Dead continues Rick and company's struggle to survive in a zombie apocalypse.  At the end of volume 2, they found a prison that they wanted to use as a new home.  So this volume is their struggle to clean the place up.  But they are not alone; they find a couple of prison inmates who have been stuck there for months.  Everyone tries to work together to clean the place up.  Rick even extends an invitation to Hershel's family, asking if they wanted to come and live in the prison, too. 

All seems well for the survivors until they find two of the girls dead with their heads chopped off, clearly murdered by someone in the prison.  Now everyone starts turning on one another with no clear idea of who the murderer is...

The Walking Dead: Safety Behind Bars was, like the first two volumes, a great read that I didn't want to put down.  I'm looking forward to the next volume, which I have on hold.  I'm also thinking I really need to watch the tv series because I am liking this story!

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us

So yes, after writing that last blog post, I immediately started reading The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us.  It picks up pretty much exactly where Volume 1 left off.  Rick and company are finally breaking camp in search of a safer place to live.  They pack up the RV and begin their search. 

They first find a gated neighbourhood which seems perfect.  There's lots of canned goods and the houses are big; every family will have a good life.  Well, that plan is interrupted when they realize the whole place is infested with the undead!  The group escapes, but not without casualties.

They spend a week foraging, desperately looking for things to eat when Carl, Rick's boy gets shot.  The perpetrator, a scared individual named Otis, thought they were zombies; he brings them to his friend's place.  His friend Hershel is a veterinarian and is able to save Carl's life.  He invites everyone to stay until Carl is better.  But relations between the Rick's group and Hershel's family start to deterioriate when Rick discovers the undead Hershel is keeping in his barn....

The Walking Dead: Miles Behind Us was another excellent read by Robert Kirkman.  I'm looking forward to whenever I'm able to read the next volume!

Library Book: The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye

I've been wanting to read The Walking Dead for the last week but haven't had the time before now.  Luckily I found some time today and read the first volume, Days Gone Bye.  This is the story of Rick, a cop who was shot on the job.  He wakes up from a coma to find the world a changed place.  The hospital is abandoned, except for monsters that attack him.  His house is a wreck and there are squatters in the neighbour's house.  And he can't find his wife and son.  So he sets off to Atlanta, where his wife has family, in the hopes that she went there when the zombies first appeared on the news.

I'm going to give my spoiler warning now.  I get the impression that The Walking Dead is the continuing story of Rick, so much like Everworld, if I keep posting about the series I won't be able to avoid giving spoilers.

Rick arrives in Atlanta, but instead of the safe haven it was supposed to be, the city is overrun with zombies.  He is saved from certain death by Glenn, one of the survivors.  Glenn leads him to their camp, which is just outside of town, where Rick is miraculously reunited with his family.  The little camp then tries to survive until the army comes, but the weather is getting colder and the zombies keep finding them in greater and greater numbers...

Days Gone Bye was an excellent introduction to the series.  I can't wait to read more (and luckily don't have to - I'm going to start volume 2 right now!)

Library Book: A Reliable Wife

I've had A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick out for a few weeks now, but finally started reading it over the weekend.  I was looking over the library books I had out and decided I really wanted to read it before sending it back.  And I'm really glad I made that decision.

A Reliable Wife is the story of Catherine Land and Ralph Truitt.  Ralph Truitt, sick of being alone, advertises in the paper that he wants a reliable wife.  And the woman who answers the ad is Catherine Land.  She claims to be a missionary's daughter, but in truth she is far from that.  Her plan is to marry Truitt, a wealthy man, and slowly poison him; once he is dead she will leave a wealthy widow. 

Of course, things don't go as planned.  I won't say more because I don't want to give away any spoilers.  But wow, this was an excellent story.  A Reliable Wife is well worth the read.  :)

Library Book: Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human

I don't really have a lot to say about this.  I saw it at work and decided I needed to read it.  That was several weeks ago, and I finally got around to it today.  I don't know anything about Robocop, but I have seen the Terminator movies and thought this would be an interesting mashup.  And that's exactly what it was.  Interesting. 

Robocop wakes up in a Skynet museum, and goes back in time to stop Skynet.  He meets Sarah and John Connor, has to fight off the T-1000.  I thought it was ok.  I'm sure I would have liked it more if I'd ever seen the Robocop movies (and I suppose I should go out and watch them now), but overall this wasn't really amazing. 

Library Book: Anna Dressed in Blood

It's been awhile since I've finished reading anything.  I went away a few weeks ago and read some magazines, but I haven't made it through any books lately.  But I got an email from Chapters which included Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake, which caught my interest.  I realized it was book two in a series, and the library had book one.  So I put Anna Dressed in Blood on hold and started reading it as soon as I got it (even though I'm in the middle of another book). 

Anna Dressed in Blood caught my attention immediately.  I was interested in the world of Cas, the ghost killer.  Especially since  Anna, the ghost he is hunting, lives in my hometown of Thunder Bay.

Of course I had fun reading all the references to places in Thunder Bay.  I laughed when Cas stole a newspaper article from an old library newspaper (that was really funny because I work at the library; we only have microfilm copies of old newspapers, so he wouldn't have been able to do that.  He would have just printed a copy out and that would be that).  If you've travelled from Duluth to Thunder Bay, you'd also know that the terrain doesn't suddenly become rolling hills and boreal forest at the US/Canada border (although there is quite a bit of farmland between the border and Thunder Bay).  I'm also not sure why, but when Cas got to town he didn't mention the Sleeping Giant, one of our most distinct geological features.  And I highly doubt the kids from Churchill highschool would go across town to the Sushi Bowl all the time when Wasabi is waaay closer.  Silly things like that really drove home how this was a fictional account of Thunder Bay, and not the real place.  They also kind of knocked me out of the narrative a bit, but I think that's just because I'm from Thunder Bay and know those details weren't quite right.

But other than the setting issues, the story is really good.  Cas, like his father before him, kills ghosts, stopping them from killing people by sending them onto the afterlife or wherever it is they go.  A friend of his has found a ghost in Thunder Bay known as Anna Dressed in Blood, and Cas is intrigued by her.  So he goes to Thunder Bay intending to learn her story and kill her.  But the Anna he meets is not the usual ghost.  Rather than a pale reflection of who she was, Anna is very much real and aware of herself.  Not only that, she is strong, much stronger than Cas anticipates.  And so he finds himself in Thunder Bay longer than expected as he tried to unravel exactly what Anna is.

When I took Anna Dressed in Blood out, I wasn't really planning on reading any more of the series.  But now that I've read it, I really am excited to continue reading.  I've got a hold on the next one, Girl of Nightmares, which the library currently has on order.  I hope it's as good as this first book was!

Kindle Book: Animal Attraction

My mom is the one who bought "Animal Attraction" by Anna David.  She told me it was a great read and that I'd enjoy it because I'd be able to relate to some of the stories Anna tells about her cats.  I finally sat down and read it this afternoon and wow was my mom right: Anna's Toby is very much like my cat, Sasha!  Like Toby, Sasha doesn't trust easily and doesn't like people who aren't HER people.  But unlike Toby, Sasha had a more stable time when she grew up, and I think she's just a little more trusting and friendly than Toby is.

"Animal Attraction" is Anna David's story of how and when she discovered she was a cat person.  She details her life, and what led her to the decision to adopt not one but two cats.  The first one was the aforementioned Toby, a female cat she mistakenly thought was male.  The second was Lilly, a super friendly cat that can get along with anyone anywhere.  She talks about her struggle to get over her drug addiction, and how she was interacting with her two girls all the while.  It's a quick, enjoyable read, and you should definitely give it a try if you like cats.  In fact, you should probably give it a read even if you don't like cats, just so you can gain an understanding of cat people!