Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #22

This meme was started by Lost in a Story.  Here is how it works:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Because I have so many to do, I'm going to try to do this weekly, and do 10 at a time.


1.   The Waitress by Melissa Nathan:

The Appetizer

Katie has lofty career aspirations that seem to change almost hourly: writer, film director, teacher, educational psychiatrist. In the meantime, she's waiting tables and waiting for "Mr. Right" to arrive out of the blue -- which seems unlikely, considering her romantic track record is as pitiful as her job history.

The Main Course

Still, a girl can dream, even when she's rushing a hot plate of linguini over to the nasty customer at table six. So when gorgeous, sensitive, perfect Dan Crichton asks her out, Katie's over the moon. But once again, commitment phobia rears its ugly head and dinner turns into the Great First Date Disaster -- and Katie's ideal romance is over before the goodnight kiss.

The Just Desserts

Things are tough when a woman wants it all and will not settle -- and has a little trouble making up her mind. But it's about to get really complicated for the Queen of Complications.

The Bill

Not only is Dan coming back -- as her new boss and engaged to someone else -- but persistent Ex-Boyfriend #3 Hugh's back too, with a vengeance. And suddenly there's a lot more on her tray than even the most able food service professional could safely handle ... 

My thoughts:
Well, it doesn't sound bad, but doesn't sound like one I'll be sad if I don't read it either.

Verdict: Toss



2.  The Mythology of Supernatural - The Signs and Symbols Behind the Popular TV Show by Nathan Robert Brown:

A look into the paranormal legends, lore, mythology, and monsters featured on the hit television show Supernatural.

From angels to demons, The Mythology of Supernatural explores the religious roots and the ancient folklore of the otherworldly entities that brothers Sam and Dean Winchester face on the hit television show Supernatural--and that have inhabited the shadows of human imagination across countless cultures and centuries.

My thoughts:  
I used to read these companion books all the time.  Now, I just don't have time. 

Verdict:  Toss



3.  The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott:

"You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You’re joining the circus. Ain’t that the best news you ever got?"

Delivered by a trio of psychotic clowns, this ultimatum plunges Jamie into the horrific alternate universe that is the centuries-old Pilo Family Circus, a borderline world between Hell and Earth from which humankind’s greatest tragedies have been perpetrated. Yet in this place—peopled by the gruesome, grotesque, and monstrous—where violence and savagery are the norm, Jamie finds that his worst enemy is himself.

When he applies the white face paint, he is transformed into JJ, the most vicious clown of all. And JJ wants Jamie dead!

My thoughts:  
Sounds creepy for sure!  I'd like to see it as a movie, but don't know that I'll ever read it as a book.


Verdict:  Toss



4.  Where You Left Me  by Jennifer Gardner Trulson:

Lucky—that’s how Jennifer would describe herself. She had a successful law career, met the love of her life in Doug, married him, had an apartment in New York City, a house in the Hamptons, two beautiful children, and was still madly in love after nearly seven years of marriage. Jennifer was living the kind of idyllic life that clichés are made of.

Until Doug was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, and she became a widow at age thirty-five—a “9/11 widow,” no less, a member of a select group bound by sorrow, of which she wanted no part. Though completely devastated, Jennifer still considered herself blessed. Doug had loved her enough to last her a lifetime, and after his sudden death, she was done with the idea of romantic love—fully resigned to being a widowed single mother . . . until a chance encounter with a gregarious stranger changed everything. Without a clue how to handle this unexpected turn of events, Jennifer faced the question asked by anyone who has ever lost a loved one: Is it really possible to feel joy again, let alone love?

With unvarnished emotion and clear-eyed sardonic humor, Jennifer tells an ordinary woman’s extraordinary tale of unimaginable loss, resilience, friendship, love, and healing—which is also New York City’s narrative in the wake of September 11. Where You Left Me is an unlikely love story, a quintessentially New York story—at once Jennifer’s tribute to the city that gave her everything and proof that second chances are possible.
 
My thoughts:
Probably added this because of the September 11 aspect of the story. But doesn't really sound like one I'd want to read anymore.

Verdict:  Toss

5.   The Z Word (Apocalypse Babes #1) by Bella Street: 

The Z Word follows Seffy Carter and her longtime friends Gareth, Addison and Lani. The four besties share a past dysfunctional and dark enough to keep them bound together under do-over identities. But rends develop in their relationships from the flesh-eating pressures of ending up in 1980, in a Montana desert, surrounded by zombies wearing dated disco duds.
  
My thoughts:
Eh, I'm so-so on zombie stories these days.  So probably not going to ever care enough to read this one.

Verdict: Toss



6.  Rise of the Governor (The Walking Dead #1) by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga:

Based on "The Walking Dead" graphic novels/comic books and the series starring Andrew Lincoln ("Teachers", "This Life and Love", and "Love Actually") and written/produced by Frank Darabont whose previous credits include "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile", this is a new trilogy of books written by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga, author of "Perfect Victim" and "Shattered". Set in the world created by Robert Kirkman, this standalone trilogy is fast-paced, action-packed storytelling about the lengths some men will go to survive. With new characters, new storylines and with the same in-depth character-based plotting that has made the television series such an immediate hit, this trilogy of novels is sure to be a hit with those who love zombies and those who have loved the TV series and comic books.


In the Walking Dead universe, there is no greater villain than The Governor. The despot who runs the walled-off town of Woodbury, he has his own sick sense of justice: whether it’s forcing prisoners to battle zombies in an arena for the townspeople’s amusement, or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. The Governor was voted “Villain of the Year” by Wizard magazine the year he debuted, and his story arc was the most controversial in the history of the Walking Dead comic book series. Now, for the first time, fans of The Walking Dead will discover how The Governor became the man he is, and what drove him to such extremes. 

My thoughts:
I've mentioned how much I love reading the books that go with tv shows I like, but I think this is one I may or may not ever get around to.  Maybe if I get nostalgic for TWD, which I no longer watch.

Verdict:  Toss



7.  Not So Snow White by K. Sean Jennkrist:

Beware! This isn't your average fairytale ... Take one troubled teen, add some magic, a touch of romance, a few evil witches, and an elfin-sized sidekick named Duane, and you have NOT SO SNOW WHITE.

"My name is Winter Snow and I have a secret."

When her dad mysteriously disappeared, Winter couldn't help but be depressed, and she began to have strange experiences that caused many students to say she was a freak. Of course, with the voice of a tiny dwarflike creature she calls Duane and dream images of the future constantly invading her mind, who could blame them? Determined to bring her life back to normal, Winter decides finding her dad is the only solution. When a fairytale book on Snow White comes unexpectedly into her life, along with its owner, Lucinda Mayhem, events take a bizarre and witch-magical turn. Weird coincidences that tie the Mayhem and Snow families together somehow manage to bring Winter closer to finding her dad and to accepting her special gift in this teen modern-day fairytale.

My thoughts:  
I do love a good fairy tale retelling, but nah, not too intrigued by this one anymore.

Verdict: Toss



 8.  Drip Drop Teardrop by Samantha Young:

Even Death Can Fall in Love...

Avery hasn’t had it easy.

When she was ten years old her parents died in a car crash. Now nine years later her Aunt Caroline is the only family she has left. And Caroline is dying.
So when Death comes knocking (quite literally) in the form of the damaged and dangerous, Brennus, Avery makes a deal with the reaper in order to save Caroline.

Brennus is an Ankou.

One of the many, once mortal men and women, who were given the choice to become an immortal in exchange for ferrying the dead over into their afterlife.
Nine years ago Brennus took Avery’s parents and tried to take Avery, but she fought him and won. Amazed by her strength Brennus followed Avery and has watched over her.
Now he knows Avery is the one to offer him freedom from his obligation to the dead.
And he’ll stop at nothing to have her.


A YA Paranormal Romance for older readers.

My thoughts:
This is by a favorite author of mine, although I've only read her contemporary stories, I'll have to read all of her books at some point probably!

Verdict:  Keep



9.  The Right and The Real by Joelle Anthony:

Kicked out for refusing to join a cult, seventeen-year-old Jamie must find a way to survive on her own.

Jamie should have known something was off about the church of the Right and the Real from the start, especially when the Teacher claimed he wasn’t just an ordinary spiritual leader, but Jesus Christ, himself. But she was too taken by Josh, the eldest son of one of the church’s disciples, and his all-American good looks. Josh is the most popular boy at school too, and the first boy outside the drama geeks to give Jamie a second look. But getting her Dad involved in a cult was not part of the plan when she started dating Josh. Neither was her dad’s marriage to the fanatic Mira, or getting kicked out, or seeing Josh in secret because the church has deemed her persona non grata.

Jamie’s life has completely fallen apart. Finding her way back won’t be easy, but when her Dad gets himself into serious trouble, will Jamie be ready to rescue him, and maybe even forgive him?

My thoughts:
Could be good. But don't know that I'll ever get around to it.

Verdict:  Toss




10.  My Pretty Pony by Stephen King:

An elderly man on his deathbed gives his young grandson a pocketwatch and warns the boy against the dangers of letting time slip away.

Source:  

https://stephenking.com/library/short_story/my_pretty_pony.html

My thoughts:
I don't remember anything about this, and yes, I used to have to read all things Stephen King, but don't know that I'll ever get around to this.  Of course it is available online for free it looks like, so maybe some day.

Verdict:  Toss


Final Thoughts:
Only keeping one this week!  And in about a month, I'll probably be tossing some books from my actual physical shelves as I get ready to move.  Have you read any of these?  Would you suggest I keep any I'm tossing?  And if you're inspired to do this on your blog, please feel free to join in and share a link in the comments, since it's not really catching on, I'm not going to waste time with the link up this week.  It will also get you an extra entry into my giveaway at the bottom of this post.      
 

Giveaway:
Once again this is a US only giveaway, unless you are International and see a book here you really want and would be willing to pay for the difference in the shipping through Paypal or some other way.  This week I'm upping the prize, you get to pick any two books from the pictures below, as long as they don't get traded away, or picked by last week's winner, and I will pick a surprise book from the piles to add to your choice.  Here are your choices:   

2018 ARCs;

2017 ARCs:

2014-2016ARCs:

Once again I'm going to let you pick two, along with me throwing in a surprise third book!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below. 

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three Kylie Scott Book Mini-Reviews

As I mentioned earlier this week, getting behind on reviews again.  This time I've got three books by the author that is pretty much becoming one of my all time top favorite authors.  One is one of her first books, the second is the latest in her Dive Bar series, and the last one is her first YA novel, where I must say she has done a great job breaking into that genre!  Of course I have to share my photo with her from Apollycon this past March, when I made sure to tell her that Mal was my book boyfriend!

Flesh (Flesh series #1):

Published:  October 1st, 2012
Source:  Purchased Paperback
My rating:  3.5 stars

I do love The Walking Dead, and so a zombie apocalypse story told by one of my favorite authors was an instant add to my TBR.  The romance in this is pretty much what you might expect to be realistic in this type of a world, something that most of the time is kind of skirted over in TWD world, except for maybe with Negan.  The characters are definitely interesting enough you want to read more about them, and while there is another book in the series, that is pretty much a standalone, I'm still eager to read it.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Ali has been hiding in an attic since civilisation collapsed eight weeks ago.


When the plague hit, her neighbours turned into mindless, hungry, homicidal maniacs.


Daniel has been a loner his entire life. Then the world empties and he realises that being alone isn't all it's cracked up to be.


Finn is a former cop who is desperate for companionship, and willing to do anything it takes to protect the survivors around him.


When the three cross paths they band together; sparks fly, romance blooms in the wasteland and Ali, Daniel and Finn bend to their very human needs in the ruins of civilisation.


Lust, love and trust all come under fire in Flesh as the three battle to survive, hunted through the suburban wastelands.

This story is rated "Hot" (4 out of 5 flames) and contains M/F/M and F/M pairings.  

Twist (Dive Bar series #2):

Published:  April 11th, 2017
Source:  Purchased paperback
My rating:  4 stars

While I didn't love these characters as much as I did Vaughn and Lydia from Dirty, they were characters that still grabbed me and made it really hard for me to put the book down.  I read this in May, and hated that I still had to get up for school in the morning, because it is a book I would have stayed up all night reading, it was that good.  And what is even better?  Well there was a definite twist towards the end that I did not see coming.  Perfect to fit in with that title, huh?  

Now, I ordered the UK version of the cover, because I liked the guy on it better, even if he doesn't look like what Joe is supposed to look like.  However, I later won a contest, I think on Goodreads, for another copy of the book, this time with the US cover version.  I don't usually collect different country books, but with Scott's books, I kind of want to.  The first cover you see to the left, is the UK version.  The one at the bottom of this mini-review is the US version. 

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

When his younger brother loses interest in online dating, hot, bearded, bartender extraordinaire, Joe Collins, only intends to log into his brother's account and shut it down. Until he reads about her - Alex.

Alex Parks is funny, friendly, and pretty much everything he's been looking for in a woman. And in no time at all they're emailing up a storm, telling each other their deepest darkest secrets . . . apart from the one that really matters.

And when it comes to love, serving it straight up works better than with a twist.





Trust:

Published:  July 18th, 2017
Source:  E-galley from Netgalley
My rating:  5 stars

Kylie Scott's first YA novel is perfection.  She's got the realistic characters, the chubby main character girl, the bad boy, who really is a bad boy, the bullies, the old best friend who doesn't get it, and the new best friends who are extremely wonderfully written diverse characters.  This is one that I was barely able to put down.  I took it on vacation to Disneyworld with me and I couldn't wait to get back to my hotel room to continue reading.  I totally connected to the main character, Edie, within the first part of the book when she was at the gas station and could barely make eye contact with the cute sales clerk.  I have the same issues with talking to the "pretty people" as she puts it, and this is a problem quite often for me when I'm working the cash registers at my part time job and a hot guy comes up.  I can't seem to make eye contact or do much more than say exactly the basic sales things I need to say.  I really loved all of this, especially Edie's new friends, including John's best friend.  I hate that this is a standalone book since I would love to go back and visit all of these characters again!  I do think maybe the cover is a little bit risque or adult for a YA book, that's probably the only downfall I can see at all.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Being young is all about the experiences: the first time you skip school, the first time you fall in love…the first time someone holds a gun to your head.

After being held hostage during a robbery at the local convenience store, seventeen-year-old Edie finds her attitude about life shattered. Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.

While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.

An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.

Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.

Check out my post on the book trailer.

Review: The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone By Graphic Novel by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore

I ordered this book into the high school library where I work because I figured we needed more graphic novels, and surely this would be popular.  Of course we didn't get it until the end of the school year, so I'm hoping to see it get more use next year.  I have watched the show from the very beginning and love it.  And I'm not really much of a comic or graphic novel person.  I mean, I love all the novels that go with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but wasn't able to keep going with the Season 8 comics.  However, I decided to check The Walking Dead out over the summer and read it for myself.  It was a quick read, and so I asked my friend who owns the first Compendium if I could borrow that next, so I'll be reading that too.

I won't talk a lot about the plot, because if you've seen the show you know it.  But I guess the comics/graphic novels basically follow Rick, the sheriff.  So of course there will be many characters either left out, or changed from the tv show.  As I've been informed, sadly, one of my favorite characters on the show, Daryl, is one not in the book.  But the story is pretty much the same to start.  Rick gets shot, then wakes up in a hospital all alone.  He finds the zombies, but doesn't have any idea what is going on, as he was in a coma for quite a while it seems.  He goes home, and finds his wife and son are gone, but then gets hit on the head.  When he wakes up again, he is with a man and his son, who tell him about what is going on.  Soon he decides he must go find his wife and son.  There are many scenes that are the same from the show.  Rick riding into Atlanta on a horse.  Walking with Glen through Atlanta with zombie body parts draped all over themselves as a disguise to be able to walk through the zombies and get supplies that are needed back in town.  But, and big SPOILER ALERT, Shane, Rick's co-police officer, dies at the end of this.  Whereas in the show he stayed around much longer.  But I'm totally okay with it, as I wasn't a huge fan of Shane.

I can't wait to read on, and see what else is the same and what is different.  From what I've heard, they've stayed a lot closer on plot and such compared to another tv show I like that is based on books, True Blood.  So I'm sure reading on I'll eventually get to where I recognize things that are coming up.  Like people did with the Governor, as well as now with Terminus. 

I definitely recommend these graphic novels and will be stocking up on them for my school library, and for the students to enjoy.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Favorite TV Shows

Top Ten Tuesday is sponsored by The Broke and The Bookish.  This week's theme:


Let's talk about other types of stories! Top Ten Favorite Movies or TV Shows! (can break it down to top ten favorite romance movies or comedy shows etc. etc.)

So here are my top 10, there are more shows that I love, but I narrowed it down to these.  Once again, I'm not putting them in any particular order, just sharing them!

1.  The Big Bang Theory


  

2.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer




3.  The X-Files

4.  The Walking Dead




5.  The Young and the Restless

6.  Survivor

7.  The Amazing Race

8.  Supernatural





9. Glee




10.  Eureka





Some of these shows are no longer on, but will always be my favorites.  Love the stories in them, some I even read the books that are based on them!  So they do tie into reading for me.

If you had to pick your top 10 tv shows, would they include any of these? 

A to Z April (last post!!!) - Z: Zombies!!! (and last day for giveaway)

Well, this is it.  My last post for the A to Z Challenge, and I'm pleased to say I did it!!   And I'm excited to get to finish with one of my current favorite topics to read about or watch on tv or in movies, zombies.  So below, you can see 5 of my favorite zombie books/series.


1.

 

I am a huge, huge fan of these books.  And the author, as I even got to help name one of his recent e-novellas (short stories) for this series.  Really great teen zombie series.  He also writes adult novels like this, I just have yet to read them.

2.

 

I actually liked this one, and while I'm not quite sure how close the movie was or was not, since I haven't read the book in a while, I liked the movie as well.

3.

 

Another of my favorite teen zombie series.

4.

 

This is a Stephen King book that I think would have made an excellent movie, and I also feel you don't hear much about this one, but I really liked it.

5.

 

And yet another of my favorite teen zombie series.  This one, as well as the Rot and Ruin series, is made up of very large books, like 400-500 pages.  I feel they are well done, and not boring at any point, but just a heads up if you're going to give them a try.

Those are my top 5 zombie books.  I love the tv show The Walking Dead, but actually have yet to read any of the graphic novels it is based on, or the new novelizations, so couldn't include them in my book choices, as I'm doing ones I've actually read.

One more day to enter my 900 Bloglovin follower giveaway HERE, and there aren't many entries, so you have a good chance!

 

 

 

 

The Rule of Three by Eric Walters

First I will thank Netgalley, FSG, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  As anyone who follows my blog probably knows, I am a huge fan of dystopian stories.  So this sounded like one of those, although, really more of a post-apocalyptic, but similar.  And it was.  However, it was a bit slow for me.
The main character is Adam Daley, and strangely enough his elderly neighbor Herb.  Things seem to be just a normal day at school.  Adam and his best friend are sitting in computer class, when all the electricity and computers go out.  Now, it's not just those things connected to electricity, even laptops go out.  Something has happened that has caused anything that works with computers to no longer work.  Which means any car without computers in it, older cars, will still work.  And that included Adam's '79 Omega.  Up until this point, his friend Todd had made fun of it.  But now, when it is about the only car in the high school parking lot that will actually start, he's not so amused by it.  Once Adam gets home, after picking up his younger brother and sister from their school, dropping his crush Lori off at her family farm, and also dropping Todd off, he is met by their neighbor Herb.  Herb has a favor to ask.  He wants Adam to drive him to the Pool store.  The drive there is a bit scary as there are people who stare at them as they drive by, some looking as if they'd like to steal the car.  At the pool store Herb has a lot of cash that he give the guy for a ton of chlorine tablets.  It seems Herb may have an inkling about the whole situation not just being a temporary one.  As they're loading the car up with buckets full of the chlorine tablets, they even have a group of men who once again try to take the car.  But Herb moves his jacket to show a gun and the situation is defused.  They get back home and now Herb begins to talk about what may be going on.  He begins planning what they should do, how to be safe, and keep themselves safe.  Many of the plans seem to be quite pessimistic in Adam's point of view.  But as things that Herb has somewhat hinted at begin to occur, it seems maybe he knows what to do.  They must figure out how to secure their neighborhood, as well as what to do in order to keep themselves fed in case things don't get back to normal soon.  This includes talking to Lori's family about farming, and making some improvements in the walls/fences around their neighborhood, as well as planting some fields in yards and school lands.  Also, Adam has a very light plane, called an Ultralight.  And he gets it ready to be flown, and they are able to use it to do scouting to try to help their situation as well.  And while mostly it is just groups of people from neighborhoods that they see walking outside their area, there seems to be a larger group that may not be as innocent, may be out for only themselves.
This is a book that really just goes into the setting up of a community for this type of situation.  Yes there are times when we have conflicts with other people and neighborhoods. But a lot of it is about how they figure out what to do and how to help themselves to survive.  In a way, it feels like what maybe following how the Governor set up his town in The Walking Dead.  Or on the show Revolution, just the beginning of how they got to handling the disaster.  All the stuff that is usually skipped in books or movies or tv shows.  Because it is kind of boring.  Maybe it is important for us to know if such an event does occur.  But honestly, I found it a bit boring.  While it was interesting to hear Herb's strategies, and the reasoning behind what they did, the story did kind of just stall out in my opinion.  And the end was really just kind of a sudden ending, and you're left before probably any of the stuff that would normally be in this type of book starts to occur.  That's just my opinion.  I still gave it a 3, because it may be something that others want to read.  Another issue I had is that I want to know why the things with the computers went out.  And what has happened to Adam's father who is a pilot and would have been in Chicago at the time.  Is the author planning a sequel?  Can't tell.  But I don't know if I'd read on or not.  My need to know those things may not be strong enough to read through another slow story.  400 pages of slowness.  So not one of my top books.  But like I said, on Goodreads I gave it a 3, because it wasn't bad, just wasn't my cup of tea.

Flesh and Bone (Benny Imura #3) by Jonathan Maberry

I have to say thanks to Mr. Jonathan Maberry himself for this book, because when I won the contest to help name one of his e-novellas, my prize was an autographed ARC of this very book!  I had intended to read it as part of my 2nd Annual September is for Sequels Challenge, and while I did start it in September, I didn't actually finish it until the 1st of October.  It was a good lead up to really get me back in the mood for The Walking Dead to start up again.  The only reason it took me so long to read it was because of how busy I seem to be.  Not because it wasn't good.  Because as usual with this series, as soon as I picked it up, I could barely put it down again to do the things that needed to be done.  I just love this world, and finding out what happens to the characters.  Now unfortunately there will be some spoilers in the next paragraph if you haven't read the two books before this one, so you may want to stop reading now, knowing that the series just keeps getting better!
Where we left off, there were only four of the crew left, Benny of course, his girlfriend (?) Nix, his best friend Chong, and The Lost Girl, or Lilah as everyone now knows her name.  Benny's older brother Tom having been shot in the last book, and fortunately not coming back as a zombie, so that Benny wouldn't have to quiet his brother, like he and Tom had been forced to do to their own parents.  Chong and Lilah seem to have a bit of a relationship.  Well, we know Chong has a crush on her, even though Lilah calls him a boy from the city who can't take care of himself.  But she does show that she has feeling for him in return when as she leaves to go find the parents of a little girl, she unexpectedly kisses Chong.  Now this little girl is named Eve, and she got separated from her parents by some people that we come to learn are called The Reapers.  They are basically a death cult.  People who don't see the reason for going on after all that has happened, and so they go around trying to get people to either join them, or they will usher them into the next life, or "the darkness" as they call it.  They do this by "opening red mouths into their skin".  Wounds, fatal wounds obviously.  The leader of this cult, well there are kind of two.  We do find out later that one leader was a serial killer before all the zombie plague started.  The other leader, a woman, well, not sure exactly what her deal is, other than she wants to get to the Sanctuary.  A place she's heard has food and doctors and everything to take care of people.  Throughout the story all four of them get separated at some point.  We learn about all the wild animals from zoos that escaped.  And that animals up until now haven't gotten the virus.  Although that may be changing as Lilah finds out in the story.  We also get to meet one of the people from the Zombie cards as well.  Where the book leaves off is kind of disheartening in a way.  I'm not sure that I liked it.  I'm hoping we can pick up from that ending with the fourth, and what I believe is the final book in the series.  Although I will be sad to leave the characters and this world behind.  I guess that means I will soon have to move over to the other zombie series by this author.
If you're a fan of zombie books, this is a definite read for you.  All four of the books in the series are now out, and the e-novella that I got to help name, Tooth and Nail, is now available.  Below I've shared two pictures.  Me with the author, Jonathan Maberry, at BEA 2012.  And 2nd is the autograph inside my copy of this book, proving my part in helping with naming the novella.  

Stacking the Shelves April 14, 2013

As I mentioned last week, I've been really getting a lot of stuff lately!  Plus, as I get e-galleys I'll try to start writing them down and posting for this meme, sponsored by Tynga's Reviews, as well.  I also mentioned last week about how I won a $50 gift card from The Reader's Den. Well, now I have all the stuff, books and a t-shirt, that I ordered!  So here we go, all the stuff I got this week!

First, from Netgalley, I got an e-galley of The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau.

Second, from Edelweiss, I got Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard.  

Finally, here are the four books that I ordered with my Amazon Gift Card prize:  The Selection by Kiera Cass, Delirium Stories:  Hana, Annabel, and Raven by Lauren Oliver, Soul Screamers Vol. 2 by Rachel Vincent, and Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake.

And the one other thing I got with my Amazon Gift Card was a t-shirt, in honor of my one of my favorite tv shows, The Walking Dead, and my favorite character on that, Daryl Dixon.

So, a pretty good haul for me this week!  What did you get this week?