Since I’ve had so much commuting time on my hands, I’d had the opportunity to read five books in two months - Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Fall and The Night Eternal, Doctor Who’s Apollo 23, Chris Hardwick’s The Nerdist Way, and now S.G. Browne’s Breathers.

Being Meg’s favourite novel - I knew that I had to give it a read and figure out what all the fuss was about. The novel imagines a world where re-animation is possible, and people come back from the dead all the time and are treated poorly by the government and community. These zombies are slowly decaying, but their brains still function properly and they even have a sense of humour. 

I thought the book was okay, it’s not really my style of book (I’m not as crazy about zombies as some people I know) but I was still engrossed enough to want to finish the novel and see what happened to these people who have been tossed aside by society for being undead, regardless of their ability to speak, formulate thought and otherwise be normal aside from decomposing. 

I also kept thinking about how the novel seemed to draw parallels between the struggles of the undead and that of the minorities currently facing the same issues in our society - but I was probably reading too much into it. 

It’s a decent book, and it comes highly recommended by Meg, and now I too can say that if you like zombies, romance, drama and carnage - check it out (before it becomes a movie).

Buy it on Amazon.ca:
Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament

It’s been a while since I last reviewed Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s novel “The Strain”, but since I started commuting I finally got around to reading the second book in the trilogy “The Fall” and have finished with “The Night Eternal”. 

I don’t want to give too much plot away, but I really enjoyed it for a horror novel. There isn’t much to describe: it has ruthless vampires, piles of gore and gruesome violence, but most importantly it’s actually a compelling read. The writing did take a little bit of time to register and pull me in, but overall I thought these two novels were a great second and third act to the story I’ve been invested in for almost two years.

If you’re interested in a good horror novel, enjoy the work of Guillermo Del Toro, or just need something new to read - check out “The Strain”, it’s a great first entry into a fairly gory trilogy. 

Buy it on Amazon.ca:
The Strain Trilogy on Amazon.ca

Last week I finished Chris Hardwick’s (@nerdist) new self-help book “The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life)”. I’ve talked about my love for the guys over at Nerdist Industries (Chris in particular) before, but I never really saw myself really reading a self-help book. In the end, it turned out to be a really good idea.

There’s something about Hardwick’s writing that really resonates with me. It’s personal and engaging, and as a nerd - very relatable. I found myself constantly agreeing with his observations about Nerd life and culture. I think this novel would have really helped motivate me the last couple months while everything in my life was changing. Losing a job, finishing school, and being thrown into the world as a nerd that doesn’t know what to do is very intimidating. Fortunately everything has worked out since then, but it’s definitely something that I can read and agree with.

I recommend that nerds everywhere read this book. It doesn’t matter if you classify yourself as a nerd or a geek, this book will most likely be something that you can relate to. There are absolutely some sections that resonated with me and I’ve already started taking them into effect.

Buy on Amazon.ca:
Nerdist Way, The: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life)

I don’t do many book reviews largely because I don’t really read a lot of books. I figured for HMV’s $5.00 Boxing Day book sale I may as well check out Sarah Silverman’s autobiography “The Bedwetter”. I’ve always found Sarah Silverman hilarious and shocking. I’ve loved her in all of her roles she’s played here and there in films that can sometimes be more underground or independent - but I really found her television show The Sarah Silverman Program outstanding. It feels like a live action adultswim show and cracks me up all the time.

I didn’t mind her autobiography either. It was a little all over the place, jumping huge stretches of time and not expanding on some of the stuff that was casually brought up. I feel it could have used some fleshing out to help make it read a little better. That being said, the majority of the book revolves around anecdotes about Sarah’s life and the comedians she has befriended and how she got her start, etc. I found it to be a decent enough read and thought that a lot of her stories were pretty funny.

It’s definitely worth a quick read, it didn’t take me long to read at all and I think if you think she’s even remotely funny you should pick it up. I’ve provided a bunch of Amazon.ca links so you can check out other things Sarah has been in.

The Bedwetter: Stories Of Courage, Redemption, And Pee - Hardcover
The Bedwetter: Stories Of Courage, Redemption, And Pee - Paperback Pre-order
The Sarah Silverman Program: Season 1 DVD
The Sarah Silverman Program: Vol. 1 Season 2 DVD
Silverman;Sarah Program V2 S2 DVD
Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic DVD

What do you know, I read a book!

Last fall I picked up “The Strain” on a whim. I love Guillermo Del Toro’s work and wanted to see what kind of novel he could throw together. He’s got an incredible imagination and although it translates much better on the big screen (visually he is one of the most interesting film makers I’ve ever seen), the novel was really well done.

It was a horror story about vampires inhabiting New York City. It was told from an incredible amount of view points (the infected, those affected and people trying to stop it) and was very descriptive, which I always find helpful to get into a story. It wasn’t a wussy vampire story and had a lot of guts and gore - cool stuff.

I’m still surprised I got through the whole thing - I’m not a reader at all. The last novel I read was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.