The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty ★★★★☆

A Joyful reading experience.

Fiction – Adult - Urban Fantasy

361 pages

Publication Date:  2013

The Shambling Guides #1

Zoe is sure she can find the right job in New York City as a travel book editor, but when she thinks she may have found it one thing holds her back.  The fact that she is human.  Tenacious with a hardy helping of desperate Zoe finally convinces them she is the right girl for the job, now all she has to do is convince herself. 

This was a fun and quirky story from page one, with a clever and snarky writing style that made me laugh out loud.  Lafferty creates an interesting world with a well-constructed back story and subcultures.  The lovely eccentric characters added texture and various view points, from John the incubus who is slightly obsessed with Zoe to Arthur the human who can understand Zoe, but is still way more of an outsider than Zoe. 

Zoe is smart, observant and tenacious.  She is affected by the monster world, but doesn’t let it completely overwhelm her, she is also just a vulnerable human, but not impotent in a world of super powers and monsters which is a very nice balance.  I loved the excerpt sections in between the chapters and the foreshadowing in them.  One thing wasn’t my favorite.  There is one very racy scene and I have to say if the whole book was like that I would have been really unhappy, but fortunately it was only a brief part sandwiched in between deliciously scrumptious other ones.

This book is a jewel; yep I have been reduced to a gushing fangirl over this book.  I have been thinking of giving my fangirl side a name since she seems to have her own personality.  Maybe something like Mildred, a sassy girl with a black Daria bob, thick glasses and enough curves to warrant a drive carefully sign.  I’ll have to think on it.  But I digress back to review.  I felt in the very core of my being that this book could be delightful and it was.  Of course I tend to be a sucker for quirky.  The closet feeling I can relate my excitement to while reading this story is bubbly.  This book made me feel bubbly - not a great descriptor, I know - but that is how it made me feel, bubbly with joy at the writing, the characters and the story possibilities.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, Jane Austen ★★★☆☆

So Weirded Out   

Fiction – Fantasy? (so classification of this book is a little shaky)

319 pages

Publication Date: 2009

Literary awards: Goodreads Choice Nominee for Favorite Book & Fantasy (2009), The Kitschies Nominee for Red Tentacle (Novel) (2009)

Pride and Prejudice with zombies, need I say a whole lot more?

Okay, first of all the cover is very disturbing.  So disturbing in fact I had to hide it from my kids.  My husband on the other hand thought it was awesome, so go figure.  I found the

pairing of zombie slaying with early 19^th century manners incredibly interesting and was curious to see how it was handled.  Grahame-Smith did a good job of inserting new scenes and content into the original.  The extra content is more salacious and not just in regard to the sorry stricken, we’re talking about some overt sexual references.  It was a little gross – it is a zombie book after all – but definitely not as graphic as it could have been.  In some ways I found the resolutions in this version more satisfying than the original.  I especially enjoyed Elizabeth kicking Darcy in the face after his first proposal.  A very natural reaction to my way of thinking – I mean who hasn’t wanted to do that.  And the Reader’s Discussion really added an extra element of fun.

On the other hand I had a terrible time slipping into this story.  There were some pretty intense changes to the characters and the overall feel of the book that I personally could never get used to.  Frankly, I had a very surreal feeling during the whole time I read the book and was just so weirded out.  I think someone who admired the original less (full disclosure: I named my youngest Elizabeth after Elizabeth Bennet so you can kind of see my devotion here) or wasn’t quite as familiar with it might have an easier time with this book.

ISBN  1594743347 (ISBN13: 9781594743344)