Saturday, June 26, 2010

Y: The Last Man: Volume 1: Unmanned

A mysterious plague destroys every male on the planet - human, mammal, sperm or otherwise - except for Yorick and his male pet monkey. Nobody knows why or how just that a lot of women are left behind to pick up the pieces. Now, a mysterious Agent is left to protect Yorick from extremists wanting to kill him and at the same time help find the answer as to why he was the only male left alive. 

I really like the premise of this storyline and there were a couple of parts in this first volume that really got to me. Mainly that was parts where it was talking about just what would be lost in this world if we lost every male on earth. It's very well drawn although I must admit I'm pretty sure the artist was drawing for men as most of the women are fairly scantily clad. I guess that's to be expected in graphic novels (Watchmen anyone?).  This volume really just sets the stage for the books to come. Guess I need to head over to Amazon and see how much they cost.

Book 6 in the Graphic Novels Challenge.

Agents of Light and Darkness: Nightside, Book 2

Angels have invaded the Nightside. Angels from both above and below; and they're searching for something. As luck would have it, John Taylor is searching for the same item. And, he needs to find it before either set of angels finds it. If he doesn't then there could be serious consequences for the entire world - Armageddon type consequences.

I listened to this book a couple of weeks ago (I'm a wee bit behind on my blogging). It's a fairly short listen but it's a good listen. This is just the second book in this series that I have listened to but both books drew me in and kept me very interested in them. The narrator is very good.  I was also surprised at the deeper meaning that the author put in this book. It definitely gave me something to think about. 

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Grave Surprise

Harper Connelly was struck by lightning at the age of fifteen. Since then, she has been able to tell how any person died. In Grave Surprise, Harper is in Memphis, Tennessee doing a demonstration for a college class when she discovers that the grave she's analyzing contains more than one body. One is the original inhabitant of the grave. The other is a young, teenage girl that Harper had once tried, and failed, to find. Then, later, a third body is put in the grave.

This book is a fun and easy read. It's not great literature but makes a good book to carry around with you for when you get extra little pieces of time to read.

The Help

The Help is a beautiful story by Kathryn Stockett. It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the height of the civil rights unrest in the south. The story follows three women, two black maids and one white woman, as they work together writing a book about what it's like to be a black maid work for white families in the south. Not only was the story amazing, I felt like the flavor of living in the south was captured. I know it's fifty years after the time of the story, but I swear, I still saw the south that I live in today in the book.

I listened to this book and the narration was amazing. The publishers used four different  narrators to tell the story and it worked perfectly. I was in love with the characters and didn't want the story to end. I feel like if I had actually read the book, I wouldn't have become quite so connected with the characters. I highly recommend that you listen to this book instead of reading it if you have the opportunity. In any manner, I suggest that you don't pass on reading this book.