Hey There Bookworms!
You’re reading Words for Worms from my new self hosted site. Eeep! I tried to post a notice on the old account, but it errored out, so ignore that if you saw it. You probably don’t need to do a darn thing to keep following me as I’ve been using wordsforworms.com as my site address for well over a year. I’m neurotic, I believe in overkill. I want to send a shoutout to Spencer at Toastedlime who did all the hard stuff for a modest fee. I highly recommend getting in touch with Spencer for anybody afraid of the tech stuff involved in switching to self hosting. I PROMISE, he’s NOT Nick Burns, Your Company’s Computer Guy. (I’d also like to thank Rebecca from Love at First Book for sending me Spencer’s way. Thanks, doll!)
As you may recall from last week, I have gotten crazy super into the Newsflesh series by Mira Grant. Now, because this is a series, it’s damn near impossible to avoid spoiling book 1 in order to talk about book 2. So. If you’re concerned about having Feed spoiled for you (and I highly recommend reading it, so proceed with caution) this is your official SPOILER ALERT. SPOILERS AHEAD! SO MANY SPOILERS! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SPOILERS! IF YOU KEEP READING AT THIS POINT AND SEE SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU HADN’T, I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY, BECAUSE OF THE MANY, MANY BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS I JUST SCREAMED OUT.
Deadline by Mira Grant picks up where Feed left off. The beloved leader of After the End Times is gone, leaving a grieving brother and a hole in the site’s infrastructure. The remaining team members have picked up the slack, but nothing is quite the same. Shaun has taken a distinct turn toward the mentally unstable, as he regularly converses with his dear departed sister Georgia. (I talk to myself verbally all the time… It’s just that there isn’t a voice in my head answering me… Which puts me firmly in the “eccentric” camp… Or so I like to tell myself.) All is shuffling along until one day Dr. Kelly Connolly shows up at After the End Times seeking asylum. You remember Dr. Connolly- she was working at the CDC when Dr. Wynn got George, Shaun, and Rick out of that little assassination attempt on the highway? What EXACTLY a CDC doctor could need from a rag tag team of journalists and self proclaimed “zombie pokers” is unclear, and they don’t have the time o find out since shortly after the Doc arrives, a full fledged zombie outbreak gets in the way of storytime.
As it turns out, the conspiracy George and Shaun were chasing down in Feed didn’t end with the death of the Vice Presidential candidate/Batman Villain. Oh yeah. And Rick? The journalist the team picked up from that stripper lady’s campaign? He’s totes the VEEP now. So. That’s not weird or anything. But you know. When the dead are walking, all bets are off. Anywho. The team goes traipsing around in dangerous territory, always one step ahead of being eaten by zombies… Well. Not everyone is ALWAYS one step ahead of the zombies, but if I told you everything, you wouldn’t want to read this. And believe you me, you WANT to read this.
All the things I loved from Feed still apply to Deadline. The conversational tone of conversation the bloggers employ. The cheeky pop culture references (Becks, head Irwin, has a blog called Charming Not Sincere. I’m choosing to believe that’s a clear reference from Into the Woods because musical theater tickles me.) The zombie lore and the conspiracies. It’s downright delicious.
Has anybody else out there been bitten by zombie fever? I feel like The Walking Dead was my gateway drug and now I’m kind of obsessed. Anybody noticed the prevalence of zombie costumes on their Facebook pages? Let’s talk about the undead, Bookworms!
Daddio
New site seems to be working well. Had to skip most of the blog … Too many spoilers
Words For Worms
Whatever, Old Man. You never read what I tell you to anyway.
Daddio
“Like” button sends me back to WordPress. Best tell Spencer
Daddio
By line at bottom of page still says WordPress unless that’s part of the theme
Words For Worms
Dad, it’s still wordpress, just wordpress.org not wordpress.com. Subtle difference, but yes, it should say that.
Monika
Congrats on self-hosting!!!
I haven’t tried reading any zombie books but I’ve considered it. The Walking Dead is serving as my gateway drug, too! 😉
Words For Worms
I have really loved the Newsflesh trilogy. World War Z was also pretty great, I’d recommend either. Of course, if you want to stick with your comfort zone, The Walking Dead has released a series of books containing the Governor’s backstory. I read the first one and it was pretty good!
Megan M.
I do love The Walking Dead… and Shaun of the Dead… and I enjoyed the Dawn of the Dead remake… but I haven’t read ANY zombie literature! There are a few books I’ve had my eye on but so far I haven’t gotten to read any of them. I have a friend in Australia who attends lots of zombie events and posts pictures of herself in zombie makeup, which is cool to see. I don’t think I could do it though. because wearing makeup really bothers me and I definitely couldn’t do crazy contacts. If you’re not going to do it right, you shouldn’t do it at all, right?
Words For Worms
I totally agree with you- don’t go for the Zombie makeover unless you’re ready to fully commit. I mean, Halloween is one thing, but for zombie events? That deserves only the dedicated professionals. You need to read the Newsflesh books. You will love them.
It's A Dome Life
Congratulations on self-hosting!
I think I need to get my hands on some zombie stuff. I am pretty much done with vampires!
Words For Worms
Thanks Lily! If you want a good zombie read (though it will likely give you nightmares, fair warning) I recommend World War Z. I love this Newsflesh trilogy too. I guess it depends on what you want to go for. Newsflesh is fun and conversational and a little cheeky, where WWZ is more serious in tone.
Kelly
First, you win at life for the Nick Burns reference. Easily one of my most-quoted SNL sketches!!
Second, I heart this trilogy as well, though Deadline annoyed me a little because I hated Shaun as narrator. He drove me a little crazy. But otherwise, I loved this one just as much as the first.
WOOP WOOP for zombies! I told my husband I really need to give birth to this baby soon, because I am a total liability if the zombie apocalypse happens tomorrow.
Words For Worms
Hahahaha! I bring up Nick Burns ALL THE TIME! I didn’t like Shaun as a narrator nearly as much as I liked George as a narrator, but it still worked for me. You are TOTALLY a liability in case of apocalypse. Did you see what happened to Lori on The Walking Dead? (Not that anybody minded because she was annoying, but you are awesome and should not be eaten.)
Shannon @ River City Reading
I read Feed when it first came out, but for some reason didn’t continue with the series. Sounds like I need to!
Words For Worms
It really was fantastic. I feel like such a zombie nerd!
Charleen
I’m with Kelly. I just didn’t connect with Shaun. I still liked it, obviously, but this was my least favorite book in the trilogy. But that ending… oh man, that ending!
Charleen
(Also, you need a new favicon now that it doesn’t default to the WordPress one. I totally want a miniature Wormy McSmartypants up in my browser tab.)
Words For Worms
Done and done (at least I think?)
Charleen
Hrmm, I don’t see it…
Words For Worms
How bout now? 🙂
Charleen
Ah, well I see the penguin where your face used to be here in the comments… but you still don’t have a favicon (the little picture in the browser tab).
http://oi42.tinypic.com/d4sg8.jpg
That’s a screencap that shows mine and yours (well, lack thereof). But I have NO clue where you’d go in your fancy self-hosted settings to set it up.
(Now I feel ridiculous for making this into such a thing. It’s not like you need to have one. Sorry about that…)
Words For Worms
Oooooh that thingie! Damn. I’m going to have to google how to do that.
Words For Worms
The ENDING! GAH! I KNOW!!!!
Sarah Says Read
Yayyyyyy, have you started Blackout yet?
I love the zombie craze. I feel like it’s much more of a durable fad than vampires or werewolves – maybe because the whole “it’s a virus” element gives it a hint of being actually possible, instead of just folklore.
BTW, Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen is a really funny, sweet zombie novel if you start to crave something a bit fluffier but still zombie related.
Words For Worms
Working on the review for Blackout now! I’m going to have to keep Married with Zombies in mind… Sounds Warm Bodies-ish, which I adored!
Sarah Says Read
Oh it’s not a thinking-zombie story, lol. I said that in s confusing way. It’s about a young-ish couple thinking about divorce, but the zombie apocalypse saves their marriage. It’s fun.
Words For Worms
Oh! Yes, yes I will need to read that.
Allison @ The Book Wheel
Okay, I pretty much skipped the review because of the spoiler alerts but I loved the video 🙂
Words For Worms
It’s so so hard to talk about a series without spoiling the earlier books. Sigh. But yes, I’m glad you enjoyed Nick Burns. He’s the best/worst.