I've been in huge zombie overload recently. First there was Zombies vs. Unicorns and its accompanying debate (review of the actual book will be posted soon!), then Rot & Ruin, which of course has a giveaway running through Friday, October 8. I also just finished reading Mira Gran'ts Feed, a journalistic thriller starring bloggers after the dead have risen. Technically it's an adult novel, but I think it'll find some crossover appeal, as the narrator is only 20-something and it's quite an action-packed novel.
But enough about what's coming up - these review posts are supposed to be about looking back!
I love fall. It's definitely my favorite season, and it's especially exciting for book-people here in NYC because the book events pick up again in earnest. Within one week I had both the Zombies vs. Unicorns debate plus the Great Books for Teens and Tweens event at Books of Wonder - which is hosting more great events throughout October, so expect plenty more dispatches from that!
Looking back, I reviewed a lot of books about war this month, far more than I do in a usual month, I think. WWII was covered from a variety of angles with Ashes and Once as well as the excellent new graphic novel biography of Anne Frank. WWI was covered in my last Nonfiction Monday post with The War to End All Wars which I read shortly after I finished Behemoth (which will be reviewed on Friday - it got bumped in favor of the Rot & Ruin giveaway). The Cold War was the background for This Means War and The Red Umbrella which I'll also be reviewing soon. A fictional war was concluded in Monsters of Men, and while Black Hole Sun doesn't have a full scale war raging, it's still got plenty of fighting. Weird how things like that work out sometimes!
Stand out titles this month include the aforementioned Black Hole Sun and Rot & Ruin. Additionally, I Now Pronounce You Someone Else cracked me up because it is set around my home town, but also has a great serious side. A Golden Web is amazing historical fiction about the first female anatomist, and on the nonfiction front, I found Curveball to be a fascinating look at the first woman to play professional baseball on a men's team. A truly awesome story.