Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is an English classic that has been in print for over 200 years. It’s about the exploits of the Bennet family as their silly mother tries desperately to find her five daughters husbands. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is about the exploits of the Bennet family as the silly Mrs. Bennet tries to find husbands for her five, zombie-slaying daughters. You see, zombies have taken over England and the Bennet sisters have pledged to protect England until they obtain husbands, however long that may be. They trained in China under Kung Fu masters. But that’s not part of this story, you need to check out the prequel for all the deets. So basically, the story moves forward like Jane Austen wrote, with zombies added in by Grahame-Smith.

The bits of zombie mayhem add colour and and a level of grossness that this not there in the original. For instance, when I first read Pride and Prejudice, I never felt like vomiting, not true when I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I was never scared, but I was definitely shocked, grossed out, and my stomach hurt from laughing. If you’re into zombies and not sure about the classics, this is the perfect way to initiate yourself. If you love the classic and can stand the fact that someone made it a lot less respectable, check it out. Either way, you just may surprise yourself.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Jane Austen. Quirk Books 2009, Paperback, 320 pages, $3.54

Jellicoe Road…where the tops of the trees reach across the street to form a canopy that the light shines through…Taylor Markham describes her almost home. Just 11 years old when she was abandoned by her mother at the Jellicoe Road boarding school, Taylor is now a senior and a reluctant leader of her dorm.

Marchetta creates vivid characters and a story that wraps you up and keeps you reading. Teens will definitely relate to Taylor who has many struggles including, authoritarian and untrustworthy adults, first love, annoying peers, and abandonment. Haunted by dreams that and hint of her past, Taylor determines to discover her roots. She sets out on a journey to find her mother and finds much more.

Marchetta tells this story through viewpoints of the past, present and future. While this tactic is interesting, builds suspense and lends itself to mystery, there were some small gaps in the story that made it difficult to follow.

It is a dense read and I would not recommend it to younger teens or reluctant readers. Overall, the story was interesting and I stayed up until 2am because I simply could not go to bed without finishing it…I especially enjoyed the Australian colloquialisms.

The tone of the this novel had a depressive feel to it. A pallor was cast on the parts that were meant to be funny. It even put on damper on the climax, if there was one.  I kept waiting for something to happen. The love story was sweet, but that’s pretty much it. It was just a love story with not much else happening.

Shiver

Maggie Stiefvater. Scholastic Press 2009, Hardcover, 400 pages, $8.93

The novel’s main character is a woman named Gus of all things, who after the death of her husband, leaving her a widow with two children to raise, found a way to make money. Gus opened a sandwich shop, or was it a grocery store? Anyway, she eventually serves a Cooking Channel (or in other words, Food Network) executive who gives her a job on his fledgling cable channel. The novel starts after she has been on the Cooking Channel for 12 years and is well known. Gus is approaching a certain age and  finds herself trying to up her ratings to keep her job.

My problems with the novel? All the “incidents” are contrived and convenient. The main character is basically Martha Stewart, even down to her outfit. Two daughters she raised alone, her love of gardening, her large house outside New York City, even down to an incident with money that has her investigated by the FBI. It was unreal. I kept wondering if Jacobs had read all about Martha Stewart and decided to write a fictional version of her or if she just accidentally did it. Anyway, it was painfully obvious that this was a story about Martha Stewart, intentionally or not.

I also found the writing a bit flowery. There were a lot of descriptions of clothing and other mainly non-essential details that didn’t move the plot forward and felt unnecessary. I’m afraid I’m giving this one 2 1/2 stars.

Comfort Food

Kate Jacobs. Berkley Trade 2009, Paperback, 384 pages, $3.97

The characters are compelling, well rounded and well written; each with a distinctive voice. The incredible imagery and humor woven through this book make it a pleasure to read. You can taste Barcelona in every scene and the great city almost becomes its own character. The deliciously rich language manages to stay sharp and witty without any obnoxiously long descriptions devoted purely to atmosphere. I read the English translation by Lucia Graves. I would love to compare it in its original Spanish (if I could read Spanish) but feel there was little lost since the prose and dialogue are fantastic. It left me wishing I had copied many of the passages, just so I could read them again and feel their savory velvet roll off my tongue. My only disappointment in the book is Nuria’s letter, which while important, seemed slightly too long (at around 88 pages) and sort of disrupted the flow and cadence of the narrative. The novel was well paced, and I found myself constantly torn between being engrossed in the characters motives and lives and wanting the mysteries of the plot to be unraveled immediately. This is a great book for anyone looking for entertainment that isn’t just fluff. There is some language including the f word. I considered the sex scenes tastefully done.

The Shadow of the Wind

Lucia Graves (Translator). Penguin Press 2004, Hardcover, 486 pages, $12.00

This novel is about a girl and a boy who have horrible childhoods. They find each other and develop a friendship. Eventually something happens that parts them, something you’ll just have to read and find out about. The writing is funny and smart and of course there is a beautiful love story behind it. I’m a sucker for a love story and this one has an equal measure of pain making it perfectly bittersweet.

A note: as you may notice, it’s not posted in the clean romance section. There were a couple F words and a rather descriptive love scene.

Tell It to the Skies

Erica James. Orion Publishing 2010, Paperback, 528 pages, $7.64