My Top 3 Goofy Zombie Novels! (Precious Monsters' Zombie Blog Hop)

Welcome, y'all, to my entry for the Zombie Blog Hop, hosted by Jolie du Pre of Precious Monsters! Participants can blog about anything zombie-esque, so I chose to tell youse guys about three zombie novels which make me giggle like a giddy schoolboy*.

*I believe in equal giggling opportunities for both sexes.

Click here to buy it! (The book, not me, obviously).

'K, so: first up is Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 (with a groovy one-year-later epilogue which is not to be missed). In TSA, Moore revisits the fictional town of Pine Cove, CA, in which tourists flock to the fake-Tudor-Christmasy-cheer while a local kid witnesses the accidental killing of "Santa Claus" (an Evil Developer and all-round douchebag, who totally had it coming). The titular angel, Raziel, grants the boy's Christmas wish that Santa return from the dead, while the Sheriff quits pot so he can afford a special gift for his wife (a schizophrenic ex-scream queen, who's gone off her meds so she can afford to get him something special), all while she's planning the town's annual Lonesome Christmas party, which just happens to take place at the Santa Rosa Chapel, which just happens to be located right next to a cemetery. You can see where this is going, right? I break this bad-boy out every December for another read, 'cause, you know, 'tis the season, and whatnot.

Buy PP&Z here!

Next is the book which sparked a new(ish) genre, the literary mash-up: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. As I noted in my Amazon.com review for this book, what I adore about it is the juxtaposition of well-known and well-turned phrases against the ludicrous. And Dudes, it's HILARIOUSLY funny. READ IT, if for nothing else but the helpful Reader's Discussion Guide (Question #7: Does Mrs. Bennet have a single redeeming quality?). Or for the nifty illustrations sprinkled throughout (with captions such as "Elizabeth lifted her skirt, disregarding modesty, and delivered a swift kick to the creature's head.") OR for sentences like the one Catherine De Bourgh utters near the end of the book, "Well? Have you anything to say before I remit you to Satan?" Too, when zombies (here referred to as the "Unmentionables" or "The Zed Word") crash the ball at which Darcy first disses Lizzy, Mr. Bennet urges his daughters to take them out by forming the "Pentagram of Death." C'mon, like that's not hysterically funny. (It's bloody well funny-as-hell to me, at any rate, and that's all I actually care about anyways, so...)

Click here to buy a good time! (Uh...you know what I mean.)

Finally, we have The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten by Harrison Geillor. Now, I have to admit it's been quite some time since I first read this Prairie Home Companion parody, plus I've got Momnesia, so details are fuzzy for me. However, I do recall that it features a meteor which starts the whole mess, a murderess, dueling clergy, bachelor farmers, a serial killer, a dominatrix, and of course, the "zomboes," as one character calls them. Possibly the funniest thing about this book is how these stalwart Minnesotans manage to take the zombie apocalypse in stride and go about the business of living. *I* should be so hard-to-rattle!

The Booker Award!

Catherine Stine of Idea City bestowed The Booker Award on me, which was super sweet of her - thanks so much, Catherine! Please check out her blog here.

The Booker Award goes to "...those who refuse to live in the real world." (That is sooooo  me!) To receive this award, the blog must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing is OK). Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books. (More than five is OK.) You must give this award to 5-10 other lucky book blogs you adore.

Now, I hate having to narrow down my readerly passions to just five  but, as we all know, I'm lazy. So here they be, in alpha order by author's last name:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (It's a parody of things Gothic, so of course  I dig it.)

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Ohmigosh, it's set in an alternative reality in which crimes against literature are avenged by an arse-kicking Brit heroine who winds up leaping into the story of Jane Eyre  to take care of business! W00T!)

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (How can I not luuurve a book featuring a heroine who stutters and a duel fought over a hat?) (Not by the heroine.) (It wasn't really over a hat, that was just the cover story.) (Ha ha, geddit? Cover story? Hat? A hat covers  your head?) (C'mon, that was at least mildly amusing, worthy of a titter, surely?) ~ tied with  ~ These Old Shades by the same author (The Duke of Avon = WOOF!)

Howliday Inn by James Howe (The 2nd book in the Bunnicula series. I go back to it to revel in the comfort of simpler days, when everybody and their Aunt Agatha didn't want a piece of me. Plus, it's HIGH-larious, and I just la-la-love Harold and Chester.)

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore (Parce que j'adore le  whimsical horror, y'all!) (You may wonder at my use of French and Southern U.S.A. slang in the same sentence. You see, at college, a very learned prof found me attempting to learn some French art song or other, and gave me some pointers on my pronunciation. On the word, "parle," he suggested I drawl like I was from Georgia, and from then on, nearly every time I've spoken my pseudo-French it's been with a southern accent. A really bad one, sure, but still. A girl's gotta amuse herself somehow...)

Right, so—that business sorted, I now present The Booker Award to these groovy gals:

Annalisa Crawford - Wake up, eat, write, sleep

Aurian - boeklogboek

Jackie Felger - Bouquet of Books

Kendra - Flame Writer

Lori - Romancing the Darkside

OK, that's it for me, folks. Thanks for stopping by and y'all come back soon, now, entendez-vous? (You're totally having a go at saying, "entendez-vous" with a Southern accent yourself now, aintcha? Don't try to deny it, I know you are.)

Dark Romance #5 ~ Christopher Moore's "Sacré Bleu"

Sacré Bleu et moi.

Y'all, in this brief study of dark romance I will shamelessly pimp the recent release of one of my favorite authors, Christopher Moore. Because I really think you should all pick up this New York Times Best Seller (#3!) tout de suite, this will be the first study I'll post sans spoilers (which pains me like you'd not believe, but damn it - it's for art!).

Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art  is about the color blue. And Impressionism/Post-Impressionism. And lots of shagging.

There, I bet that last part got your attention. (It always gets mine.)

Specifically, it's a bit of whimsically comical weirdness which follows young baker/painter Lucien Lessard and his BFF Henri Toulouse-Lautrec as they bumble about late 19th century Paris in search of answers to various questions: did their buddy, Vincent van Gogh, really kill himself? Why did the love of Lucien's life disappear and then reappear, seemingly out of the blue (if you'll pardon the pun)? Why are so many other artists dying of "locomotor ataxia" (a 19th C. doctor's euphemism for syphilis)? And what's up with the mysterious (and creepily annoying) Colorman, who keeps pushing them to buy his ultramarine paint?

Well, I promised to avoid spoiler-land, so I'm damned if I'll tell you - you'll just have to buy this kooky exploration of art, love, inspiration, and madness to find out. (Click here to read the first few chapters.)

The dark romance of it all: for Lucien and his beloved Juliette to enjoy a happily-ever-after, they have to do some bad, bad things...like, the things which led to all of the mysteries Lucien sought to uncover in the first place. And that's the rub in this terrific tale - Moore writes so richly of Lucien's boyhood and quirky family life, of his aspirations and passions, that I desperately want things to end well for Lucien. Only, the price which must be paid for his happiness is steep. By the time I finished the book I found myself wondering if I would be able to resist sacrificing my principles for love. And shagging. (It's the shagging that really shakes my conviction.) (Oh, right; like it doesn't shake yours.)

Monsieur Moore, Barnes & Noble Union Square, April 18, 2012.

If you ever get the chance, get yourself to one of Chris' book-signings - you can't call it a reading, 'cause Author Guy don't read. Instead, he treats his fans to a bit of literary/pop-culturey stand-up and sometimes talks about the book he's just published. I'd also suggest you follow him on the Twitter (@TheAuthorGuy). But be warned - his tweets'll have you snorting cafe au lait out your nose on a regular basis, so invest in tissues.