Weekly Reading in Zone One

Recently Finished
Zone One, Colson Whitehead. In this wry take on the post-apocalyptic horror novel, a pandemic has devastated the planet. The plague has sorted humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead.

My rules for surviving the zombie-pocalypse in Zone One.
• Rule #1 Shit happens - don't waste time trying to figure out why.
• Rule #2 Adapt or die - don't waste time trying to figure out why.
• Rule #3 If you find yourself getting comfortable after you adapt, refer to Rule #1 - because the shit's about to hit the fan AGAIN!

When did zombie books start getting so deep and with meaningful undertones?! The first few chapters of the book were a bit of slow going for me, and the main character, Mark Spitz, is one depressed and depressing survivor. But I'm so glad I stuck with this book because it just kept getting better and better - the reading, not the situations in the book ... because Whitehead is a cruel author. He gave us a little, teeny-tiny glimmer of hope, and then crushed it with a monster size hammer ... i.e. refer to the rules above! This book is dark and not even really about the zombies (I mean there's plenty of them running around, but there is a deeper meaning). It's about surviving once the World as you know it has been taken away from you. Do you try to rebuild & live like the "old days" or do you adapt and change - even to a World that's not to your liking?

I need to read a happy book after this one.

Currently Reading

The Magician King, Lev Grossman. This is book 2 of The Magicians series - I just read book 1 a few weeks ago (see Weekly Reading with The Magicians), and I'm having some of the same problems with this book - the main character Quentin, and his friends, just follow any damn thing that random strangers tell them to do. Are they supposed to be mid-20s or pre-teens?!
Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.

Imaginary Girls, Nova Ren Suma. Finally! I've only been talking about trying to get to this book for the last month!
Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby. But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await.

Next Up
Not sure - with the Christmas holidays coming up, home improvement projects & family visiting - I'm not sure how much time I'll have to read. If I get through those 2 books above, I'm going to pick something from The 10 Oldest Booklist Books That Need to Be Read.

- What are you looking forward to reading this week?
- via Book Journey's What are you reading meme.