The Lost City of Z by David Grann

GOT MY JOB AT CHAPTERS! I’m super excited, my first day was today and I had an awesome time. There is some competition though, for now I’m only in a seasonal contract so I have to have an exceptional performance if I’m going to stay there long term. Other than that the only thing happening is me going to Douglas in September. Hooray for more school, study, and papers.

In 1925, the legendary British explorer Percy Fawcett ventured into the Amazon jungle, in search of a fabled civilization. He never returned. Over the years countless perished trying to find evidence of his party and the place he called "The Lost City of Z." In this masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, journalist David Grann interweaves the spellbinding stories of Fawcett's quest for "Z" and his own journey into the deadly jungle, as he unravels the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century.

Reading a non-fiction is a first for me, or at least the first time in a long time, and I admit that I thought it was fascinating. This book is a true story that is filled with real adventure, mystery, and suspense. This and the fact that the author get’s caught up in the obsession over Z just adds to the realism.

After a couple pages I was excited to follow Fawcett throughout several of his journey’s all the way through till the end, but this is not the case. Because it’s a non-fiction the author has to piece together the story from tidbits like Fawcett’s journal, letters written by people close to him, and accounts from other important people in the story. This makes the it less focused on adventure and more informative instead.

If you’re a history buff I recommend this novel. I think that after reading this I’ll have to browse the same section in Chapters more often. Despite it seeming like there were no more twists that could happen, the very ending proved that wrong. The Lost City of Z is a beautiful story of english explorers, amazon indians, and the quest for an ancient city.

I adored this novel, its  4 OUT OF 5. http://www.davidgrann.com/ Visit his website to check out his other book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes

Until  next time,

-MRR

World War Z by Max Brooks

Spent the weekend in Osoyoos and most of the days we were there it was cloudy, which is rare in that city. Oh well I finished WWZ today while tanning on my trampoline, enjoying the cold water from the sprinkler placed underneath. The reading contest going on at my local library is treating me well, I got a coupon for a free pizza which I ordered today. I’m just relaxed!

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

I didn’t have high expectations for this novel before I cracked the first page. There were many different things being said about World War Z and from what I could tell it was either a hit or miss with the readers. After finishing I could tell why, the novel is full of interviews from survivors of the war which is a unique way to write the entire book.

Because of this way of writing, WWZ might throw quite a few people off. There is no following a character through a secured plot while reading this book. I remember complaining about Soulless by Christopher Golden, which also was about zombies and had different viewpoints. I was surprised that by the time I reached the ending of this one I appreciated the overview effect given from the random perspectives.

Another thing about the writing that bothered me at the beginning was all of the technical terms that had to do with the military, including things like weapons, aircraft, vehicles etc. I got so lost in the intricate terms that it pulled me away from the story sometimes. After finishing the last page though I felt that brought more to the story than it did take away. I was won over in the end especially with the realism despite it being fiction. Brooks took many things into account like the different countries’ cultures, political leadership, and past wars. This book is very complex, I can admire that.

Check out Max Brook’s website http://maxbrooks.com/ he is a bit obsessed with zombies apparently. I’m going to give this one a 4 OUT OF 5. Thanks for another good read Alannis! I heard the movie sucks though.

Chow,

-MRR