The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness - 317 pages

Once again the indie kids are battling an apocalyptic event.  The Immortals are trying to enter and take over our world.  They're fighting to save not just their lives, but the entire world.  But that isn't this story.  This is the story of the regular kids -- the kids just hoping to make it to graduation before the high school is blown up  . . . again.

I listened to this on audio.  I truly enjoyed the book. It was interesting to see the "story" from the point of view other than the Chosen One.

School-Live!, v. 2-6 by Norimitsu Kaihou

School-Live!, v. 2 by Norimitsu Kaihou - 178 pages
School-Live!, v. 3 by Norimitsu Kaihou - 178 pages
School-Live, v. 4 by Noritmitsu Kaihou - 178 pages
School-Live!, v. 5 by Norimitsu Kaihou - 178 pages
School-Live!, v. 6 by Norimitsu Kaihou - 178 pages

The series continues to relate the adventures of the members of the School-Live Club as they navigate through a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies.  The girls find another survivor, discover a mysterious file about the infection that caused the zombies, and head out to find other survivors.
I am really enjoying this series.  It's interesting to see how the girls all respond to their circumstances in different ways.  I also love a good conspiracy theory in my stories and the mysterious company that produced files on what to do if these circumstances is pretty good.  I'm definitely looking forward to reading more in the series.

School-Live, v. 1 by Sadoru Chiba & Norimitsu Kaihou

School-Live, v. 1 by Sadoru Chiba & Norimitsu Kaihou - 178 pages

Kurumi thinks school is the best place ever.  She loves the classes and her extracurricular club -- School Living Club!  They just have to watch out for the zombies intent on killing them all.

This was interesting to read as it took a while to figure out that there had been a zombie apocalypse.  I'm interested to find out exactly what happened to Kurumi that she doesn't realize there has been one.

DEEP SHADOWS by Vannetta Chapman

Deep Shadows by Vannetta Chapman - 512 pages

When technology is wiped out by a major solar flare people and communities are tested severely.  This one was a page turner.  I believe there are a lot of facts mingled with fiction here that helps with learning how to be prepared for a major disaster.

Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer - 208 pages

For a depressing time, call this book.

No, really.  Here we are, hanging out with a biologist on an expedition with three other scientists who have been sent to explore Area X.  They know that the previous twelve (is it twelve?) expeditions have all failed in one way or another; some people come back with terminal cancer, others don't come back at all...so why would anyone volunteer to go again?  As the book unfolds, the biologist's reasons become semi-clear, but not before a conspiracy of her fellow expeditionists, the people that sent them, and even Area X itself are thrown in the mix.

The thing is, this book reads like a bad dream.  Everyone is broken, including the narrator, and that equates to neurotic internal dialogues and paranoia.  There's violence and revelatory discoveries and betrayal, but the narration wrestles around in a scratchy, depressing blanket of bland descriptions and not quite enough clear information to really make sense of anything.  You can infer, you can guess, but the answers just aren't there.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, 336 pages

Station Eleven is one of those books that I can't really pinpoint WHY I loved it, but I did. This story follows a few characters through a deadly virus that kills 99.9% of the population and out the other side. We follow an actor and all of his wives, a wanna-be paramedic, a young actress, a traveling symphony and acting troupe, and a deadly prophet. All the threads come together, though you are still left with questions. I truly hope this becomes a series.

Puella Magi Oriko Magica by Magica Quartet

Puella Magi Oriko Magica, v.1 by Magica Quartet - 144 pages
Puella Magi Oriko Magica, v. 2 by Magica Quartet - 160 pages

In this manga two-book series, Oriko has a vision of the future where her hometown is destroyed by a witch.  So she sets out to kill the girl before she can get her powers.

This series did not make any sense to me.  The characters were not developed in any way.  And it was difficult to distinguish in the artwork between the characters sometimes.  When I looked it up online I discovered that this is actually a sub-series to the Puella Magi manga series.  Maybe if I had read the others it would have made more sense.  A lot of the stuff they had in the synopsis was not evident in the books at all to a reader new to the series.

Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson

Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson - 362 pages

In the first book "Robopocalypse" mankind thought they had defeated the rogue artificial intelligence known as Archos and were now being faced with having to rebuild a world devastated through insurrection by technology that was originally meant to help us.  An intelligence framed by millions of lines of machine code though is very hard to kill and numerous threats still remain.  Continuing the style of the first book, the narrative is a series of first person reports from a wide cast of characters both human and mechanical and even hybrid.  Fans of dystopian future books, Battlestar Galactica, and the Terminator series will find a lot to like in this series.     

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith - 388 pages

This book takes the standard teen dystopian novel and stands it on its head.  95% of the book covers the events leading up to the end of the world with very little spent on living in the aftermath.

Austin and his best friend Robby live in the small town of Ealing, IA.  Austing is very confused by his feelings both for Robby and his girlfriend Shann and terrified of losing them both.  Robby and Austin accidentally unleash a terrifying sequence of events involving the release of plague that creates an army of super amorous and super hungry six foot tall praying mantises. 

Austin is the first person  narrator of the story which can be grating at times because he jumps around much like the reader is hearing the story from a scattered teen but that technique does give a realism to what is essentially science fiction.  The start is slow but I would recommend this book for mature teens and adults who like science fiction and unique narrative voices.   

This book has been optioned as a movie by Sony Pictures: https://movies.yahoo.com/news/sony-pictures-acquires-grasshopper-jungle-coming-age-tale-003224088.html

MSCHMITT--- Virulent: the Release, by Shelbi Wescott, 350 pages

Virulent: the Release, by Shelbi Wescott, 350 pages

***POSTED FOR MOLLY SCHMITT***

Dystopian thriller!  Think bio-terrorism, the apocalypse, and being stuck in your high school during it.

Breath by Jackie Morse Kessler

Breath by Jackie Morse Kessler, 321 pages
Final book in the Riders of the Apocalypse Series

WOW! This book is a must read when it is finally out for sale on April 16th, 2013. I could not put it down. The only bad thing about the book is the fact that it is the final in the Riders of the Apocalypse series. Each of the four books in the series deal with issues. In Hunger, the first I read, the issue of eating disorders is brought up and exposed to the light. In Loss, the second, the issue of bullying and also Alzheimers was addressed. In Rage, we learn about cutting and uncontrolled anger. In Breath the issue is depression. While you are waiting for the book to be published, pick up the three others in the series and read them first. Otherwise, you'll be completely lost in this story. A word of warning, all of Kessler's books have adult content including language. They are very good reads, though, and would be fine for teens _AT LEAST_ 15 or older.

Good Omens: the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Good Omens: the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, 412 pages

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett team up to write a very funny and very British book about the end of the world.  When the devil decides that it's time to send the Antichrist to earth in order to get started on the apocalypse, an angel and demon accustomed to the ways of London scheme to prevent the world's demise.  This book was very funny, full of typical Pratchett footnotes, names, and turns of phrase.  There are actually several interlocking storylines, including a young witch who has a book detailing the end of the world, a gang of kids who don't know that one of them is the son of the devil, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse, who actually ride motorcycles.

The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions from Pop Culture That You Should Know by Laura Barcella

The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions from Pop Culture That You Should Know . . . Before It's Too Late by Laura Barcella - 157 pages

I picked up this book thinking about the Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012.  I was thinking it would talk about various theories on how the world was going to end.  Instead it is a look at 50 different books, movies, plays, artwork, and songs that discuss either an apocalypse or the end of the world.  I discovered several movies and books that I'm interested in reading / watching.  The only issue I had was that some of the entries seemed a little dated like maybe they were written several years before some of the others.