Kiss Of Life (Generation Dead #2)

*Spoilers......and overall uninteresting if you haven't read Generation Dead*
After Adam is killed by Pete, a zombie hater, he returns to life.  Phoebe  feels love and guilt that Adam died saving her.  Since Adam is techincally still walking around, Pete was not convicted of murder.  Phoebe spends a lot of time with Adam since she was told that love brings the undead back faster.  Adam struggles with simple movement and speech.  The rights of the undead are being tried.  Groups are out to see the zombies returned to complete death or to do scientific research on them.

I could go on and on but the book really wasn't as good as the first one.  I was excited to pick this book up to see what happened with the zombie love triangle between Phoebe and Adam and Tommy.  I wish I had only checked it out from the library instead of purchasing it.  It took forever for the book to go anywhere.  Not until the very end is there very much action but it felt unfinished.  I hate second books that are merely a bridge to book three.

I will definitely read the next book in the series, "Passing Strange", because it has one of the better characters, Karen, a zombie sometimes passing as human.  By the end of the book we are unsure what has happened to her.  I have the feeling that there will be loose ends even as the series wraps up.  I also have suspicions about what will happen next and will be glad to have everything explained.

Rating 3 Meh.......
Rating PG 13 Death, zombies, murder, torture, language.

The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Stockett's first book is written about the changing of race tides during the 1960's, in the hot bed of Jackson Mississippi. The focus is on three strong women. Normally I would not enjoy a book based on women because they tend to destroy others to get their strength. I did however love this book. These women put aside their own safety to bring about change in a nonviolent manner. I loved each character as I learned about their lives, their struggle, their anger, their pain, their love and their relationships with the white women they worked for.

Aibileen is a black maid that has been raising white children for her whole career. What pains her is that she loves them and they grow up to be like their mothers, not liking her for the color of her skin.

Skeeter is a young white woman with the deep desire to become a writer. She has gone to college and returned to Jackson. She is living with her parents and trying to fit into Jackson society. She begins to really see the way that the 'help' are treated when her one time dear friend wants to pass an initiative to make sure the 'help' have their own bathrooms outside of the houses they serve in. Skeeter realizes she may have a story to tell.

Minny is another black maid. Minny has a mouth. She has been fired from many jobs and her last one for a 'Terrible, Awful' thing. She was blessed enough to land a job working for Miss Celia. Miss Celia landed one of Jackson's elite men even though she is what the society girls consider tacky and white trash.

Skeeter first convinces Aibileen to help her with her secret book project. Aibileen then convinces Minny and finally many more black maids to tell their stories.....the bad and the good. The book takes off like never expected. The time is just after the murder of Medgar Evers and just near the march on Washington. Bit by bit the times are changing but the women realize they may have endangered their own lives and the lives of their families.

This was a great book to emotionally connect with a time that I am glad I never had to be a part of.

Rating 4
Rating PG 13 Race violence, murder, domestic violence, critical issues, graphic miscarriage, alcoholism.