Not All of Them About Zombies: A Book Review

Hey there. I need to read more. I haven't read a good book since my last attempt to read literary classics. I bought 2 books that I have read and love, Siddhartha and Cather in the Rye, and that was about it. Now that there's a Kindle Fire in the house, I'm going to try this reading business again.  I think it's great that you can borrow books to read if you're an Amazon Prime member and I'm hoping to get some reading done using the service.  The first book up for review? Not All of Them About Zombies by Matthew Rowe.

Not All of Them About Zombies is a collection of short stories. The short stories range from humorous to horror. At 196 pages, it is a pretty short book that can be finished in a single sit through. Even though the stories are short, they are thought provoking and the absolute best part of the book is the introduction. It gives a glimpse of Matthew Rowe's train of thought of how the story came to be. It gives you that insight that makes you want to read the stories to see how they panned out.  I found that after reading the short introduction, I wanted to skip ahead to check out the story.  What twist did he add?  How was his interpretation of a thought was a conveyed?  What spin on a classic tale did he use?  The only problem that I had with the introduction is that all of the stories introductions were grouped together.  It would have been better if the intro were to be placed right before the story.  This would avoid having to go back and re-read the intro before reading the short story, like I did for each one.

My favorite short from this book is definitely Don't Fear the Reaper.  Not only is it an awesome title (Blue Oyster Cult!!!!) but the story is intriguing.  In short, it's a day in the life of Death.  lol  How can you NOT want to read that?!?  Then there's Happily Ever After, a short about Little Red Riding Hood AFTER the traumatizing events of her ordeal with the wolf.  Interesting to say the least.  There's also a great poem about zombies, which actually is all about zombies.  lol  There are 11 short stories in this collection and each one has a great feel and tone to them.  Matthew Rowe really went all over the map with this one, even writing an explicit short on a young man's experience with a woman.  Here's the official book description from Amazon:

Ever wondered how Little Red Riding Hood would grow up after her traumatic experience with the wolf, or how you might react when you wake up in someone else's body? What happens when a man shares a night of passion with a woman from his dreams and a young boy comes face to face with his fears personified?  This eclectic anthology blends genres and crosses the limits of your imagination to bring you tales of breathtaking adventure, disturbing unreality and many unexpected twists. Varying from horror to fantasy, comedy to science-fiction, it ensures there is something for everyone who seeks escapism in their reading.

The stories are not difficult to read and understand so you don't need to be a scholar to enjoy this book. It's evenly paced and well thought out. Each short story can hold its own and because of it, you'll want to continue to the next chapter to read the next one. For those of us that are reading on the go, take a peek into Not All of Them About Zombies. It's fun, it's witty, and once you open it up, you will be hooked.  I definitely enjoyed it and I'm sure you guys will too. If you have a Kindle, you can get the E-Book edition for free if you are a prime member from Amazon.  If you don't own one, it's ok, you can still check out the paperback edition.  Later!