The Zombie Survival Guide

Again, I feel the need to give a shoutout to all the people who think up things like this. Zombie apocalypse movies, books, and shows are one thing, but a survival guide is in a league of it's own when it comes to genius.
Written by Max Brooks (the author of 'World War Z,' which although I haven't read is supposed to be good), The Zombie Survival Guide is marketed as a book not for the "police, military, or any government agency," but for the common citizen. At the period when this book is set, zombies have become prominent in the world, with there numbers reaching several million, but have yet to become a global threat. In preparation for the possible incline in the zombies population, the book urges you to create a plan to defend yourself. This includes scouting out your area for possible shelters, fortifying your home, and training for combat situations. Advice on running, fighting, and defending your self and area from the horde is all readily available. Even better, the first chapter details all the misconceptions and truths about the zombie- dispelling any doubts in the readers mind about what they will be facing should the zombie threat increase. The author, in short, is so dedicated to the survival of the human race that every aspect of zombie survival is gone over in acute detail. He even outlines what to do should your group be practically the last on earth. And then comes the final chapter, which outlines practically every zombie outbreak ever recorded. And that is where I lost interest in the book.
You could easily argue, at this point, that I am not a true zombie fan, as clearly if I was I would enjoy every word of the 64-page long final chapter. Unfortunately, you would be right. I have only seen a few episodes of The Walking Dead and have never read the books. I have never watched Night Of The Living Dead and have no plans to in the immediate future. I have never read World War Z, as previously mentioned. And perhaps that is why I very nearly fell asleep reading this last chapter (to be fair, the night I read almost all of the book was my first successful attempt at staying awake for a full twenty-four hours). This chapter completely killed the momentum that the very enjoyable rest-of-book created. There are only so many stories of zombies moving into a pack of armed men and not dying despite being blown to smithereens that I can take in one night.The repetition was driving me mad.
And so I will give this book a new record rating for this blog of 7.8. Perhaps it could have gotten a full 8 or even 8.5 if it had not been for the buzz-killing ending and my determination to save the higher ratings for only the books that completely blow me out of the water. But still, a 7.8 rating is very respectable in my eyes, and so I recommend this book for anyone who likes the concept of zombies and has a sense of humour. Tell me how you like the book in the comments below, or when me and you are both struggling to survive the apocalypse and meet up in a corpse-strewn street. Until that time, thanks for reading, and I'll see you as soon as I can. Cheers,
Mark

Upcoming reviews; City of the Beasts, Lord Of The Rings The Fellowship Of The Ring Book Two, and Fighting Fantasy. If there is any book which you would like to have reviewed, please let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do :)

Cracking Codes & Cryptograms For Dummies

If your anything like me, the mere fact that this book exists is mind-blowing. I personally have always found the subject fascinating, although I have only once tried to actually solve a code, and that attempt was met with dismal failure. And so, any code-cracking attempts of mine were postponed. But when I found this book at the library while searching for books on a completely unrelated topic, my old desire to crack codes was instantly rekindled, and my mind was promptly blow open, causing quite the ruckus in the library. Sorry, EPL. But I mean, anyone who decides to write a book on cracking codes deserves a tip of the hat in my book. The "For Dummies" series, I salute you.
Now, this book is impressive. With over 350 codes, it has enough material to keep you going for months. It also has a mercifully brief introduction and history of codes chapter (I tend to force myself to read every word of a book, so the shorter opening allowed me to quickly get to the good stuff. However, if you do want more info on the history of codes, the book suggests another half dozen titles for further reading) and hints and answers for every code in the book at the back. It was another pleasant surprise to find that the section on how to solve the codes is a mere twenty pages. I myself have only read the instructions on how to solve three different codes so far, and have only tried solving four codes in total. These were, of course, ranked as easy, and I found them... well... easy. It was almost boring solving them, as the book gives you instructions on how to solve all the types of codes in the book, and then gives you the code type for every code, and so it was a mere matter of following the instructions. And this gives rise to my only worry so far about the book; that the codes are too easy. Then again, I probably won't be thinking that by the time I try the "treacherous" codes! (I'll follow up on that later with either an update or a note in another review).
So if your into this sort of thing, definitely give this book a try. I think it's pretty cool myself, and I hope you do to. Thanks for reading and until next time,
Mark

(Okay, update. After trying a few "treacherous" codes I can conclude that the "rail fence ciphers" are very doable, but some of the other codes require much more trial and error and so are much more difficult. My one worry has been dispelled. This book is awesome :)