I asked Kim if I could do a post while she was on her well deserved break and to my great delight she said yes! The problem was I did not know what to talk about, so after a quick moment of contemplation my eye landed on an early Christmas present form my girlfriends parents. The wonderful book Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and so I thought I would share with you’ll my thoughts on this book and its friend Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Now these two books, from Quirk Books, are fantastic! They are mash-up works combining the classic novels of Jane Austen with zombie crunching mayhem as it he case with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and deadly sea creatures in Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

I’ll start with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This book sticks very close to the original by Jane Austen but has several very important differences. The major one being that zombies, or the unmentionables in polite conversation, roam the English countryside devouring all who fall into their path. The second difference is the Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters are all highly trained zombie killers. Their mother is still trying to marry them all off to wealthy suitors and Elizabeth still does clash with Mr. Darcy who is very accomplished zombie killer. But like all good Jane Austen books it does all work out in the end.

Throw in a few ninjas, zombie brides and you have a great read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Jane Austen and zombies.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is the second of Quirk Books mash-ups and it is a great read just like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. While Pride and Prejudice and Zombies sticks close to the story line of the original, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is very different from its original. It is a mix of a Jane Austen love story and a Jules Verne adventure, with a leviathan, undersea cities, the Devonshire Fang-Beast and a French orangutan servant you have a cracking read that is full of laughs and will bring a smile to anyone’s dial. Happy Reading!

Have an awesomesauce day!
Crumble the Elder

Chris is a high school teacher in Central Otago. He’s a little geeky, loves history, and blogs about the things he does and loves at crumbleincromwell. Check it.

The 6th instalment of the Harry Potter story is much darker, brooding, better directed, better shot, more emotional, and draws you in more than all those before it. Malfoy looks like a young man instead of a child, Luna is still wacky, and Snape is as brooding and drawling as ever (delightfully, he’s my fave!).

I had heard that this movie was darker than the others but I didn’t realise it would be so beautiful. Everything is superbly shot, and the story is played out as well as can be expected in a short time span. I found myself laughing and crying and getting pissed at the girls all around me jacked up on sugar and excitement who wouldn’t stop giggling for seemingly no reason.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a movie I could watch again just for the artistry. A small screen won’t do it justice, you’ll need to see this one at the movies.

[potential spoiler]

And make sure you’ve read the book first because a lot of it is left out of the movie, I don’t know how the last two movies have been written but things left out of this movie will affect the next two. And once you’ve read the book you might have a better understanding of what some of the giggling and awing is about.

If you’ve seen the movie Wikipedia has a great section on the differences between the movie and the book.

4.5/5