You could probably also call this one the Jonathan Maberry edition, as I have this tendency to find an author I like and read as much as I can written by them.

So first on the shelf is the first zombie book I ever read, Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry. This is the first book in the Benny Imura series, contains one of the best first lines ever: “Benny Imura couldn’t hold a job, so he took to killilng.” Benny’s world is zombie infested. His brother is a bounty hunter, and while Benny doesn’t want to join the family business, he reluctantly take up the same mantle as Tom: killing zombies. What he finds out in the process is that sometimes humans lack humanity.

Next up on the shelf is My Rotten Life by David Lubar. My Rotten Life is the first book in the Nathan Abercrombie Accidental Zombie book, and very different from Benny Imura. Nathan is 10, and things kind of suck for him. He’s one of those kids who doesn’t get invited to the birthday parties and is always picked last in gym class. Then to top it all off, he has a run in with an experimental serum that turns him into a half dead zombie. Which isn’t too bad since he doesn’t feel pain and he doesn’t need sleep, but still. He’d rather be human.  Lubar’s novels tend to be rather humorous, and I’m sure Nathan finds himself in rather amusing situations as he searches for a cure to his zombie-ness throughout this series.

The next title on the shelf is currently checked out of my collection, but I wanted to tell you about it anyway. It’s Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalastier. This book is a collection of short stories that are either about zombies, or about unicorns.  The author of each story has a different and interesting take on the legends behind both of these creatures.  And its…well…awesome. TEAM UNICORN!

Last on the shelf, to bookend this episode is Patient Zero, the first book in the Joe Ledger series also by Jonathan Maberry. I would put this one in the adult fiction category more than the YA category. Joe Ledger is a detective in the Baltimore counterterrorism unit. He’s recruited to join a secret government group called the Department of Military Science, whose goal is to catch a group of terroroists who have a biological weapon that can turn people into zombies.