Early Book Review: A History of the Undead: Mummies, Vampires and Zombies by Charlotte Booth

A History of the Undead: Mummies, Vampires and Zombies by Charlotte Booth is a nonfiction book currently scheduled for release on January 31 2021. Are you a fan of the undead? Watch lots of Mummy, zombie and vampire movies and TV shows? Have you ever wondered if they could be 'real'? This book unravels the truth behind these popular reanimated corpses. Starting with the common representations in Western Media through the decades, we go back in time to find the origins of the myths. Using a combination of folklore, religion and archaeological studies we find out the reality behind the walking dead. You may be surprised at what you find.

A History of the Undead is an informative, entertaining, and engaging read. I like that the author acknowledges the amount of information of the subjects in the world, and that they are only tackling a fairly small segment of it. By focusing only on the subject in one part of the world she was able to get a great deal of detail about the undead in Western culture. If they had tried to tackle the whole world this would have had to be a multi-volume set. Although, I would not mind seeing this fleshed out to a more inclusive and expansive series including all cultures. I enjoyed seeing stories I knew from history, and some of the entertainment items I have enjoyed get mentioned. I was sad to see some things I thought would have added to the book left out (particularly a couple zombie books that stood out to me) and mentioning certain movies (like Dark Shadows) without referring to the television series that it was based on. However, I also got a chance to get the names for some books, movies, and games that I have missed over the years and will now get to enjoy. These subjects are vast, and while there where some missing things along the way, and some chooses in wording of information here or there that had me less than thrilled, I think the author did a good job of getting the information compiled in a readable and engaging fashion. The recovered English major that I am, I was thrilled to see proper citing of sources, et all. Way too often I see nonfiction materials for a variety of audiences that fail to do so. 

A History of the Undead is a well written and researched introduction to the evolution of mummies, zombies, and vampires in western cultures, entertainment, and media.

Book Review: More Than Magic by Kathryn Lasky

More Than Magic by Kathryn Lasky is a middle grade novel that combines a Cinderlla style story with a touch of television and computer coding. Ryder Holmsby is the same age as Rory, the popular TV cartoon character her animator parents created. Ryder and Rory are alike—bold and brave! But Ryder is a bit lonely: Mom passed away a couple of years ago, and Dad is dating a woman with snooty teenage daughters. Ryder doesn’t fit in with them at all.  And then: Shazam! Rory jumps out of the TV into Ryder’s bedroom to tell her that the TV studio behind her parents’ show is trying to turn Rory into a dopey princess, no more adventures. She needs Ryder’s help! The two girls team up with a crew of animated and real-life friends to save the day in both worlds


More Than Magic is an interesting take on the Cinderella tale. Ryder's mother was a force larger than life, full of energy and creativity. When she died Ryder and her father lost some of their spark, and her father has fallen prey to a scheming woman looking for fame and fortune for her family. Part of her plan is to change Rory from a brave adventurer that resembles Ryder to a princess that is older, curvy, and more like one of her daughters. Family crisis and changes combined with the fight against those changes has Ryder and her friends journeying between the real world, the television, and the computers that create and store the television show. A variety of characters and adventures keep things interesting, but while we get a reasonably deep look as some of the characters I really never felt fully connected to any of them. The all felt like part of a show rather than the book in my hands. I am not sure what did not click, but while I loved the idea of the story and where it was going I never felt fully engaged.


More Than Magic is a good adventure for those of us who always enjoyed the rough and tumble part of an adventure more than the princess being rescued from the tower and getting married. Readers with a deep love of TV magic and how animation is done will have an extra interest and understanding of some of the adventure Ryder, Rory, and their friends undertake.