New this week at the ‘zoo:
Bite Me by Christopher Moore. Now, I love to read Christopher Moore, and I know I am not alone. So just the fact he releases is enough to get me to read it. ‘Cause I know I am going to laugh full all out belly laughs. This is the third book of the San Francisco Vampire trilogy.
“The city of San Francisco is being stalked by a huge shaved vampyre cat named Chet, and only I, Abby Normal, emergency backup mistress of the Greater Bay Area night, and my manga-haired love monkey, Foo Dog, stand between the ravenous monster and a bloody massacre of the general public.”
Whoa. And this is a love story? Yup. ‘Cept there’s no whining. See, while some lovers were born to run, Jody and Tommy were born to bite. Well, reborn, that is, now that they’re vampires. Good thing theirs is an undying love, since their Goth Girl Friday, Abby Normal, imprisoned them in a bronze statue.
Next we have Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, a big powerful sago of men in combat, written of the course of thirty-five years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran. Mark Bowden (author of Black Hawk Down) says of Matterhorn: “Here is storytelling so authentic, so moving and so intense, so relentlessly dramatic, that there were times I wasn’t sure I could stand to turn the page. . . . There have been some very good novels about the Vietnam War, but Matterhorn is the first great one, and I doubt it will ever be surpassed”
Born to Run by by Christopher McDougall. Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, 
cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.
Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel. The sophomore book from the author of Life of Pi takes on the question how to describe the things we are all familiar with, and apple, a sunny day. With all of the spirit and originality that made Life of Pi so beloved, Beatrice & Virgil the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity.