"Ruh-Roh!" Animals after the end of the world

This is, hands down, the trippiest book I've read this year and the only thing I can even sort of compare it to is Jeff Noon's Vurt. It came to me as a gift from "The Kitties" according to the Christmas tag, and its plot revolves around animals gifted with intelligence by a race of giant ants. Nope, you didn't read that wrong; I told you it was trippy! The ants transform the animals and begin attacking the people, triggering an apocalypse (such a popular theme in the last several years).

My favorite detail was the name of the ant queen: Hymenoptera Unus. Living with a brilliant entomologist who is always teaching me things like, "No, dear, that giant, squealing insect invader is not a roach, it's a stridulating beetle," I recognized hymenoptera as the order of insects that encompasses ants, wasps, and bees. (It was a proud moment.)

Mort(e) isn't just fun and fantastical; it examines the limits and duties of friendship and it also calls on its readers to examine their relationship with the other creatures on the planet - and will send more than a few shivers up the spine!

Speaking of "the way you shake and shiver..."

I have wonderful memories of watching Scooby Doo marathons with my cousins, passing mystery colored popcorn back and forth and trying to guess who was really behind that mask, so when I saw this title pop up, I had to have it, even though my husband rolled his eyes and predicted that it would be terrible.

Well, I am here, happily, to report that he was wrong! While Scooby Apocalypse did preserve some of the trademarks of the cartoon like "Zoinks!" and "Jinkies!" and Fred's affection for Daphne, it gave others like the Mystery Machine and Scooby's ability to talk a cool reboot - and had a rollicking plot to boot in which the population is turned into the very monsters that the cartoon characters once investigated... but this time there's no mask! I can't wait to see how this one progresses!