I am Legend by Richard Matheson

Now this was quite a book. And one which, although sharing its name, is not much like the film.Those who has seen the film of the same name starring Will Smith will know that the story features a post-apocalyptic plague which has turned all humans into creatures allergic to sunlight and thirsty for blood.

These two vampiric concepts are pretty much the only ones which follow the book other than the protagonist called Robert Neville who is locked up in his own house and is immune to the virus.

So what does the book tell us?

A strange germ has formed which, once it is inside the human bloodstream, turns said human into a blood sucking vampire (the genuine term used in the book) which is also allergic to sunlight, lives in the dark/comes out at night and will do anything to kill that human. In the book, however, the vampires are able to speak.

Robert Neville is immune to the germ (we find out how later on in the book) and after losing his family, has little choice but to survive and research this germ.

We travel through three years of his life which includes flashbacks, alcoholism, experiments and a stray dog. Robert Neville is one of those characters who is just determined to find out what is happening, find other humans and live happily ever after. However, as with all thrillers, this doesn't exactly go to plan and Neville is pretty much "screwed" without already knowing it.

Although it took me 5 days to read the story, it was only really a short one of 96 pages. With this in mind, it should be said that the book needn't be any longer as it tells all we need to know.

Despite being loosely the same story, the book and film could hardly be compared and are generally two different vampire stories with the same name. That's not to say it should go a miss, especially if you like an easy read with "death, vampires and whiskey" (Copyright quote, 2011).

So, if you happen to come across I Am Legend anywhere, give it a read.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

So I finally finished a book. And a pretty decent one it was too, albeit weird.

I picked up Metamorphosis from a library sometime last year along with The trial also by Kafka, but never opened it. However, now that it is one of the many books on my e-reader, I have easy and fast access to it.

So what is the book about? Well, the protagonist, Gregor, wakes up one morning to find that he's transformed into a bug. The story then tells of the next four months of how his family slowly start neglecting him and no longer want anything to do with him due to being this horrible greasy bug (which is never actually told of but the description makes it pretty obvious).

Being a very short book of only 50 pages, not a lot can be written about this book without spoiling it too much so I'll leave it there for the time being.

My opinionated thoughts on the book, however, are very positive. It may have been short and weird but I found it to be a good read.

I could have read it in a day but due to the beautiful London weather we've been having, reading has been one of the last of my worries, I've had more interest in making paper plate masks and playing football at 12 midnight, but that's an entirely different subject/story.

If you're looking for a quick read, Metamorphosis is a book I'd recommend picking up (Animal Farm is probably another but I haven't read that yet...). You could even pick it up if you're looking for a good read also. I have another Kafka book in my reader so that should be popping up in the future.

Although it was a good read I couldn't say it's one of my best reads.

Overall rating: 3/5