I hadn't originally been planning on reading Feed - despite several friends having liked it, it was zombie horror stuff and not my usual fare and I had other books waving "pick me, pick me!" from the shelves. And then it was up for the Hugo, at which point it moved into the category of "ooh, well written zombie horror stuff" and was suddenly on my to-read list.
It jumped up when it happened to be the only book in my hometown library on that list and I needed something to read over the weekend.

It was brilliant. It was also not horror, at least, not in the way I think about horror. I was certainly horrified at some of the occurrences, but it's not horror unless it's the monsters that scare you. Feed isn't about what the zombies can do to you. It's about what the people can. It's a book about liberty and safety and what it means to be free and tell the truth. It's an allegory of post-9/11 America and what we, as a people, have lost and are losing when we submit to fear mongering (our own humanity, perhaps?).
It is also a very good story. If it were merely a metaphor (and I have this theory...okay, rant, that the zombie and the vampire are always metaphors. However, in the hands of a talented author, they are both metaphor and reified figure), then I probably would have agreed with it, but would not have enjoyed it half as much as I did. She blends fast-paced and well thought out (if a bit predictable at times) storytelling with a powerful, though not overpowering message. Her tone is a bit young and amateurish, which perfectly reflects the twenty-something blogger in whose voice the story is told. It was un-put-downable (except when I had to put it down and go to two weddings) and well-crafted and I loved it. I am rarely this pleased to be wrong.