Last week, I finished Station Eleven. If you haven't read it yet, please do it now! It is one of my favorite books of 2014. It is a dystopian novel that bounces between the present flu epidemic that is wiping out the population and twenty years in the future, where people are trying to rebuild civilization after the flu. Emily St. John Mandel does an incredible job with the description of the new society and how everything has changed. One thing that stuck out for me is that many people were either children when the epidemic hit or were born after everything changed. Because of this, there are a lot of things we take for granted that they don't remember: things like electricity, computers, telephones, credit cards . . . and even books and magazines!
So this made me think about what I would do for reading material if something like this happened. Yes, if the worst did happen my first thought would be about books, not inconsequential things like food and water. Obviously, if this happened my Kindle would become obsolete. No electricity = no ability to charge it. So what would I read? I would not be able to carry every book in my collection with me.
Then I began thinking about which books I would carry with me. These would have to be books I would not mind reading over and over again. I gave this a lot of thought and came up with these books:
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
- Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
What books would you carry with you in the event of an apocalypse?
Yes, electronic versions won't get you through an apocalypse! Which is a real shame, since the Kindle would have SO many books to read. Well, at least you picked out a few favorites to last you. :-) Shel Silverstein is a good one, since it's fun and light and has lots of different little poems to read.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure which books I'd bring. I normally don't re-read EVER, but I would have to make an exception in this case. So, I guess I'd bring along a few real favorites - maybe Hunger Games. Gosh, I can't even think! (I can never come up with all-time favorites!)
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Nicole, Hunger Games is a great choice either! Typically I don't reread very often because I have way too many on my TBR list. But in this case I would have to make an exception. Haha
DeleteWow, I think I need to rethink my use of e-readers! I never considered what would happen in case of an apocalypse. Have you read The 5th Wave? The main character carries around Shel Silverstein! Those are some great choices. I'd probably bring Lamb by Christopher Moore, the Lord of the Rings (if I could find some light weight paperbacks), and Outlander, for starters. What a great question... now you've got me thinking!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I have read 5th Wave and I love it. I completely forgot that she carried him around! So funny. And I just bought a 50th anniversary edition of Where the sidewalk ends and I believe that book made me remember how much I loved him. Ha.
DeleteOoh! Love this! Of course the first thing I thought of was Harry Potter. And I agree, To Kill a Mockingbird definitely makes the cut. I love that you included Shel Silverstein in your list. I think I would also want Pride and Prejudice and probably Hamlet. And maybe Austenland. (I'm going to need a really big apocalypse back pack.)
ReplyDeleteYes, a bigger backpack is essential!! I would probably want more books than the four, but I have a feeling I would have to limit myself. I have never actually read the Harry Potter books though. Great choices on Pride and Prejudice and Hamlet.
DeleteI'm reading Station Eleven right now. I don't think I can pick just a few books to go with me during the apocalypse. Eeep.
ReplyDeleteJoyousreads, I hope you are enjoying Station Eleven! I know, picking just a few books is so hard!
DeleteThe Hunger Games! This is a no brainer for me. I would just grab my box set (likely instead of water or something essential) and go hide and read until whatever was attacking likely killed me.
ReplyDeleteWhat we SHOULD do is arrange an apocalypse reading meetup, so we can all share our favorite books. It'd be like an end of days library! I haven't read the books you'd bring, though I'd really like to. See, it works? ;)
Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight
Haha Shannon, that is hilarious. Hunger Games sounds like a great choice to wait for whoever is around to kill you. And yes, a meet up group for all us book nerds would be an amazing idea!! We could all bring our favorites and swap them out for others. So when the worst does happen, we must plan where to meet BEFORE the Internet goes down! Haha
DeleteI would probably bring my signed books and arc copies during an apocalypse hahaha They are my most precious treasures heheh
ReplyDeletewww.lite-rate-ture.com
Chyna, ha. great plan. If I had any signed books, I would probably do the same thing.
DeleteI need to read Station Eleven, everyone just seems to love it! And I really enjoyed TSOT. I'd bring all my Tana French books. Actually maybe I'd move into a bookshop after the apocalypse! Might as well shelter there as anywhere else!
ReplyDeleteTrish, oh now that sounds like a great idea! Moving into a bookshop or even a library would be awesome. That is the dream. I think the only people who would loot those would be fellow book nerds. So maybe we would be safe. Ha
DeleteWe be so busy reading, recommending and discussing all the books that we'd probably forget all about the apocalypse! In my head this bookshop is next door to a grocery story too! Sorted! :)
DeleteTrish, haha you are so right. My mom always said I could read even if the world were coming to an end and I am sure she is right. It would be so convenient for a bookstore to be next to a grocery store. But I would settle for a coffee shop. I can live off coffee and pastries. Ha
DeleteThanks for making me smile - a true booklover must have a contingency plan for a potential apocalypse ;-)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year
http://cleopatralovesbooks.wordpress.com
Thanks Cleo! So funny that most people would be concerned about food or shelter and I would be concerned about books. Ha. Happy New Year to you as well!
DeleteThis is why you get a solar powered thingy to charge it with. lol. Seriously though, I so agree with you on Sea of Tranquility. Such a fantastic book.
ReplyDeleteChristy, that would be a great idea! Wait, do they make those? If not, I'm inventing it. Ha
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