From One Book Lover

I do not think book blurbists and I read the same book. Offbeat office novel? Apocalyptic satire? Wry? Witty? Yeah, we definitely read different novels. Before we begin, here is your spoiler alert: I will reveal plot points in this review that may spoil the story for you. Please proceed at your own risk. Okay, good? Are we ready? Let's get to work. Candace is employed by a midtown Manhattan book publishing company and oversees production of their Christian Bibles. Her parents are dead, her extended family is in China, and her boyfriend lives with few attachments to "place." She is more attached to "place," but her roots are shallow. So when Shen Fever hits,  she views it very differently than her coworkers and her love. They have family and friends, options and networks. She has a lapsed photo blog and her mother's salad spinner. Her employer takes advantage of that and gives her an anchor: "manage" the building for a period of ti...

It comes out of nowhere and takes the world by surprise, a new virus with a near-total mortality rate. What it does to humanity is devastating. What humanity does in its aftermath is fascinating. In Station Eleven , watch the world through the eyes of people with connection to a single person: the world-famous Arthur Leland. Each has experiences that, when woven together, tell a fascinating, riveting story about hope and loss, love and fear. This isn't a "science fiction" book beyond the idea that it's futuristic and involves the end of the world as we know it. It's the story of people trying to live in a world that is strange, cruel and beautiful. Emily St. John Mandel chooses an interesting, comprehensive cast of characters through which to see this new world, and it was amazing to watch the threads slowly create one of the most interesting, gorgeous designs I've seen in a while. Much like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale , Mandel doesn’t t...