When we went into lockdown in March 2020, I read Chuck Wendig‘s novel Wanderers because why not read a terrifying book about a global pandemic while experiencing a global pandemic, right? I really liked Wanderers and thought Wendig captured what we were currently experiencing-especially the distrust in science and the political climate. As lockdown ended and everything was opening back up this spring, I read Emily St. John Mandel‘s novel Station Eleven- also about a global pandemic. I had seen rave reviews for Station Eleven so it peaked my curiosity. Many of the reviews said it was just so intense. In Station Eleven, a strange flu hits and spreads immediately around the world. It overloads the hospitals and people start dying. There’s no cure and there is no hope. I thought Mandel‘s account of the collapse of civilization was interesting, but not as terrifying as I thought it was going to be. The story bounces across different timelines with different main characters and they’re all interconnected. I also liked how the book imagines humanity rebuilding society. There are small towns and communities where people have rebuilt their lives. There’s also a traveling group of actors and musicians who go from small town to small town putting on Shakespeare plays and performing music. It’s a reminder that survival isn’t just about surviving and that the arts still matter. I liked that message a lot. I just didn’t find Station Eleven as terrifying and intense as most of the reviews said it was. Narrator Kirsten Potter did a fantastic job with the audiobook. The story has interesting characters and an all too relatable plot. But for me, this book was more pandemic light than the very dense Wanderers which I found a lot more terrifying.
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Hope everyone had a great weekend. We sure did here at my house! Lots of family time which was wonderful. What’s everyone reading this week? I’m trying to finish up two fabulous thrillers that I know will be in my top 10 books of the year, if not two of my favorite books of all time.
#pandemic #horrorfiction #audiobook #librarybook #audiobookreview #libbyapp #bibliophile
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