What I’m Reading: Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries

Hold on to your top hats this is one Victorian mystery series you don’t want to miss out on. The Sebastian St. Cyr series is one I’ve had on my “To Read” list for well over a year.  I wanted to read it because it’s one of my favorite historical periods but mysteries for me are sort of hit or miss. Sometimes they’re predictible and other times they’re downright boring.  I hold them to a pretty high standard mostly because I got my start in the world of mystery from Mary Higgins Clark (Loves Music, Loves to Dance, anyone?)

How can I sell you on this series? Well for starters the author whose real name is Candice Proctor, is a legit historian with the Ph.D. to back it up and has field experience as an archaeologist.  The lady knows her game and knows it well.

But, it might be a bit dry and too much on the details of olde tyme Victorian Britain, you say.  It’s not.  It is a perfect blend of mystery, well placed and paced historical events and mannerisms, not to mention a cast of interesting characters who chafe against societal norms.  It’s brilliant.  And there’s even romance, though it only plays a minor role it does serve to move the plot forward with each new book.  Did I mention there’s an overall mystery that arcs through the ENTIRE SERIES?  Each book gives you a bit more to ponder.

My favorite thing I love about this series is that at the end of each book (currently I’m on #8) she puts in an Author’s Note that delves into the real historical events, objects and people used to create her story and gives the whys and hows.  It’s fascinating if you’re into that sort of thing and makes each book feel entirely plausible.  She even goes so far as to suggest other well-written books on the specific subject of each mystery.   It’s the historical facts that are woven so well into each story that really do it for me.

I would suggest starting with #1 (pictured above) and go from there.  The first book is a bit slow, but not a bad read.  Each book gets successively better and more intriguing as Sebastian moves throughout London and beyond.  Definitely fun and definitely informative (one of the few fictional books I’ve read that portray this time period without all the frills).

Happy Reading!

What I’m Reading: 2016 in books

I am very happy to annouce that I managed to read 41 of a 40 book challenge in 2016.  As usual my list included quite alot of romance, but I can assure you it wasn’t from lack of trying to find other interesting books.  There were several that I attempted that just did not peak any interest.

Justin Cronin’s, The Passage, for instance, I decided I just could not bear to finish.  That’s saying something.  If I give an author over 500 pages to conclude a plot in the first book of a trilogy and they still can not figure out where they are going with it, well, I have to start questioning the editor and publisher that picked it for public consumption.  It was an intense book and then a little over half way through it just came to a dead stop and switched gears.  The change in plot and characters was so abrupt that it felt like starting a new book. The only joy I took from discovering it was reading some of the reviews on Goodreads.  I was not alone in my opinion. But yeah.  It wasn’t all fun in literary land last year.

Without further ado here is my book list from 2016 (red highlights indicate excellent reads):

1. Smoldering Hunger, Donna Grant – paranormal romance
2. Moonlight Masquerade, Jude Deveraux – contemporary romance
3. The Eye of the World (EotW #1), Robert Jordan – epic fantasy
4. Morning Star, Pierce Brown – YA SciFi
5. The Great Hunt (EotW #2), Robert Jordan – epic fantasy
6. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline – SciFi
7. Dark Alpha’s Embrace, Donna Grant – paranormal romance
8. The Dragon Reborn (EotW #3), Robert Jordan – epic fantasy
9. Falling Into Bed With a Duke, Lorraine Heath – historical romance
10. The Midwife’s Apprentice, Karen Cushman – juvenile fiction/classic
11. Smoke & Fire, Donna Grant – paranormal romance
12. And Invitation to Sin, Suzanne Enoch – historical romance
13. Something Sinful, Suzanne Enoch – historical romance
14. Sins of a Duke, Suzanne Enoch – historical romance
15. An Affair to Remember, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
16. The New Shade Garden, Ken Druse – non-fiction, gardening
17. Nightfall, Jake Halpern – YA horror/fantasy
18. Wolf Hollow, Lauren Wolk – YA fiction
19. Strawberry Girl, Lois Lenski – juvenile fiction/classic
20. The Passage, Justin Cronin – fantasy/dystopian – DID NOT FINISH
21. Outrun the Moon, Stacey Lee – YA fiction/historical
22. Confessions of a Scoundrel, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
23. All the Right Places, Jenna Sutton – contemporary romance
24. Little Black Dress (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
25. Cross Kill (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
26. Chase (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
27. ZOO, James Patterson – fiction
28. ZOO 2 (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
29. Perfect, Judith McNaught – contemporary romance
30. Hogwarts: A Complete and Unreliable Guide (Pottermore #3), J.K. Rowling – YA fantasty
31. Ten Dollar Dinners, Melissa d’Arabian – non-fiction/cookbook
32. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore #1), J.K. Rowling – YA fantasy
33. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (Pottermore #2), J.K. Rowling – YA fantasy
34. The Secret of the Old Clock, Carolyn Keene – juvenile mystery
35. How to Treat a Lady, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
36. Lady in Red, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
37. Just One Damn Thing After Another, Jodi Taylor – YA fiction/fantasy
38. And the Bride Wore Plaid, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
39. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver – non-fiction – DID NOT FINISH
40. Blood Lance, Jeri Westerson – historical mystery
41. Only Time Will Tell (The Clifton Chronicles #1), Jeffery Archer – fiction historical

While I didn’t make it through the entire Eye of the World series, I did manage to get to book #4 (where I’m currently stalled because epic fantasy can really become a grind sometimes).  I’ll continue my slog through it, but won’t try to hold myself to finishing the whole series in one calendar year.

Read what you love!

What I’m Reading: Wolf Hollow

This book is a solid, well written coming of age story and if it’s not being considered for a Newberry Award it darn well should be.

“Growing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks. While others have always seen Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. She will soon need to find the courage to stand as a lone voice of justice as tensions mount.” – Goodreads

I read this book cover to cover in one night, in one sitting.  It was easy to follow and the flow and pace were spot on.  I’ll definitely be looking more into Lauren Wolk’s other books now.  This should be on every kid’s summer reading list and every teacher’s for that matter.

The themes of bullying, shame, social injustice and racism echo so much of today’s current events that it was hard to think of this story as a work of fiction.  Not to mention Annabelle’s immediate family who are caught up in all the chaos and trying to do right by both their daughter and Toby, who is a beautiful representation of what it’s like to be misunderstood by “polite society” and what war does to a person.

The right things are always the hardest things to do like forgiving and accepting that not everyone wants to be saved.

Lauren Wolk does a wonderful job of bringing Wolf Hollow to life, making you feel all those hard emotions that we all have felt when we were Annabelle’s age.  Even as a parent I found I could relate to her father and mother in ways that I wouldn’t have if I were still a pre-teen.  Wolf Hollow offers something for everyone of every age.

If this book doesn’t leave you crying at the end then you most likely missed the deeper meaning.

What I’m Reading: The Wheel of Time

Along time ago…in a classroom far, far away a 7th grade girl opened a book and entered the world of Epic Fantasy. This was the original Epic.  You can’t talk about this genre without conjuring up images of Rand, Mat and Perrin, Aes Sedai lightning storms, Fades and Warders.

I think at the time I started reading Eye of the World, Robert Jordan had only written 4 of the books in what would eventually become a 14 book SAGA of an incredibly rich, wordy, and complex world.  I, along with every other reader, had no idea what we were in for when Rand Al’Thor left the Two Rivers.  Who knows what was in Jordan’s head when he started to plot out this tome of an adventure.  I do know that I had the privilege to meet him not once, but twice, while he still walked this plane.  Everyone seemed to know that this series would out live him.  It was his life’s work. And it feels bittersweet to start my reread of these books….though in truth I totally fell off the band wagon around Path of Daggers (book #8).  Everything beyond #8 will be totally new to me and that gives me heart.  That and the fact that Brandon Sanderson finished the story by writing the last 3 books with the help of Harriet, Jordan’s wife, and the expansive notes and half written passages left behind by the eccentric man himself.

It felt quite poignant when at the final book tour I brought my original copy of The Eye of the World and had Harriet sign it too (goosebumps and so many feels at that event).  It felt fitting for both of them to have signed the same book. A beginning and an ending. The Wheel moves ever on.

It will be a long slog.  I’m sure I will have to step off the WoT crazy train to take a deep breath and cleanse my palate before diving back in again, but I know it’ll be worth it.

“The fact that the price must be paid is proof it is worth paying.”
― Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World

To the many others who’ve done this humongous reread, I salute you. You brave souls.  You who keep this Flame alive as the Ages come to pass and a new one begins.

 

What I’m Reading: 2015 in Books

Every year Goodreads sets out a challenge for how many books you want to read in a given year.  Some years I’ve been ambitious and others more moderate.  In 2015 I some how blew past my 30 book goal and read 37.  Granted, a good portion of those were Romances, but I did manage to throw in an assortment of Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult and even Sci-Fi for a change of pace.  And let’s be honest, sometimes you have to read through a bunch of ho-hum novels before you find the one that restores your faith in reading again.

In order read (favorite books are highlighted in red and are highly recommended):

1. The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett – Fantasy
2. Dangerous Highlander by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
3. Devil in my Bed by Celeste Bradley – Regency Romance
4. Hot Blooded by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
5. Firelight by Kristen Callahan – Paranormal Romance
6. Scoundrel in my Dreams by Celeste Bradley – Regency Romance
7. Wicked Highlander by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
8. Forbidden Highlander by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
9. Rogue in my Arms by Celeste Bradley – Regency Romance
10. Shadow Highlander by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
11. Darkest Highlander by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
12. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – Young Adult
13. Untamed Highlander by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
14. Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson – Fantasy/Novella
15. Hush by Karen Robards – Fiction/Romance Thriller
16. One Second After by William R. Forstchen – Fiction
17. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank – Ficiton/Classic
18. Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson – Fantasy/Novella
19. Night’s Blaze by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
20. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin – Young Adult
21. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – Fiction/Historical
22. Veil of Night by Linda Howard – Fiction/Romance Thriller
23. Burn by Linda Howard – Fiction/ Romance Thriller
24. Sleepwalker by Karen Robards – Fiction/Romance Thriller
25. London’s Perfect Scoundrel by Suzanne Enoch – Regency Romance
26. All the King’s Men by Karen Robards – Fiction/Romance Thriller
27. The Martian by Andy Weir – Sci-Fi
28. The Brazen Bride by Stephanie Laurens – Historical Romance
29. Soul Scorched by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
30. The Boys of Fire and Ash by Meaghan Isaac – Young Adult
31. H20 by Virginia Bergin – Young Adult
32. Before the Scandal by Suzanne Enoch – Regency Romance
33. After the Kiss by Suzanne Enoch – Regency Romance
34. Dark Alpha’s Claim by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance
35. Red Rising by Pierce Brown – Sci-Fi/Young Adult
36. Golden Sun by Pierce Brown – Sci-Fi/Young Adult
37. Passion Ignites by Donna Grant – Paranormal Romance

I don’t think I could ever do a book a week since I do most of my reading/sewing after the wee Beastie goes to nap/bed and there are simply not enough hours to do all the things I want in the time that follows. Housework can’t always be put on hold.  What I mean is some days are more exhausting than others.

This year I’m aiming for 40 books in 2016.  I’ve already got 2 under my belt (yes, both Romances) but there are promising new releases coming out namely Morningstar by Pierce Brown (February) and hopefully, fingers crossed, Stormlight #3 by Brandon Sanderson at the end of this year.  If I can manage it I’ll even get around to reading the Alloy of Law also by Sanderson.

And I may attempt an entire re-read of The Wheel of Time by the late Robert Jordan.  I had a friend who completed all the books in a calendar year and it’s a daunting task on top of all my other goals for 2016, but hey, dream big!

What I’m Reading: Red Rising

Yes.  It’s all I can say about this book. So. Much. Yes.  It was the exact thing I needed to read to restore my faith in reading.  It was remarkably good and the world building was phenomenal.  It’s definitely a solid start to what is going to be a thrill ride of literary genius.

Hold on to your gravBoots, kids.  It’s going to get bloodydamn insane.

Here’s the synopsis: “The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity’s last hope.

Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it’s all a lie. That Mars has been habitable – and inhabited – for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield – and Darrow isn’t the only student with an agenda.”  – Goodreads

I have passed by this book before because like I’ve mentioned in previous What I’m Reading posts I’m not big on Sci-Fi and the YA genre can be filled with sketchy, formula-ridden plot lines and characters. I finally picked it up with hope in my heart and I was not disappointed.  This book was none of those.  Sure, it contains a dystopian theme (but this is set in space), super villains (who are still human), and an over arc of revenge and revolution, but it was so much more. There was savagery, the kind that gives you the mindset of, mother of God…….what just happened?!?! If you thought the Hunger Games was brutal Red Rising might just make you cringe a bit more and then some.

It’s hard to describe but the world building is what makes this first book so complete. From the Red mines to the Carvers to the High Golds everything feels plausible and richly detailed without being overbearing.  The cast of characters was fantastic as well! You might not fall in love with Darrow but you will certainly find several favorites in the supporting cast. Sevro was my favorite along with Mustang so far.  I’m also in love with the parallels to ancient Rome and modern day.  It makes the book feel very much in the present.

Do not compare this to anything.  It stands by itself, firm in its conviction of being a damn fine original story.  It’s worthy of buying (in hard back) for your book shelf.

Don’t miss out on this one and be the last to read it. Join the Rising. Become a Son of Ares.  READ. THIS. BOOK.

HIC SUNT LEONES!

p.s.

I’ve just discovered that Pierce Brown negotiated a movie deal for the first of his Red Rising trilogy sometime last year.  I can only speculate that he will make sure the story is told as it needs to be since he’ll be editing the screenplay.  There’s no release date as of yet, but keep your eyes peeled!

What I’m Reading: H2O

Ugh. This. Book.  It had such potential! It fell so hard. Even my mom, who’d read it before I did, warned me. You might have a hard time with the main character, Ruby.  Thanks, mom.

Synopsis: “It’s in the rain…and just one drop will kill you.

They don’t believe it at first. Crowded in Zach’s kitchen, Ruby and the rest of the partygoers laugh at Zach’s parents’ frenzied push to get them all inside as it starts to drizzle. But then the radio comes on with the warning, “It’s in the rain! It’s fatal, it’s contagious, and there’s no cure.”

Two weeks later, Ruby is alone. Anyone who’s been touched by rain or washed their hands with tap water is dead. The only drinkable water is quickly running out. Ruby’s only chance for survival is a treacherous hike across the country to find her father-if he’s even still alive.” – Goodreads

I felt compelled to write a review solely because of how terrible the main character was.  Nevermind the tragic nonsense logic or even the inaccurate science behind so much of this story.

– There’s no way everyone would just die on the same day or week before warnings would be issued. Really the odds would be in your favor (ha.ha.ha) it doesn’t rain everywhere at once.

– How is the moisture in the air not filled with these scary “SPACE BUGS OF DOOM”???

– I’m pretty sure the cell networks and even the internet would stay up and running so long as the power grids were operational.  Which there’s no reason why they wouldn’t be, even in this kind of scenario….because there would be way more survivors than what the author wants to you to believe.

But I digress….

I typically like these doomsday/apocalyptic survival stories, but I think we’ve been spoiled by what are now household names in this YA genre (Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.) It’s a high bar to set and then write towards, but for the LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY there is a very CLEAR reason those books were so damn good!

They each had a strong, smart, capable of growing, learning from experiences and expressing empathy lead female.

Ruby is a bitch of a brat.  There’s just no way around it.  It’s beyond stereotypical 15 yr old rubbish.  It was quite frankly almost unbelievable. How the hell does someone like her survive in this kind of scenario? Which by the way is a great concept.  I was physically and mentally willing Ruby to just freaking DIE already so we could get a character more worthy of such a token role.  I personally don’t even know of any 15 yr olds who are THAT ridiculous.  Maybe I am lucky?  She’s such a horrible example and the author either hasn’t spent much time around 15 yr olds or is just writing off of how she perceives them to be.

I would still suggest reading the book because it is pretty good, just try and skip as much of the Ruby angst and idiocy. They don’t serve any plot purpose other than to show that Ruby is still a bitchy, spoiled brat who has no redeeming qualities.  In fact, you’ll probably shorten the book by 1/3 doing this and it will be much more enjoyable.

The only reason to read the sequel, The Storm, is to find out why the animals aren’t getting sick.  That’s it.

Good luck reading this!  I’m sure the majority of us would survive killer rain because thankfully we’re not all “Rubys”.

What I’m Reading: The Husband Edition

Something shocking happened this summer, my husband started to read books.  This isn’t normal for him as it can be a challenge for him to focus long enough to get thru even one chapter.  He’d rather watch a movie or YouTube how-to videos on RC planes.  Needless to say it’s still a shock to hear him talk about a book he’s reading or just finished.

I’m also a tad proud of him.  Reading books has never been his “thing” and for him to have read three books in the last month and a half is remarkable.  It gives me the warm fuzzies.

He’s finished and loved, Ready Player One, The Martian and DUNE (yeah, i know! He did it as an audio book and read along, but still…DUNE!)

The Martian by Andy Weir is on my “too read” list and I’m hoping to get started on it soon.  He loved this book.  He raved about it. He liked that it was smart and scientific without being too stuffy, suspenseful, filled sarcastic humor, and a good old fashioned novel of survival.  It’s also coming to a big screen near you in October 2015.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a book for any gamer or geek.  The pop culture references abound with regularity.  The humor is great and the plot not too shabby.  He recommends this to anyone whose every played an online game, loves post apocalyptic stories, classifies themselves as a nerd or geek and appreciates the awkwardness of youth.

He read several scenes aloud to me and could barely get thru a few of them because he was laughing so hard.

Ernest Cline is also a fanboy at heart which makes him pretty easy to relate to on basic level.

DUNE was the book that caught me off guard.  I had no idea he would even feel inclined to read this, but he did and he kinda liked it.  I have no real desire to read DUNE myself.

SciFi isn’t my most loved genre, but I do occasionally venture over to it.  I do know enough about this book/series to have warned him that it can get “kinda complicated” and it’s fairly political, but the world and the people are pretty amazing.  I guess that was enough to spur him on.  He did try to read it online, but couldn’t concentrate on it so he switched to an audio book version and was drawn in.

I can’t say what he’s going to read next but he’s been hinting at The Hunger Games trilogy and another end of world/scifi novel, SevenEves (though from what I’ve heard this one is extremely technical and long).  It’s good to see we have different reading interests.  It just proves that I can find a likeable book in an different genre for myself.

What I’m Reading: All the Light We Cannot See

“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”

This book was beautiful.  I know that it’s cliche to say but it really was and for good reason.  Books that often use WWII as a back drop for any fictional story have the tendency to be heavy handed, thoroughly depressing and gut wrenching, war is, after all, tragic.  However, Doerr manages to write a book that somehow digs up poignant delight during a unforgettable time in history.

Let me just start off by saying I love how this book is written.  Traditionally, books are written with large chapters and each chapter focuses on several characters at once and maybe even several point of views.  But in this book the chapters are barely 4-5 pages long, some less than a page.  It surprised me but it totally worked.  Instead of trudging thru 20 pages reading about a character you really didn’t care about, you’re skillfully guided between each of main character’s POVs and because of that you are constantly aware of the overall arc of the story and how everything is converging and resolving.  I don’t know if this book could have been written any other way.  It reads almost like diary entries.

The writing in the book is also worth noting.  So many quotes could be pulled from it and the way each character views life and talks about it is frank and poetic.  It’s gorgeous and filled with thought provoking metaphors.  Each life that is impacted feels important. The book isn’t complex or hard to follow, at least in my opinion, but it does have it’s moments where you’re dragging thru mundane details.  If you can get over that you’ll see all the light that everyone is talking about it or maybe not.  That’s the beauty of it though.

“Consider a single piece glowing in your family’s stove. See it, children? That chunk of coal was once a green plant, a fern or reed that lived one million years ago, or maybe two million, or maybe one hundred million. Can you imagine one hundred million years? Every summer for the whole life of that plant, its leaves caught what light they could and transformed the sun’s energy into itself. Into bark, twigs, stems. Because plants eat light, in much the way we eat food. But then the plant died and fell, probably into water, and decayed into peat, and the peat was folded inside the earth for years upon years—eons in which something like a month or a decade or even your whole life was just a puff of air, a snap of two fingers. And eventually the peat dried and became like stone, and someone dug it up, and the coal man brought it to your house, and maybe you yourself carried it to the stove, and now that sunlight—sunlight one hundred million years old—is heating your home tonight . . .”

I didn’t expect to like this book or even appreciate it, but I did.

There’s only one quarrel I have with it and that is how it ended.  I won’t spoil it for any future readers, but let me just say that I didn’t like how everything just “wrapped up” a little too neatly.  Maybe his editor told him it was getting too long, maybe he got tired of writing and wanted to just end it, either way I didn’t find it very satisfying.  After all the decent writing in the first 3/4’s of the book the final quarter faded into a boring narration and flashforward to present day.  As I turned the last page I simply expected more finality to the ending.  I remember saying aloud, “that’s IT?! This is how it ends?!”  I was disappointed to say the least.

Overall, ending aside, it was a decent book.  Probably not a bookshelf buy for me, but a good summer read none-the-less.

What I’m Reading: Alas, Babylon

This was a very simple and amazingly powerful book.

I can’t say how reading this will affect me over time, but this was one of those books that shifts your perspective on the world.  It shifts it just enough to make you feel off kilter for a good long time after the last page is turned.  Am I ready? Could I survive? Would I want to?

Alas, Babylon was published 56 years ago in 1959 at the height of the Cold War.  Yet, despite its age, remains current.  When I say “current” I mean that the places and even some of the long-suffering conflicts between countries have not changed.  Noticing the unchanged status of so many of these prejudices and political hotbeds makes me worry about how humanity is supposed to thrive, and in Pat Frank’s book, survive the next thousand years.

I loved this book for its awareness of political ignorance that has persisted in every government since the beginning of time.  I loved that even the imagined result of a nuclear holocaust was hope and that mankind will in some form continue on and try to survive.  But, I also loved its realistic take that in war there are no winners, ever.

This is a story of survival, but it’s also a stark commentary on what may happen if such things ever occurred. Truly, the setting for the book, Fort Repose, is in a lucky spot.  They’re in Florida, they have natural food sources, an artesian water source, even natural salt. Their neighbors have seed they can plant for food and chickens and pigs for meat and the biggest kicker, people band together to share resources and skills. Seeing as this was written in the 50’s when segregation was still rampant and people were still allowed to keep livestock, I have to wonder how modern suburbia would even live thru a complete reset of civilization?  In that era the mindset was even different.  People had a “make do” attitude and it shows in the book.

I can only imagine the idiocy that would prevail in any urban environment that was thrown into a survival role in this decade. The city restrictions on livestock, the selfishness and even underlying prejudice between white and any one of color.  It’s frightening, it almost makes me want to do a little “doomsday prepping”, but like Randy Bragg, I hope for the best outcome in the worst case scenario.  In any case, there’s no harm in learning how to split wood or how to raise a garden and then preserve it or even knowing where the gas shutoff is in your house.

If anything this book will make you very aware of just how unprepared we all are to face “a thousand year night”.

If you haven’t read this one yet put it on your to-read list.  It’s a classic worth delving into.