Renthead Mommy Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 December's theme is "catastrophic" in honor of the end of the Mayan calendar and the supposed doomsday. I wouldn't mind a plauge type book, but I want a mondern day one, not a 1300's black plauge type. Something more "the Stand" like I could work with. I love "The Walking Dead". It is so much more about the struggle for survival than the zombies. I would love something like that in book form. (And yes I know it is a GN, but that won't exactly cut it for a book club! LOL!) I am open to ideas. Suggest away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I read this book many years ago but I really loved it and it immediately came to mind after reading your post: http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Song-Robert-McCammon/dp/1439156735 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven I read this years ago and it still sticks in my mind. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I wholeheartedly agree with both of the above suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I liked Alas, Babylon. Ds read it instead of Brave New World. But I'm not sure if you are looking for that sort of book. A friend of mine wrote Oil Dusk. It's about peak oil--what would happen if we couldn't afford oil anymore. I'm not sure it's available to the general pop, tho it's very, very thought-provoking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. It's more about the post-catastrophe survival than the nuclear war itself, and it does a better job than any other similar book I've read with the little details. Very realistic. Upsetting rather than sensational. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 I think I am looking for less nuclear disaster more natural like giant astrodies hitting earth. But also am okay with plague taking out the population. And am okay with zombies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-M- Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 World War Z (Max Brooks) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocCityMom Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Golden Days by Carolyn See. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Isaac's Storm,: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History. September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devestating personal tragedy. Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Lucifer's Hammer still fits what you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Interesting theme... How about "The Road" ? I was very concerned I wouldn't like it since it had child in it...but it exeeded my expectations. I listened to the audio version and the narrator was excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Another vote for Alas, Babylon. I did it once in a book club and it was very successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 World War Z (Max Brooks) :iagree: World War Z is a great zombie book. I never really thought of zombie books until I saw that on the list of 100 best sci-fi fantasy books. If you're going to read zombies, that is great place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 This is more of a YA book, but it's extremely well-written. The premise is that an asteroid knocks the moon toward earth, which royally screws everything up. http://www.amazon.com/Life-As-We-Knew-It/dp/0152061541/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353341456&sr=8-1&keywords=life+as+we+knew+it It's much more gritty and realistic than a lot of the recent post-apocalyptic fiction. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The Stand-Stephen King The Postman-David Brin Earth Abides-George R Stewart. A Land of Ash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I'm listening to - One Second After by William R. Forstchen It's pretty good! It kept me up last night!! "New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies. Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank is one I enjoyed. It's about the fall out of a "man made" catastrophe. It may seem a little dated - particularly in the gender roles - but was a good novel about how a community manages to survive a nuclear disaster. On the Beach by Nevil Shute is another nuclear disaster novel. ETA: now that I read everyone else's suggestions, I see how much I lack originality. Oh well. I guess I am in good company thinking it's a worthy read, though obviously not exactly what you were looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiseOwlKnits Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I agree with Life As We Knew It. I also liked Into the Forest and One Second After. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 More plague-oriented: World War Z (mentioned) Octavia Butler's Patternist series (Clay's Ark is the 1st) Blindness by Jose Saramego Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (who also did the more politically apocalyptic Handmaid's Tale) I Am Legend Not exactly what you want, but the Doomsday Book is a time travel novel where the Plague is brought back to Cambridge England and a time traveling graduate student is stuck in plague-ridden England. Not apocalyptic but fits otherwise. Not really fiction, but The Hot Zone is pretty exciting recounting the discovery of Ebola. This link has a bunch I haven't heard of or read (other than The Stand and Oryx and Crake). General apocalypse rebuilding novels where no one really knows what happened. It might be nuclear war or plague but no one knows. The Road The Postman And not quite what you're looking for but one of my favorite post-apocalyptic novels is A Canticle for Liebowitz. It follows a Catholic-like monastery which has been entrusted with the remnant of human knowledge after a nuclear war (and successive anti-intellectual purges against the knowledge that has destroyed humanity). It has a very dark ages feel, and its not a happy book but it is a hopeful one. Both dh and I loved it and it has a lot of themes about knowledge, cycles of history, religion, hope, dedicating one's life to a cause, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The Passage by Justin Cronin. Plague, zombies, military, Biblical allusions, a girl who saves the world. This book has it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 More plague-oriented: World War Z (mentioned) Octavia Butler's Patternist series (Clay's Ark is the 1st) Blindness by Jose Saramego Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (who also did the more politically apocalyptic Handmaid's Tale) I Am Legend Not exactly what you want, but the Doomsday Book is a time travel novel where the Plague is brought back to Cambridge England and a time traveling graduate student is stuck in plague-ridden England. Not apocalyptic but fits otherwise. Not really fiction, but The Hot Zone is pretty exciting recounting the discovery of Ebola. This link has a bunch I haven't heard of or read (other than The Stand and Oryx and Crake). General apocalypse rebuilding novels where no one really knows what happened. It might be nuclear war or plague but no one knows. The Road The Postman And not quite what you're looking for but one of my favorite post-apocalyptic novels is A Canticle for Liebowitz. It follows a Catholic-like monastery which has been entrusted with the remnant of human knowledge after a nuclear war (and successive anti-intellectual purges against the knowledge that has destroyed humanity). It has a very dark ages feel, and its not a happy book but it is a hopeful one. Both dh and I loved it and it has a lot of themes about knowledge, cycles of history, religion, hope, dedicating one's life to a cause, etc. I'd forgotten about A Canticle for Liebowitz. It would be great for a book club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Our local library system had a similar theme in Sep/Oct for All Pikes Peak Reads, you can view titles here: http://ppld.org/whats-new/all-pikes-peak-reads-2012 My personal favorite of the three was Life as We knew It and the three sequels that followed (not listed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The Passage by Justin Cronin. Plague, zombies, military, Biblical allusions, a girl who saves the world. This book has it all. Quick hijack... I own this book, and I started to read it, and I absolutely loved the beginning section. But the middle got to be kind of a slog... it's just SO. LONG. Is it worth it to pick it up again and read the whole thing? Does it pick up again as it goes on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Echoing the other recommendations of World War Z. Also, not quite what you're looking for, but Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell would be a great one for a book club. It is basically six different, but interwoven, storylines w/ the fifth one being a futuristic setting & the sixth one being post-"fall" or apocalypse (you never know what the "fall" was, just see life afterward). With either of these books, you could also do a book/movie comparison. Cloud Atlas is currently in theaters, World War Z will be out in theaters soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I second The Passage by Cronin! Just finished The Twelve (which is much shorter) which is the 2nd in the trilogy (?). White Horse by Alex Adams. I loved this book. It's not as full of action, but it's so good and takes place in the U.S. after the President has declared humans "no longer a viable species." I also think World War Z is excellent and another fun, similar book is Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson. For teens: The Forest of Hands and Teeth is one of my faves by Carrie Ryan (and there are others set in that zombie "world"). Also, Railsea by China Mieville is a modern, postapocalyptic take on Moby Dick that was very well-written. Also, Shipbreaker and the companion The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Quick hijack... I own this book, and I started to read it, and I absolutely loved the beginning section. But the middle got to be kind of a slog... it's just SO. LONG. Is it worth it to pick it up again and read the whole thing? Does it pick up again as it goes on? It is worth it. I too got a little bogged down in the middle. It definitely picks up. I lost many hours of sleep over that book because I just couldn't put it down. The next book in the series, The Twelve, is great as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 More plague-oriented: World War Z (mentioned) Octavia Butler's Patternist series (Clay's Ark is the 1st) Blindness by Jose Saramego Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (who also did the more politically apocalyptic Handmaid's Tale) I Am Legend Not exactly what you want, but the Doomsday Book is a time travel novel where the Plague is brought back to Cambridge England and a time traveling graduate student is stuck in plague-ridden England. Not apocalyptic but fits otherwise. Not really fiction, but The Hot Zone is pretty exciting recounting the discovery of Ebola. This link has a bunch I haven't heard of or read (other than The Stand and Oryx and Crake). General apocalypse rebuilding novels where no one really knows what happened. It might be nuclear war or plague but no one knows. The Road The Postman And not quite what you're looking for but one of my favorite post-apocalyptic novels is A Canticle for Liebowitz. It follows a Catholic-like monastery which has been entrusted with the remnant of human knowledge after a nuclear war (and successive anti-intellectual purges against the knowledge that has destroyed humanity). It has a very dark ages feel, and its not a happy book but it is a hopeful one. Both dh and I loved it and it has a lot of themes about knowledge, cycles of history, religion, hope, dedicating one's life to a cause, etc. I agree with these. I completely enjoyed World War Z and I usually don't do zombies. Supposed to be a movie coming out soon, too. Alas, Babylon is powerful. The Doomsday Book is gritty and real and very good. (drags a bit in the middle) The Hot Zone is non fiction that reads like fiction...very good and scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocolate Rose Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I was also going to suggest One Second After and The Road. I will be starting World War Z tonight and I have The Passage on my nightstand. I can also highly recommend the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant. The 3 books are Feed, Deadline and Blackout. Feed would be a great book club read! Then, those who really enjoyed it could go on to read the other 2 books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Lem (a hilarious look at a world without paper) Futurological Congress by Lem (even more hilarious and surreal) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourFidgetyFriend Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I was also going to suggest One Second After and The Road. I will be starting World War Z tonight and I have The Passage on my nightstand. I can also highly recommend the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant. The 3 books are Feed, Deadline and Blackout. Feed would be a great book club read! Then, those who really enjoyed it could go on to read the other 2 books. I second Feed. I loved this series and since it centers around the lives of a group of bloggers, it felt current in a way that many books do not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Oryx and Crake From where we are now, I could SO see humanity going there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 We decided to go with One Second After. Thanks for all the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I really liked Ashes by Ilsa Bick and Ashfall by Mike Mullin. http://www.amazon.com/Ashes-Trilogy-Ilsa-J-Bick/dp/1606843850/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353389285&sr=1-1&keywords=ashes http://www.amazon.com/Ashfall-Trilogy-Mike-Mullin/dp/1933718749/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353389218&sr=1-1&keywords=ashfall And then there is always Alas Babylon by Pat Frank. It's kind of dated now, but it's still a very good read. I first read it in college and I have read it at least 1x/year ever since then (and that's over 20 years). http://www.amazon.com/Alas-Babylon-Pat-Frank/dp/0060741872/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353389323&sr=1-1&keywords=alas+babylon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven I read this years ago and it still sticks in my mind. I was just coming here to suggest this. The best part is when they try to preserve civilization by sealing up great books in plastic baggies and dropping them in a septic tank. :) Another one is The Road by Cormac McCarthy, although lord is it grim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 The Passage by Justin Cronin. Plague, zombies, military, Biblical allusions, a girl who saves the world. This book has it all. Have you read the second book yet, The Twelve? I just got it at audible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 We decided to go with One Second After. Thanks for all the suggestions! I was wondering what you went with. I think you'll like it. It gets a little preachy, but sure gives you a lot to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckabell Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 We decided to go with One Second After. Thanks for all the suggestions! I was going to suggest "One Second After" before I saw you post this. I have to say I was thinking about that books for days after I finished it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Echoing the other recommendations of World War Z. Also, not quite what you're looking for, but Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell would be a great one for a book club. It is basically six different, but interwoven, storylines w/ the fifth one being a futuristic setting & the sixth one being post-"fall" or apocalypse (you never know what the "fall" was, just see life afterward). With either of these books, you could also do a book/movie comparison. Cloud Atlas is currently in theaters, World War Z will be out in theaters soon. This is the first time I saw somebody talk about Cloud Atlas. I found it when I was looking for something differnt and really enjoyed it. It was a nice change from the standard timeline in fiction. I'm dragging my dh to see it this weekend although I was kind of disappointed with the previews of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Have you read the second book yet, The Twelve? I just got it at audible. Yes! I waited quite impatiently for it to be released. Loved it. I thought it was a great middle-of-the-trilogy book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 This is the first time I saw somebody talk about Cloud Atlas. I found it when I was looking for something differnt and really enjoyed it. It was a nice change from the standard timeline in fiction. I'm dragging my dh to see it this weekend although I was kind of disappointed with the previews of it. Dh & I saw the movie last weekend. I enjoyed it & it was fun to see the same actors in the different time periods. There's a lot missing/different (as is usually the case when making a movie based on a book) & I found it helpful to have read the book first, but I think the movie turned out pretty well. Let me know what you guys think of the movie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I want to share what popped in my head when I saw the thread title (which doesn't meet your qualifications but fortunately I see you already picked a book anway :tongue_smilie: ): The unthinkable : who survives when disaster strikes and how we can do better by Ripley, Amanda. Very interesting book on surviving catastrophic events (vs. catastropic as in end of the world) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I'm listening to - One Second After by William R. Forstchen It's pretty good! It kept me up last night!! "New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies. Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end." This was what I was going to suggest. It was a quick read. I couldn't put it down once I started it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 December's theme is "catastrophic" in honor of the end of the Mayan calendar and the supposed doomsday. I wouldn't mind a plauge type book, but I want a mondern day one, not a 1300's black plauge type. Something more "the Stand" like I could work with. I love "The Walking Dead". It is so much more about the struggle for survival than the zombies. I would love something like that in book form. (And yes I know it is a GN, but that won't exactly cut it for a book club! LOL!) I am open to ideas. Suggest away! Edited: as I went back and read the rest of the recs. World War Z by Max Brooks. I loved that. It's told through the device of a journalist/historiographer interviewing people involved in the Zombie apocalypse, and it travels all over the globe. By the end, you feel like you're reading a real piece of real history. The political allusions are thought provoking, as are the human rights issues presented and of course, the pure survivalist thread, if indeed, anyone truly survives a zombie apocalypse. Another thought, not previously mentioned. Prey by Michael Crichton. It is a plague theme. Kind of. It deals with nanotechnology. It really got under my skin (haha). Seriously, though... both dh and I read it and it stirred some very interesting discussions on technology, medical science, ethics, family loyalties, and a host of other issues. It would be a very good book for a book club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfy Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Limits to Growth is very informative, especially in light of this recent study: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/02/limits-to-growth-was-right-new-research-shows-were-nearing-collapse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 World War Z springs instantly to mind. I recently read and enjoyed The Girl With All the Gifts, which reminds me I want to re-read I Am Legend soon. You might try The Last Policeman as well, though let me tell you, that trilogy gets very bleak, very fast. (I hope I'm not spoiling anything to say that a trilogy about a worldkilling asteroid hitting the earth ends with said worldkilling asteroid hitting the earth.) But at least it's not another zombie book! Alas, Babylon is a good book, but yeah, just a wee bit dated. (Plus, I have an aversion to books that start out by wiping out NYC.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Speaking of zombies... :zombie: Zombie thread. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Sheesh, really? Well, darnit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 I wholeheartedly agree with both of the above suggestions. Sorry to go off topic for a second, but PAWZ: that is one insanely adorable dog! Alley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Sorry to go off topic for a second, but PAWZ: that is one insanely adorable dog! Alley Yes, yes he is. And he knows how to use it. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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