The Dreamers
Early on in the The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker, two college students discuss the Trolley Problem, a very popular thought experiment in ethical decision-making. It’s a scenario (would you kill one person to save five?) that has made its rounds again and again in academics, pop culture and in meme form, sometimes referred to …
Station Eleven
Station Eleven is probably one of the books I recommend most frequently to other people. It’s a beautifully written and lovely story. Plot Summary For the Detailed Plot Summary, click here or scroll all the way down. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel opens at the onset of an outbreak of a virulent flu. …
The Dog Stars
The Dog Stars, by Peter Heller, is set in a post-apocalyptic near future where a virulent and aggressive strain of the flu has taken the lives of most of the population of the world, leaving the rest in fear of one another and desperate for survival. The survivors are few and usually those with some …
Good Omens
I recently found myself wanting some sort of inspiration (and faced with a lengthy plane flight). And there’s something about a really well told and solidly constructed book that just feels satisfying. It seemed like a good time, then, to re-read Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. Good Omens Film Adapation Update: Good Omens …
The Age of Miracles
As Karen Walker Thompson’s The Age of Miracles opens, the world is in the initial stages of “the slowing” — a gradual decline in the speed of its rotation on the Earth’s axis. This is, of course, problematic, and sends our narrator Julia’s life into chaos, along with the rest of the world’s population. I …