Speculative Fiction That Feels Too Close for Comfort

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl!

Honestly, I'm not sure if I would want to read any of these for the first time right now, but as I can't keep my mind off the pandemic, here are several speculative fiction books that deal with either pandemics or other forms of apocalypse.

Top Ten Speculative Fiction Books That Feel Too Close for Comfort

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (sequel to above)
Dawn by Octavia Butler
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (#1 in the Broken Earth trilogy)
The School of Night by Louis Bayard
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (#2 in the MaddAddam trilogy)
Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik (#4 in the Temeraire series)
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

The School of Night, The Weight of Ink, and Year of Wonders are all fictional interpretations of the historical plague, taking place in London or other parts of England.

Station Eleven and The Year of the Flood take place in the aftermath of pandemics in imagined futures. Station Eleven specifically is a counter-intuitively relaxing read, and while Year of the Flood deals with some disturbing material, it can also be relaxing getting to know the two characters in their respective self-isolation.

Empire of Ivory also deals with a pandemic, specifically among dragons, and while I would recommend reading the entire Temeraire series, Empire of Ivory is in many ways the moral crux of the books. And, yes, there is dragon quarantining, which has its own problems, as you can imagine.

So, why the Octavia Butler books? Lauren Olamina's fractured and resource-strapped America in the

Parable books is too frightening an extrapolation of our own world now, and while a pandemic is not heavily featured, illness is treated in much the same way it is in some ways being today, that is, the vulnerable are expected to get on with it or procure their own resources to deal with their health. And why Dawn? Because, while I don't know of any aliens landing on Earth wanting to merge species lately, that also takes place in the aftermath of an apocalypse, after which humans are forced to confront a stark reality that we need to fundamentally alter our society in order to survive.

Books with Single-Word Titles

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Books with Single-Word Titles These are all my favorite books that I could think of with one-word titles. A lot of fantasy, a few nonfiction (minus subtitles) and Kindred , whether you consider it scifi or historical fiction. Also two portmanteaus using the word "bitter." I suppose it's a word that lends itself to amelioration. 1. Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler 2. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore 3. Fire by Kristin Cashore 4. Heartless by Marissa Meyer 5. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini 6. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 7. Stoned by Aja Raden (has a subtitle) 8. Educated by Tara Westover 9. Fledgling by Octavia Butler 10. Kindred by Octavia Butler

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Speaking of cultures and society, I leave for Spain on January 9. Instead of continuing as a book blog with a specific goal for number of books to read in a year, Space Station Mir will become a chronicle for my adventures in Spain. Expect a post for each new place that I visit, with pictures! I also plan to continue reviewing books, however I will not make a set goal for number of books to read this year. I do pledge myself to read at least one book in Spanish that was not assigned for a class. In terms of my goals for 2009, I was not diligent enough in keeping track of them. Looking back, I've fulfilled some of them and not others. The greatest trend in my reading this year, which marks a huge deviation for me, is that I've read more non-fiction than I think I've read any other year in my life. I've finally developed the ability to sustain interest in non-fiction other than biographies. For a while, biographies were the only non-fiction I ever read, with the exception

Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish

I feel like I've been DNFing a fair amount lately, mostly with review books. I feel obligated to read review books longer than I would if they were books I just picked up on my own. That said, I have a caveat in my Book Review Policy that if I feel I am not the right audience for the book, I won't post a review. I try to avoid that by only picking books I genuinely think I will enjoy, but of course I can't always predict that before I read. Also, while book clubs have been a great way to get exposed to books I wouldn't normally read, tastes will differ and every once in a while, I find a book I'm just not willing to finish. I also want to say no shade to the authors or anyone who enjoyed these books--they just weren't for me. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish 1. Caribbean Competitors by Poppy Minnix--LibraryThing review--This one sounded great and has a beautiful cover, but while the island setting was compelling, I just couldn't ge

Space Station Mir

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