PIKE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT

In her novel, Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood once again pulls the reader into a post apocalyptic world ravaged by disease, anarchy, and horrific mutations.  Atwood’s novel seems more like a prediction than science fiction. The obvious nuances to actual current events provide the reader with a dystopian world which is frighteningly probable.

Year of the Flood is filled with odd, off-beat characters: Ren, the stripper living inside a futuristic sex club and Toby, the member of an environmentalist cult who is now stranded at a spa in which the treatments are all edible. We learn from both characters that “The Flood” is a mutated version of the flu virus which has destroyed most of humankind. Throughout the narratives of Toby and Ren, time is defined by the number of years before “The Flood.”  It is by these reminiscences that the reader learns the events that led to the horrific present world.

The Year of Flood is both disturbing and alarming.  Atwood weaves a story that could actually be a small peek into the future of our world.

This is an interesting new book by Sophie Kinsella.  It is about a young woman named Laura in her twenties whose life is kind of in disarray.  At her great aunts funeral Laura's great aunt appears to her when she was in her twenties coincidentally from the 1920's.  She begins to haunt her until she finds her beloved necklace, well not exactly haunt like you would normally think of but she actually tells her all about her life and helps her get her own life under control.  This book was definitely a page turner and really quite a surprise.  I truly enjoyed it.

American Shaolin is a book that any young man can relate to. It is the true story of a bullied boy who decides to leave college and go to China to learn Kung Fu. He wants to be the baddest guy around and is willing to work for it. A great coming of age story, that shows what can be accomplished with a little will and a lot of crazy.