All in Dystopian
I want to warn you first thing that this book is incredibly disturbing but also extremely good. Ng sets it in a not-so-distant, dystopian future that seems to be transpiring in many ways even since Ng published in 2022. She observes history and social change with a keen eye. Her predictions feel terrifying but are just a hair's breadth away from the current administration's agenda at this moment.
When a friend asked me recently for a recommendation for her book club, “something somewhat new that probably most people won’t have read yet,” I couldn’t text her this title fast enough. I was riveted from the first page and raced through it at top speed, anxious and eager to see where Zhang would take her story next.
The stories and tall tales of the underground railroad which helped thousands of enslaved people escape to the northern United States and Canada continue to fascinate and inspire artists today. Ben H. Winters has taken the concept and imagined what would have happened if Lincoln had been assassinated before becoming President and Congress had reached an agreement which included several southern states maintaining their rights to own human beings.
With an author as prolific as Margaret Atwood, it seems I can always find another of her books to read. I don’t remember how this 2015 novel made its way onto my reading list, but it is a fascinating story with plenty of psychological tricks and thrills, like so many of Atwood’s better-known works.
Thirty-five years after writing her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood has given us the ultimate gift of an absolutely fabulous sequel in The Testaments. Although I read The Handmaid’s Tale many years ago, I was able to jump right into The Testaments because I’ve been following the Hulu television series of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Every once in a while you begin a book and right away you know you are in for something special. Ice Cream Star is one of those books and delivers on its early promise right through the entire, epic story.
Continuing the dystopian theme, I recently got around to reading this 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winner and completely loved it. Unlike The Girl with all the Gifts, an action packed story where everything goes wrong, in Ishiguro’s dystopia, it is almost hard to distinguish the differences between his world and ours.
Full disclosure, Dan and I listened to this one on tape, so I can’t technically say that I “read” it, but what I can enthusiastically say, is go read/listen to it! The audiobook is read by Finty Williams, who is an incredible voice over artist (and actress), which certainly increased my enjoyment.
Full Disclosure: This is the first Dave Eggers book I’ve ever read, so that fact that it is essentially a beach read is probably weird. The book opens with protagonist Mae Holland heading to The Circle for her first day at a new job. She is thrilled because this is the most important and respected company in the country, and probably the world.
To be perfectly honest, the idea of reading a dystopian novel didn’t really appeal to me. But Station Eleven was a National Book Award Finalist and it came highly recommended to me by a friend whose taste in reading often matches mine. And it is set in Canada, my book review co-editor’s current country of residence. So, I decided to go for it. It definitely exceeded my expectations.
