Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Book Club: The Plague Tales

Our last book club meeting took place at N's apartment. Her boyfriend, M., is a professional chef and treated us to a taco dinner, complete with chicken, shrimp, and all the toppings. And for dessert, we nibbled on Girl Scout cookies (okay, I think I ate about six!). It was a Friday night so we all hung out around the dining room table and caught up for awhile.

As for the book, Little Bee, our group had mixed feelings about it. For some, the story and characterswhile powerful and interestingdidn't resonate enough. I thought it was well-written and the format of two narrators supplied multiple perspectives to an unusual storyline. The characters were unique but somewhat unlikeable. Overall, not bad but not one of my favorites.

Next up, we're reading one of the books suggested here on the blog (thanks for the recommendation, Feisty Optimist!): The Plague Tales by Ann Benson. It's a longer one, but with the way our schedules worked out, we have couple extra weeks between meetings this time.


From School Library Journal via Amazon.com:
First time novelist Benson tells a parallel tale of 14th- and 21st-century England, centered on the ever-fascinating Bubonic Plague. Alejandro Canches, a 14th-century Spanish physician, becomes the Papal appointment to the English court of Edward III. He is consigned the task of keeping the court alive during the Plague years beginning in 1348. The descriptions of treatments, daily life, and death during these terrible times are fascinating. Alternating chapters take place in 2005, a few years after the "Outbreak" and the end of antibiotic effectiveness against microbes. This is a world of biocops who shoot to kill if the infected try to escape, where transatlantic travel must be done in sterile gowns and masks, and "body printing" eliminates any semblance of privacy. Physician Janie Crow, in England for mandatory retraining since the drastic drop in population has rendered her surgical skills obsolete, accidentally unleashes the 14th-century plague bacillus on an ill-prepared London. This adventure grabs readers and carries them back and forth in time on the trail of the deadly bacteria. The blend of historical color and current biotechnology trends will have great appeal to young adults. It works as historical fiction, science fiction, or a technology thriller.

18 comments:

  1. pre order 72-10 jordan 11s,pre order retro 11 72-10
    pre order jordan 8 aqua 2015,black Friday jordan 8 aqua
    black Friday jordan 8 aqua,jordan aqua 8s
    jordan 8 aqua 2015 sale,aqua 8s 2015
    pre order jordan 8 aqua 2015,aqua 8s 2015
    jordan 11 72-10,pre order jordan 11 72-10
    jordan 8 aqua 2015,black Friday jordan 8s
    retro 11 72-10,jordan retro 11 72-10
    fake jordan shoes,fake jordans,replica jordan shoes
    retro air jordan 11 72-10,jordan 11 72-10
    jordan 11 72-10,cheap jordan 11 72-10
    72-10 11s,jordan 11 72-10,jordan 72-10 11s
    air jordan 11 72-10,72-10 11s jordan
    jordan retro 11,retro jordan 11
    moncler outlet,moncler jackets outlet
    UGGS on sale,cheap ugg boots
    UGGS on sale,cheap ugg boots sale
    kobe 10,nike kobe 10,cheap kobe X
    UGGS on sale,cheap uggs
    fake ugg boots,cheap fake uggs
    jordan 11 72-10,72-10 11s
    jordan 11 space jam,space jam 11s
    jordan 11 gamma blue,gamma blue 11s,retro 11 gamma blue
    jordan 11 concord,air jordan concords 11
    valentino shoes 2015
    valentino shoes sale
    valentino shoes outlet
    nike kobe x, nike kobe 10,kobe 10 elite,kobe 10 shoes
    nike kobe x, nike kobe 10,kobe 10 elite,kobe 10 shoes
    jimmy choo,jimmy choo sale,jimmy choo shoes
    herve leger,herve leger dress,herve leger sale
    herve leger,herve leger dress,herve leger outlet,herve leger sale
    herve leger,herve leger dress,herve leger sale
    herve leger,herve leger dress,herve leger sale
    bordeaux 7s,air jordan 7 bordeaux 2015
    jordan 11lab4,air jordan 11lab4 2015
    christian louboutin,christian louboutin heels,christian louboutin shoes,christian louboutin pumps for cheap,christian louboutin heels
    jimmy choo,jimmy choo shoes,jimmy choo outlet,jimmy choo ca
    new balance shoes,new balance outlet,new balance ca

    ReplyDelete

  2. ان الرشيد تقدم افضل الخدمات الحديثة التى تعمل على تحسين خدمات نقل العفش المتميز لتسهل على العميل اعمال
    نقل عفش الكويتالتى يحتاجها ونقدمها باسعار متميزة ومتطورة اتصل بنا الان للحصول على افضل الخدمات لاننا

    ReplyDelete

  3. شكرا معلومات مفيدة يمكنك زيارة ايضا لمعلومات قيمة اخرى قم بزيارة :

    شركة تنظيف خزانات بالمدينة المنورة
    افضل شركة تنظيف

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails