#plaguebook — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #plaguebook, aggregated by home.social.
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📘 "A Plagued Sea" by Kim Bo-Young, translated from Korean into English by Sophie Bowman
This book isn't out yet, but will be in August 2026. I received a digital ARC for it (thanks!).
A lovecraftian horror novella that takes place in a fishing town under quarantine. Circumstances in the past have caused the protagonist to be stuck there, coping with daily life in maybe not the best ways.
I'm always interested in stories that deal with infection in some way. I quite liked how this book wasn't overly scary, but built up a sense of unease with its atmosphere. The plague is not understood, there's not even consensus over its origin or the way it spreads. People seem to be coping in different ways, and the world at large might not be treating the infected ones as decently as one would hope...
The story tries hard not to fall into the trap of representing evil with ugliness, deformity and sickness. It tiptoes a fine line between the (body) horror of unknowable beings and the mistreatment and othering of anyone too different from the norm. Even the characters themselves bring up a comparison to leprosy colonies.
I liked the tense dynamic of the sealed-off village versus the outer world, and how the two might look upon one another. But I also think it could have been made stronger by exploring this theme more heavily, upping the ambivalence, creating more uncertainty and strong emotions, giving the reader more opportunity to reflect on the issue themselves. Although the storytelling was interesting to read, I also think it lacked the depth necessary to truly do such a complex topic justice. Some situations were resolved too easily, and some ideas were quickly glossed over by something like an 'uhm, actually not true' remark from this or that character.
The main character remains a bit of a mystery for the reader too. She doesn't often express her emotions and her intentions are not always clear. The context offers enough to understand her, but still leaves enough room for surprise at how intense the protagonist suddenly seems to be invested in certain things. Depending on the reader, this could either be a pro or a con.
Overall I thought it was a fun read with interesting ideas, limited somewhat by its execution.
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📘 "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever" by James Tiptree Jr (aka Alice Bradley Sheldon)
This is a bit of a chonker of a book, a big collection of James Tiptree Jr's classic sci-fi short stories, novelettes and novellas. I've been reading from it since the start of the year.
I'm in awe of how well these stories portray the violence that can come with being a woman. This collection has its finger on the pulse so accurately that you can hear the heartbeat as loudly as when you're hiding under the bed and you see the feet of the one who's been hunting you down appear in the doorframe. I can't believe this author could write under a male pseudonym and nobody caught her for decades. I'm convinced all of her female readers secretly must have known it in their hearts.
There are a lot of tales in here, so it's hard to give a general description or opinion. I think overall the book is good. I didn't like all stories, but there were some great ones that I wouldn't want to have missed in my reading life. Tiptree became a big name in the genre for a reason.
I'll list a few of the stories that I liked best:
- ‘The Screwfly Solution’ is about femicide spreading as an infection, leading to cults dedicated to eradicating women. It gave me nightmares.
- ‘Houston, Houston, Do You Read?’ follows three men accidentally travelling forward through time during a space mission, ending up in a time when the world is in women’s hands. In a world where men’s violence is no longer the norm, their regular behavior seems all the more terrifying. Fascinating read, very tense.
- ‘The Women Men Don’t See’ dumps you into the mind of a frightening man, stranded with two women after a plane crash. Stressed me out, but the twist was great.
- ‘With Delicate Mad Hands’ follows a woman, severely mistreated by other people, who feels a yearning for the stars. This is a story for those who enjoy Sayaka Murata's Earthlings but wish it could have a sliver of something that is good and sweet in there. I loved it. It’s a little awkward to admit, but it definitely made me cry -multiple times. I wonder why this is one of Tiptree’s lesser known works, it’s so dramatic, and epic in scale too.
- ‘On the Last Afternoon’ is gross (is biology horror a thing?), it stressed me out, I don’t think I would’ve put it on this list if I hadn’t thought constantly: “I wonder if Octavia E. Butler has read this story in her life, she would’ve loved it.” I think this would suit the Patternist series lovers.
Maybe some of the stories in this collection have aged a little and contain some awkward terms one might not see today anymore. But honestly, I think they've aged better than most and unfortunately the issues discussed feel as contemporary as ever.
If you're a sci-fi fan you'll probably like this (high chance you've actually already read it!). If you're not so sure, you can look up some stories online before you commit. Some of the more famous ones have been published on a variety of (literary) websites.
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📘 "Genesis" by Bernard Beckett
This is a philosophical young adult novel. If I had read the synopsis of this book, I would have never picked it up. It was personally recommended to me on Masto, so I gave it a go. Fortunately I did, because I had a blast!
The format of this novel is something I'd never seen before. The protagonist is going through an oral exam, which consists of four hours with three small breaks in between each hour. Every chapter is one of those. The book is sort of a logged transcript of this examination process.
In this post-apocalyptic world, the protagonist wishes to join an academy as a historian and in her exam she discusses how the world came to be as it is. It heavily incorporates classic philosophy, which might be more suited to a younger audience, but is still fun enough to read as an adult too.
You can see the book work steadily towards something, but what? If you look closely, you might know beforehand. But even if you do know, you'll be surprised by the way it's done. I cackled! I loved it. It does it so earnestly, completely commits to it. I'm smiling broadly thinking back to it. Don't misunderstand me, it's a dark book, but I found great joy in how the author pulled the rug from under me. Even if you hate it, you'll have to admit it's original.
I won't say any more. It's its own experience, easily read in one sitting. Great fun, awesome recommendation.
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📘 "The Annual Migration of Clouds" by Premee Mohamed
Look at that stunning cover! This is the first book in the The Annual Migration of Clouds trilogy. They're all novellas. I'd rather just have one book of 400-something pages, but oh well.
In this story we're a dystopian future not too far from now, where people create communities in ruins and rummage through plastic garbage looking for anything that can help them survive another year. Besides the consequences of humanity's actions on earth, they're also dealing with a fungus plague, of which the protagonist is a carrier. Gossips go around about domes filled with technology, knowledge and even societal structures of the old human world. Nobody knows if they truly exist, but that becomes more pressing when the main characters gets an invite to join one.
This being a first book in a series, it very much feels like a build-up for what's to come. Yet, we get some wonderful worldbuilding and great tension. The characters are realistic, the fungus's presence is oppressive and I was constantly nervous about bonds built and broken. The writing style is pensive, quite unique and very pleasant to read.
I think this book is good company for readers dealing with difficult parental relationships and guilt, and for people who feel like they need to follow their own path in life, despite resistance.
Definitely continuing on in book two soon.
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📗 "Viral Modernism: The Influenza Pandemic and Interwar Literature" by Elizabeth Outka
Have you wondered too: why is covid barely visible in modern media? Why do I never pick up a book with someone wearing a mask, even though it's 2020 in the story? Why do I watch tv shows set in 2021 and they act like everything is fine? I have to dig deep for any text that dares to mention the unmentionable (ongoing) SARSCoV2 pandemic, and that really bothers me.
Turns out this is not a rare phenomenon. The same happened after Spanish Flu a full century ago. This book from 2019 digs into the why of it, and then goes on to analyze the presence of the 1918 pandemic in the very few books that did mention it.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 zooms in on 'why?'. Why was the flu silenced in literature? Why was it such a taboo? Even if you're not interested in reading the rest of this book, this part is worth it if you've been wondering the same. It has some interesting theories. Partly the war overshadowed the pandemic. But partly it's also a problem of a lack of language and narrative. War is easy to explain: us, the goodies, fight a 'them', the baddies, and someone wins. But a virus is invisible and not well-understood. The 'enemy' doesn't invade from the outside, but spreads throughout your loved ones, penetrates your body and blurs all the lines of who's what. There was a lot of guilt about participation and ignorance. On top of the grief, there's a societal view of sickness as weakness, and of caring and ill health with femininity, which didn't help. I won't recap all of the book here, but it was a fascinating read to see why the pandemic was hidden in media, and how so much can be applied to the current times too. Plus there were lots of archival pictures that I'd never seen before!
In part 2 several books from around that era are discussed and the role of the pandemic in the story is analyzed. I was afraid that it might be too academic for me, but it was quite readable. Most notably I've gotten a more negative view of Virginia Woolf. Although she was one of the few acknowledging sickness in her literature, she also minimized Spanish Flu in daily life, not wanting to engage with it. I was also surprised to see 'look to windward' appear, which I've only known as a quote on war through Bank's books. And wow, the amount of 'living dead' analogies that pop up, interesting stuff.
Part 3 goes into two major trends that became popular post-pandemic: spiritualism and zombie tales. Both are forms of the dead coming back, one for mourning and peace of mind, the other for an outlet for fear and anger. I got quite upset reading about seances where ghosts of flu victims return to earth to exonerate their families from guilt of infection, hmpf. Either way, I thought it was engrossing. In hindsight, it all makes sense, and it helps me understand the way people behave now.
At the end the book states that we're not ready for a new pandemic, although we could be, if only we'd look reality in the eyes and prepare well. Covid started and... here we are. Millions dead, many more millions chronically ill, ableism abound, covid still around and mutating. And probably more pandemics coming at us in the near future. Every day I feel stronger about not letting this truth go unsaid. It's uncomfortable, but more tragedies will occur if the majority of people keep avoiding unpleasant realities. Don't look away, don't underestimate yourself -you can bear it and do your part to keep the people around you safe and well.
As the book says: "Reading the letters and stories told by the survivors of the pandemic —and the literary representations that simultaneously revealed and hid these very stories— launch us into new narrative streams, allowing us to hear voices long ignored in part because the viral, dust-like form at the heart of the story was itself invisible and silent."
I'm adding this book under #PlagueBook and I've also gone back and tagged all previous books that talk about pandemics that I've reviewed with that too (in a tiny effort to not lose these works into silence once again). You can view them all here:
https://c.im/@reading_recluse/tagged/PlagueBook
Please stay safe and #WearAMask !
#AmReading #NonFiction #books #bookstodon #covid19 #covid #SARScov2 #MaskUp
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📗 "The Covid Safety Handbook: Staying Safe In An Unsafe World" by Violet Blue
Early happy almost release day to the Covid Safety Handbook! I was a kickstarter backer for this title, so of course I'll be at least a little bit biased. But I'll try to be honest and clear about what you can expect from this handbook, and then you can go on your merry way and preorder it now or purchase it from November 26 (2024) onwards.
If you think covid is gone or no big deal, this book is for you. If you have any doubt or questions about covid, or wonder why some people still mask or why you keep getting sick, this book is even more for you.
The handbook goes into the basics of the spread of an airborne disease and what can be done to limit its spread. It discusses mask use, ventilation, filtration, vaccination, and more. It shows how these things can be put into practice, along with tips on how to travel, how to talk to your family, how to resist peer pressure or gaslighting and handle hard emotions, etc. It shines a light on Long Covid as one of the most important possible consequences of infection. It takes the topic seriously, but is written is a very casual way as to make it as accessible as possible for any reader.
If you're a covid cautious veteran with a drawer full of respirators and a CO2 meter standing near your Corsi Rosenthal box right now, you'll probably not learn anything new from this book (but read it anyway, so you know what kind of material is out there to recommend!). Maybe you'll be a little annoyed that Blue motivates the reader to do whatever it is that they can do, instead of immediately going all the way to being a hardliner (I sometimes was). But honestly, I think someone's got to take this approach. Many people want to take small steps and are easily scared off by tough talk or shaming. Maybe this book is the gentle introduction someone needs to get going and research by themselves even more.
What I appreciated a lot was the author's acknowledgement of the disability movement, their knowledge and the way they've been uniquely targeted by the ableism of the pandemic response. This never overshadowed the general message that covid is bad news for everyone, but is still important to understand in my opinion.
Like almost every English-language covid information source, this is mostly US-centric. You won't easily get the brands mentioned on most other continents. There is some level of assumption that the US set the tone for how we handle covid and every other country simply followed. It's probably a hard thing to avoid if most accessible, quality English information sources reference each other and expand, but don't often interact or exchange with other languages and countries. I think anyone in a non-native English speaking country is used to this and can adapt. It really isn't that bad, and it doesn't devalue the text or its message.
Lastly, if there's ever a second print or a revision of some sorts, I'd love to see these additions:
- Mentioning FFP3 masks and their safety grade (since FFP2 does get explained)
- A chapter about mask bans and how to deal with them or prepare for them, maybe with tips and mask alternatives (such as the BPR by Sam Hall)
- There's lots of tips for relatively rare situations, such as going on a plane or staying in a hotel. I'd like to see a little more attention for how to keep masking in difficult everyday situations such as job interviews, hostile workplaces, when living with people who refuse to take any precautions, etc.
Tl;dr: Please have an open mind and look into this book. It's a good resource. You could learn something valuable about protecting yourself and others. At the very least you'll support an indie publication and an author who's fighting hard to keep us safe from early death and disease.
#AmReading #NonFiction #covid #covid19 #COVIDisAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #WearAMask #MaskUp #LongCovid #books #bookstodon #DisabilityLit #PlagueBook
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📘 "Pink Slime" by Fernanda Trías,
translated from Spanish into English by Heather ClearyHappy women in translation month! Let's go global and read from anywhere and everywhere.
Pink Slime is a very slow-paced novel about our world stuck in a pandemic due to an ecological disaster. Algae, pink fogs and red winds bring illness land inwards from the sea. Rich people have moved to the center of continents, while the less well-of have remained behind at the seaside.
But all this is just a background for the story of the main character, who's quite passive and unlikable, but certainly interesting. The text focuses on her day-to-day life, in which she's unable to let go of relationships that have deteriorated as much as the world around her.
I've been stressing out about what's happening in the UK: rioting, attacking people of color, kicking in their doors, defiling their graves, even setting a refugee shelter on fire. Compared to reality, reading this dystopian book that mostly takes place in an almost empty town was kind of chill.
I think the strange thing about many dystopias is that their worlds still somehow try to cover up what's horrible. It's always a secret layer underneath. "Help us keep you safe. Every life is unique," the Ministry of Health proclaims in the novel. It feels weird, reading that while being stuck in a world that doesn't even bother to pretend anymore. Dystopias really need to step up their game or they'll all become utopic reads.
Anyway, Pink Slime was a good read, with beautiful language too. Recommended if you enjoy slow and melancholic books.
#WITmonth #WomenInTranslation #AmReading #SpecFic #bookstodon #PlagueBook
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📗 "Disability in the Time of Pandemic" edited by Allison C. Carey, Sara E. Green & Laura Mauldin
This is a collection of 11 studies by a variety of researchers/authors.
After reading lots of biomedical studies about #covid19 in the past few years, it was nice to read some from the social sciences. Especially nice: mostly there is an acknowledgement of how hard the disabled have been hit so far by the pandemic, and the ongoing nature of the pandemic is understood. I say 'mostly' though, because there's still some disappointing 'post-pandemic' stuff going on in a few of them.
Some articles were more interesting and in-depth than others. Only four different countries were addressed. There is lots about lockdowns, social distancing, lack of care, and inaccessibility because of covid mandates, but not a lot about inaccessibility due to the virus itself or discontinued mandates. The studies certainly are valuable, and I'm grateful that they're being done at all, but I wouldn't present this collection as the be-all and end-all on this topic.
The irony of this book is that without academic access or piracy, it's quite inaccessible for the people it's about due to its ridiculously high price. And as mentioned (many times) in the text itself, many people with disabilities are unemployed and/or living below the poverty line. Got to love academic publishing and its prices /s.
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📗 "Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic" by David Quammen
I've been slowly reading this book on the side for months and I'm finally done! I definitely learned a LOT from this massive tome. Quammen discusses a plethora of diseases, their origins, the ways in which they spread, and the scientific research done to discover them. Especially the chapter on SARS taught me much about our current ongoing #covid pandemic.
This book leaves no stone unturned. Literally none. Not only will you read about the most important data, but also about the people involved, relevant history, a few personal anecdotes, maybe what the weather's like, an interview here and there, travel logs, some family stories... In chapters that weren't my favorite, I sometimes got impatient and a little bored from all the extras. But in chapters that fascinated me, I enjoyed all the side paths taken and thought they added to the atmosphere.
If you want to know more about pandemics and zoonosis, pick this one up. But be ready to dedicate quite some time to it.