7 Comments

Oh both of these sound good. I hope you enjoyed Arizona. I used to live in Flagstaff and have such a fond place in my heart for that state. I'm trudging through Gone with the Wind. Why on earth I decied to read that tome, I have no idea. But here I am, and I hate to quit.

Expand full comment

I read the Doomsday Book when it first came out. Not sure of the author's intent, but at the time I took it to be an allegory about AIDS. With no effective treatment and societal homophobia stigmatizing those who got sick, it was a very bleak time, which led to plague comparisons. So many young men in the prime of life were lost, it was so heart-breaking. The year the book was published (1992) AIDS was the leading cause of death in men 22-45. I can't convey the feelings of loss and despair, but the book really captured it.

Expand full comment

That makes perfect sense! I hadn't even thought of that context. Thanks for sharing this.

Expand full comment

The Doomsday Book has been on my TBR for ages, but I had no idea it takes place at Christmastime. Putting it on my December-specific TBR may actually help me pick it up.

Expand full comment

The Medieval Christmas traditions are fun to read about!

Expand full comment

I'm reading The Doomsday Book right now because I adore time-travel books grounded in reality and I've been running up against this book from all kinds of sources recently as one of the All Time Greats. I'm having a little trouble sticking with it (I'm on pg. 210/445) and I think you helped me put my finger on why - the futuristic setting (2054) with the old school ideas of communications (taking messages, lines being engaged, inability to locate people when you need them) are jarring. Like where is that fishing administrator and are we really supposed to believe anyone in a position of power is allowed to be unreachable? I'm really going to try to finish because I'm hearing about it from so many directions and I do wanna know how it ties up - but so far it's a bit of a slog for me, I'm afraid.

Expand full comment

If I didn't have the dedicated time to read it in just 3 sittings, I think it would have ended up DNFed for me. But being able to read it in big chunks helped. It's also pretty repetitive!

Expand full comment