end of the world

The Dog Stars has been in my stack for months and months. I picked it up once, read about 15 pages and thought “this is TOO weird.” But then. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen it on so many “Best Of” lists, heard such wonderful reviews from the podcasters I listen to, that I thought I’d give it another go. And I’m so glad I did – I ended up really, really liking it. Here is the set-up: The world has been wiped out by a super-flu and the devastating blood disease that followed it. Hig and his faithful dog Jasper are among a handful of survivors, and the two of them have staked out a

In Walker’s beautifully-written debut novel, it’s the end of the world as we know it, but instead of a sudden vampire plague or apocalyptic alien invasion, scientists discover that the Earth’s rotation is slowing.  Days and nights are getting longer, birds are dying, and whales are beaching themselves by the thousands. Julia, the thoughtful and withdrawn narrator right on the cusp of adolescence, watches as the Earth’s slowing rotation is the catalyst for all the changes around her – classmates move away, her parents’ marriage starts to splinter, neighbors who decide to ignore the 24-hour