All right folks, it’s time to shake things up (by being consistent, which I realize does not make much sense. But moving on…). I’m going to try something new where certain days of the week I post about specific things. This way (I’m hoping), I’ll stop slacking off so much and actually post once in a while!

The first weekly change will be #BookTalkTuesdays. Every other second at the library, a patron or coworker will ask me what I like to read or what I’m reading. I hesitate to tell them because a) I’m like 10 years behind everyone else in what they’re reading and b) I have such specialized, weird reading interests like vegetarian cuisine so easy a 4 year old could make it (because that is my cooking ability), building tiny cabins in the middle of the woods, and poetry that probably wasn’t written in this decade and probably features a lot of birds.

This will be a way to not only answer those inquisitions, but hopefully expand my readership to things other normal humans are reading (like things that have actually earned an award or a spot on a bestseller’s list). It would be nice not to have to disappoint a patron for the 500th time when they ask “Have you read this?” and I haven’t because it isn’t Harry Potter.

So today’s featured book is The Last One by Alexandra Oliva.

Premise:

Zoo, the main character, is competing on a reality TV show where the goal is to survive longer in the wild than the rest of the competitors. The book alternates between Zoo’s perspective in the present and a distanced point of view of the production of the show set further back in time, as well as various comment threads on the internet.  Eventually, after witnessing some terrible atrocities (I know that’s vague, but I don’t want to give too much away!), it becomes clear to Zoo that everything isn’t as it seems. Think Survivor meets Outbreak, with a bit of psychological suspense and mystery thrown in.

Why it was worth reading:

This book was fast paced and left enough unknown to keep me reading on, which I always appreciate. I have the terrible habit of reaching an impatience threshold when I’m reading and just flipping to the back to the book to see how it ends, which leads to me  giving up on reading it entirely. I didn’t do that with this book! It also didn’t sacrifice setting and description in order to keep a good pace. I could picture every step along Zoo’s journey (even the rather gruesome moments that I really didn’t want to picture), and that’s why, even two weeks after I’ve finished it, this book is still rooted in my thoughts. Being the nature nerd that I am, I loved the surviving-in-nature aspect of the story. It seriously got me so giddy about spending some miserable nights in the wilderness that it led me to book about half a dozen camping trips this summer. When something I’m reading or watching encapsulates my world so entirely that I start to mimic the fictional aesthetic, I know it’s a good one (or I’m just super weird, whichever).

The End.

All right, it’s my bed time now (I’ve adjusted all my habits so I’m living like my 85 year old Grandpa. Stay tuned while I go in the garage and wax my Cadillac and sneak a slice of Rhubarb dessert out of the fridge despite the doctor’s orders). Stay tuned for Thursday when I’m supposed to have another weekly post up called #ThankfulThursday. We’ll see if I can keep up to my own expectations.