Nell and her sister Eva live miles outside of a small town in California. Their mother has recently passed from cancer when the family starts to experience rolling blackouts. Then the electricity doesn't turn back on. Nell, Eva, and their dad need to learn to live without luxuries of modern day life. In their last trip in to the town, on fumes of gas, they notice not many people left in the town and not much left for supplies. When their dad dies from a tragic accident, Nell and Eva are left to fend for themselves.
I liked the premise of this novel. It isn't so much about the lack of electricity as it is about what two sisters do when they are by themselves, in the middle of no where, without any electricity to rely on. Keeping care of the house and animals, gardening, rationing; these are all things that must be considered. The girls also have to be weary of any strangers that do come by.
Not everything is perfect. The two sisters argue like any sisters do, but love prevails. I loved the way they pulled each other through the tough times.
This book is a great 'what if' book. A great point is raised that humans have been living without electricity for such a short period of time in our existence, why couldn't we go back to living without it?
First Line: "It's strange, writing these first words, like leaning down into the musty stillness of a well and seeing my face peer up from the water - so small and from such an unfamiliar angle I'm startled to realize the reflection is my own."
Rating:
(4/5)
When Julia gets a call saying that her sister Kate was found dead in an alleyway in Paris, Julia is in shock. Julia has to deal with her grief but also help her adopted son, who happens to be Kate's biological son, through the emotions that he's feeling. When the police have no leads, Julia tries to take matters into her own hands, viewing the online dating sites that her sister did. This leads down a path of horrible choices for Julia and she is wrapped up in an affair that starts great and ends dangerously.
Since he was a kid, John Pollack has been fascinated with boats and has been saving up corks to build his own cork boat. As an adult, working as a speech writer on capitol hill, John still can't shake the dream. He sends out some emails to friends asking for calculations on how many corks would be needed and to see if anyone would be available to help. A team comes together and eventually they determine they need over 150,000 corks. Collecting from businesses and friends, they find a place to store everything and then start determining how to build the thing.
When Takeo witnesses his step-father murdered and knows that his mother and the rest of the village have been captured, he runs off into the forest. There, he is found by Lord Otori Shigeru who shelters him and then takes him back to his home, eventually adopting him. Otori is the head of a powerful clan, though his uncles want some of the power for themselves. Otori is told if he wants to adopt Takeo, he must marry Lady Kaede though his heart is with another. The family travels out to enemy territory in a facade for the wedding but really hoping to murder a top tribe rival. Takeo has realized that he has special abilities, including very sensitive hearing and the ability to appear as a mirage to others. He's sure he can use these against the enemy.
Catherine is looking for a book to read, picking up one from around the piles of boxes in her recently moved-into home. She picks up a fiction called A Perfect Stranger and very quickly recognizes herself describing a secret she's been holding for a very long time. Who wrote this book? How did it get in to her home? Catherine has many questions and doesn't want to re-live this part of her life. Then her son receives the book, and eventually her husband. Her secret is exposed to those closest to her.
Sophie and her mom moved to small-town Tennessee after her father's death. The two quickly make friends in the town and Sophie, being as beautiful as she is, attracts the attention of more than a few teenage boys. Despite there being much interest from other guys, Sophie finds herself attracted to Crow and the two start dating. One night, during a party, they slip out into the woods deciding this will be the first time they have sex. Unprepared, Crow quickly heads to his car to grab protection and Sophie is raped multiple times and left for dead. Crow knows that he will be to blame, but who really did this?
In a warren of rabbits, Fiver sees that it is no longer safe to stay in their current home. He tells his brother Hazel who knows by now to trust Fiver's instincts. They gather up as many rabbits as they can and wind up with an interesting group because the strongest won't listen to Fiver. The group sets out on their journey, encountering elil (animals that want to hunt them), people, other rabbits, farms, and finally Watership Down. They start to make their home there and then need to start worrying about how to sustain their home without does to mother new bunnies.
Victor Vale is a detective in the future, many years from now where you need only insert a needle into your arm to be connected to the virtual reality internet, art and expression is not allowed, and robots are part of every day life (Vale has a robot housekeeper... Jetsons anyone!?). His boss tasks him with taking down a group of creators, which are artists and not allowed in the world. Using future technology, Vale changes in to his alter-ego as a reporter and visits this forbidden underground world. He quickly realizes that perhaps these creators aren't as bad as society makes them out to be. Don't we all have a bit of creator in us?
Orient is a small island at the end of Long Island, which has seen its tightly knit community start to erode as rich people try to move to the island as an alternative to the Hamptons. Those that grew up on the island don't want to see this happen and the community board is doing everything it can to stop the influx of cash. Paul Benchley is one that grew up on the island, though he left to become an architect before returning when his mom was sick. The locals find out that Paul is bringing home a kid from the city to help clean out his mom's house and it doesn't go over well. Mills Chevern is that kid, one that's hopped around from foster home to foster home, and has had drug problems in the past. Mills' arrival sets of a chain of events that change the island forever. The local care taker is found drowned in the water and a mutant animal washes up on the beach.
