Books I wish I’d never read. My list of the worst books to read during a government imposed quarantine.

Boy, howdy.  The last few weeks have been rough.  Popping in to see how y’all are doing.  Everyone in my fam is safe and well, something I am grateful for every single second these days.  Lately, it seems like everything we did before last week was silly and meaningless.  We were so innocent and naive and the world was wonderful.  Writing a blog about the books I read was a fun and quirky hobby.  Now, at a time like this, it has felt silly and without purpose.

But then I went for a run on a beautiful day in our beautiful neighborhood and found that someone had written inspiring messages across a good 1/2 mile of the park loop.  The ones that stuck out the most were

“Always look for the helpers.  Mr. Rogers”

and

“Look for the light.  If you can’t find it, be the light.”.

So, here I am, ready to be a helper and a light bearer.  I don’t have much to offer, but if you enjoy discussions about books and love westerns, historical fiction and sci-fi, I can offer you companionship and camaraderie through a blog about books.

The last few weeks have left me anxiety ridden as I have (very unwisely!) gorged on news and found myself ticking off a mental checklist of news items found readily on a highlight reel of dystopian novels.  As my beautiful home state prepares to lock down tomorrow, there are several books I wish I’d never read and didn’t have a mental memory picture to pull references from right now.  Without further ado, I present to you, my list of the worst books to read during a government imposed quarantine.

The top three are quite obvious and cliche.  The number of young adult books on this list is alarming.  And finally, I’ve read so many books by Latin authors discussing the economic and government fallout of their countries, that they belong on this list as well.  Unlike the others on this list, I wouldn’t avoid reading the Latin American books right now because they aren’t dystopian novels, but they will bring an entirely different perspective to life outside of America as we know it and can be quite uncomfortable to read at times.

1984

Animal Farm

A Brave New World

Catch-22

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, The Mockingjay

Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

The Light of the Fireflies

The Lord of the Flies

The Handmaid’s Tale

The Giver

The Time Machine

The Maze Runner

A River in Darkness

 

Latin American Books:

In the Time of the Butterflies

The Motorcycle Diaries

Guerrilla Warfare

Dreaming in Cuban

On my current reading list, I’ve been diving into the Deep Magic e-zine and Jeff Wheeler has a new book out, Killing Fog, so I’ve fallen into both of those lately.

Take care of yourself friends!  Drop me a comment or shoot an email response and let me know what you’re reading and how it’s going.

Cheers, – R