The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

This past Christmas I received three books. One of them was The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. I had never read a book about the end of civilization and I have to say it is a little depressing and very eerie when you finish at 4:30 in the morning. All I wanted to do was talk to someone to ensure that the end of the world had not happened. Luckily I live on a busy street and could hear the sounds of other people still.

Written years later from the perspective of Hig (one of two main characters) you slowly learn about the flu pandemic and how he has had to survive and what he has lost. The other main character is Bangley; a man to be feared, but knows how to survive. Heller writes his sentences as the thoughts of someone who has had only one other man and a dog to talk to in close to a decade. This makes the knowledge of how Hig's life has been even more emphasized to the reader. Hig's thoughts are not completely linear and he bounces from past to present often. It is a well written book and definitely a page turner.

I must say though that reading about the end of the human race is not something I enjoy. The book had me turning the page though to see if Hig ever found other "civilized" people. People who didn't want to kill him on sight for just living.This topic has me thinking about whether it would be better to die with the majority of the population and everyone you love or to be a lone survivor. How hard would it be to stay sane knowing that the rest of the survivors are scattered around the world and probably hostile? Would my desire to live be strong enough to endure through everything I would have to see and do to survive? It is also depressing to think about how society crumbles and breaks down. I will have to read a few other books about this topic to see how other writers have portrayed the last surviving humans.

The Fireman's Wife

I received a new (to me) collection of short stories for Christmas from my amazing team of managers. I have been reading at least one story in it per shift and am almost halfway through it. One story has really resonated with me. The Fireman's Wife, written by Richard Bausch. The main character is Jane and her husband, Martin, is a fireman. The story focuses on their relationship, with sprinkles of information regarding their friends within the firehouse circle. Jane is feeling very lost in her marriage and considers leaving Martin. Before she can act on this, there is a terrible fire and Martin is sent home very injured and they lose one of their friends to the fire. Now Jane has to decide to stay or go.


I think that all of have those moments when we feel lost. Have we forgotten who we were trying to be? Have we changed into someone else because we were trying to please someone? Should we stay or go? Relationships are never easy. They are full of questions and conflict, as well as beauty and compassion. Life takes us on an unknown adventure with great highs and tragic pitfalls. Can we maintain the person we are through it all? If we lose ourself, can we find our way back? Do we want to?


Well, I just thought I would take a stab at this blog/discussion thing. Thanks for reading.

2015 Reading Resolution

Okay, I make this every year and every year I don't stick to it. But this year (2015) I plan to be more active and diligent with this blog. Trying to make it more interactive with other readers also. I want people to be able to create their own posts and not just comment on mine. Of course this means that I may have quite a few authors but I am okay with that. So...here's to 2015 and reading more and writing more!

New Things in My Life

I have so many new things happening in my life. They may not seem that important; but to me they are monumental. I moved into my own apartment again in June (sadly have been slacking on getting internet set up). I also signed up for an online journaling class that is helping me to learn how to express myself more and work through the changes in my life.

I am currently reading "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and am enjoying it. Right now though I feel like they should have reached the middle by now. I will journal on the book once I finish it. Some other things I am doing are trying to get back into my creative side with poetry and art. We'll see how they go. I have a lot of decorating to do in my apartment and gifts to make so I am getting back on board with my creative side. 

This is quite embarrassing. I haven't written on here for over a year. Yet I have been reading books and updating my library on LibraryThing. So much has been going on - yet I haven't been posting. So, I am going to make it a set day of the week to ensure I am staying up to date with my blog. If there happens to be a week with more than one post that's okay. There is so much to talk about with literature and this is where I see the best outlet for myself. If only I would utilize it! I am starting out on my own again. New apartment with no cable and internet so I will definitely have time to read and re-center myself to what my priorities and needs are. I am also enrolled in an online course on how to journal so some of my thoughts on that may show up here also.