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Air date: March 24, 2024
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Episode 42 - Air date: March 24, 2024
BRIDGET:
Hi, this is Bridget Sievers, collection development librarian at Sno-Isle Libraries, filling in for Jessica Russell. And welcome to Book Buzz.
Today's reading recommendations include a humorous tale of extraterrestrials, and an apocalyptic fantasy.
First, we’re going to hear from Collection Services Librarian Lorraine, for an alien adventure. Over to you, Lorraine.
LORRAINE:
“The Road to Roswell” by multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winner Connie Willis, is a good read for people looking for a good-hearted, fast-paced, funny story. I would call this a screwball speculative fiction/science fiction story.
On the way to a UFO-themed wedding in Roswell, New Mexico, Francie Driscoll is abducted by an alien described as an animate tumbleweed, but who needs her help navigating through the desert. At first afraid, Francie gradually comes to believe that the alien has good intentions, and she knows that it is in trouble, only she doesn’t know how or even what that trouble actually is.
At each stop they take, they pick up oddballs who join in on the adventure: Wade, a handsome conman, Eula Mae, a little old lady card sharp, Lyle, a UFO-chasing nut, and Joseph, a retired western film buff, traveling the desert in his RV (cough, cough, Western Trail Wagon). This book is part alien-abduction adventure, part road trip saga and part romantic comedy. Can they help save the alien before the Feds close in? The truth is out there.
I love the novels, short stories, and novellas written by this author. Her writing encompasses everything from pathos to hilarity. “The Road to Roswell” by Connie Willis does not disappoint.
BRIDGET:
Thanks, Lorraine! That sounds like a wild road trip with a bunch of charming characters.
Next, let's hear from Abby, librarian from the Arlington library, for an end-of-the-world tale. Take it away, Abby.
ABBY:
For fans of dark, dystopian fiction like “The Last of Us” or “The Stand,” I suggest “Wanderers” by Chuck Wendig.
This tome tells the story of a near-future where a creeping white fungal infection appears in the sinuses of everyday Americans across the country. While the sneezing starts spreading, a mysterious group of “sleepwalkers” begins gathering in middle America.
These sleepwalkers are everyday people who seem to be in a trance, all walking together — day and night without rest, food, or the ability to respond to their loved ones who are desperately trying to wake them. With each state the group moves through, more people are pulled from their lives and into the flock without warning … while the media follows along.
The story weaves together the lives of multiple robust characters — a washed-up rock ‘n’ roller looking for thrills, a fire-and-brimstone preacher, a CDC researcher who’s selected by a secretive military A.I. program to study the sleepwalkers, a slimy politician, and a few more — and it’s through these viewpoints that Wendig creates a masterfully engaging tale.
The story’s pacing is so fast that you’ll plow through the 800-page book and be ready for more — which is great since the sequel, “Wayward,” came out in late 2022!
BRIDGET:
Thanks, Abby! Be sure not to sleep on this one!
Our recommendations this week are: “The Road to Roswell” by Connie Willis and “Wanderers” by Chuck Wendig.
Join us next time, when we’ll explore more great reading recommendations — interesting books that you can find at your favorite local bookstore or at your local library.
Until then, I’m Bridget Sievers from Sno-Isle Libraries.
Thanks for joining us for Book Buzz on KSER.
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