DOOMED

So.

It was a little over a year ago that I decided to find a purpose for this blog. With that in mind, I started The Reading the Library Challenge, with the stated aim to read one book per letter of the alphabet from our general shelves in the library.

2020 did not cooperate, y'all.

Instead of 26 books, I managed the grand total of 8. Which, y'know, isn't too bad when you consider there's a pandemic and the world is generally on fire. (Also I was reading other things as well.)

This is still a project that I'd like to pursue, because many of the issues I raised (I don't read widely enough, I am comfortable in my comfort zone, there are whole swathes of authors I've never read) are still relevant. With that in mind:

Let us continue reading the library.

I believe we got up to the I-shelves, so I immediately went to this book, which has caught my eye several times while I've been shelving:

The copy we own also has the following disclaimer on the cover: "WARNING: This book may restore your faith in human nature", which honestly nearly put me off the whole business. I'm quite glad I read it anyway, because it's really very good. And worryingly topical.

PLOT SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

An investment banker, who specialises in short trading (which, conveniently, we all learned about recently due to the Gamestop saga), accidentally predicts the end of the world by a deadly flu pandemic, and flees to a tiny Cornish village. He swims off into the sea but is rescued from drowning by a whale. The village take him (and the whale) into their hearts.

So, yeah, weirdly topical. There's also a passing reference to buying shares in AstraZeneca.

It's interesting to read this sort of book while living through a genuine pandemic, to see where the author's predictions go awry (for example, in the book, the UK Government shut the borders as soon as the first cases of the deadly virus appear) (*satirical laugh*).

It's also difficult to categorise, because it's a fairly realistic, straight-forward story, but with an added element of Mystery Whale Syndrome. It is, however, nice to read peri-apocalypic fiction which isn't constant doom and gloom and people being horrid to each other. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say it restored my faith in human nature, but it was a nice, fun story, which stayed just on the correct side of pretentiousness.

Now, off I go into the J-shelves, in search of more treasure. Wish me luck.