Read: John Barnes - Directive 51

I hadn't read anything by John Barnes in a few years, but this one was available as a free e-book from the Toronto Library. It's an end-of-civilization apocalyptic book, but stands out for its focus on politics and following through the story with figures from the top of the (crumbling) government, as opposed to most books which focus on the plight of the common person. I liked the different focus - it was still just as gripping and poignant to watch everyday conveniences that we take for granted falling away into oblivion.

Read: Jean M. Auel - The Plains of Passage

Okay, I'm done. This was the only book left from my re-read of the series. Plotwise I remembered it being a bit odd, what with the Amazon-women sequence, but when you re-read it in comparison to the final book it holds up much better - at least there is a plot! All in all, not bad. And it makes me want to visit a glacier.

Read: Justin Cronin - The Passage

I do love apocalyptic, end-of-the-world stories, so it's no wonder I liked this book. The overall structure was a bit awkward, focusing on various time periods and events sequentially with breaks in between - it got a bit choppy. If I could edit it, I'd integrate it all into the final time period, with some flashbacks or other device to introduce the past context that led up to the present scenario. But overall it was worth the time (it's quite a long book), even though I might not re-read it.

Read: Orson Scott Card - A War of Gifts

I ended up buying this book because I had a small amount left on an Amazon gift card, and it was one of the least expensive e-books I could download to my laptop, since I'm avoiding buying real books until we're back from traveling. So, under ordinary circumstances I would have borrowed this book from the library, rather than purchasing it, but I've enjoyed Card's other books in the Ender series. This one was a bit odd - more of a novella or long short story, with a Christmas story and Ender as not the main focus. It felt a bit like a writing workshop exercise, but it was still good. Not, however, a book that I'd feel compelled to keep on the bookshelf as part of my permanent collection for future re-reads. Oddly enough I just purchased a book of Christmas stories by another favourite sci-fi writer, Connie Willis, not long ago. That one was definitely worth investing in the shelf space.