pandemics vs escape

During stressful times, librarians regularly encounter two types of readers: those who find meaning in exploring worst case scenarios and those who like to find an escape from it all.

These two lists bring these types head to head so pick what you’d like right from the privacy of your own home!

Pandemics

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry

Ebook also available in the National Emergency Library

(amazon) The strongest weapon against pandemic is the truth. Read why in the definitive account of the 1918 Flu Epidemic. 

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney (one of Holley's personal favorites!)

(amazon) In 1918, the Italian-Americans of New York, the Yupik of Alaska and the Persians of Mashed had almost nothing in common except for a virus--one that triggered the worst pandemic of modern times and had a decisive effect on the history of the twentieth century.

The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian

(amazon) From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant comes a twisting story of love and deceit: an American man vanishes on a rural road in Vietnam, and his girlfriend, an emergency room doctor trained to ask questions, follows a path that leads her home to the very hospital where they met.

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

(amazon) An ordinary town is transformed by a mysterious illness that triggers perpetual sleep in this mesmerizing novel from the bestselling author of The Age of Miracles (one of Holley's personal favorites!).

Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come by Richard Preston

(amazon) An urgent wake-up call about the future of emerging viruses and a gripping account of the doctors and scientists fighting to protect us, told through the story of the deadly 2013–2014 Ebola epidemic.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Ebook also available in the National Emergency Library

(amazon) An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. 

Not Digitally Available in JCLC

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

(amazon) “A thrilling story of corporate espionage at the highest level . . . and a powerful cautionary tale about technology, runaway capitalism, and the nightmare world we are making for ourselves.”—Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter (one of Holley's personal favorites!)

A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen

(amazon) How do you start over after the end of the world?

"Not just an apocalyptic thriller, but also a timely reminder of what is most important in life—family, love, and hope.” —Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M

Coming Soon

The End of October by Lawrence Wright (4/28/2020)

(amazon) In this riveting medical thriller--from the Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author--Dr. Henry Parsons, an unlikely but appealing hero, races to find the origins and cure of a mysterious new killer virus as it brings the world to its knees.

Calgon, Take Me Away!

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward

(amazon) “Dysfunctional family goes away together on a Mediterranean cruise: What’s not to love? This novel fell squarely in my wheelhouse and I was delighted anew in every port. The Jetsetters is fun, sexy, and engrossing.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand

The Vacationers by Emma Straub
Ebook also available in the National Emergency Library

(amazon) An irresistible, deftly observed novel from the New York Times-bestselling author of Modern Lovers, about the secrets, joys, and jealousies that rise to the surface over the course of an American family’s two-week stay in Mallorca.

The Book of Dreams by Nina George

(amazon) A revelatory, urgently human story that examines what we consider serious and painful alongside light and whimsy, THE BOOK OF DREAMS is a tender meditation on memory, liminality, and empathy, asking with grace and gravitas what we will truly find meaningful in our lives once we are gone.

It’s Not All Downhill From Here by Terry McMillan

(amazon) After a sudden change of plans, a remarkable woman and her loyal group of friends try to figure out what she’s going to do with the rest of her life—from Terry McMillan, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale

Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him by Danielle Ganek (one of Holley's personal favorites!)

(amazon) As The Devil Wears Prada demystified the world of high fashion, this funny and insightful debut novel dishes the crazy and captivating Manhattan art scene. When painter Jeffrey Finelli is run over by a cab, the art world clamors for the instantly in-demand work by the late “emerging artist”—especially an enormous painting called Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him.

My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir by Noelle Hancock (one of Holley's personal favorites!)

(amazon) “Eleanor (Roosevelt) taught Noelle that, first and foremost, Courage Takes Practice. Her yearlong quest to face her terrors, great and small, is moving, enriching, and hilarious—we readers are lucky to be along for the ride.”
—Julie Powell, bestselling author of Julie & Julia

Coming Soon

Beach Read by Emily Henry (05/19/2020)

(amazon) A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

The Girls Weekend by Jody Gehrman (06/09/2020)

(amazon) For fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley, a riveting locked-room mystery about five college friends eager to reunite after years apart--only to be ripped apart again when their host's disappearance unearths dark secrets and old grudges.