Kirkland, WA was the site of the first reported cases of coronavirus in the US. The governor of WA, Jay Inslee, declared a state of emergency (as have CA and MD). Large tech employers have instructed employees to work from home and one school district has closed for up to two weeks while they transition to online learning, while several other schools have closed for cleaning. The King County Public Health currently recommends to cancelling or postponing events and meetings where large groups are expected; the city of Redmond, WA is interpreting that as events expecting 10 or more people. People who have underlying health considerations are urged to avoid large groups. All this means more people might be staying inside and at home more than usual. Local bookstores are responding to the potential need for diversions without social interaction; most stores already offer shipping, ebooks, and audiobooks through their websites. Some, like Island Books and Queen Anne Book Company, are also offering free in-neighborhood delivery to help neighbors who need to limit their contact with people.
Meanwhile, one Queen Anne Book Company customer and neighbor posted this timely book review on social media:
Symphony for the City of the Dead
If you’re looking for some good reading for your middle or high school aged kid during an indefinite confinement, you cannot do better than this book about the siege of Leningrad. Lots of great history, plus the politics and fear of famine seem creepily relevant. It may even make your kids look differently at your pets.
–Deirdre G., Seattle, WA, Queen Anne Book Company customer
This made us start thinking about other books about sieges, plagues, and cabin fever. Here’s a list of some titles we came up with:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6: Cabin Fever
What would you add to the list?
Pandemic book reading:
I am a retired (2011) sales rep who worked in book publishing for forty years. Random House employed me for more than half of those years. I still get book recommendations from the company. I do not read all of the suggestions I get. I am happy that I DID read WHITE PLAGUE by JAMES ABEL (pseudonym of journalist/author Bob Reiss). A WARNING for readers – when you read this book, make sure you are sitting near a fireplace with a roaring fire or on a hot, sunny beach. If not, you will get very cold, as I did. This is the first in a series with at least four books (as of December 2019).
Colonel Joe Rush is a Marine but he is also a doctor. There is a terrible secret in his past stemming from an incident in Afghanistan two years prior to this story. His nickname is “Killer”. His best friend is Major Eddie Nakamura, also a doctor, who was there with Joe in Afghanistan. Joe and Eddie are sent to Barrow, Alaska when a U.S. submarine is reported stranded in an Arctic Ice field with burn injuries and an unknown illness killing the crew.
They board a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker along with a staff of 25 Marines, a native Alaskan ice expert and a female engineer from the company that built the submarine. Joe and Eddie realize quickly that there is a Chinese spy aboard the cutter. Communications with the outside world is almost nonexistent because of a severe storm. The sub contains many updated and secret innovations that they have to either save or destroy. The Chinese are after that technology as well and it is a race against time.
The two groups arrive on scene almost at the same time. A confrontation ensues but Joe is able to avoid starting WWWIII. The Americans eventually head toward Barrow but the disease is creating an international panic among the leaders who know about it. The Americans decide they have to destroy the ship and all of the personnel to avoid a pandemic similar to 1347 (the Black Death) or 1918 (the Spanish flu).
If you like military thrillers, medical dramas or spy intrigues, this is a book for you. I eagerly anticipate reading more stories by author Abel/Reiss.
GO! BUY! READ!