[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”0812982940″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5146tCtUipL._SL160_.jpg” width=”104″][simpleazon-link asin=”0812982940″ locale=”us”]The Age of Miracles: A Novel[/simpleazon-link] by Karen Thompson Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
WOW!! What a thought-provoking book! The premise was unique and well-executed. What would happen if Earth slowed in rotation? What would be the ramifications? How would people respond? The author addresses these questions and obviously consulted experts in various fields to get a realistic picture. At first the slowing only affects time, but then it becomes so much worse. I loved the narrator who is a young woman looking back to the time when the slowing began, a time when she was only twelve. This method of narration allowed for an innocent perspective with the benefit of hindsight thrown in. It worked very well.

Ideas to discuss:

The concept of time
Darkness/Light
Madness

Favorite words:
spurious
hubris
vestigial

Favorite quote: “The unimaginable had been imagined, the unbelievable believed. Now it seemed to me that dangers lurked everywhere. Threats seemed to hide in every crack (p. 26).”

Favorite simile: “the shelves sucked clean like chicken bones”

I highly recommend this book. It challenges the reader to think about the unthinkable and ponder “what if?” Also, it would make for a stimulating book club discussion. Would you be a real-timer or a clock-timer?” Could you adjust or would you go mad?

For more information about the book, including a reader’s guide, visit: http://www.theageofmiraclesbook.com/

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