The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

SANDRA'S TASK - WORLD AIDS DAY
December 1, 2009 Is World AIDS Day: Identified In 1981, It Is At Present Time A Worldwide Epidemic. Read A Book About An Epidemic (HIV/AIDS, Influenza, Plague, Smallpox, SARS, Superbug, Etc.) Or A Book Where The Character Is Suffering From Such A Disease.
Examples Of Books That Can Fit This Task Are: I Am Legend, Outbreak, The Plague, The Years Of Rice And Salt.


If you need suggestions for books to read for this task post a request here.

Would Fever 1793 work?

Some suggestions:

And the Band Played On Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
The Great Influenza The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
The Hot Zone A Terrifying True Story
The Last Town on Earth A Novel
The Plague
The Stand
Year of Wonders
Flu The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic
A Prayer for the Dying
Running Out of Time

Keep 'em coming, people. I need SERIOUS ideas!! (Preferably books that aren't "terrifying true stories"... I can't read scary books...)

year of wonders is really good; the hot zone is a good read, too.

i would also recommend Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, in which a mid-21st century history student time travels back to the 14th century and accidentally ends up in the middle of the black death. it's a great book. (it could also work for helen's task (25.2) because it is a winner of both the hugo and nebula awards.)

I read two books for the fall challenge that would work Three Junes (AIDS) and A Separate Country (Yellow Fever). Both were interesting reads.

The Andromeda Strain

I recently read There Is No Me Without You One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children by Melissa Fay Greene.

I learned a lot about the history of aids and recommend it highly.

http://browse.barnesandnoble.com/brow...

I remember years ago watching a TV special about a young boy suffering from a major illness (forget the exact one) and in between reality, there was this heroic fairy tale he created. I could have sworn this special was based on the book the boy wrote. Hmm.

Jamie wrote: "Would Fever 1793 work?"

Yes, this book fits the task perfectly.

Thanks! Great task by the way!

Will Plagues and Peoples or Yellow Fever, Black Goddess The Coevolution of People and Plagues do for this task?

Jan (the Gryphon) wrote: "Will Plagues and Peoples or Yellow Fever, Black Goddess The Coevolution of People and Plagues do for this task?"

Either book is fine.

other suggestions:
Blindness
Mercy - aids in africa
Sahara
The Children of Men
The Masque of The Red Death
The Pillars of the Earth plague (or was it World Without End)???
The Tailor's Daughter - typhoid

Do you think that Love in the Time of Cholera would work for this task?

Bridgit wrote: "other suggestions:
Blindness
Mercy - aids in africa
Sahara
The Children of Men
The Masque of The Red Death
The Pillar..."</i>

It was [book:World Without End... Great book!

I read Civil Blood A Civil War Mystery for the Fall Challenge, it deals with a smallpox outbreak during the Civil War.

I have been wanting to read A Separate Country but didn't have time to fit it into the challenge this time, so I glad it will fit into this task!

Another wonderful book during the time of the Black Plague is Company of Liars.

Helen wrote: "Another wonderful book during the time of the Black Plague is Company of Liars."

oooh, i've been wanting to read that one for ages! thanks, helen.

My library has Fever 1793 on audio, so I'll probably go with that... Thanks for the good ideas!

Sera wrote: "Do you think that Love in the Time of Cholera would work for this task?"

I'd have to say no, just because from what I've read, cholera doesn't really play an imporatant part in the story. Sorry

Thank you for recognizing World AIDS Day!

Now I just need to dig up the perfect book...maybe I'll use Camus' The Plague, since I haven't read it in about ten years (and therefore it isn't on my list for my students yet). I know a lot of teachers where I work use An American Plague The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 in conjunction with Fever! 1793, so that's another possibility. I'd really like a novel/biography about someone with AIDS, though. Oh, well! I'm not worried. I'll find something good to read.

Sorry to flood your inboxes, but I ran across these lists that might help if anyone's having trouble:

http://atn-reading-lists.wikispaces.c...
http://atn-reading-lists.wikispaces.c...

Some of the authors are amazing (Paula Fox, M. E. Kerr, Gloria Miklowitz, Alex Sanchez), and since many of them are young adult novels, they're most likely less graphic than a lot of things written expressly for adults.

Thanks for finding those links, Ms Anderson! I was having a hard time hunting for such lists. Added yours to the Helpful Links Spreadsheet.

My husband works in the pharmaceutical industry as a BUM (Business Unit Manager) for an HIV medication so he works with HIV/AIDS patients and their doctors on a daily basis. Last year he met a young woman from Africa, who has lost almost half of her family to AIDS and is herself HIV positive. Her struggles to receive treatment, to educate those around her and to live a normal life inspite of all the prejudice really touched us both. We have since then participated in many events including an AIDS walk this fall.

Helen wrote: "Another wonderful book during the time of the Black Plague is Company of Liars."

ooh ! excellent. have had that on my shelf for at least a year. Now it shall be read!

One additional suggestion for this task:

An Imperfect Lens: A Novel by Anne Roiphe which deals with a team, sent by Louis Pasteur, investigating the source of cholera outbreak in Alexandria, Egypt in the 1880's.

Sandra wrote: "Sera wrote: "Do you think that Love in the Time of Cholera would work for this task?"

I'd have to say no, just because from what I've read, cholera doesn't really play an imporatan..."

No problem; thanks for the replay. I'm sure that I can find something else from the recommendations here. The Last Town on Earth looks promising :)

I am not sure if fictional epidemics would work, but it seems to me that The Strain would work. I am 150 pages to the end so I am kicking myself for reading it for the Fall Challenge.

I thought it may be something to look at for Horror or Fantasy people.

Tara wrote: "I am not sure if fictional epidemics would work, but it seems to me that The Strain would work. I am 150 pages to the end so I am kicking myself for reading it for the Fall Challeng..."

Epidemics, both real and fictional are acceptable for this task, so yes, this book works.

Yet more suggestions:
A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe
The White Plague, Frank Herbert
The Hours, Michael Cunningham (one of the characters has AIDS)
Angels in America, Tony Kushner (this one also features characters with AIDS, although it's a play, albeit a pretty long, depending on the edition it has around 250-300 pages, so I'm not sure if it'd qualify for the task)

Andreea wrote: "Yet more suggestions:
A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe
The White Plague, Frank Herbert
The Hours, Michael Cunningham (one of the characters ha..."

Yes, you can read plays

If you can read plays, there's always Rent, too.

Andreea wrote: "Yet more suggestions:
A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe
The White Plague, Frank Herbert
The Hours, Michael Cunningham (one of the characters..."

Angels in America is amazing!

How about this one? An American Plague The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

Hello!

Two more suggestions that sound amazingly poignant:

My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid, and
The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin

I am actually switching my original choice for Toibin's book. Kincaid's book is nonfiction.

I was interested in The Ghost Map The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson when I read it--sort of medical who done it about a cholera epidemic.

This task is now worth 30 points!!!

If you are a fan of graphic novels, the Y The Last Man Series (Y The Last Man Vol. 1 Unmanned) is entertaining and addictive (all of a sudden all of the men around the world die, except for Yorrick and his pet monkey, who go off in search of his maybe-fiancée).

Would Infected work for this? I picked it up cause I thought it was fine but it turns out the sickness is from a parasite and it hasn't become an epidemic yet (I'm 130 pages in).


EDITED: nevermind! I'm almost all the way through it and it's really not about an epidemic. I'll find something else :)

The Speckled Monster A Historical Tale of Battling the Smallpox Epidemic by Goodreads Author Jennifer Lee Carrell

What about The Plague Tales?

There's this book called Forever Amber by Kathleen Windsor where the black plague (I believe) takes over London. That might work for this task.

For those that like thrillers, I can recommend The Trudeau Vector for this task. I also did a search on "epidemics fiction" at my library and turned up The Brief History of the Dead, which I think I'll use - looks cool.

Would "Tales from the City" work for this task?