Having a REALLY Bad Day
August 10, 2022
Everyone has a bad day occasionally. Your car breaks down, things don’t go well at work, you have an argument with a friend. But what if you had to deal with an earthquake or tornado as well? Reading these stories will remind you things could always be worse . . . a LOT worse.
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about, widower Martin Hocking. Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women, whose fates intertwine on the eve of the devastating San Francisco earthquake.
Book / Large Print / eBook
Just after the Wave by Sandrine Collette
When a volcano collapses in the ocean and generates a tidal wave of biblical proportions, the world disappears around Louie, his parents and his eight siblings. Their house, perched on a summit, stands firm. But when the water starts to rise again, and the parents realize they must make for the highlands, they are forced to make a devastating decision.
The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson
In 1967, an extraterrestrial microbe came crashing down to Earth, nearly eliminating the human race. Designated The Andromeda Strain, a team of scientists was able to save the world from an epidemic of unimaginable proportions. Deep inside Fairchild Air Force Base, Project Eternal Vigilance has continued to watch and wait for the Andromeda Strain to reappear. On the verge of being shut down, the project has registered no activity–until now.
Book / eBook /CD Audiobook / Audio eBook
The Children’s Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again, and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats-leaving them unprepared when a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Based on actual oral histories of survivors, this gripping novel follows the story of sisters Raina and Gerda Olson, young schoolteachers who were suddenly faced with life and death decisions, some with tragic consequences.
Things You Would Know If You Grew Up Around Here by Nancy Wayson Dinan
18-year-old Boyd Montgomery returns from her grandfather’s wedding to find her friend Isaac missing. Drought-ravaged central Texas has been newly inundated with rain, and flash floods across the state have begun to sweep away people, cars, and entire houses as every river breaks its banks. Amid the rising waters, Boyd sets out across the ravaged back country, determined to rescue her missing friend.
Torn Apart by Sharon Sala
Seven-year-old Bobby Earle’s disappearance after a twister sweeps through Bordelaise, LA, is considered a tragic accident-until young Holly draws a picture of “God” taking Bobby away in his blue truck. As the chilling pieces fall into place, an estranged couple are drawn back together to find their son before it’s too late.
The River by Peter Heller
Taking time off from jobs and classes, Dartmouth pals and consummate outdoorsmen Jack and Wynn undertake a weeks-long canoe trip in Northern Canada. The boys’ fluency with one another and the rugged landscape is quickly tested, though, by an encroaching wildfire and their unknowing entry into an argument between the married couple they try to warn about it. Disasters, growing in severity, eat away at their provisions and their sanity.
I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows
Annie Bell can’t escape the dust. It’s in her hair, covering the windowsills, coating the animals in the barn, in the corners of her children’s dry, cracked lips. It’s 1934 and the Bell farm in Mulehead, Oklahoma is struggling as the earliest storms of The Dust Bowl descend. Rich in detail and epic in scope, this is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, filled with hope, morality, and love.
The Unfamiliar Garden by Benjamin Percy
Jack and Nora Abernathy lose their daughter Mia when Earth sweeps into the debris field of a comet and thousands of meteors rain down. Botany professor Jack, now a recluse, is studying a deadly parasitic fungus in his lab when ex-wife Nora, a homicide detective, asks for his help. She’s investigating ritualistic murders rocking Seattle and, ultimately, they will be called upon to save the world.
Pompeii by Robert Harris
Marcus Attilius Primus, the engineer in charge of the massive Aqua Augusta Aqueduct, is summoned to the estate of Ampilatus. He is in the process of executing a slave for killing his fish. Attilius finds sulfur in the water and immediately realizes the problem is bigger than a few dead fish. With rich historical details and scientific minutiae, Harris vividly brings to life the ancient world on the brink of unspeakable disaster.