Thanks for the rec, Aimee. Just picked up the first two books in that Soccer mom series, along with Under the Rose by Diana Peterfreund (the second book in a series about a girl in an Ivy League secret society - the first one was addictive as all get out) and Can you Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. It was a very girly day, but I'm all right with that.

I'm also working my way through the Galactic Milieu Trilogy by Julian May for at least the tenth time. Has anybody else read these books? I think they are absolutely amazing.

The Galactic Milieu Trilogy is definitely a guilty pleasure for me. I liked the Pleiocene Exile too, but I love the GM. Psychic Kennedys in Space!

Hi, caught up now. And have added several books to my Amazon wish list as a result!!!

I gave up, for now, on finding "Quaker fiction." There doesn't seem to be much out there, and the few I found were all historical fiction (which I love, but it isn't what I wanted). I had decided on The Peaceable Kingdom by Jan de Hartog, but when I went to order it from half.com, I discovered its 896 pages long. The book club would murder me. So I ordered it anyway, and I'll read it, but I chose The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. I read it last month and enjoyed it very much. I think they'll like it.

All I've ever read by Nabokov is Lolita. Apparently, I need to check out some others.

Also, never read Moby Dick. I missed a lot of the classics, unless they were assigned in school, because as a kid, I didn't live near a library, and therefore read literally whatever I could beg borrow and steal from friends and family. Not many classics were included.

Raq--I thought World War Z was excellent. Ended up writing a big post about it on my LJ, about how it was and wasn't like a lot of other apocalyptic fiction, here: [link]

The author must have been a Buffy fan. It's light, it's fluffy, it's fast reading.

I haven't read that one, but I've read her other series -- The Givenchy Code, The Manolo Matrix, The Prada Paradox -- which I liked a lot.

I took out World War Z but fell way behind in starting it so I only read a couple chapters before I had to return it to the library. Damned long reserve line. I did like it, and feel I may be on the brink of general zombie love (watched 28 Days Later again and realise I need to own it).

Galactic Milieu! I think there may be more of those books than I read. But until I finish this damned Tad Williams series I probably shouldn't even put stuff on hold at the library.

The Julian May books always make me think of Brian Aldiss's Helliconia series. I guess I snarfed them all around the same time, but they also echo the same way in my head--they have the same size.

And now I want to reread those too...

Galactic Milieu! I think there may be more of those books than I read.

There were three ( Jack the Bodiless, The Diamond Mask, and Magnificat ) plus Intervention (which is split up into Surveillance and Metaconcert in the Mass-Market editions). Intervention isn't technically part of the Galactic Milieu but it comes right before it, so I've always read it as one long, 5-paperback series, at least since I found the Intervention books at a used bookstore a couple of years back.

I'm on my second copy of several of the paperbacks, and they're falling apart. This is bad news, since they appear to be out of print, and I'm sure as hell going to be reading them again. Something about these characters really compels me to the reread. Strangely, the Pliocene Exile really didn't do it as much for me (I read it through once, and haven't had an urge to revisit).

I'm pretty sure I haven't read Intervention. But I am now remembering the Exile, and I liked them much too.

It's cool that Wikipedia lets me go back and visit.

For those wondering, Under the Rose is just as addictive as Secret Society Girl. I'm not sure it's as good, but it definitely grabs you.

I'm pretty sure I haven't read Intervention.

It's pretty hard to find, though good library systems probably have it. I read it first on a computer - I actually learned to navigate the rather intimidating book-ahemming world (IRC Fserves... shudder) JUST for that book, after searching every used bookstore in the Pasadena area. Finally found it on a NYC visit.

Nice review, 'suela. I keep meaning to add book reviews to my internet presence, but alas...

Anyway, one comment early in your review makes for a good prompt, I think:

A lot of [apocalyptic] novels, of course, presume nuclear annihilation--in fact I am aware of very little apocalyptic fiction written before the development of the bomb....

Me either. Lovecraft, maybe? Call of Cthulhu is more how it's just that the stars aren't right, otherwise we'd be all apocalypted. Anyone?