Lissi and Others, I think I read "The postman" years ago; I had totally forgotten it. One of the other real absorbing apocollyptic books mentioned is Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." It was rivoting! And it is the only Atwood I have enjoyed. Lissi, I'll look for "The Plum Thicket" when it goes live. I am very fond of Janet Holt Giles. Lori C. ----- Original Message ----- From: Estelnalissi To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 6:31 PM Subject: [bookshare-discuss] on books from The Apocolyptic to The Plum Thicket Dear Booksharian Friends, Thanks to all of you who contributed to the discussion on post apocalyptic books and especially to Bob W. for starting it. The detail in which these books were described helps me to decide which to read. I've only read three of them of which, The Postman, the book, not the movie, was my favorite. It was hopeful, inspiring and exciting. In a few days I'll be checking in The Plum Thicket by Janice Holt Giles. 'The copyright is 1954 so some of you who enjoy books written then might want to check it out. Whether you like her work in general, I think most of you might share some of its eight-year-old narrator's views on books and reading. "I stood before the rows of books, undecided, all of their bindings, all of their titles, alluring. I cannot remember when I did not have a love for books amounting to reverence; my passion for reading is so deep that it is actually an addiction, like the drug habit. I would read the telephone directory if nothing else were available. But not only is opening a book, any book, any time, an adventure which makes my pulse beat faster, I love books also for their own sake. I like to hold in my hand a beautiful book, feel its quality and texture, smell it and, I can think of no better word, love it. I particularly love the old leather bindings, such as those on my grandfather's shelves, and I particularly love, too, the heavy, torn paper and the exquisite type which many of them had. A beautiful book is truly a work of art. What should it be? Scott? Thackeray? Trollope? Brontë? Tentatively I took down Madame Bovary. I knew Grandfather greatly appreciated Flaubert But the text was in French. Regretfully I put it back. The Dickens shelf was next, and with a kind of homing instinct I picked out David Copperfield. I had read it twice already, but it was always irresistible." Always with love, Lissi Here is the information from the dust jacket: