Ill Wind by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason

Well, I feel like this is the first adult fiction I've read in a long time. Wait though, I really don't like using the term "adult fiction". In my mind it brings up the idea of an "adult bookstore" with it's XXX signs and showing an ID to get in. So maybe, just to help my own sense of silliness, I'll say this is my first "grown-up" book in a while. :-)

This was a pretty good book. I talked about it in one of my Hazards of Working at a Bookstore blogs a few weeks ago. I can tell, now that I know it was published over 10 years ago, that it wasn't published that recently. While it probably was repackaged and released with the big oil spill we had last year, there are surely some things that could stand to be updated technology wise. But, all in all, it was a good story.

Basically it is the largest oil spill in history, and it happens in San Francisco Bay. The oil company tries to save their image by releasing an untested "designer microbe" that will eat the oil and anything made of petrocarbons. It should be done once it eats the oil spill, but as it was untested, they don't realize it can travel through the air, and it does. And it eats not only oil, but gasoline right out of cars gas tanks, synthetic fabrics, and plastic. In a few days, there is no way to make cars go with no fuel. And any plastic has dissolved, and this causes problems that you don't even realize because of how many minor things are made of plastic that we don't even realize.

The world turns into the past, with really no communication other than a few science labs that figure a way around it. The president is killed as he is visiting one of the oil supplying nations and his plane has brought the microbe with it and destroyed their countries as well. The Speaker of the House ends up as president and decides Martial Law is the best way to keep the nation safe. But not everyone agrees with hanging kids who are out after curfew or who have stolen a can of tuna. And when one military commander decides to stop a science testing area where they may be able to solve the energy problems, people decide to fight back.

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore Vol. 1.2

So, I worked at the bookstore again last night, and got to be upstairs in the Kid's Department, my preferred position in the store, but of course, since it was a weeknight, I was basically the whole 2nd floor as well. Found 3 books to share last night.

The first is a book I was able to read in one standing, because it was a children's picture book. But it was soooooo cute! It was called Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby. It's about a piglet that was the runt of the litter and wasn't getting any milk. So the family's dachshund had just had puppies and they brought the piglet in and it was nursed by the dachshund mother. It was one of the cutest stories I'd ever seen! Of course, anything about a dachshund grabs my attention, but this was just adorable. And the picture at the end of the book of the pig, Pink, and his doggie mommy, Tink. And the difference in size is so funny! I highly recommend this book. You can go here, to the author's blog to read about: www.johannakerby.com/books.html.

The 2nd book I found when I was straightening the science fiction section. It is called Ill Wind and it is by Kevin Anderson. I'm not positive, but I feel like I've read a book by this author before. Anyway, it's about an oil spill, and they release a microbe to clean it up. Only soon the microbe spreads and all the cars nearby have no gas in their tanks, and they begin eating any petroleum type of product. I don't know, as a science nerd, it sounds kind of good to me.

And finally, the 3rd book was on our Biography table. It's called House of Cards by David Ellis Dickerson. It's about an ex-greeting card writer who was a fundamentalist raised, 26 year old virgin. He found it was kind of hard to write some of the cards based on his background, and his religion and outlook on life changed through this experience. It just sounds really interesting. Plus, Hallmark is located here in Kansas City, or Liberty, Missouri to be exact.