You need to do both , right? That’s what I’m telling my kids this year. But since discovering the joy of blogging when I got injured, I’ve been writing a lot and not reading that much. This week I picked up a book, WOOL , and read it through. It’s the first book in a series. Here’s my review.

I also finally took the time to investigate the Goodreads website and app and set up an account because I enjoy reading and writing book reviews. I’ve gone there before, but only as a visitor. Now I can play along with the other nerds and smarty pants.

By the way, this week I have been feeling more antisocial and intolerant of people who annoy me , so reading a book was a great way to escape, although certain people kept interrupting me and wanting attention. I tried hard to be patient and I think no damage has been done. “Please stop talking !” was a recurring thought.

I liked the book. WOOL , by Hugh Howey, which was originally self-published in 2011 as a short story. Then he added to it and now it’s a huge series of books. The one I read was what they call the Omnibus edition from 2012, and it’s 509 pages, which includes the 5 sub-books that can also be found sold separately. So be careful not to purchase something you don’t need. After this are other books which make up a continuous story. I have already ordered the next book, SHIFT.

The title is a bit odd and I still don’t really get the meaning. I mean , the people live in a silo, so they’re like cotton? The story is about a post-apocalyptic world in which people must live underground to survive. The outer world is a toxic wasteland. Howey is very good at bringing the characters to life , and then killing them. Don’t get too attached. The plot remains mysterious for the majority of this book. I felt like I was just getting started when I only had about 100 pages left! It felt like the author was really enjoying telling the story and not in a hurry at all to finish.

I couldn’t help but compare it in my mind to other similar books. I read the 7 book series, GONE, by Michael Grant, and there’s a definite difference between the authors’ styles. Much less anger and pure violence and scary stuff in this book. Even the bad guys are subdued. But GONE is sold as a Young Adult series so maybe that’s why it’s more emotional. That series wore me out but I had to finish it!

I look forward to getting the next book in the mail and escaping into the silo with the surviving characters of WOOL.

Do you like future fiction, post apocalyptic stories and movies?

UPDATE: I read all of the books in the series and finally got to the ending. A bit of a let down, but still enjoyed working through the story.  I can still remember the characters quite well which means they made an impact on me. Give it a read!