Pop Rocket Readers discussion

Recently finished an anthology called Violent Ends. Being a resident of the United States of America, mass shootings seem to happen more than some people change their underwear. When Kirby Matheson kills five students and one teacher before killing himself, it leaves an entire community wondering...why did he do it. Each story is the POV of a character whom has some sort of relation to Kirby or one of the victims and with each story we begin to piece together who Kirby Matheson is. Also...the story also explores the notion of, is it okay to be sad for or mourn the loss of someone who has perpetuated violence. I enjoyed reading this story and piecing together the details from each story. The characters were interesting and there were some very emotional moments that came as a result of reading the inner-thoughts of each of these individuals. I highly recommend.

Bryce, I changed your title oh so slightly to open this up to further summer read recommendations. Thanks for starting a new thread! And I'm adding this to my to-read list.

Cool! Thanks Laura!

A summer read suggestion I'd make would be Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.

In the opening chapters of “Little Brother,” a near-future terrorist attack hits San Francisco’s Bay Bridge and a teenager named Marcus Yallow is arbitrarily and brutally detained in the federal crackdown that follows. Doctorow has written an entertaining thriller but also a warning about giving up digital rights. This fits perfectly into the tradition of 1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World and Island (all essential reads for Dystopia fans).

You can download a copy here: http://craphound.com/littlebrother/do...

My summer book recommendation is Zone One by Colson Whitehead. I consider Zone One a summer read because I read it while on vacation in Hawaii. I read it while on vacation in Hawaii because I didn't want to be freaked out by a novel about a zombie apocalypse while on the mainland. I figured Hawaii would be somewhat contained. I went to NYC some time after I finished the novel and found myself on Canal Street, saying, "This is where Camp Won Ton was." And I got a little freaked out again. But that's the kind of staying power the novel had on me.

I'm looking forward to getting to Whitehead's latest novel, The Underground Railroad, which just came out. I've loved pretty much everything he's written. The only thing I didn't out and out adore was actually his most summery: Sag Harbor. But if you haven't read him before, I think Zone One is a good place to start.