Spring and Seveneves by Stephenson

Sunrise was at 6:29, sunset will be 7:53. I love coming home in the daylight.

Ah, the true harbinger of Spring, the lilac bush. Our bushes are really old ones, planted long before we ever lived in our house, and the oldest man on our street remembers picking them for his mom when he was a little boy.

I've finally realized that trimming them works wonders for the following year's blooms, and I really hate the suckers that spring up and have to be clipped at dirt level...lots of spiders and earwigs and multilegged beasties at dirt level.

Every year, just as winter seems to be a forever thing, the hard, curled fist-like blossoms emerge.  Sometimes they appear in snow, but they appear!  And every year, at Easter, they are almost in full bloom.  No matter when Easter happens, our trees are in bloom.  With the tulips underneath, our yard can look a little like an Easter basket.  It's really pretty and the scent is everywhere.

Looking forward to reading this on 4/3

Need a few more minutes, please! 4/10

 I just spent the last week reading Neal Stephenson's latest book, Seveneves, to be published on 5/19/15, with a one day laydown date.  That means that all stores get the books on the day before they can be put out on the shelf - I love one day laydown dates! 


Seveneves has the very bestfirst line I've read in years and I dare you to stop reading when you get your copy in your hands: 
                           
"The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason."

When the moon explodes, the world starts to end.  Billions of people are going to die, only a very few will be "safe" on the International Space Station, and there isn't a lot of time to build more habitat for those who will be the future of humanity. 

As the moon's pieces settle into an orbit around the earth, they joggle and bump, breaking up into smaller bits, some dropping into the atmosphere where they slam into the ground.  Eventually, within a year or so, the surface of Earth will become absolutely unlivable, burning air, no water, cleared of soil and humans by tsunamis, meteors, and volcanoes.  As rocks and space debris begin to grind away into dust, forming the White Sky, other rocks will be captured by the atmosphere's drag and The Hard Rain will fall. For the next almost 5,000 years, what is left of humanity will evolve in space. 

What a great adventure this book was! Great storyline, fabulous characters, good science, Seveneves is something to be lived in rather than just read.  It took me a WEEK to read - long enough to feel as if I really knew the people who pretty much held the whole world in their hands.

Anyone who has an interest in space living, any of the sciences, environmental issues, big adventure, anyone who wants to be swept up in a story played out on a truly epic scale will not be able to put it down.  I loved it, gave it five stars, can't wait to start sharing it with others! 

As always, please shop your local independent bookstore and if you don't have one, Eagle Harbor Book Co. would be happy to be yours (206-842-5332).

(Seveneves will be published on May 19, 2015, by Wm Morrow and Company.  $35.00.  No recompense was received for this review.)