One day last week, during our Spring Break vacation with my husband’s family, we all headed to the pool. It was warm and sunny and the dads and grandpa were happily playing with all the kids in the pool. You know what that means right? I’m not needed, so I can sit in a lounge chair and relax and read! It was amazing! (I actually was rereading the book that I recommended from last month’s bookclub because it’s been a while and I really like it.) I just love digging in to a good book and spending time reading. It’s my best way of actually relaxing.
That being said, with the nicer weather (please weather, be nicer, stay nicer), I want to get outside more and be a little more active. Seems like a perfect way to do this is to grab a book on Audible and pop in the ear buds and go for a walk while I listen. Have you done that? It’s fun to get totally lost in the story as you walk.
So, whether you’re going to walk and listen or sit down and read, or whatever you do, for the bookclub this month, let’s talk Post Apocalyptic books (do you know how long it took me to get the spelling for Apocalyptic right?!). They’re pretty popular these days with The Hunger Games series and Divergent and others, so I thought it might be fun to talk about some that you maybe haven’t heard of or that you might love if you love this genre.
Post Apocalyptic Books:
Let’s start off with this series, because if you’re really looking to dig into a great series, this one is my top recommendation in this genre. It’s like The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor in a crazy, fun, easy to read kind of way. This is one of those series that you can just read or listen to anywhere. Perfect for summer break by the pool, in a plane, on a road trip, just something super easy to get in to and have fun with.
The princess needs to pick a prince and eligible bachelors from all over the country come to the castle to try to win her heart. It’s a 5 book series (with novellas and side stories available as well), so you really can dig in to this one. The first 3 go together, then the last two are related but take place later.
Audible has all of these titles available, as well as the novellas. It starts with The Selection. If you’d like to try grabbing one of these and listening in while you walk (or run if you’re ambitious) or listen while you do other things, you can try Audible free for thirty days here.
OK, want some more recommendations? Here we go!
I’ve spent the last few days listening to this one while I worked around my house. This performance is a new release on Audible performed by Clair Danes, and it’s also just being released on Hulu as a new series. It’s a book that takes a little bit of work to fully understand what’s going on and what’s behind the story, like peeling away the layers of an onion. I like a book that does that and does it well enough to keep my attention and this one did just that.
This is the story of a woman who has been given the role of child bearer in a post apocalyptic world. You get pieces of her current story intermixed with memories from her life before. It’s a book that you can dig your teeth into and find symbolism and meaning beyond just the plot. I need to give you a disclaimer. With the nature of the main character’s role as child bearer, there is some sexual content in this book including a few graphic scenes.
This is a fun series that you’ll love if you like fast, fun reads. When I heard that the first one in the series, Cinder, was about cyborg Cinderella, I put the book down and wasn’t going to read it, it sounded too crazy. But then someone insisted that I try it and I found that it was fun. Each book in this series is about a different “princess” (Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, etc.) but it in a post apocalyptic setting. I haven’t actually finished the fourth book yet (I’m right in the middle of it), but the others have been fun!
I’ve loved this book for a long time! And it’s a classic, so you may have already read it, but if you haven’t, you should. It’s beautiful and thought provoking. There are actually three in this series too, and while I’ve read all three, I really just love the first one. It’s another story in which the main characters are assigned certain roles in the community and you watch the process unfold for one pivotal character. The thing I love about this book is that it has a deep meaning about the importance of the difficult things we face in life.
One more series full of post apocalyptic society making the choices for the people. They are matched with who they will wed and this causes some questioning for the main character. This is a three book series. Now usually I feel like the first book in a series is the best and then they go downhill a little from there. This series was the opposite for me. Each book got better and I loved the third. This is a very clean series and has a good message with it as well.
This was one of the first post apocalyptic series that I read, many years ago before the popular ones today were even written. The main character is about to reach the age where she will receive a surgery to make her “pretty,” but she and her friend discover that there may be more to the whole story than they believed and they might not want to be part of it. There are three books in this series as well.
Why are all these books series?! This one is too. This book is children’s literature (which I love) and would be a great one to read or listen to with your kids. This society is in crisis because they are running out of their basic necessities and need to figure out what to do. Two kids begin to discover bits and pieces of history and must figure out what it means to save their town.
OK, your turn. What post apocalyptic do you love? Tell me about them in the comments
And remember that you can get your free trial of Audible right now.
Happy reading!
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Audible. The opinions and text are all mine.
Natasha says
I love listening to Audible books while I walk and “run!” I’m also a big fan of the post-apocalyptic genre and will totally read kids/young adult books because they can be a fun change of pace. I haven’t read most of the books on your list and I’m always on the lookout for my next read, so I’ll add these to my list!
Cass says
Oh you really must read the Obernewtyn series by Isobel Carmody, an Australian author. Absolutely brilliant.
Evonn Hopkins says
I just finished the Matched trilogy and I really liked it. Right now I am reading the 5th wave which is Sci-FI meets Post-Apocolypse. It is quite interesting. Thank you for sharing some of these titles which I have not yet read.
Abbie says
All of these books look so good! I can’t wait to read a few of them! Thanks for the list. 🙂