Our August selection is The Fireman by Joe Hill, a novel that brings the CC Book Club into uncharted territory, with elements of fantasy, horror and the supernatural. Per Amazon, The Fireman is “a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes, and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.”
Currently on The New York Times bestseller list, The Fireman "reaffirms Hill’s gifts for riveting attention and pushing genre conventions to new extremes.”
From The Guardian:
The Fireman is much longer than our last selection, so you may want to get started early. Good summer reading for road trips and afternoons at the beach!
Oooh! I didn’t take part in last month’s book thread bc I would not have read the book in time, but I just happen to be 60% into The Fireman! What excellent serendipity! It’s a good 'un…
Are folks busy reading? I’m exactly half way through, and, without tipping my hand too much, I have to say I could use a little … encouragement… to continue on. Anyone out there willing to spur me on with a “Keep Reading!”?
Ooh, I read this last month! It was great. If anyone has read The Stand, be on the lookout for plenty of references and easter eggs scattered throughout.
Last week the library called me and told me that The Fireman had come in, so I went in and picked it up.
I must be sicker than I thought, because I keep having to go back and reread sections I’ve already read Not sure whether the problem is with me or the book.
I am also about 50% through it (coincidence!) and have been up til 2am reading the past few nights. I thought it was just my imagination that I was getting a Stand vibe. I read Hill’s Heart Shaped Box (liked it) and also saw the movie of Horns with Daniel Radcliffe.
It is a long book and I have it on library checkout (Kindle) so I have to power through!
In post #8 above, I neglected to mention that that when I picked up The Fireman at the library last week. I was already beginning to feel sick with an infection. I guess I should have waited before starting the book.
I just started the book a couple of days ago. It’s too early to form an opinion, but I will say I’ve been having really weird dreams. Maybe this is the wrong book to read in bed.
The only thing detracting from my reading experience is that the Kindle version does not have page numbers. I don’t like location numbers–it feels less like a real book, and passages are harder to reference during discussion. For a long time now, all the Kindle books I’ve downloaded have had page numbers, so I wonder why The Fireman doesn’t.
While I lugged this book across the country on a trip to visit family, I’m only a few pages in. Time for some power reading–after I do all the various chores that have accumulated here in my absence. I hope it’ll be a quick read for me :-/
I just finished Book Five and am definitely at the can’t-put-it-down stage. It may not be Tolstoy, but it’s a great summer read. I’ve been spending a lot of time stretched out in the yard with The Fireman, under both the sun and the stars.
It’s a good 'un…
