Finished the Challenge

This is my final book for the Dystopian Challenge.

From Amazon:
"Kira, newly orphaned and lame from birth, is taken from the turmoil of the village to live in the grand Council Edifice because of her skill at embroidery. There she is given the task of restoring the historical pictures sewn on the robe worn at the annual Ruin Song Gathering, a solemn day-long performance of the story of their world's past. Down the hall lives Thomas the Carver, a young boy who works on the intricate symbols carved on the Singer's staff, and a tiny girl who is being trained as the next Singer. Over the three artists hovers the menace of authority, seemingly kind but suffocating to their creativity, and the dark secret at the heart of the Ruin Song."

My Thoughts:
A few years ago I read "The Giver." Since "Gathering Blue" is labeled as a companion to that one and my daughter loved it, I decided to read it. I ended up enjoying it even more .

I think that what made me like this one more was that I can relate to the society in which Kira lives where the more futuristic setting of "The Giver" was harder to envision.

My favorite character was Kira's friend Matt. He was so endearing and sweet with his mischievousness and he proves himself to be such a good friend that he is impossible not to like. I cracked up at the way he talked. I also love the ending but I won't spoil that for anyone. (4/5)

DNF- The House of the Scorpion

I just couldn't get into this book so I have decided to set it aside and move on to Gathering Blue which will be my last title for this challenge.

I made a few more comments on this book which you can see here if you are interested.

Third Book: The Handmaid's Tale

I feel like I'm cheating on the Dystopian Challenge because I would have been reading all these books anyway. It's like it's too easy. I really think I might finish this challenge, and that means it'll be the first challenge I EVER completed.

So, the Handmaid's Tale. Wow. I loved this book. I'm now a huge Margaret Atwood fan. Well, I guess I should read a few more before declaring that. I did read Oryx and Crake a few years ago and really liked that. I'm not going to summarize the book anymore than to say that it's the story of a new society built on top of an old one, one we know very well. For more info, see 3M's and Jen Robinson's reviews.

The book is written very anthropologically, as the main character describes her life in the new society as compared with her old, normal life. And by this method, she describes the way the society works as well. The language is beautiful in its simplicity. The writing style is very appealing to me. It was a treat to read this book after The Postman which I read just for plot. With The Handmaid's Tale, I enjoyed the riveting, fascinating story and the intriguing characters, as well as the literary qualities of the writing. It was also fun to guess the setting by reading for clues. In the beginning, there are a few subtle clues that led me to believe I knew where it took place and then towards the end there are more direct clues that affirmed my guess was correct.

Super highly recommended, whether you're into dystopians or not.

The Road - Wendy's Review

He woke before dawn and watched the gray day break. Slow and half opaque. He rose while the boy slept and pulled on his shoes and wrapped in his blanket he walked out through the trees. He descended into a gryke in the stone and there he crouched coughing and he coughed for a long time. Then he just knelt in the ashes. he raisedhis face to the paling day. Are you there? he whispered. Will I see you at the last? Have you a neck by which to throttle you? Have you a heart? Damn you eternally have you a soul? Oh God, he whispered. Oh God. -From The Road, page 10-

Cormac McCarthy just won The Pulitzer Prize for The Road, a novel of profound bleakness and beauty which almost defies definition. I was worried about reading this book, which has garnered praise but has also been described as dark and depressing. It is dystopian literature which I usually avoid because the genre always struck me as so pessimistic. That being said, The Road blew me away and will make my list for one of the best books I've read in 2007.

The story appears to be a simple one: a father and his young son are traveling along a road somewhere in America after a devastating event which has killed almost every living thing and left the world in a gray haze of floating ash and weird weather. There are "bad guys" and there are horrors; there are moments of sheer terror which seem to be nightmares instead of actual life. Layered beneath this story is a larger story - one about a boy and his father and the love they share, one about faith and hope and the will to survive. It is heartbreaking and beautiful and written in an unembellished language which somehow makes it that much more powerful.

I found myself compulsively turning the pages, unable to stop reading the story. I would lay the book down, and then pick it up only moment later. Just a few more pages. McCarthy carries the reader along on this journey, looking for the hope around every curve in the road, holding their breath, wondering if God has survived the devastation after all.

McCarthy uses metaphor and symbolism throughout the novel - the fire which the boy carries inside him (is this spiritualism? hope? humanity?), and the road itself - to just name two. This is a deep book, one that deserves to be discussed and thought about. It is certainly worthy of the Pulitzer.

There are some wonderful reviews of this book out in the blogosphere. You can go here to read several in one place, and to take part in some interesting discussions of the book. Ariel at Sycorax Pine has written a stunning review of this novel.

Highly recommended. Rated 5/5.

**Read my original review of this book on my blog here.

Status Update and Mini Reviews

I've enjoyed reading all of your comments. I've completed 2 of my 5 books (as discussed below).

• Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (a re-read)
  
• Feed by M. T. Anderson
• Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling
• Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien

I thought that The Handmaid's Tale held up very well, after having first read it nearly 20 years ago. I found it utterly compelling, and read it in less than a day (a day when I certainly had other things that I should have been doing). Margaret Atwood is a talented writer, and in The Handmaid's Tale she explores a dark future in which individual rights, especially those of women, shrink down to almost nothing. I found this prospective future chilling, especially in light of recent legal challenges to women's rights. But The Handmaid's Tale is hopeful, too. The main character, nameless except for her demeaning moniker Offred (property of Fred), resists in whatever small ways that she can, and in the end finds glimmers of hope.

Among the Free is a satisfying finale to the Shadow Children series. This seven-book series is about a future world in which, after a time of famine, third children have been declared illegal by a draconian government. Each book showcases a slightly different, overlapping, set of brave third children, fighting for their own freedom to exist. In this final installment (as is evident from the title), the government is overthrown. But challenges still exist, and the fate of the third children ends up resting in the hand of Luke, the main character from the first book. I teared up a little bit at the end of Among the Free, but in a good way. All of the books in the series are quick, enjoyable reads. I'd like to see the series issued in a single volume, for older readers.

I hope to move on the the other books on my list soon. Please keep up all of your updates. I'm enjoying the wonderful, speculative diversity of this genre.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Wednesdays are the days that Elliot goes to his grandma's house for the day, and I usually spend my freetime catching up on housework or laundry, but today was different. Today, I had The Road by Cormac McCarthy to keep me company. I stayed in bed all morning reading this haunting yet beautiful book. I could have wept, but I didn't. I almost couldn't. Here's what the front flap has to say:

A father and his young son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food - and each other.

I couldn't believe this heartbreaking world, set in a time after an unexplained catastrophe. With many forced to abandon their humanity to survive in this new world, a father and son try to get by and be 'the good guys'. Amongst all hopelessness and the surrounding devastation, this father and son cling to each other and their love for one another keeps them alive. Honestly, I can't recommend this book enough. Though incredibly disturbing in parts, this book had me gripped from the very first page.

***********************

Originally this wasn't a book I had intended to read for this challenge, but I saw it at the library yesterday and decided to pick it up, just in case. I'm so glad I did.

Michelle's List:

1. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

2. 1984 by George Orwell

3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

5. Uglies by Scott Westerfield

6. Jennifer Government by Max Barry

The Handmaid's Tale - 3M's Review

The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood

1986, 311 pages

Rating: 4.5





What a thought-provoking book!

Offred (Of Fred) is a woman who had her child and all her money taken away from her by the government. Her money was taken away just because she was female. Her daughter was taken away because her marriage was declared invalid. Why? Because it was the second marriage for her husband. The government has "religious" motivations for these acts. (Something I was a little uncomfortable with because I am a Christian, yet I realize there are always extremists. I took this as a cautionary tale.)

Spoiler alert! (Don't read if you like to be in suspense during a book.)
.
.
.
Things only get worse from there. She is forced to become a handmaid, or surrogate mother, for a man of high position in the government. However, the conception is to occur in the normal way--with the wife present! This was a little shocking to me! Somehow Atwood pulls this off without offending my prudish sensibilities. The life of Offred is certainly not enviable.

I found this book to be a jolt to my system. Atwood is a gifted writer, and I definitely plan on reading more of her works.

The original review may be found here.

3M's List

My list for the Dystopian Challenge:

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
The Messenger by Lois Lowry
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Never Let Me Go by K. Ishiguro

Bonus/Alternates that I probably won't find time for but would like to read are:

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Children of Men by P.D. James
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Among the Enemy & Among the Free

I finished two more for the Challenge today. They were really quick reads for me but I have really enjoyed reading this series with my kids.

You can find my review here.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I finished another one. This time, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I'd been meaning to read this book for awhile, but I'd never gotten around to it until now. It's a fantastic book! And really powerful. It made me reconsider the amount of time I spend watching TV, it had me wondering if I really listen to the people I care about, it made me more aware of how little I am aware of current events. If ever a book made me really stop and think about my, then this book was it.

It's set in a future where books are banned and no one thinks for themselves in order to achieve happiness. No one listens to what other people have to say, everyone's lives are very superficial and based around silly nonsensical TV programmes. Life is very fastpaced and surrounded by noise and chatter and materialism.

The protaganist, Guy Montag is a fireman whose main responsibilites are to burn books and to burn the houses of people who still own books. He meets a strange girl who asks him unusual questions and helps him to realise that he isn't happy, he isn't in love with his wife, and this kicks off a very quick moving, scary novel.

I zipped through it really quickly, partly because of how interesting the subject was to me, and partly because of the style in which Bradbury writes which just forces the reader to continue. This is a very short novel, but I assure you, Fahrenheit 451 is one of those books that will stay with you long after you've read the last page!

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick

This marks my first book read for the Dystopian Challenge, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. I'm not entirely sure why I chose to read it, I've never really been interested in robot-type science fiction.

It was OK. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. It's the book that Blade Runner was based on, and while I know I have seen the film, I don't remember the details so I went into reading this book without much of an idea of what it was about apart from the fact that it was set in a dystopia. I hadn't read anything by Philip K. Dick before, and possibly this wasn't the best book to jump in from?

It's about a bounty hunter in a future covered in radiactive dust where having a live pet is the ultimate symbol of prestige and all animals are sacred, even spiders. People are encouraged to emigrate to Mars where they would be given an android servant. Some androids escape and try to live amongst humans on (what's left of) Earth. Rick Deckard is set the task of 'retiring' 4 such androids but questions the moral implications.

To be honest, here's where I get quite confused with the story. I understand that Deckard questions his humanity in killing the androids, especially after his encounter with a beautiful android, Rachel. But I didn't get the significance of Deckard's depressed wife, Mercerism, the 'chickenhead' character. Maybe I wasn't as involved in the storyline or the characters as I could have been, but it all just baffled me. The writing was easy enough to read, and I sped through the book quickly, but I didn't take in much of it unfortunately.

Camille's List and Reviews

Over the past few months, I've been developing this interest in dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. I can't remember what triggered it, but as I think about it, I think it was watching the movie Waterworld and realizing that I had liked the movie The Postman as well, and that maybe I'd like to see more movies or read more books in this vein. And then I read The Giver and I was hooked. I read the next two books that go along with it and then someone recommended Z for Zachariah which I absolutely loved. Now I'm really hooked. Dystopians and post-apocalyptics are not necessarily of the same genre, but often they go hand-in-hand because the dystopia results from some kind of war-like upheaval, whether almost completely decimated like in The Postman or a violent and extreme government takeover like in The Handmaid's Tale. So that's why I'm reading both.

Here is my review of The Postman.

Here is my review of A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Here's my list:

1. A Canticle for Leibowitz
2. The Postman
3. The Handmaid's Tale (in progress, can't put it down)
4. The Road
5. Fahrenheit 451
6. maybe Children of Men because I didn't like the movie and figure the book must be better

Finished another Dystopian read

M.T. Anderson
Library Book
237 pgs

Read for the Dystopian Challenge, recommended by my son.

Titus and his friends are happy in their world of fun and games. They are comfortable with the feed that plays constantly in their heads and advertises everything under the sun and makes life oh-so-easy for them. But Titus meets a girl named Violet and things start to change for him.

My son really enjoyed this book and heartily recommended it to me. I enjoyed reading it too but it took me a little bit of time to become accustomed to the way the characters talk(both their language and manner of speaking take some getting used to). Other than that, I thought it was an excellent and funny commentary on consumerism and selfishness.

This was an interesting and fun read. (4/5)

Amy's List

I haven't been able to visit the blogs as much as usual lately so please forgive me for being a bit behind. My list is chosen from YA lit. because my kids have recommended several dystopian titles to me.

1. The House of the Scorpion - Farmer
2. Feed- Anderson
3. The City of Ember - DuPrau
4. Gathering Blue - Lowry
5. Among the Enemy - Haddix
6. Among the Free - Haddix

Dystopian Books Up For Grabs

I'm willing to share any of the books on my list after I'm done reading them. The only catch is that these are Bookcrossing books, and I would appreciate it if you would make a brief journal entry (on bookcrossing.com) for the book once you receive it and that you would pass the book on to someone else when you are finished reading it. If more than one person wants one of the books, we can set up a waiting list and when the first person is finished with the book, they can send it to the next on the list.

I'll pay to ship the book to the first person on the list. Media mail to ship these books would cost $1.59 inside of the US (price will go up slightly with the postage increase this year). Paying to ship the book on to the next person would be much cheaper than buying the book.

Just an idea. Post a comment if you're interested or if you have questions.

Available Books:
1984 by George Orwell

raidergirl3's list

This was not a genre I've read a lot of, so it was a real challenge for me. So far, I've enjoyed what I've read; my reviews are linked to the titles for The Giver and Fahrenheit 451, which are probably part of Dystopia 101: Intro course to the genre.

Books I plan to read:

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry (banned book challenge as well)
2. Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. Brave New World by Huxlet
5. either The Road by Cormac McCarthy or Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (recced by laura)

maybes: Children of Men PD James; Uglies, Pretties, etc, by Scott Westerfield; something by Margaret Atwood
And I found this list on wikipedia. Wow, who knew there were this many dystopian books. I didn't look up utopian either.
Great idea to start this blog for the challenge.

Lisa's Review for The Giver by Lois Lowry

Today I had an unexpected afternoon off, and decided I would spend it catching up on my reading. I was closest to finishing The Giver and so I started with that. Wow. I knew from about the halfway point that this book would make an emotional impact on me, but did not expect it to be so powerful.

Here's the summary from Amazon.com:

In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.

I read this book as part of my own Dystopian Challenge. (heh, I was putting it off cause I thought I'd chosen it for the Newbery Challenge. I'm getting my lists confused!) For the first half of the book or so, Jonas' world seems perfect, very rule driven, very orderly. The people are happy. There aren't any secrets. At his 12th December, he is assigned his career, and from then the book takes a turn. The truth of the happiness is revealed, but only to Jonas.

I can't say much more without giving away plot points, so I'm going to jump over here with a some spoiler points that I need to say outloud. If you have not read the book, and plan to, I would not read these.

This is my first finished book for the Dystopian Challenge.

Jen's Challenge List

Here are the books that I'll be reading (or re-reading) for the Dystopian Challenge.

• Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (a re-read)
  
• Feed by M. T. Anderson
• Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling
• Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien

I have no reviews yet, but I love dystopian fiction, and look forward to reading all of your reviews. Thanks for setting this up, Lisa, and for including me.

Cloud Atlas - A review by Wendy

If we believe that humanity may transcend tooth & claw, if we believe divers races & creeds can share this world as peaceably as the orphans share their candlenut tree, if we believe leaders must be just, violence muzzled, power accountable & the rices of the Earth & its Oceans shared equitably, such a wold will come to pass. -From Cloud Atlas, page 508-

David Mitchell's novel, Cloud Atlas, is at once brilliant, far reaching in scope and immensely creative. I read this book like an addict - hanging on the words, seeking the answers, caught up in the worlds Mitchell flawlessly creates. I feel like I could re-read this book several times and continue to find new meanings each time. David Mitchell is a newly discovered author for me - and I am in awe of his talent. I will most certainly be reading his other two novels -Ghostwritten AND Number9Dream - in the very near future.

Cloud Atlas appears to be six seemingly disparate stories, but they are woven together and connected as the novel progresses. Tucked into the stories, Mitchell alludes to the novel's structure at least twice.

Spent the fortnight gone in the music room, reworking my year's fragments into a "sextet for overlapping soloist": piano, clarinet, 'cello, flute, oboe, and violin, each in its own language of key, scale, and color. In the first set, each solo is interrupted by its successor: in the second, each interruption is recontinued, in order. -From Cloud Atlas, page 445-

One model of time: an infinite matroyoshka doll of painted moments, each "shell" (the present) encased inside a nest of "shells" (previous presents) I call the actual past but which we perceive as the virtual past. The doll of "now" likewise encases a nest of presents yet to be, which I call the actual future but which we perceive as the virtual future. -From Cloud Atlas, page 393-

Confused? Don't be. Mitchell brings it all together in an incredible symphony of writing brilliance. Not only does he create memorable characters, he weaves his words like a painter - fabricating beautiful descriptions of setting.

The tropic sun fattens & fills the noon sky. The men work seminaked with sun-blacked torsos & straw hats. The planking oozes scorching tar that sticks to one's soles. Rain squalls blow up from nowhere & vanish with the same rapidity & the deck hisses itself dry in a minute. Portuguese man-o'-wars pulsate in the quick-silver sea, flying fish bewitch the beholder & ocher shadows of hammerheads circle the Prophetess. -From Cloud Atlas, page 37-

I was excited to see Eva van Outryvede Crommelynck (a wonderful character from Mitchell's latest novel, Black Swan Green) make an appearance in this one as a young girl. It gives me some cautious hope that in a future novel we might seen the dynamic and lovable Jason Taylor again!

A common theme in Cloud Atlas is that of power as a destructive force. Mitchell writes:

'What drives some to accrue power where the majority of their compatriots lose, mishandle, or eschew power? Is it addiction? Wealth? Survival? Natural selection? I propose these are all pretexts and results, not the root cause. The only answer can be 'There is no "Why." This is our nature.' 'Who' and 'What' run deeper than 'Why.' -page 129-

AND

The will to power, the backbone of human nature. The threat of violence, the fear of violence, or actual violence is the instrument of this dreadful will. You can see the will to power in bedrooms, kitchens, factories, unions, and the borders of states. Listen to this and remember it. The nation-state is merely human nature inflated to monstrous proportions. -page 444-

Ultimately, Mitchell evokes a world where all humans are connected - like souls which 'cross ages like clouds cross skies.' This is truly a beautifully written novel which will stay with the reader long after the final page has been turned.

Highly recommended.

Read the original post of this review here.

The City of Ember

Here is my review for The City of Ember.

FYI,I reviewed this book late at night when I was tired. I made some revisions to my review the next day. I didn't really change what I said...just tried to make my thoughts clearer.

We (direct translations is My) is an amazing dystopic novel without any historical context.  I think it is possible that understanding Stalin's Russia might distract from the story  We had to tell.  Where the combination of unity and mathematics unite in a utopic bliss.  You are blissful because it has been mathematically equated.  Like The Matrix, the result of many dystopic explorations are "ignorance is bliss." 
    Click to read more.

Review by Mercy's Maid: 1984 by George Orwell

My Review for 1984

Lisa,

If you want this done differently, feel free to edit it or let me know what you want me to do.

Dystopian Challenge Rules

Ok, I have no creativity for these things, so I have named my challenge the ever-inspiring: Dystopian Challenge. Like it?

In case you missed the first post, the rules were as follows:

1. Pick any number of books you wish to read that fall into the Utopia/Dystopia genre.
2. They do not have to be books you've never read, but hopefully they aren't books you last week.
3. Challenge is open now, and will last until November 6th.

I followed that up with post #2, which has some lists of books and links to lists.

A couple of brave souls actually agreed to play along with me! Ok, so there aren't many, but at least I'm not alone. I plan to convince my husband to join in too. I had a hard time narrowing down my list, without it being the first 5 books listed. I think I have it now though.

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry. (I really want to read Lowry's Number the Stars too, but it doesn't fit the challenge. Or really, any of her books. )
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. (I read this in 10th grade and loved it so much. It was the first books that really made me *think*. Then I had to do a presentation to my class, much of which revolved around sex and drugs, and I was mortified.)
3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. (I've also read this before, but I'd like to read it again as an adult and mother.)
4. Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. (Susan at West of Mars keeps recommending it, so I chose it.)
5. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. (This one was on the list at wikipedia and looks interesting.)
6. Either Animal Farm or 1984 by Orwell. I have not decided which.

Those of you who are gamely playing along, post your list in comments and I'll edit it into my post here.

Gina's List:

1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
5. Brave New World and
6. The Island by Aldous Huxley

Michelle's List:

1. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3. 1984 by George Orwell
4. (and possibly) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick
5. Jennifer Government by Max Barry
6. Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Maggie at Maggie Reads is playing, she's starting with The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Mercy's Maid over at Random Musings is only unoffically playing. If she WERE playing, she'd start with:

1. 1984
2. The Handmaid's Tale
3. Animal Farm

Raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading is planning to tackle:

1. The Giver
2. Never Let Me Go
3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy or Cloud Atlas
4. Brave New World
5. Fahrenheit 451

Paige is planning to read:

1. 1984
2. Brave New World
3. The Giver
4. The Road
5. Oryz and Crate

Amy at The Sleepy Reader's list comes from the YA field:

1. The House of the Scorpion by Farmer
2. Feed by Anderson
3. Gathering Blue by Lowry
4. The City of Ember by DuPrau
5. Among the Enemy by Haddix
6. Among the Free by Haddix

Wendy at Caribousmom is reading:

1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2. The Road
3. The Handmaid's Tale
4. In the Country of Las Things by Paul Auster ( I can't find a link for this?)

Camille at Dabbling Dilettante has signed up for:

1. The Handmaid's Tale
2. The Postman by David Brin
3. A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M Miller Jr.
4. Fahrenheit 451 (re-read)
5. The Road
6. Children of Men by P.D. James

Nattie at Nattie Writes! is planning to join.

Dana at Think Pink is going to read:

1. Fahrenheit 451
2. A Brave New World
3. Oryx and Crake
4. Shade's Children by Garth Nix
5. The Road
   

Denise W at not-so-deep thoughts posted her list:

1. Brave New World
2. When Late the Sweet Birds Sang
3. The Road
4. The Giver

Chris at book-a-rama is joining with:

1. Oryx & Crake
2. Brave New World
3. and maybe more!

Teabird at Tea Reads will be back with her list!
And here it is:

1. Children of Men
2. Oryz and Crake
3. Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Michelle at 3M's Booklist will read:

1. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
2. The Messenger by Lois Lowry
3. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
4. The Handmaid's Tale
5. Never Let Me Go

And possibly:
6. Oryx and Crake
7. Children of Men
8. Cloud Atlas

a.book.in.the.life's list:

1. The Road
2. Animal Farm
3. Brave New World
4. The Handmaid's Tale

Stephanie at Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic:

1. The Giver
2. Uglies
3. Brave New World
4. Fahrenheit 451
5. The Road
6. Cloud Atlas

lovelyloey:

1. 1984
2. Animal Farm
3. The Giver

Megan:

1. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
2. Utopia - Thomas More
3. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
4. The Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis
5. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
6. The Island - Aldus Huxley
7. Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews has quite an extensive list. You can find it here.

Katrina is reading:

1. Cloud Atlas
2. Z for Zachaiah
3. The Road
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (extra)
5. Naked Lunch (extra)