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2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

20 Books of Summer 2023

My Progress:


17 / 20 books. 85% done!

2023 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (2)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (2)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (16)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (3)
- Delaware (1)
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My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 25 books. 100% done!

2023 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


50 / 50 books. 100% done!

Booklist Queen's 2023 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2023 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


40 / 40 books. 100% done!

2023 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


29 / 40 books. 73% done!

2023 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


16 / 25 books. 64% done!

2023 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

Book Bingo Reading Challenge


20 / 25 books. 80% done!

2023 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


109 / 109 books. 100% done!

Children's Book Reading Challenge...For Adults!

Friday, January 06, 2017

Atmospheric and Addictive, Antarctic Survival Story Definitely Worth the Read


(Image from Barnes & Noble)

"In Antarctica, every decision is weighty, every outcome either a tragedy or a miracle" (29).

A professor of marine biology at University of Oregon, Deb Gardner lives for the few months out of the year when she heads south to study penguins.  The 39-year-old feels more at home in the harsh Antarctic climate researching her favorite creatures than she does anywhere else.  For the past few years, her trips have had an added bonus: Keller Sullivan.  It's during these annual trips that they rekindle their romance, a relationship that doesn't leak into their real lives in the U.S. 

In exchange for passage to her research site, Deb is playing tour guide on the Cormorant.  Keller is supposed to be on the boat as well.  When he doesn't show, Deb starts to worry.  Then the Cormorant receives an emergency signal from a nearby cruise liner in trouble.  She soon discovers that Keller is on board—that's when she starts to panic.  In such a perilous, unforgiving landscape, the Australis—along with her passengers and crew—is surely doomed.  

A researcher turned rescuer, a desperate Deb will do anything to save the man she loves.  Will their romance end before it even really begins?  What will happen to the panicked people stranded in frigid waters far from any hope of salvation?  Can life prevail at the frozen edge of the world?

The premise behind My Last Continent, a debut novel by Midge Raymond, hooked me immediately.  I enjoy survival stories set in remote locales where characters must battle extreme weather and other impossible obstacles in order to triumph.  This story certainly offers that, but it's not as flashy a tale as I expected.  Which is a good thing.  The slow-building plot appealed to me.  It helped me really understand the book's complex characters, intriguing location, and cautionary themes.  The animal/Antarctic facts added to the story, giving it depth but never bogging it down.  Most of My Last Continent's action comes at the end, which is perfect because, by then, the reader truly cares what happens to Deb, Keller, and their associates.  The tension all comes to a head in the book's taut, terrifying conclusion.  An engrossing, atmospheric novel, My Last Continent is definitely worth the read.  I loved it.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me [at least thematically] of Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language (a handful of F-bombs, plus milder expletives), violence, blood/gore, and sexual content

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

4 comments:

  1. I'm always impressed with how many books you read from the library. I need to utilize my library more often. This one sounds exciting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love survival stories, too! And the fact that this one is set in Antarctica makes me want to read it even more. Thanks for the rec! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love books set in Antarctica. Not sure why. Always have. Putting this one on my list to check out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Finished last night. What a unique book. Never read a book in Antarctica before. But the ending.....really?!?

    ReplyDelete

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Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.



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