Swap Info:

Looking to try a book in a new-to-you genre? Or looking for an excuse to read a book off your Mt. To Be Read? Every month, we'll explore a different genre by reading a single book and sharing our thoughts with our partner. August's genre is dystopian fiction. Whether you're new to the scene or just using this swap to read one you've had your eye on for a long time, this is the swap for you.

Genre Definition:

(Wikipedia) Dystopian fiction (sometimes referred to as apocalyptic literature) is the... creation of an utterly horrible or degraded society that is generally headed to an irreversible oblivion, or dystopia. Many novels combine both, often as a metaphor for the different directions humanity can take in its choices, ending up with one of two possible futures. Both utopias and dystopias are commonly found in science fiction and other speculative fiction genres, and arguably are by definition a type of speculative fiction.

Swap Instructions:

Choose any dystopian fiction novel and read it! There are tons of online suggestion guides that might help. I'll list some favorites of the CL mods here at the end of this post to get you started.

Send an email or swap-bot message to your partners with the following info:

• Title & author of the book you read
• Why did you choose this book?
• A brief summary of the book
• A brief review--what did you think of it?
• Your experience with the genre (have you read a lot? a little? was this your first?)
• Your thoughts about the genre overall and if this book was a good representation of it
• Would you read more of this genre in the future?

Some suggestions from your group mods:

• 1984 by George Orwell
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer
• The Selection series by Kiera Cass
• Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Pure by Julianna Baggott
• Wool by Hugh Howey
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

These are just suggestions, in case you need suggestions. Feel free to choose a book from this list or from anywhere else as long as it could be considered part of the genre.

Let me know if you have any questions/comments. Group rules & ratings apply.

Previous genres covered so far: romances, picture books, biographies, young adult fiction