Book Blogger

Review policy

PostApocalypseGirl reviews all books (e, print, audio, handwritten) on the basis of usefulness and relevance to survival. Books which contain impractical or false information, deliberate misinformation or extremist views likely to lead to endangerment can expect to receive one star. PostApocalypseGirl's reviews are impartial and cannot be influenced by donations of food, medicines or weapons.

4 out of 5 stars to How to stay online (anonymous)

This is a really useful book especially if, like me, you weren't really a techie before it all kicked off. The instructions are fairly easy to understand, and cover key topics like choosing and running a generator and how to set up a solar panel. There's even really basic stuff about using a mobile dongle for any real technological dinosaurs who've made it this far. The brilliant thing about this book is the set of maps showing mobile signal coverage from UK networks that are still functioning, and from airborne drone masts supplied by the US military. I'd have given How to stay online five stars except for the heavy-handed pro-US angle in it. Until we get to the bottom of those persistent rumours that it was a mess-up with US military biotechnology that caused this whole thing in the first place, I'm not really going for the swooning gratitude bit.

3 out of 5 stars to Fortify your home (Princess Warrior)

I had really mixed feelings about this book. There's a lot of good information in it (yay for bricklaying! I might not have tried that if I hadn't read this). Princess Warrior definitely knows her stuff. There are a lot of low tech ideas that you could use here, which is great if you have to conserve power like most of us do. The tripwire idea was absolute genius and doesn't need any power to run. I also thought she made some good points about protecting your house or flat from contamination, and most of the materials she suggested using are easily scavenged. So far so good, and she's probably saved some lives. Where the book fell down for me was Princess's priorities. IMO it's worth running a generator and risking the sound attracting unwelcome attention to do necessary things like run power tools. It's definitely not worth it for a hairdryer or a ****ing foot spa!! She talks a lot about keeping up morale but frankly there's not going to be much morale if you have looters climbing over the wall or infected people hanging around outside. Also, it's cute that she wanted to keep her dog with her, but if it were me I'd have cut the chihuahua loose and let it take its chances. An unsecured cat flap is asking for trouble and if the dog goes in and out, who knows what it's going to bring in on its coat? So I couldn't really give this book more than a three star rating.

1 out of 5 stars to ESDS: A Citizen's Guide (UK government)

I gave this booklet 1 star for trying. I suppose they had to send something out to make it look as though they were still in control, or still cared. Which was a joke after that government minister was shot trying to get into France on his private yacht! They'd all get out if they could. Probably some did, so if any of them were infected, God help the rest of the world.

Anyway, the Citizen's Guide is pretty up itself. It never refers to "The Crumblies" - always calls the epidemic ESDS (Explosive Spore Dispersal Syndrome), as though giving it a scientific name makes it easier to deal with.

And then there's the section about what to do if a family member is infected. "If you hear an explosion, thump or crash from the individual's room, DO NOT open the door. You risk infection from the dispersed spores. Instead, seal the door with duct tape or similar." Probably okay advice, although a lot of people would find that hard to do if it was their family member inside. I guess the writer realised it sounded a bit cold blooded because then it says, "You may wish to hold a prayer vigil or a short service of remembrance according to your beliefs." Actual LOLZ (and not in a good way).