Flashback Friday is my own little weekly tradition, in which I pick a book from my reading past to highlight. If you’d like to join in, here are the Flashback Friday book selection guidelines:

1. Has to be something you’ve read yourself
   
2. Has to still be available, preferably still in print
3. Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Other than that, the sky’s the limit! Join me, please, and let us all know: what are the books you’ve read that you always rave about? What books from your past do you wish EVERYONE would read? Pick something from five years ago, or go all the way back to the Canterbury Tales if you want. It’s Flashback Friday time!

My picks for this week’s Flashback Friday:

Into The Forest by Jean Hegland (published 1996)

From Goodreads:

Set in the near-future, Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home.

Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society’s fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America.

Forget the glut of dystopian fiction currently being published — Into the Forest is the collapse of social structure done right. This story about sisterhood and survival is tense, dramatic, suspenseful, scary, and incredibly moving. The sisters’ relationship is dynamic, full of love and hate, and is ultimately the girls’ key to finding a future in a world that has fallen apart. I read this book years ago, but it has absolutely stuck with me.

Plus, this is the book that made me realize how ill-prepared I am for any sort of disaster on the epic-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it scale. For starters, I need to gain some knowledge about edible and medicinal plants, learn how to forage in the forest, gain some basic proficiency in self-defense, and start training for endurance running. As it stands right now, if the zombies show up, I’m toast.

Note: There are no zombies in Into the Forest — that was an irrelevant aside. What is relevant is that this is a terrific, unforgettable book. Check it out.

And an apology in advance from your humble Bookshelf Fantasies blogger: Flashback Friday will be taking a week off next week due to family travel plans. Join us on Friday, April 5th for the next Flashback Friday!

So, what’s your favorite blast from the past? Leave a tip for your fellow booklovers!

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: To join the Flashback Friday fun, write a blog post about a book you love and share your link below. Don’t have a blog post to share? Then share your favorite oldie-but-goodie in the comments section. Jump in!