Stuck In A Rut?

Try living the same day endlessly.

Title: Solvej Balle: On The Calculation Of Volume

Plot:

For Tara Selzer the 18th of November repeats. . . endlessly.

Good For: Apathy, Purposelessness, Midlife Crisis, What if’s

And you thought you were stuck! The idea of the repeating day is not new. We’ve all watched Groundhog’s Day. But in this seven book series Solvej Balle takes the idea to curious and unsettling extremes. The 18th of November- over and over, again, and again and again. Stripped of routine, the need to work, and an understanding group of friends, Solvej’s heroine Tara embarks on a quest to create meaning and connections in a life she shares with no one. Until. . . (non romantic plot twist) she does.

There are a few interesting complications. If, on the 18th of November, you accidentally kill some one- they’re never seen again. If you eat something, it’s gone the next iteration, as Tara realizes when her favorite chocolate disappears from the town grocery store, followed by the leeks she’s taken from her backyard garden. And sure, you can get your husband to believe what’s happening to you- but the next day you’ll have to convince him all over again.

This houghtful, philosophical study of what life means, or could mean, in all of its variants. Life for Pleasure? Life for Social Good? Life for Understanding? Life for__________? What is life for anyways? The Calculation of Volume explores how we decide this for ourselves and what complications arise in the experiment. It’s a seven book series, each with a new twist on the theme. Just like Tara, I was always hoping that things would just go back to normal, and they never ever did.