Reading, for me, is entertainment and an escape from the real world. But it can also inform and stretch the boundaries of the life I live.
People became frightened. Then they became angry.
The absence of viable remedies. The search for someone to blame.
Why did I think it would nonetheless be business as usual? Because we'd been hearing these things for so long, I suppose. You don't believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you.