Title: The Brief History of the Dead
Author: Kevin Brockmeier
Genre: Sci-fi, futuristic

In The Brief History of the Dead, we are introduced to two seemingly different plot lines that slowly converge as the book progresses. 
Plot Line 1: Three scientists are stranded in the Antartic after losing contact with the outside world. The two male scientists leave and after a few weeks, the female scientist, Laura Byrd, realizes they're never coming back. When she reaches the main station, everyone is dead. While staying at the main station Luara learns that her colleagues and most of the world's population died from a global pandemic.
Plot Line 2: Everyone who has ever died is in a world just like our Earth, except with one major difference. The dead only stay in this second world as long as someone from our world remembers them.
While these plot lines may seem unrelated, as the book progresses, the reader realizes that the memories of the dead in the second world have some connection to Laura Byrd. Meanwhile, on Earth, Laura Byrd feels like the last human alive....