I slogged through "Journal of the Plague Year" after getting it off of Gutenberg. Bor-ring! I will say, though, that it gave me a better idea of the beliefs and the lengths that people went to so as to avoid the plague. I'm partway through "The Midnight Queen" (also on Gutenberg), and feel like I have a better understanding of some of it because of reading Defoe.

I'm also partway through "The Years of Rice and Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson. Plague and how it can completely reshape the world is a recurring theme as it spans ages through a series of reincarnated characters. It's interesting to contrast Defoe's view of the Muslims and plague with Robinson's view.