The long way to a small angry planet, by Becky Chambers

I was away from the internet a few times the last few weeks so here is a summary for my reading for all of June.

Finished:

The Anatomy of Dreams, by Chloe Benjamin : I love her writing style, although this book is a little long. Her writing definitely improved for The Immortalists.

Flight, by Sherman Alexie : normally I don't read YA but I had this one my list from a while ago and I finished it on a plane ride. Enjoyable and I love when authors portray teens that actually feel like teens.

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel: finally finished this after a few months. I was stuck about 1/3 of the way through, but I finally powered through it. I've now finished all of Martel's books this year and this is his best. But boy is mediocre. At the beginning it says "this tale will make you believe in god" and it made me wonder how simple that person's beliefs are.

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck: Wow. What an amazing novella. I've never read anything by him and I'm amazed the ending wasn't spoiled for me just through pop culture osmosis. An absolutely brilliant story from start to finish. I've put East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath on my to read list.

Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer: I normally don't read weird fiction, but this book really worked for me. Loved the setting. Loved the characters, Loved the whole world of Area X he has created. Everything about this book just satisfied me. I look forward to reading the next two books.

Reading:

Academ's Fury, by Jim Butcher: I asked last time for someone to pick a number for me and this is the book. I'm enjoying it, yet it comes in bursts. I'll read like 50 pages and then put it aside for a few days. I did the same thing with the first one as well. I think I read it over the span of 2 months?

The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood : I like this, but I find the sections with the old woman really boring.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet , by Becky Chambers: it's nice to have a sci-fi that is more character-driven and less sci-fiey. The conflict is lessened and it's just more a story in a world. I like it, but the author needs to learn to tone down the LGBT+ messages. I like the ideas, but sometimes they are just so ham-fisted it takes away from the novel.

The Tokyo-Montana Express, by Richard Brautigan: Great short, short, short stories.

Radiance, by Catherynne M. Valente: Goodreads describes this as "a decopunk pulp SF alt-history space opera mystery set in a Hollywood". Light and fluffy and fun.

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel: I'm a huge Shakespeare nut so I love this book. Her writing is great and the book just flows along nicely.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman: I only picked up this book because I liked the cover and I enjoy it. I always enjoy reading about characters who are on the spectrum. No idea where it is going.

Finished:

Becoming, by Michelle Obama -- much as I truly admire Michelle Obama, it was just OK. The book did nothing to change my high opinion of the Obama family, but I did want it to be better. I want one of them to write a real, deep and hard-hitting analysis of their time in office...someday. This was a nice start, and interesting to read how much the West wing worried about the "optics" of Michelle. It again affirmed that the office of the Presidency is a thankless and rather horrible job for the family especially.

Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland -- a fun alternative history book about the Civil War being interrupted by the walking dead. An entertaining exploration of slavery and Native "school" systems, colorism and a host of other important topics + zombies!

The Spy and the Traitor, by Ben Macintyre -- nonfiction that reads like thrilling fiction. My favorite of Macintyre's historical spy books so far.

There Will Be No Miracles Here, by Casey Gerald -- I'm done with memoirs for a while. It's a form I just don't seem to love lately. Gerald's book is interesting, decently written, and important for the questions it raises about the American Dream and "pulling yourself up" sorts of "rags-to-riches" tales we tell in the US. I just didn't love the book. It was overly detailed in many places and didn't go deep enough on the most interesting questions it hoped to examine.

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood -- If all of the above underwhelmed me, Margaret Atwood saved the week. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this trilogy. I gobbled this one up in a day over the weekend. Just couldn't put it down, including being a bit irritated in the grocery store when my reading was interrupted by actually getting to the front of the line.

Started:

My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite

How Are You Going to Save Yourself, by JM Holmes -- short stories, very good thus far

Still working on:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

Since I seem to be in a book slump, save the (completely new to me) sci-fi stuff I've had some luck with recently, I plan on rereading some Delillo this week, probably starting with Americana, and I have Lorrie Moore's novel A Gate at the Stairs planned for this week too.

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I started and finished The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. It was a cute book and a really fun read.

I finished The Unwomanly Face of War, by Svetlana Alexievich. I think I cried more in this book than any other I've ever read before. It was really, really good. If you want a new perspective on what war is and what it involves and what it costs, this is a great book.

I finished Clariel, by Garth Nix. It was okay, but not nearly as good as the previous books in the series. It took me forever to finish it. I've been trying and failing to do so since it came out. It's just not a book that really motivates you to finish it. But now I can finally say that I did and move on to the next book, which from the blurb seems to be about Lirael again, so I'm hopeful about it.

I also finished Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse. I really liked it. The world building was amazing.

I am almost finished with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

It's a really good read, and slightly different than your typical space opera. It more focuses on the "normal" people in this setting instead of something like Star Wars where the main characters are EXTREMELY important to the galaxy.

I finished The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. As close as a hug a book will ever get.

My next book will be Sleeping Giants, by Sylvain Neuvel. I’ve read some mixed reviews of this book, but hopefully I’ll be among those who like it!

This week I finished reading:

American War, by Omar El Akkad. 4/5. Well written and fascinating, I left with a lot of question and weird thoughts about how war works, and how it affects us. I found the character of Sarat absolutely fascinating. She's big, she's angry, she's absolutely broken. I can't even call her an anti-hero. She's more of a very sad villain. Lost a star because it was hard to follow at times. I wish there was a timeline because the whole time I thought this big plague had already happened when it actually happened at the end of the book. It was also really slow and overly flowy at points.

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, by Meg Ellison. 5/5. Holy shit this book!! I honestly can't believe I read something as amazing as this novel. Gruesome and lonely, so very lonely. I think what I liked most about this was that it wasn't about survival of self, but survival of humanity itself. I cannot wait to pick up The Book of Etta.

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. Okay technically I haven't finished this yet but I have like half an hour left so I definitely will today. Great book, rounded out my dystopia/post-apocalyptic week.

I am still reading/started reading:

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo. Honestly I'm not super interested in the plot of this book but people won't stop telling me to read it so here I am. I'm one chapter in and it hasn't caught my attention yet but I have hope. Started this after finishing Book of the Unnamed Midwife.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. So far, I'm loving this book and I am loving Dr. Chef so much.

This week I finished A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers and Lamb, by Christopher Moore.

Last week on the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast was The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. Next week is Milkman, by Anna Burns.

Finished:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers (5/5). I still can't believe how wonderful that book is. Sure, there wasn't much of a "plot" besides loving each other but I loved every character and every character thread, every grand or weird idea presented in the story. highly recommend to anyone who just read a dark, sad, or horrifying book.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han (3/5). I loved the Netflix movie (in all it's cheesy glory) and the book is free with the Audible romance package (which you can get a free trail of!) so I gave it a shot. Stupidly cute. Not an amazing YA romance, but worth listening to if you like the movie.

Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse (4/5). Okay technically I'll finish this today during my lunch. I've got about 20 pages left. Super interesting book, and a wonderful look at both Dine present day and at how to survive a drowned world. I do just wish that the main character wasn't your typical "I'm a badass who doesn't need people", and that there are better Dine/Navajo-English translators on the internet because I have no idea what a lot of phrases mean.

Currently Reading:

The Queens of Innis Lear, by Tessa Gratton. It's a slow-burn, high fantasy retelling of King Lear. Having just studied King Lear earlier this year, it's very fresh in my mind. I do wish that the pace was faster, since I'm 25% through and they just passed the main inciting action with Lear and his daughters. But the mythology of this world is amazing.

To Kill a Kingdom, by Alexandra Christo. I'm into mermaids and pirates right now so of course I'm going to read this.

Last week I finished:

Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution by Menno Schilthuizen

Super neat. Starts with the story of the London Underground mosquito, which is a few(!) distinct species that have evolved particular diets and habits and mostly live in the tube stations. Then it branches out to other urban-adapted species like starlings and white-footed mice and coyotes. If you’re into ecology, this is a pretty interesting and non-dry read.

The Overstory by Richard Powers

Overall just gorgeous, had the feel of a Barbara Kingsolver novel. I got into it a bit slowly, but once things got going, it was difficult to put it down. One disappointment was that the author doesn’t know how to talk about disability, and said some pretty offensive things about a wheelchair-using character. I think he was trying to write the disabled guy who hates his own body and its limitations as a contrast to what he does with his mind. If he had bothered to learn about the disabled community, he’d know that was a very tired trope, and that many of the things he wrote were wildly offensive — like, even if you’re going to lean on that trope, you need to counterbalance it. I wanted to recommend this to my disabled friend, but… nah.

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

A very quiet, quick read from Ondaatje that I had a difficult time putting down. I’m not sure what to say without spoiling it, but I loved it a lot.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Firefly in text form, with aliens. There was an overarching plot, but the subplots were the real focus and stars of the show. Very enjoyable to listen to as an audiobook (though the narrator wasn’t my favorite), and I think I found its sequel on sale as an ebook? It’s on my Kindle, anyway.

Short things:

• “Difficult at Parties” by Carmen Maria Machado (Her Body and Other Parties)
• “The Old People” by William Faulkner (Uncollected Stories)
• “Story of the Warrior and the Captive” by Jorge Luis Borges (Labyrinths)
• “The Gun Lobby” by Jim Shepard (Love and Hydrogen)
• “The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson (The Lottery and Other Stories)
• “Dirty Wedding” by Denis Johnson (Jesus’ Son)
• “At the Bottom of the Garden” by Jo Walton (Starlings)
• “Adams” by George Saunders (In Persuasion Nation)
• “Gold Is Not Always” by William Faulkner (Uncollected Stories)
• “Emma Zunz” by Jorge Luis Borges (Labyrinths)
• “Like Mother Used to Make” by Shirley Jackson (The Lottery and Other Stories)
• “Dump Junk” by Annie Proulx (Bad Dirt)
• “Out of It” by Jo Walton (Starlings)
• “Telemachus” by Jim Shepard (Best American Short Stories 2017)

Working on:

• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (for /r/bookclub)
• Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America by Eric Jay Dolin
• Milk! by Mark Kurlanksy

Finished:

The Fold, Peter Clines It was a fast and fun read. Thought the last half of the book was better then the first, with the last quarter being the best part of the book. Until then most of the characters are insufferably stupid for very smart people.

Old Man's War, by John Scalzi Again a fast and fun book. I'm interested enough in the world to continue.

Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells Last in the initial Murderbot Diaries novella quartet. I love this series and Murderbot is the best. So happy the author is writing more.

Started: Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey I adore these books.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers It took me a bit to get into it but now that I am the book is speeding past. I like it so far.

The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi The second novel in the Old Man's War series. The story got me a lot sooner then the first one did. I'm liking it a lot more.

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), by Felicia Day

This is Felicia Day's memoir covering her childhood, awkward adolescence, early struggles in Hollywood, gaming addiction, and rise to internet fame. The writing is hilarious, self-aware and relatable.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

This is my current audiobook and it is amazing. It's about a crew that creates wormholes to connect planets/systems/etc, the equivalent of road work. It's not glamorous. What makes this book so refreshing (so far) is the cast of characters and their interactions. Their good people. They have bad days and good days. They support each other. When something is wrong/hard/complicated they talk about the problem instead of letting it fester and ruin everything. The problems they face are unexpected and generally not their fault (so far). They're understanding of the people around them despite differences in culture and appearance. This may be one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time. It's just so damn pleasant.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

I finished The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Both are great unexpected mystery books!!

Now I’m starting The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Finished

• Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist
• The Sangrook Saga, by Steve Thomas

Started

• The Demons We See, by Krista D. Ball
• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

Just finished The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

This was this subs book club book. It was a fun read that I am sad to see the characters go.

I will now go back to reading You by Caroline Kepnes I am about 50% done. Want to get it done before next months book club book

Finished: Deadly Desert Winds by Xu Lei

I bought this series as a box set so I feel compelled to finish it. The story is interesting enough, but it’s poorly written (or translated. its originally in Chinese). i’m thankfully almost done

Starting: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

I really like this so far. It kind of reminds me of the podcast The Strange Case of Starship Iris.

edit: added authors

Finished Artemis, by Andy Weir

I really enjoyed it, loved the whole heist aspect and how when things went wrong, it was a life or death situation.

Also finished the long way to a small angry planet, by Becky Chambers, the first book in her Wayfarer series

Omg I loved this book. The world building was done really well and the characters were amazing, even the ones I didn't really like were really well writing. Cannot recommend this book enough. Sissex is the best.

I started A closed and common orbit, by Becky Chambers the second Wayfarer book and it's bloody amazing. Deals with different characters than the first one but I'm enjoying everything about it and loving exploring this universe more and more.

Finished: The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins. As someone commented last week when I started this book: ”it is a RIDE”. Couldn’t agree more.

Started: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. It’s taken me a while to get into the happy feeling of this book, after reading several dark fantasy books in a row it’s strange when someone’s not dead by page 10. I’m enjoying it now though!

Finished

• The Demons We See, by Krista D. Ball
• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers
• The Masked City, by Genevieve Cogman

Started

• The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski
• The Whitefire Crossing, by Courtney Schafer

Just started The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. It’s been on my list for ages and I’m finally getting around to it. Loving it so far!

Finished:

The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman

The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Started:

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

Finished:

Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

Began:

The long way to a small angry planer, by Becky Chambers

Just finished Cork Dork, by Bianca Bosker. It was amazing, maybe the favorite book I've read this year.

Not sure what's next, It'll be hard to pick something similar that's just as good so maybe some sci-fi. I've got The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers and The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.

I'm almost done with Gods of Men, by Barbara Kloss, a self-published fantasy story. I'm enjoying it so far, although after reading several darker fantasy books in a row I'm ready to start something lighter. The long way to a small, angry planet, by Becky Chambers has been on my TBR list for a while, hopefully it's available at my local library.

I'm also reading a Swedish book about the swimmer Sally Bauer, the first scandinavian to swim the English channel.

Armored, edited by John Joseph Adams a collection of stories about mech suits and combat armour.

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The long way to a small angry planet, by Becky Chambers picked this up to join in with the /r/books book group. I've had it on my list for ages so looking forward to finally reading this.

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Non fiction: The body keeps the score, by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Commenting again because I started another book this week!

I started listening to A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers on Overdrive yesterday. I'm only about 50 pages in but it's already captivated me!!

Finished:

Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Reading:

A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

I started reading this yesterday because I saw it was the subreddit's book club choice this month. Pretty much sucked me right in and I'm already a third of the way through the book. Very happy to see there are two more books in the series already out for me to read when I'm done with this one!

Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England, by Alison Weir

This one is a bit of a slog. While there are some really fascinating pieces in the story (I just finished the part where Isabella overthrows her husband, Edward II, alongside her lover, Roger Mortimer), there are also lots of lists and descriptions of rooms in castles she stayed during her time as Queen. I don't really want to know the name of the pauper that Isabella gave two pence to once in 1311.

I just finished The Obelisk Gate, by N.K. Jemisin. And I just just just started the long way to a small angry planet, by Becky Chambers, my request from the library finally came in.

I loved The Obelisk Gate. The first book was so good, I was worried #2 wouldn't stand up, but it was just as beautiful and lovely and heartbreaking and awesome as the first.

I'm about 80 pages into tlwtasap, so far it is good fun! Interested to see where it goes.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Finished: Pretty Little Things, by Lori Rader Day

Saw Lori at a writer's conference and enjoyed her presentation so got the "mystery". I didn't identify with the protagonist and figured out the ending with a third of the book to go. :(

Started: City in the City, China Mieville

Listening to: The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Stuck on planes, and at times it is easier to listen than read on those.

Finished: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

Started: Five Unicorn Flush, by TJ Berry

Just finished The long way to a small angry planet, by Becky Chambers