I don't wanna brag, but I've read 42 out of 45 of the books I told Goodreads I would read this year and not all of them where from when I re-read all seven Harry Potter books plus The Cursed Child. So.
I don't know what delights me more - giving books as gifts or receiving books as gifts (haha who am I kidding, it's receiving, I am a pillow queen when it comes to books). As gifting season approaches and I don't know what to write about today, I thought I'd share my top five reads of the year to help inspire your holiday shopping YOU'RE WELCOME SANTA
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
If I haven't harassed you in person about Becky Chambers, or given you one of her books, know about her. She is a queer sci fi author who writes the Wayfarers series. Katr bought me the first one, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, because it had good reviews but mainly because the main character's name is Rosemary (Rosemary).
It's hard to describe what's so great about this series - it's sci fi but gentle, Star Trek:TNG-style sci fi with the wit of Firefly and a heart all its own. You love all the characters and you laugh out loud and also weep a little over the basic human kindnesses the characters show each other, even though many of the characters (in the first two books in particular) aren't actually human.
Record of a Spaceborn Few is the third book in the series (the second one, A Closed and Common Orbit, might be my favourite). The books build upon each other and take place in the same universe, but each one is its own contained story, so you don't get any annoying cliffhangers at the end of Book 2 (I'm looking at you, V.E. Schwab).
Anyway, to sum up, Becky Chambers is awesome, you guys - GET ON IT.
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
Outside of my general Becky Chambers fan grrrrling, I'd say this was my favourite read of the year. It's about three astronauts who go on a simulated Mars mission and how it affects them and their loved ones.
I love anything about Mars, so I was excited about this book, but was a little downhearted when I saw that some of the reviews on Goodreads complained that it was "boring" and "nothing happened". Those people are Philistine gits.
Each chapter is from the perspective of one of the seven main characters and each time I started a new chapter, I thought "Oh good!" because I was interested in all the characters and everything they were going through. It was funny and interesting. It made me really wish there was a sequel, where they actually go to Mars. Just sayin', Meg Howrey.
A good companion piece to this book is a podcast called The Habitat, about the first HI-SEAS simulated Mars mission in Hawaii a few years ago.
The Peripheral by William Gibson
Something I have always loved about William Gibson's speculative fiction/science fiction books is how he just plops you down in the world of the book and leaves it up to you to figure out what the fuck is going on based on contextual clues and very little exposition. I enjoy that kind of thing but if you don't, give this one a pass.
This was probably the toughest of his books to puzzle out but in the end it was worth it. Loved the crazy story, loved the main character Flynne and her world of ex-military dudes and her friend Janice, who does hate Kegels.
This was probably my favourite of his books since the original Neuromancer trilogy (although I dug Pattern Recognition as well), so if you were into those, you'll probably love this.
The Centre of Winter by Marya Hornbacher
I was obsessed with Marya Hornbacher's memoir Wasted, so when I found out she'd written a novel ages ago, I got my hands on a copy.
I'm not generally a literary fiction fan and the premise of this - a father commits suicide and the story is about how his kids and wife deal with it - sound like a downer.
But this was a very life-affirming book, with each of the characters in the year after the father's death, coming into their own in different ways and it was LOVELY.
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall
Okay, technically this one is from last year but it's still at the top of my list, because it's possibly the greatest, most informative book I've ever read. I'm not a total idiot but will also admit that my geopolitical knowledge is not particularly strong. Perhaps this book is a revelation only to me. But:
If you've always wondered why Russia is so crazy; if you know about as much about Mid-East peace as Jared Kushner; if you're embarrassed to admit that you don't really know what the hell is going on in most of Africa; if you've always wondered how relatively tiny Europe ended up being able to colonize so much of the world; if you don't get why China won't just effing free Tibet; if you know that the Korean war happened but you don't know why; if you're not super sure where the Falkland Islands are; read this book.
It not only illuminates several key points in ancient and recent history but puts them in an incredible helpful geographic context. Plus, it was an easy read. My only sadness is that the paperback edition came out RIIIIIIIGHT before Trump was elected and I'm sure the chapter about the US would have had a pretty interesting ending. But I'm sure Tim Marshall was relieved to not have to speculate about the ensuing dumpster fire.
Thank you for coming to this edition of Creampuff Book Club! If you had any great reads this year, please leave them in the comments, I'm always looking for new books, because I'm a whore.
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