Realized the last reading list I did was Spring 2025. I’ve read a few books since then but let’s stay in the present. This collection bounces from semi-post apocalyptic feeling (almost too real for current events), to hopeful sci-fi, to a brutal crime / mystery thriller.
Wowza! King of Ashes was awesome. This was suggested to me by my editor for research in building tension / suspense and exploring characters who think they’re making the right choices but definitely are not. This book nails all of it. The writing is smooth and chapters are bite sized tastes of pure tension and suspense you can’t help but keep reading. The story itself we’ve seen before, older brother returns home to deal with family drama, only to find his younger brother is in some serious shit with some local gangsters. When he attempts to help thinking he’s the smartest in the room, it only gets uglier and uglier. Turning good people, who think they’re doing the right thing based on their moral compass, into questionably bad people. A great story that puts the reader in the seat of asking themselves: what would I do in this situation? Highly recommend.
The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet – Becky Chambers
This one had been on my list for awhile. I only heard good things and it racked up a few awards to make it stand out further. Overall, I enjoyed it, but halfway through I got the sense I was going to get a dot dot dot kinda ending. Of course there are two more books in the series so that is what happened. The writing is great, the characters are rich and deep (most of the book is spent with each character from this rag-tag crew, and learning about their backstory). Dialogue is fun, but it felt more like reading a character profile than a story. There is a plot, kinda, but at the end it felt like it didn’t matter. It’s the build up of a crew for further stories. Felt like if the plan was for more stories, character’s backstories could’ve been spread throughout instead of an intense tea drinking therapy session every chapter with everyone. It’s hopeful and fun, but I’m such a cynic that I can’t imagine people and/or aliens from other planets getting along this easy. And they all drink tea? There’s no other beverage in the entire galaxy?
Parable Of The Talents – Octavia E. Butler
Parable of The Talents is part two of the duology by Octavia Butler, the first being Parable of the Sower, which is fantastic book. Together they paint a grim picture of the future (ahem 2026-2030s) where religion and politics combine to an almost cult like status. The story follows Lauren Olimina as she continues to grow Earthseed (her own, way of life, that feels religious and a tad cultish BUT is far more progressive about God and science). Octavia Butler has this way with violence in this book that is both brutal but written in a way to not be done for the sake of having it. It’s part of the world and characters do their best to survive through it which makes it all the more haunting. Like Sower, this is a collection of journal entries but read from Lauren’s grown up daughter who she was separated from by a religious cult. It’s a clever play as we get POV from both characters as they’re growing in different directions, which leads to a really powerful ending. Highly recommend but be warned, and I’m not sure how Butler did this, but it feels eerily close to our own current world. Which is scary.
