I have #mecfs so I have a lot of time for reading, mostly #fantasy and #SciFi but I'm happy to dip into nearly anything.
Ratings: 1 star: I didn't like it 2 stars: it was okay 3 stars: I liked it 4 stars: I really liked it 5 stars: it was brilliant
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This is a book about the oppression of women by men.Men in a society have …
Becoming a familiar refrain in African literature: girl fights for education & freedom against patriarchy & colonialism. This one, set in pre-independence Zimbabwe, might be the original (?) and the best, with carefully crafted & evolving characters. Ends very suddenly, though.
this book is about the inner workings of a black woman born in 1947. her …
The god-like mutant Doro finally breeds his race of super-powered telepaths. Can they hold it together, and can he tolerate them? Not much narrative tension or interesting characters, and not a lot happens.
Mission mob vs bush mob in the Top End. Crude & cutting humour, with occasional glimpses of the raw, traumatic truth of dispossession & cultural genocide.
After an unsettled life of freelance writing, the author takes on the family farm. A memoir of his father and the land, an ode to regenerative agriculture, and an example of how to connect with Traditional Owners. The author is only two degrees of separation from me, so I found it easy to imagine myself in his shoes, going down a route that appeals but was not available.
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a …
A murder mystery fantasy novel - why is this a first for me?! Fairly standard whodunnit which escalates to political intrigue, made distinctive by very cool world-building: an empire built to defend against leviathans attacking from the sea, whose bodily fluids enable a raft of fantastical bio-enhancements. Interesting characters and the potential for more fleshing out give the series much promise.
Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes …
A bunch of charming idiots (i.e. everyday people) get thrown together and muddle their way through a crisis in the only way humans can: messily, and hilariously. Occasionally heavy-handed but the portrayal of people and their idiosyncrasies is a joy.
Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium. They built our world, and they will transform …
A high-octane tour through the materials that underlie our civilisation: sand, salt, steel, copper, oil & lithium. So many intriguing side notes that sent me off down rabbit holes (African ghost miners!). Really brings home the mammoth scale, complexity & interconnectedness of these critical industries that we take for granted. But also highlights their fragility, the environmental damage they cause, and the immense difficulty of reforming them to be sustainable.
As the oldest daughter, willful, outspoken Sophie knew that her life could lead to nothing …
A young woman gets caught up in magical machinations and is turned old & fabulously crotchety. Great characters and vibe but I lost track of the plot a bit (disclaimer: listened to this as a sleep story), and wasn't really into the romantic ending.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8eOjQ3JrXk&list=PLp6dwtXsi8Pu6G7MT4ajMGB1YrumzQRZ9
Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a …
Centuries after sending colonies into space as insurance against Earth's collapse, humans have integrated into alien civilisation. But now what purpose do those colonies serve, and what happens to their distinctive communal culture? Good premise but not much plot, and a few too many characters.
Isma is free. After years spent raising her twin siblings in the wake of their …
A British-Pakistani family gets caught (& distraught) on the three horns of identity, politics & jihad. Deeply immersive for a range of perspectives.
'Dazzling ... in her kaleidoscopic essays, memoir has been shattered into sliding and overlapping pieces …
Essays on the author's experience of schizophrenia (along with bipolar, PTSD & chronic Lyme!) in the US. Fascinating & unsettling view into psychiatric hospitals, mental health 'support' in Ivy League colleges, and what the hell a psychotic break feels like. Blimey.
The Broken Kingdoms is a fantasy novel by American writer N. K. Jemisin, the second …
A woman gets caught up in the manoeuvring of gods, godlings and grasping humans. Most notable for the protagonist's blindness, except for her ability to see magic.
Thou shalt kill.
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity …
A future where AI has created the perfect world without war, illness or death, and a select group keeps the population in check via 'gleaning'. Great premise but occasionally feels like a parody of itself and missed the opportunity for thought-provoking world building. Not much characterisation.
A murder mystery & coming-of-age story, with hefty lashes of abuse & racism, set in a small country town, 1960s Australia. Dark stuff, but leavened with teen romance and hilariously on-point best-mate banter (Jeffrey Lu is a legit superhero).
"It's the end of the world as we know it, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world." Provides an overview of the roots of the polycrisis (mostly separation & domination) and sketches out the shape of what must replace it: a grassroots democracy inspired by the systemic interdependency of ecology. Both reformism & revolution will just support the current, malignant system. Not much of it was new to me, but it provides a solid framework for many disparate ideas. Take the power back! (Disclaimers: I read this while low on brain juice, and Millie is thanked for her feedback in the acknowledgements.)
