sci-fi – Krista Beucler

New Books Read

The cover of If We Were Villians shows a white background, three swords crossed and a spray of red like blood darkens the right side. — Flatiron Books

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: suicide, murder
I loved this. Like The Secret History if it was about Shakespeare instead of the Classics. At an exclusive college for the arts, the senior drama students are putting on Julius Ceasar. But when their Ceasar’s body turns up in the freezing lake, the young actors must step into their hardest roles yet. I loved how many Shakespeare quotes and allusions were in this. I loved the characters and their dynamics. I loved the tension and the structure. I have one thought about the ending.
Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

I did kind of like that their was room for hope in the ending, but I also wouldn’t have minded if it was just a straight tragedy. The Shakespeare works it’s based on are.

5/5 Shakespeare quotes

On the cover of the Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, Carl wearing signature boxers, kneepads, cape. leather jacket, and gauntlet, jumps down to punch a Mantaur (a centaur but a man instead of a horse). They appear to be in a train station. — Audible

The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
Dungeon Crawler Carl book 3 of 8
CW: gore, murder
When I started this book, I was like idk I’m a little tired of opening boxes and getting new achievements. And then that seemed like a much smaller part of this book than the previous ones. On level 4 of the dungeon, Carl, Donut and Katia must unravel the mystery of floor map, a mystifying subway system, before they can get to the next level. I liked seeing Katia’s character development; Zev was right, she was a little boring. As usual I like to see the developing political conflict.
4.5/5 trains

On the cover of Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt there are what look like ripples in a pond after you drop in a pebble. Some dahlias and a cat and the moon and sun appear in the ripples — Simon & Schuster

Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves*
CW: grief, death, death of a child
This was all right. It felt a little like The Midnight Library (which I hated) in that it felt like it was trying to share a profound truth about humanity, but it was, like, not that deep. I liked the prose. That was nice. I did like the story of Layla and Dahlia, but the character of Death was So Boring. Like I get it; he has to be this impartial observer of the world, but couldn’t he have at least had a personality? I also have a thought about the ending but spoilers.
Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

It should have ended right after Dahlia’s death. That was the spot. But instead there was an overdone interlude about fireflies or something (I actually can’t remember, but the point was about living in the moment), and then a preachy epilogue about what you would do if you had this 20 minutes right now to live over again at the end of your life. What would you do? Well, I wouldn’t spent it reading the end of this book.

3/5 fireflies

A hand holds up a copy of Juliette Low’s biography before a set of blue double doors covered with trefoil emblems of Girl Scouts

Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts by Stacy A. Cordery***
I’ve been waiting to read this book until I was at a World Center again and volunteering for Girl Scouts. And I’m so glad I did. I loved learning about Daisy Low and this incredible organization she founded. I loved learning about her disability and how her bad marriage and husband’s subsequent death led to her founding Girl Scouts later in her life. There were a lot of people to keep track of (and all of them were named William or Mary *sobs*). I do think a family tree diagram would have been helpful. Cordery does a good job of sorting through all of Daisy’s relationships and showing how she came to be the person she was and how she was able to found such a successful organization, navigating the expectations for women and very divided social groups at the time.
3.5/5 steam ships across the Atlantic

The cover of Homebound shows a pixelated sky during a sunset, the clouds pink, orange, and purple. The text of the title is diagonal across the cover — Simon & Schuster

Homebound by Portia Elan***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: grief
I don’t even know what to say about this one. I really liked it. Linked by a videogame about an astronaut on her way home, a teenager in 1983 grapples with the death of her uncle, a ship captain in 2586 tries to get out of debt by taking on several passengers who will turn her life around, and a scientist in 2078 watches the toll of climate change, the investment by billionaires in the wrong things, and one of her androids gain sentience. It reminded me both of Cloud Atlas and of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, both books I enjoyed a lot (boo, Gabrielle Zevin). I obviously loved the non linear storytelling and epistolary elements. The vision of the future felt very true to me and I loved the very human search for home.
4/5 ayes

The cover of The Case of the Missing Marquess shows a young woman in Victorian dress on a bicycle. She looks knowlingly at the viewer — Penguin Young Readers

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer*
Enola Holmes book 1 of 10
This was a fun little middle grade mystery. I’ve enjoyed the Enola Holmes movies, and this audiobook was read by one of my favorite narrators, so I listened to it. The movie follows this book pretty well. It was an enjoyable, easy listen.
3.5/5 anagrams

The cover of Dark Sisters is red with what looks like two torn black and white photos of victorian women in the center. The photos are torn and layered so that the faces of the women are obscured — Macmillan

Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester
CW: misogyny, sexual assault, murder, gore
I enjoyed this. In three time periods (1750, 1953, and 2007) three women must face a mysterious curse that causes an illness only women catch. In their ultra-religious community, though generations apart, the illness is seen as a punishment for sin. Camilla in 2007 must piece together the history of this community to stop the curse and free the women from the misogynistic rule of the religious leaders. I did like this, although both the 1750 and 1953 timelines continued much longer than I expected them to. Mary was my favorite character and storyline. I liked Camilla, but I felt I wanted to understand better how she as an 18 year old who grew up in this community had escaped its thought patterns and brainwashing. How did she get woke?
3.5/5 magic trees

The cover of Molka shows an air vent with the red eye of a hidden camera visible through the vent. Blood leaks from the bottom of the vent. — Erewhon Books

Molka by Monika Kim***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: misogyny, sexual assault, murder, gore
Men should be forced to read this book and then attend a seminar about how the behavior of the men in this book is *bad* (not normal, not aspirational, not acceptable). IT worker Junyoung spends his work days monitoring the secret cameras he’s hidden in the women’s bathrooms throughout the building, fantasizing about the women who have never looked twice at him. Dahye thinks she has the perfect boyfriend—rich, powerful, handsome, considerate—until a leaked explicit video throws her life into turmoil. And she doesn’t even know that after one normal interaction, she’s the object of Junyoung’s obsession. (That wasn’t a very good blurb, I apologize.) I liked that the horror of this book was not just that some men do terrible things to women, but that the majority of men let them get away with it. Highlighted the problems of misogyny and violence against women not just in Korea but around the world. Also emphasized the real and present danger of surveillance in our current world and how that’s being weaponized against women. Also important in the context of AI and how easy it is now to create an explicit video of a woman without her knowledge or consent.
5/5 spy cameras

**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be lying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Juliette Low’s biography to learn more about the largest movement for girls and young women in history. Read Homebound to consider the future if we don’t do anything about climate change. Read Molka and make all your male acquaintances read it to understand the reality of being a woman in the world.

Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.

End of Year round-up

Number of new books read this year: 81

Number of books reread this year: 9 (from June -December)

Number of books by women and nonbinary people read this year (only including new books read): 49

Number of books by BIPOC read this year (only including new books read): 22

Breakdown by genre:
–Fiction: 63
(Fantasy: 21; literary fiction: 16; science and speculative fiction: 11; historical fiction: 8; fairytales: 2; mythology: 2; children’s literature: 1; mystery: 1; supernatural: 1)
–Nonfiction: 12
(Science: 3; biography: 2; memoir: 2; anthropology: 1; history: 1; how-to: 1; essays: 1; travel and humor: 1)
–Graphic novel: 3
(fantasy: 2; memoir: 1)
–Short story collection: 2
(literary fiction; 1; science fiction: 1)
–Poetry: 1

First book of the year: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

Last book of the year: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

Best books of the year (because I can’t chose one):
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Worst books of the year
The Lion in the Living Room by Abigail Tucker
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian

December Books reread

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I really cannot convey how much I love this book. Sometimes classics are classics for a reason. I never get tired of the story and delight in forcing my family to watch every movie adaption, including a filmed stage musical that I was in (I played the first spirit). This year I made everyone listen to Tim Curry’s audio book of it. Delightful. Dickens is definitely at his best in this book.
10/10 bad lobsters in a dark cellar

New Books Read

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Book Hangover Alert**
Throne of Glass series book 5 of 7
I’ve been making my way through this series extremely slowly, not because it isn’t good, but because when I finish it, it will be over. Unfortunately, I did wait a little too long between reading book four and reading this one. It took me a minute to remember where we’d left off. But this installment did not disappoint. I don’t think it was my favorite of the series, but we got lots of quality Aelin and Rowan time, which I appreciated.
3.5/5 extremely attractive Fae males

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW: racism, xenophobia
SO GOOD. It’s an urban fantasy/sci-fi that reminded me a bit of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, except about New York instead of London. This book was about the personification of New York City and multi-dimensional alien threats. Even though I don’t live in New York, I do love the city and I felt the way Jemisin represented each of the boroughs of New York was (*chef’s kiss*) spot on. Her characters were so real and so vibrant and even though there was a lot of the characters standing around and talking, trying to decide what to do, I didn’t mind because I loved the characters. I would have read more of them just chatting to each other honestly. I don’t know if there will be another book, but I really hope so.
5/5 city avatars

Wilder Girls by Rory Power***
Book Hangover Alert**
CW (provided by Rory Power’s website): graphic violence and body horror, gore, on the page character death, parental death, and animal death (the animals are not pets), behavior and descriptive language akin to self harm, and references to such, food scarcity and starvation, emesis, a scene depicting chemical gassing, suicide and suicidal ideation, non-consensual medical treatment.
This isn’t in the content warning, but I also want to acknowledge that this book is about a mysterious and deadly disease and a lockdown, so if that’s not something you want to think about when you’re reading during COVID times, I totally get it. That being said, this book was great. I read it because I saw it on Book Tok and the Tik Tok reviewer said “it’s gay and it slaps.” Reader, she was correct. I loved the style; the characterization was really strong. The prose was spare and still very expressive. I’m definitely ready for book two, so hopefully that’s a thing that’s coming. I also liked the themes of environmentalism and disability that threaded through the novel.
4/5 mutant deer

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
CW: anti-semitism, n-word
I always feel like reading Dickens in the winter, but I usually just read one of his Christmas books. This year I thought I’d give Oliver Twist a try. I really liked it. I love the way Dickens critiques the classism and social welfare of his day, and how he does it such an amusing way. The characters are vibrant and I love how neatly all the characters and threads of the story get tied up at the end. Now, that being said, holy anti-semitism, Batman. The character of Fagin is super problematic. I recently watched a Tik Tok video about how anti-semitism is a different kind of oppression because it assumes that Jews are both superior and inferior to white people. There are stereotypes that Jews are misers that control everything, the banks, etc. (superior), and that they’re rat-like parasites who feed off white people (inferior). Fagin perfectly embodies this caricature of the Jew; his hands are described as rat-like claws, his large nose is referenced many times, he is a robber who steals (from white people) to live, but he also controls this whole network of petty thieves that reports to him and he keeps all the best things to sell himself. Dickens, like many writers of this time, also equates physical beauty to goodness and virtue, which I also don’t love; but he does subvert society in other ways, critiquing the church and institutions like workhouses, both of which were supposed to help the poor and didn’t really, and critiquing the classism that kept people from marrying for love, instead choosing status or worrying what other people would think if they didn’t.
3/5 virtuous orphans

Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr. ***
It’s important to note that this book is a little old, published in 1969. It discusses the state of Indian Affairs, so it’s important to remember its context is the 1960s, however, I’m sure many of the issues covered in the book are not as solved as we would hope 50 years later. This books is a good one to read to learn more about how the government has treated Native Americans from first contact to contemporary times. Though policy is very important, it’s not always the most exciting thing to read about. My favorite chapter was the one on Indian Humor; since Native Americans are usually portrayed as stoic and serious, it’s nice to read about how humor is actually integral to the Native experience.
3/5 anthropologists

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
My aunt lent this to me in like March, but I’ve finally finished it. What I liked most about Harari’s book was that it was accessible. I’m not someone who knows a lot about science, but the way he writes and explains things made it easy to understand what he was talking about. The premise of the book is kind of a projection of the future and the goals of humans might be after we’ve solved the problems of war, famine, and plague. (LOL the book was written in 2016 and published in 2017; it’s pretty clear we haven’t solved problems like plague yet!) It was really interesting and also a bit scary (thinking about the future often is). Harari makes a strong argument and as someone who doesn’t read a ton of contemporary science and philosophy, most of his points seem sound to me. So I’d recommend also reading this New York Times review, which adds a few grains of salt with which to take Harari’s work.
3/5 micro robots

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files book 4 of 17
Still trucking slowly through these. No spoilers, because this is book four, but Harry Dresden is still alive. I appreciated that in this book we got to meet some more wizards. I also appreciated that, for a book written in 2002, the White Council is pretty diverse. Now, that being said a lot of the representations are pretty stereotypical, but I’d like to think Butcher got better at it as he went along. Most straight, cis, white men aren’t going to get it right on the first try. So hopefully he’s doing better now, or we have a problem.
3.5/5 malicious faerie queens

**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read The City We Became to learn more about the diversity that makes up New York and America as a whole. Read Wilder Girls to see more queer people represented in YA and to consider environmental and disability issues. Read Custer Died for Your Sins to learn more about Indian Affairs, and Native issues and history.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQ+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.