2026 reads
Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
★★★★★
I absolutely adored this book. The ideas explored in it are incredible, and
the spider society was so well thought out and interesting, I couldnt't help but
start rooting for them instead of the humans. Seeing them evolve from simple spiders
into a space exploring society was super fun. The ending felt a little sudden and
quick compared to the pace of the rest of the book, since the whole book was
basically spent building up this clash between the spiders and the humans, and then
it got resolved within a chapter or 2. Then the repercussions of this clash are
briefly covered in one final short chapter. I heard that the sequel kind
of addresses the results of the spiders and humans working together a bit better so
I'm definitely reading that one in the future to see what ideas Tchaikovsky has for
that.
The Spellshop - Sarah Beth Durst
★★★☆☆
I didn't like this book at first, and I put it down after only about 20%. I
initially found the main characters very annoying and their negativity frustrated
me. I picked it back up and tried it again, and I ended up liking it anyway. I
didn't love it, I felt the romance went way too quick and the chemistry
wasn't really there to me. The overall vibe was very nice though, and it is exactly
what I expected: a simple cozy romantasy that you can turn your brain off for.
Pageboy - Elliot Page
★★★★☆
A very touching and relatable memoir about what it's like to grow up queer and
closeted, and finding yourself, learning to accept yourself, and slowly turning into
who you feel you truly are over time.
As a trans man myself I could find myself relating a lot to Elliot Page's story.
Though I never could have imagined the difficulties of being queer as a public
figure. I feel this book gave me a bit more insight into that experience.
The Dispossesed - Ursula K. Le Guin
★★★★★
This book was phenomonal. After the disappointing ways that Babel handled
revolution, I really appreciated reading a take on revolution that I think is way
more educated and has more to say.
The nuanced way of viewing the two types of society is incredibly interesting. It
doesn't say that anarchy is the perfect solution to capitalism, like I initially
expected. It's a lot more gray than that, and I liked that a lot.
I liked the style of long chapters that interchange between Shevek's past and
present. The way you learn about his motives, and can see him change as a person in
both his past and present versions of himself is very satisfying, you essentially
get two character arcs at the same time.