Category: Book Reviews

What I Read: September 2021

I had hoped that my life would calm down this month to allow me to read more. So of course our three-year-old van up and died at the beginning of the month. As of this writing, it’s still in the shop, though it appears that the part that broke is still under warranty. *sigh*

Anyway, several fun reads this month. Though it might appear that there’s very little SF, I have taken up reading Daily Science Fiction‘s flash fiction story every morning. (Most recent favorite: “Dinners Like We Used to Have” by Kelly Sandoval. It’s exactly the kind of human, intimate SF that I love.) Book reviews below the cut!

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4 Writing Lessons from an Astronaut

Here’s what the life of astronaut Chris Hadfield can teach writers.

This week I had a chance to re-listen to a favorite of mine, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. One of my book clubs chose to read this one at my suggestion, and I’m so glad they did. Chris Hadfield is the astronaut you might recognize from his viral music video from the ISS or any of his great educational YouTube videos on the everyday life of astronauts. I find Chris’s writing delightful, his life fascinating, and his insights to life spot on.

sky earth space working
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This time through, I read the book with an eye towards how his advice could apply to a writing career. As you probably know, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. Now that my youngest child is in kindergarten, I’ve started to think more often about what I want to be when I grow up. I know I want to do something with words, but nailing that dream down can be hard.

This is where Hadfield’s advice comes in. Here’s what the life of an astronaut can teach writers:

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What I Read: August 2021

Ah, the kids are back in school and so life is back to calm, right? Except that it’s 2021 and things are . . . interesting in Utah schools, pandemic-wise. My reading suffered this month from the amount of time I devoted to political activism, doom-scrolling, and existential dread. On top of that, all of the SF books I read this month were just ok. I guess you can’t find a favorite every month, but I’m feeling a bit like I struck out. However, one of my nonfiction reads has become not only a favorite, but a book I’m trying to pawn off on all the people I know. So I guess it’s not all bad. I’m hoping my reading pace picks up in the fall.

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What I Read: July 2021

Some things come in waves, and this month was a tsunami. So much has been going on that overwhelmed my reading life this month, not the least of which was the rise of the delta variant and preparing to send the kids back to school in it. I also had a few duds on my reading list this month that I didn’t end up finishing. With that caveat, this is what I got through.

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What I Read: June 2021

Well, they say a good battle plan never survives first contact with the enemy, and so it was with June’s reading list. During the last month, I packed up our things from our 6-month rental, moved them down to our new home, unpacked all the things from our two storage pods, and began trying to put our family’s life back together. I front-loaded a lot of audiobooks because I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of energy for physical reading this month, but even so I didn’t make it through all the physical books I wanted to read. Plus I got sidetracked by two unplanned reads. I guess that’s #writinglife. Expect me to double up on my writing-related books next month, as those are the ones I’m still working through.

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