image credit: nini kvaratskhelia
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Time flies, how is it almost the end of February already? I started 2025 with lot's of reading goals and I managed to keep to some of them, even if my reading is still not happening as regularly as I'd like. Thus, this blog post of monthly mini-reviews.
Alien Clay was my first read of the year and I wanted a clever scifi mystery to kick things off with from my nest on the couch. Tchaikovsky has written one of my fave scifi series, but while this one was solid with cool ideas, it didn't wow me and it didn't quite live up to its premise. The repressive regime on future Earth that sends revolutionaries off to dangerous new planets was a wonderful idea, but then the narrator was just too annoying for me and the other characters weren't strong enough. The alien world Kiln with its remnants was intriguing and mysterious but then turned into too much body horror and amazing ideas but too many ideas, I prefer things to eventually narrow down rather than utter chaos. So while I liked a lot of the elements gathered in this book and I loved them in Shards of the Earth, it didn't really come together for me in the way I wanted it. Still going to try his next works though. (3 stars)
Dial A for Aunties is a well-done mashup of rom-com and murder mystery and really silly and funny. This sort of read like a movie and I absolutely enjoyed the mad dash to the finish with all the narrowly avoided discoveries and ridiculous situations. I enjoyed the author's Vera Wong, even more so than this one, and have been meaning to read more of her work. This one has more romance than I usually prefer, but it was well-tied into the mystery plot. Like Vera Wong, I loved the relational focus of the book and the aunties are all pretty wild but amazing in their own right and will somehow take care of the body. Looking forward to the second Vera Wong book that's releasing in April. (4 stars)
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude definitely wins for best title, right? It's "a sustained meditation on that which goes away—loved ones, the seasons, the earth as we know it—that tries to find solace in the processes of the garden and the orchard. That is, this is a book that studies the wisdom of the garden and orchard, those places where all—death, sorrow, loss—is converted into what might, with patience, nourish us." I listened to the audiobook read by the author and it was fantastic. This collection is so warm and beautiful, focusing on the small moments like tea and gardening and food and the essential relationships in life. (5 stars) Here are some of my favorite lines:
"I am sorry. I am grateful.
I just want us to be friends now, forever.
Take this bowl of blackberries from the garden.
The sun has made them warm.
I picked them just for you. I promise
I will try to stay on my side of the couch.
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