And so ends the longest-feeling month I’ve had in quite some time. Luckily I had some immersive reads to get me through. Let’s dig in to this month’s stack!
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This fantasy novel by the author of Mexican Gothic sends a young woman on an adventure accompanying the Mayan god of death. The mythology and setting make for a fun read even though I never got particularly attached to the main character.
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
This sci-fi novel is different from anything I’ve read before and I loved it. The book balances some fascinating philosophy of science ideas with adventure like a much more nerdy Blake Crouch. I also appreciated the footnotes and postscript from the translator giving context to the backdrop of China’s cultural revolution and the approach to translating between two languages that differ so much.
Empire State: A Love Story (Or Not) by Jason Shiga
Shiga’s short graphic novel captures a feeling more than tells the whole arc of a story. It was a fine, quick read but not a standout for me.
I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson
“I Am Legend” is fantastic and moody, with more depth than the movie adaptation. Much of it centers around the main character’s increasing isolation, but with plenty of action thrown in thanks to vampires with complexity of their own. This particular collection had other stories by Matheson as well, including some of my favorite horror I’ve read.
The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger
I’ve been talking about this book nonstop since I started reading. Schlanger writes in a totally approachable way about the incredible strides scientists have been making in understanding plants and all they’re capable of. She lays out other shifts in our understanding of biology for context while making the argument that plant “intelligence” is increasingly obvious.
Bonus read: this delightful poem by Kaia Bell. “I Hope My Funeral’s a Fucking Mess”
This month Margot’s favorite book was I Am Legend, and sweet Sazerac chose to get in touch with nature through The Light Eaters.
What are you reading? Do you find your book choices shifting with the colder weather? What are your favorite kinds of non-fiction topics to nerd out about?