I listened to this one. And I loved it. I grew up Mormon so I could identify a lot with some of the things she talks about in the book. But her family is mentally ill and they subscribe to some very extreme beliefs. I loved hearing how education helped her get out and see the world completely differently.
This is the first book in her Earthseed series. This is a sci-fi/dystopia based on a waning US future where states have closed their borders, food is scarce and the police are corrupt and the government is no longer reliable and global warming is being felt by all. It all feels very timely.
Lauren is a hyperempath who feels everything awful and amazing happening to those physically around her. It's a liability in this world when one is fighting to stay alive. Her and a friend from their neighborhood take to the streets to find a better place and pick up plenty of stragglers along the way. She's come up with a new philosophy of life/religion and she wants to settle with her followers. It's a great story on finding a family, trust, and love. I loved it.
This is the first book in the Expanse series. It's also an amazing TV series! Check it out. Earth has left earth and has settled on the moon, Mars, and the outer parts of the solar system. But it's not a utopia like Star Trek. Mars and Earth use the outer belt for resources and the Belters are left with the scraps. Mars is jealous of Earth for their resources as well and uses all their money to build up their military and to terraform Mars to look like Earth.
I love that it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Even though they've left Earth, humanity still does the human thing of fighting and treating each other as us versus them. Corey takes the time to build a solid world and the characters are great too.
It's a beautifully written fantasy from medieval Russia. She combines old Russian folklore and myth with early Christianity. It's a lovely story about the struggle between the two belief systems and how they coincided side by side for awhile. I enjoyed reading about the different spirits and how they worked with the people. Vasilisa is a strong-willed girl and I enjoyed her journey of self-discovery.
This is a true-crime story on the murder of Lucy Blackman, a British woman living in Tokyo in the year 2000. Parry delves into the criminal justice system and the police force of Japan and how it failed Lucy and many other Japanese women and foreigners just like her. He also delves into life of the killer and what possible made him do what he did. It's a little longer than I would have liked but overall it's a fascinating and horrifying look into the underbelly of Japan and what happened to Lucy Blackman and how society failed her.
Parry is a gorgeous non-fiction writer. Check out his latest book Ghosts of the Tsunami.
*all pics are taken from the Goodreads.com website
Several of these sounds good. I'm planning to listen to Educated sometime this summer!
ReplyDeletePlease do! It's a great listen. I'll be interested in your thoughts when you finally get to it.
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