Tag Archives: science

My Fave Reads of the Year, 2022 Edition

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Hello all and welcome to the last Friday of the year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week last week, and that you are excited for the new year and all the possibilities that might bring. The last year, or two years really, have been pretty rough, and I am really hoping that 2023 will be a bit kinder to us all. But I am… skeptical, let’s say. Still, I am trying to approach the new year with a feeling of cautious optimism. We shall see how it goes.

Before I jump into my fave reads list, I have several things in the works I want to mention. I have officially started my work as a freelance editor. And I am preparing to launch an etsy shop to sell the fluid paintings I’ve been making off-and-on for the last couple months. The first handful were all gifts to various family and friends, but I have a bunch now that are piling up in my office, so I’m hoping to sell them for just a bit – enough to clear out the space in my office and buy supplies so I can make some more. I’ll have the shop linked here probably in the first week of January for the curious.

I am also considering changing the name of the blog… though, I am still on the fence about that. As I mentioned in my About page ages ago, I chose the name “Night Forest Books” as the name of my hypothetical future bookstore. I’ve had the name in mind since AT LEAST 2016. It’s a reference to my favorite book, The Neverending Story, and the location called “Perilin, the Night Forest.” When I first chose the name I did a lot of research to make sure no other bookstore or related business had claimed the name already. I bought the .com domain for future use, and I claimed the IG name (@night.forest.books) and this blog title. However, I was nowhere near ready to actually register a business or LLC name as I knew it would be probably years before I was financially ready to start the bookstore.

Well, apparently in mid-2020 a brand new micro-press started in CANADA, and they named themselves Night Forest Press. Obviously, even if they did research on the name, they did not consider my teeny-tiny blog a problem, whether it had essentially the same name or not, and since I didn’t have an actual business registered under that name it was legally up for grabs. I could probably still get away with naming a bookstore Night Forest Books if I really wanted to (maybe, I’m not certain), but googling “Night Forest Books” right now just brings up the press website. And I had vague ambitions of maybe someday starting a press associated with the hypothetical bookstore, which would no longer be a viable option under the current name. So, I will need to find a new name for the hypothetical bookstore…

Of course, the blog name is still fine right now. However, as I said, googling for “Night Forest Books” right now does not remotely lead to my blog, which is really disheartening. Besides which, my initial thought was that the blog would be a good way to establish some recognition among readership in advance of opening the bookstore, and if the bookstore has an entirely different name from the blog that kind of defeats the purpose…

So… yeah… I’m on the fence about changing the blog name, or just letting it be and worrying about the bookstore name later. Maybe I’ll just go back to using my actual name for the blog for the time being. That might at least make it obvious in search engines again… maybe. *shrug* If anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to share.

OKAY! And now the thing I’m supposed to actually be writing about today. My Favorite Reads of 2022 List!

I had a really difficult time narrowing the list down this year. (Well, ok, every year). What I have ended up with is a list of 10 books. My top 5 favorite new release fiction books, released in the calendar year of 2022, plus my top 5 favorite nonfiction books, none of which were new releases for 2022 but which were all new reads for me.

My Top 5 Fiction New Releases:

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: This book by the masterful T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is a beautiful dark fairy tale with prose that makes me weep with awe and jealousy. I wrote a full review for Nettle & Bone way back at the beginning of the year, where I predicted that it might end up being my favorite book of the year when it was all said and done, though I conceded that Nona the Ninth might easily change my mind when it was released. But lo and behold! I stand by my initial statement! I absolutely adored this book and it remains my favorite book of the year.

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske: you can find the full review of this one and the first book in the trilogy just a few weeks back. This one is a historical romance fantasy set in Edwardian England, featuring a murder mystery, lots of magic, and some very steamy sex. I loved it (and the first one, A Marvellous Light), and I’ve already re-read it once since finishing it.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: I know I still owe you all an actual review of this one, oops… For those still in the dark (how?) this book (and series) is a mind-bending, genre-busting, space opera mixed with necromantic magic, and one of the most complex examinations of love in all its forms (including toxic and self-destructive) that I have ever read. I’ll admit that I fully expected this one to overtake Nettle & Bone as my favorite, but though I loved it immensely, it ended up slipping down to third place. Nona the Ninth, the third of the Locked Tomb series, was excellent, and mind-boggling, but of the three it is my least favorite. Nona was a delight of a character, but the first book is still by far the most FUN. So far I love them in order, lol (Gideon, then Harrow, then Nona).

Last Call at the Nightingale by Katherine Schellman: here’s another one I read and reviewed pretty early in the year! It’s a historical murder mystery novel set in the 1920s, which is of course a good portion of what I love about it. And it features a disaster bi protagonist that I relate to rather strongly, lol! I read the whole thing in one sitting, just absolutely DEVOURED it. I fervently await the sequel!

The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews: I have not written a full review for this one yet, but I might try to put one together for it and its sequel later. This one is straight romance novel material, historical (Victorian setting), and absolutely lovely! I read it about a month ago and I am currently in a big Victorian-set historical romance brainrot mode. I also read the sequel to this one, The Belle of Belgrave Square. There will be a third one apparently sometime next year, so maybe I’ll do a double review for books 1 and 2 in time for the 3rd release. This book just really made me happy, with a headstrong intelligent female lead and a Indian-immigrant working-class love interest, and lots of witty banter.

My Top 5 Nonfiction Books:

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh: this is the last book that came out before Thich Nhat Hanh’s death in 2021. If you are unfamiliar with him, he was a very famous well-respected Buddhist monk who wrote many books on Buddhist, meditation, and finding peace in your own life. He gave lectures, met with world leaders, ran retreats, and generally just made the world a better place by his existence. He was/is one of the greatest heroes in my life, and I was absolutely DISTRAUGHT when he died last year. (And, shit, I am genuinely getting choked up just typing this.) This book is kind of exactly what the title suggests: a way of approaching the crises of our planet (ecological, political, systemic, personal) from a Buddhist perspective but also from a largely non-denominational place of deeply human spirituality and compassion. It made me cry at least three or four times, and the minute I finished it I threatened to buy a copy for every person I know to make them read it (if I’d had the funds, I really probably would have).

Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens: I have a soft-spot for self-improvement books, but more specifically I really love self-improvement books about living an authentic and creative life. For instance, I also liked Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (though I do find Gilbert a little too woo-woo and mystical hand-wavy at times). This book by Beth Pickens is about living life as an artist — and she defines “artist” very broadly — and offers real concrete advice on how to live that life to the best of your ability and with the most fulfillment you can manage, whether you are a full-time professional artist or someone trying to eke out a practice around a day job and family and other responsibilities. I found it incredibly insightful, down-to-earth, actionable, and really inspiring.

The Dragon Behind the Glass by Emily Voigt: I really love nonfiction books about history or science, and this one is kind of both. I picked it up on a whim and found it absolutely fascinating. It’s about the exotic fish trade, of all things! Specifically about a rare exotic fish called an arawona, which is allegedly the most expensive kind of collector/live fish in the world (most expensive fish of any kind in the world are, I think, some of the giant tuna caught/killed in Asia and sold by auction to high-end restaurants for sometimes millions of dollars). This book, and the exotic fish trade, includes: trips into the deepest barely-explored jungles of Asia and South America, run-ins with the black market and the mob, and devolves into fraud, betrayal, and even murder. It’s absolutely shocking and enormously fascinating!

1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar by Eric Burns: I think I’ve mentioned before I am a bit obsessed with the 1920s Jazz Age era? So I assume no one is surprised that I picked up this book. It is pretty much exactly what it says it is: its a history book that focused on JUST the single year of 1920, and makes an argument that the events of that single year was the catalyst and predictor for everything that came after it. One of the major events the book focuses on is the 1920 Wall Street bombing, which remained the most destructive incident of domestic terrorism until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. (I found that section SO interesting that the Wall Street bombing eventually became the instigating event for the plot in my 1920s historical fiction work-in-progress). The whole book was really enlightening and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in American history.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier: the subtitle for this book is “The triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made.” It’s a really well-researched account written by a games journalist about the game industry, using an enormous amount of first-persons accounts and interviews. Each chapter focuses on the story of a different game, including (but not limited to) Witcher 3, Uncharted 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Stardew Valley. I’m not even a big gamer (just a dabbler), so I’m not 100% sure why I decided to pick this one to begin with, but I’m so glad I did! It was so cool to learn about how these games are developed and the kind of crazy sheningans that happen behind the scenes. (The dude who made Stardew Valley continues to blow my mind.) It’s also really fun now to watch the comedy tv show Mythic Quest on Apple+ and constantly go “that’s not how that works! That’s not how any of that works!” Lol…

So, that’s my list, for whatever it’s worth. I’d love to hear what books you read and loved this year! Please feel free to share in the comments!

In Honor of Apollo 13

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Today, April 17th, is the 50th Anniversary of the landing of Apollo 13, after over 5 days in space in a mostly-broken space capsule. It landed at 18:07 UTC (6pm), in the South Pacific Ocean, carrying astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise safely home after an intense and harrowing ordeal. It is one of the defining moments of the entire space program.

So I thought it was a fitting day to talk about my obsession with space and NASA and my dashed hopes of being an astronaut.

Let me state the obvious: I love space. I’m not sure if I love space because I read so much scifi, or if I read so much scifi because I love space – it’s kind of a chicken or the egg deal. But I love it. I read books, watch films and documentaries, buy NASA t-shirts and dream about it a lot. I had a plan back in high school: I was going to get a degree in physics, join the Navy – because they have a PHENOMENAL science program – and eventually work my way into NASA.

When I went to college I tried to double-major in Physics and English (because English and books have always been my first love and I really didn’t want to have to choose between the two). But by my third year of college, I was taking 18-20 credit hours per semester, working 30-35hrs per week at a part time job, I was editor of the university literary arts journal, and I was on three student organizations. Something had to give and my advisor told me I really just needed to choose one major, at least for now. I was attending Rockhurst University, a small Jesuit college in Kansas City, that I absolutely adored. They had a great liberal arts program, but their science department wasn’t the greatest (at least at the time), and I had been really inspired by a couple of my recent Literature professors, so I chose English. And eventually decided I might actually want to go to grad school for English and become a Lit professor myself someday.

I graduated with a BA in English and a minor in (of all things) Theology, and went straight into grad school for a MA in English and American Literature.

There are a lot of things I loved about my Master’s program, and things I STILL and will ALWAYS love about the Literature field. I took some absolutely amazing courses in grad school, I met some brilliant professors and grad student colleagues that I am now lucky enough to call friends. I wrote some interesting papers and went to some very cool conferences. But I quit. After six years stalled out in my PhD program, despite the fact that I was ABD (“all but dissertation”: ie, I had completed all coursework, comprehensive exams, and preliminary writing, and all I needed to do was write my dissertation), I quit.

And now I keep looking back on my choices with regret, wondering if I made the wrong decision, if I should have done the Physics degree instead.

I visit NASA’s Space Center Houston and walk through exhibits and watch documentaries and cry. Really truly cry for the lost opportunities. My mother likes to tell me it’s not too late. I could go back to school and get that physics degree and try. But it IS too late and no false hope is going to change that. I try to teach myself to accept it, to move on. I have plenty of other dreams: I still want to be a novelist, I still want to open a bookstore, I want to write a musical, I want all sorts of things. But this loss still breaks my heart, and I’m not sure I will ever be over it.

So instead, I absorb everything I can. I am working on a collection of every fictional film and documentary about space I can find (or, ok, at least the GOOD ones). And I have read so many nonfiction books on the subject – biographies, histories, science books – it’s kind of ridiculous. And on that note, allow me to offer some suggestions on books and movies/documentaries that I HIGHLY recommend for the space/NASA lover!

Of course, the most obvious movie to name is Apollo 13, which is particularly appropriate today of all days. And it is one of my favorite movies of all time. Obviously, as with anything, a few liberties are taken with historical accuracy in order to ramp up the drama and streamline the number of characters involved, but for the most part, it’s relatively accurate. The directing and cinematography and acting are all just GOD-TIER in this movie too, so there’s that. Yes, I will be watching this later today.

There is also, of course, The Right Stuff, both the book by Tom Wolfe, and the 1983 movie. They are both CLASSICS.

For fictionalized movies, I also highly recommend The Martian (another one of my favorites) which really captures the true SPIRIT of space exploration: the wonder and awe and excitement and danger and heart of it all. It’s also genuinely funny, and also beautifully shot. And if you haven’t read the novel, you should totally get on that too.

Similarly, I would recommend Interstellar. This movie gets so much hate. It seems to have become a fad, a popular past-time to hate on this movie, and I just DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY. Really, I don’t. When I saw this movie in theatres – in IMAX, because OF COURSE – I was blown away! I was entranced. I was emotionally invested and enormously distraught. Is the thematic conclusion a little heavy-handed? Yes. Could it have done without the constant repetition of the Dylan Thomas poem? Probably. But it is still an absolutely gorgeous movie – it is visually stunning and emotionally resonant and philosophically interesting and it really gets at the sense of scale and awe of space travel that few other movies ever have (save maybe 2001: A Space Odyssey – which I also highly recommend). 

For documentaries, about NASA I would start with the newest one that just came out last year, called Apollo 11. It is very high quality, with a lot of newly released footage. It’s available on both Amazon Prime and Hulu. There’s also the CLASSIC documentary series: From the Earth to the Moon, which remains one of the best documentaries ever produced on the subject.

In addition, there is the biographical documentary called The Last Man on the Moon, which is about Gene Cernan, who was literally the last astronaut to walk on the moon, during the Apollo 17 mission. It is an absolutely fascinating look at Gene Cernan’s life, both his personal life and his experiences with the Apollo missions. I had the great privilege of attending one of the premiere showings of this documentary in 2016, with Gene Cernan and several other current astronauts in attendance for a Q&A at the end. It was one of the highlights of my life, quite frankly, and I was very sad when Gene Cernan died in 2017.

For books written on the subject, there are so many it is practically an embarrassment of riches. But if I HAD to choose just a few, they would be:

Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Apollo Moon Landings written by Alan Shephard and Deke Slayton (so you know this is the REAL FUCKING DEAL)

Failure Is Not an Option, the memoir written by NASA Flight Controller Gene Kranz, (who was made immortal by Ed Harris’s portrayal of him in the Apollo 13 movie). This is one of my favorite biographies of all time (and I read A LOT of biographies), and I would sell a limb or two to meet Gene Kranz and get his autograph.

Beyond: Our Future in Space by Chris Impey, a nonfiction science book that goes beyond our present and projects into the future of what space exploration could be.

Again, this is just a very small sample of the content that exists about NASA in particular and space in general. I have watched and read quite a lot more than that, but these are some of my favorites. If you’re a space/NASA nut like me, please come chat! I would love to talk about anything space related!