Book 5 was Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne (narrated by Jessica Threet).

It’s nearly time for Reyna and Kianthe’s big day. Between unexpected parents, misbehaving dragon babies, and one unplanned royal coup, nothing’s quite going to plan.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/b67e00c1-8414-4713-93a9-9ed3e8c7a315

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne (narrated by Jessica Threet).

I started reading "Alien Clay" shortly after this post, I'm now 35% in and... omg is this book BORING and TEDIOUS! I thought "wow, aliens on a far away planet, first contact, sounds amazing!" and it does sound intriguing but it's narrated like a report (with occasional fourth wall breaks) and thus kinda dry, I can't stand the main character and it's more like a dystopian space gulag story than it is a sci-fi story. Also, I'm learning so many new words, lol.

Right now they're planning a revolution to escape from the planet, the aliens are just kinda there, being alien and weird and I should be excited, right? But I am SO BORED! I don't care about anything. I want this to be over so I can start reading something more fun.
And thus, I'm dnf'ing at 35%.

So, not a good start with my Tchaikovsky collection... and judging by Goodreads reviews, this seems to be one of his weakest books. #books #bookstodon

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book cover of Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

#bookstodon

Hi 👋 My husband loves to read sci-fi but has been feeling a bit depressed and it's not helping. I suggested solarpunk and he's open to it so I'm asking for any suggestions. Anything that isn't just fighting/war and more positive would be great! Thank you 😊
#solarpunk #books

Book 4 was Good Writing is Like Good Sex: Sort of Sexy Thoughts on Writing by C.S. Johnson (narrated by Faith Moore).

Good writing is like good sex: permissible only between one man and one woman who are legally married in the eyes of God. Wait, hang on.

I wish I were kidding, but alas…

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a821ed6e-355f-4784-b7e9-72af80217b5c?redirect=true

#bookstodon

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Good Writing is Like Good Sex: Sort of Sexy Thoughts on Writing by C.S. Johnson (narrated by Faith Moore).

Book 3 was Changing the Game by J.J. Mulder (narrated by Liam DiCosimo & Iggy Toma).

When NHL player Troy meets intern Sam, they’re instantly drawn to one another. A low-angst queer love story.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/29f7c7d4-b4b3-4982-9975-16053db8166c

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Changing the Game by J.J. Mulder (narrated by Liam DiCosimo & Iggy Toma).

Finished reading "Saltcrop" by Yume Kitasei.

Two sisters set out by sail in a flooded, blight-ridden future to find their missing eldest, a scientist who uncovered something a powerful and sinister agri-corp wants buried.

Wonderful sibling dynamics and a vivid dystopian world.

4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222376600-saltcrop

#bookstodon

VANISHING CULTURE is out now!

From Internet Archive, this book looks at what is disappearing online.
🌐 Websites vanish
🗞️ News archives go offline
🎮 Games become unplayable
📼 Personal media breaks & becomes unreadable

It asks what it means when the record of ourselves starts to disappear 🕳️

📖 Download & read: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026
🛒 Purchase in print: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/vanishing-culture-a-report-on-our-fragile-cultural-record-9798995425014/new

#VanishingCulture #DigitalMemory #InternetArchive #Bookstodon

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Book cover titled “Vanishing Culture” on a teal background. Pixel-art style graphics show a VHS tape, open book, film reel, chain link, and vinyl record dissolving into digital fragments. At the bottom, a cursor icon points to the word “SAVE,” alongside an archive-style building icon, evoking digital preservation.

Book 2 was A Well Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy, written and read by Tia Levings.

After growing up in purity culture, Tia finds herself married to an abusive, controlling man. She has a whole quiver full of children before leaving him and restarting her life.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/8637a616-92d3-4416-8e8c-7bd767258d10?redirect=true

#bookstodon #exvangelical

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A Well Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy, written and read by Tia Levings.

New month, new book thread! My first read of May was The Reinvented Detective, edited by Cat Rambo & Jennifer Brozek (narrated by Sierra Kline & Perry Daniels).

A beautifully diverse and inclusive collection of sci-fi mysteries.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/0cf78848-7d59-4310-91c0-b92890b9a852

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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The Reinvented Detective, edited by Cat Rambo & Jennifer Brozek (narrated by Sierra Kline & Perry Daniels).

Added a few #books to the Little Library in Dalry Cemetery (by the top gate at Dundee Street).

#livres #Edinburgh #Edimbourg #bookstodon #DalryCemetery #LittleLibrary

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Black painted wooden box with glass panel in the door, housing the Little Library in the cemetery, where people leave books they've finished for others to enjoy

To all my new followers;

Welcome!

You will find I am a Boosting Machine® which I think of as being a curator of All Good Mastodon Things. You’re welcome.

You will also find that when I toot things of my own devising, I am both a super-smarty-pants and insanely silly. I will rant about topics and throw in a poop joke. I will also review #BooksTodon and #CineMastodon things.

When those occasional things happen, IT WILL BE 🏅 GOLD!! 🏅

You’re welcome.

May have overdid it at the Jersey Art Book Fair! 😬

#bookstodon #comics #zines #NewJersey

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A stack of books and graphic novels, with a comic, a zine, two two art buttons, and a poster for the event.

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A banner for the Jersey Art Book Fair 2026

ICYAI for Free Comic Book day Fanatical is giving away 10 DRM-free comics in PDF format. The bundle offer will remain active for the next 12 days.

🔗 https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/free-comic-book-day-bonus

#FreeComicBookDay #Comics #ComicBooks #Comic #Free #Bookstodon #FCBD

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Screenshot of the 10 different comics offered in the Free Comic book day bundle

Monthly reading roundup… I read 30 books. Some favourites included:
Jesusland: Stories from the Upside Down World of Christian Pop Culture by Joelle Kidd (narrated by Courtney Kurysh).
Writing for Impact, written and read by Bill Birchard.
Time to Shine by Rachel Reid (narrated by Cooper North).

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Screenshot from StoryGraph @clacksee's April 2026 Wrap-Up BOOKS: 30 PAGES: 7,407 AV. RATING: 4.28 Average book length: 276 pages Average time to finish: 2 days

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A screenshot showing the books further up this chain

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A screenshot showing the books further up this chain

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A screenshot showing the books further up this chain

John Hollander’s poem Kitty and Bug is self-explanatory in its simplicity. The cat’s unpunctuated, almost stream-of-consciousness thoughts fit into a physical ‘cat’ shape, while the bug – in sharp contrast – is but a 3-letter word near the edge of the page.

Happy #Caturday !

#poetry #poem #cat #cats #kitty #catsOfMastodon #books #reading #literature #bookstodon @bookstodon

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John Hollander’s poem Kitty and Bug

Finished reading “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster.

In this 1909 novella, humanity lives underground in isolated cells, every need met by the Machine. When it begins to fail, a mother and her rebellious son face civilization’s total dependency.

Forster’s prescience is incredible… predicting video calls and the internet in 1909 — but more so the haunting cultural gaslighting: a society too dependent to recognize its own decline.

5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4711854-the-machine-stops

#bookstodon​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Book 30 and my final for the month was Betting on the House, written and read by Cassandra Medcalf.

This is an adorable sapphic romance. But the friend-mance with Shawn is what sets this book apart and makes it worthy of a full five stars.

Available in #KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/betting-on-the-house

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Betting on the House, written and read by Cassandra Medcalf.

Finished "The Obake Code" by Makana Yamamoto. Malia, the galaxy's greatest hacker, is coerced by a gang boss into taking down a corrupt politician on Kepler Space Station — only to uncover something far worse.

Underwhelming.The world-building and AI supervillain are anemic. Malia's mental paralysis strains credibility. A trafficking subplot could work, but is incomplete.

Hard to dislike a space station cyberpunk story, but... 2/5 stars⭐⭐

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234313856-the-obake-code

#bookstodon

That's so fun! I didn't know Storygraph has a summary like this.
It was a pretty good April, bookwise.
#bookstodon

Book 29 was The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff (narrated by Nicol Zanzarella).

This was a tough read. I knew it would make me angry at big tech. And it did. But there are also things I didn’t love about the book itself.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/5f6dcccd-1388-4956-ae2f-68b8d6d3c50c

#bookstodon

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The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff (narrated by Nicol Zanzarella).

All the books I’ve read this month #bookstodon #Books

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Collection of book covers for April 2026 reads, featuring titles on a variety of themes with ratings from 2.5 to 5 stars.

I made a web page describing how I got my #Xteink up and running. I’m enjoying the size, reading on it is a joy. It’s so pocketable! :)

https://hollie.eilloh.net/xteink

#ereader #books #bookstodon @bookstodon

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The opening screen when you turn on the Xteink, showing the last three books read, and links to files and other settings.

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A sleep screen image, the Gates of Argonath in Middle Earth.

What happens when access to culture depends on platforms that can simply remove it? 🕳️

In VANISHING CULTURE, Luca Messarra, Chris Freeland, and Katie Livingston explore how licensing, corporate control, and shutdowns shape what survives in the digital record and what disappears.

🎧️ Listen on the Future Knowledge #podcast
https://futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/vanishing-culture

📚 Read #it free from the #InternetArchive ⤵️
📖 Download: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026
🛒 Purchase in print: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/vanishing-culture-a-report-on-our-fragile-cultural-record-9798995425014/new

#Bookstodon

Book 28 was Writing for Impact, written and read by Bill Birchard.

The author uses scientific research to walk through strategies for writing with impact. A great read no matter what you’re writing.

#LibroFM has it on sale: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781400241507-writing-for-impact

#bookstodon

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Writing for Impact, written and read by Bill Birchard. My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

Book 27 was A F*ckery of Fae & Fate by A.J. Braun (narrated by Nico Vincenty).

Crash a wedding, rescue the coerced bride, return her to her desperate family, collect big reward. How hard can it be?

I adored the dynamic between Rhema and Benny. And the truth about the CJMs was perfect!

Available in #KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/audiobook/a-f-ckery-of-fae-fate

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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A F*ckery of Fae & Fate by A.J. Braun (narrated by Nico Vincenty).

Hurrah for the Zine

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/28/zine-creators-fight-to-resist-ai-influence

#Zines #Zine #Publishing #Individuals #Niche #Local #Bookstodon

Books as a fundamental tool for resistance

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/apr/28/reading-under-fire-arming-minds-hearts-during-wartime-poster-house-exhibit

#Bookstodon #Books #Freedom #Thinking #Critisism #Knowledge

Pre-order my friend's new novel! (She's a Singaporean writer living in Boston)

From a Boston bookstore: https://papercutsjp.com/item/uFul1NHY3vAvtRSYBg4E6Q

From a Singapore bookstore: https://www.bookbar.sg/store/p/nameshavebeenchanged

Elsewhere: https://bookshop.org/p/books/names-have-been-changed-a-novel-yu-mei-balasingamchow/cca5a6e8e5b15e0a?ean=9798217176595&next=t

#Books #Bookstodon #NewNovel #Singapore #Boston #TootSea

Pues después de Sant Jordi, la siguiente parada es la Feria del Libro de Valencia

Hacía días que tendría que haberlo anunciado ya por aquí, pero es que no me ha dado la vida

Pero bueno, a lo importante: estaré firmando Roca y Cristal en la caseta de Entre Libros los días 5 y 6 de mayo, entre las 11:00 y las 14:00 por la mañana, y entre las 17:00 y las 21:00 por la tarde, los dos días. Así que si estáis por allí en esos días y os podéis pasar, me hará mucha ilusión veros. Además os podéis llevar el libro firmado y con algún que otro regalito

#booktodon #bookstodon #literaverso

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Cartel de la Feria del Libro de Valencia. Sobre un fondo blanco, el nombre de la feria aparece escrito en la parte superior entre las ilustraciones de libros. Por debajo un texto informa de los horarios de firmas para los días 5 y 6 de mayo, Caseta 127: Entre Libros Editorial, Horario: 11:00H a 14:00H/ 17:00H a 21:00H Por debajo se puede ver una imagen de la novela Roca y Cristal junto a una fotografía donde aparezco posando con cara de intelectual, justo debajo de mi nombre.

Book 26 was In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae (narrated by Kyle Burrow).

Ben, who hates being on camera, has (for some reason) signed his bakery up to some sort of reality TV competition the same week as his grandmother’s birthday bash.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/0a9ac30c-adf5-45d5-b850-c1a97de590ce

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae (narrated by Kyle Burrow).

Thomas Mann, Tagebuch. Er war ein Sprach-Genie.

#thomasmann #literatur #bookstodon #buchersonntag #lesen #schickslasjahreeineskaisers

Book 25 was Jesusland: Stories from the Upside Down World of Christian Pop Culture by Joelle Kidd (narrated by Courtney Kurysh).

Part memoir of the author’s formative years in evangelical culture and part overview of Christian pop culture. From a Canadian perspective.

On sale at Libro-fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781778524486-jesusland

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Jesusland: Stories from the Upside Down World of Christian Pop Culture by Joelle Kidd (narrated by Courtney Kurysh). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

75% of 1980s video games tracked by the LGBTQ Video Game Archive are preserved and accessible in some form.

But that’s not the whole story.
25% are still at risk or unavailable.
Preservation isn’t automatic.

It takes deliberate effort to keep cultural history accessible.

📚 Read VANISHING CULTURE free from the Internet Archive ⤵️

📖 Download & read: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026
🛒 Purchase in print: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/vanishing-culture-a-report-on-our-fragile-cultural-record-9798995425014/new

#VanishingCulture #DigitalMemory #InternetArchive #MTVNews #Bookstodon

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Pixel-art style infographic showing a white pie chart in drag on a gray background. Large text reads “75%.” Smaller text states that 75% of video games from the 1980s tracked by the LGBTQ Video Game Archive are preserved and accessible in some form through the Internet Archive. Caption reads “Vanishing Culture.”

Who are your favorite authors that you will read anything they put out? #bookstodon

Mine, though I’m sure I’m missing some:
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Ursula K. Le Guin
G. Willow Wilson
Ted Chiang
Kiese Laymon
Natalie Haynes
Yōko Ogawa
Louise Erdrich
Becky Chambers
Hugh Howey
S.A. Chakraborty
Elif Shafak

Book 24 was Pumpkin Spice and Poltergeist by Ali K. Mulford & K. Elle Morrison (narrated by B Bordeaux, N Grey & Jake Bordeaux).

A witch, her dead ex-girlfriend, and the new woman in town. What could possibly go wrong?

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/b7cd2401-2f60-49c7-8000-14b5de2e10eb

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist by Ali K Mulford, K. Elle Morrison Narrated by Bridget Bordeaux, Nikki Grey, Jake Bordeaux

I'm running a kickstarter for my literary #fantasy novel, Widdershins. It launches in 5 days! You can find out more here: https://kickstarter.com/projects/allysonshaw/widdershins-1
#bookstodon #indieauthor #speculativeFiction #scotland

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A picture of a book with a foil cover over a floral motif. The text reads Widdershins is -Viking Age time slip -literary fantasy -weird girl fiction -subversive folklore -selkie myth retelling -cozy apocalypse -atmospheric islands -dark academia vibes -Scotland, but riddled with fae traps -poetic survival story -a smattering of spice

When MTV News shut down, it felt like decades of culture vanished overnight 🕳️

But over 470,000 pages were already preserved.

That history didn’t disappear.
It was archived.

📚 Read VANISHING CULTURE to see why it matters
📖 Download & read: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026
🛒 Purchase in print: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/vanishing-culture-a-report-on-our-fragile-cultural-record-9798995425014/new

#VanishingCulture #DigitalMemory #InternetArchive #MTVNews #Bookstodon

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Infographic highlighting that over 470,000 pages from the MTV News website have been preserved by the Internet Archive since 1997. The design includes a large “470,000” headline and a visual timeline starting at 1997, with a partial MTV News webpage graphic. Supporting text notes additional pages preserved from CMT News.

Who owns your data and what are they doing with it? 🤔

Powerful companies are hoarding information and using aggressive tactics to maintain control, turning data into a commodity that deepens inequality and restricts the flow of knowledge. 🔍

Legal scholar Sarah Lamdan's 2022 conversation with Heather Joseph of SPARC has only grown more urgent with time. We're revisiting DATA CARTELS on the Future Knowledge #podcast.

🎧 Listen & subscribe ⬇️
https://futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/data-cartels

#Bookstodon @hjoseph

Book 23 was Time to Shine by Rachel Reid (narrated by Cooper North).

Casey is a precious golden retriever puppy. And Landon is an anxious little shelter dog. They both need to be protected at all costs.

Once again, though, I am begging publishers of Canadian books to hire Canadian narrators. Or at the very least, hire people who can pronounce the word touque (hint: it doesn’t rhyme with soak).

Libro-fm has it on sale: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781488229145-time-to-shine

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Time to Shine by Rachel Reid (narrated by Cooper North). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

The ever bountiful rewards of AI: when visiting my bookshop chums this week, I was told Google's AI search invented an author event, complete with times and dates.

A reader had browsed for a certain author doing events in the city, Google AI told her the author was doing an event with us this summer. They aren't, they did one *last* summer.

Of course the reader believes Google was right & is angry at *us* for now not having an entirely AI imagined event.

#books #livres #bookstodon #AI

Sant Jordi is the best ❤️ 📚 🌹
#santjordi #books #bookstodon

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Casa Batlló on Sant Jordi

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A girl soaks in a book on Lamine Yamal

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Views of all the stands and people on Passeig de Gracia at Sant Jordi

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On the road stand at Sant Jordi

As it's Shakespeare's birthday 😀

#books #bookstodon #shakespeare

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A is for Anthony, murders himself B is for Bottom, transformed by an elf C is for Caesar, who's stabbed in the side D's for Demetrius, chopped up and fried E is for Edvard, deposed from the throne F is for Falstaff (offstage, cause unknown) G is for Gloucester - they pluck out his eyes H is for Hamlet - stabbed, poisoned, then dies I is for Iras, who's killed by a snog J's for John Talbot, brought low by a Frog K's for the King poisoned under the tree L is for Leonine, captured at sea M's for Macbeth, who gets neatly beheaded N's for the Nurse, in whom knives get embedded O's for Ophelia, jumps in a lake P is for Portia, mistakes coal for cake Q's Mistress Quickly, succumbs to disease R is for Rosencrantz, dies on the seas S is for Salisbury, slain by a child T is for Timon, who dies in the wild U is for Ulysses, killed by his son V is for Vaughan; executed, this one W's Wolsey, the troublesome priest Ex-eter's locked up and never released Y is for York, whom the queen orders dead, But in 38 plays, no-one's name starts with

Book 22 was Peaches & Pucks by M.A. Wardell (narrated by Nick J. Russo & Kevin Earlywine).

English teacher Harry gets roped into filling in as backup hockey coach – even though It means sharing a room with the insufferable Darius.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/6adaba3a-8f9c-4982-a872-19805db26b00?redirect=true

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Peaches & Pucks by M.A. Wardell (narrated by Nick J. Russo & Kevin Earlywine).

This morning I finished book one in the Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor, and it was a delight.

Very much recommended for those who enjoyed The Martian / Project Hail Mary, and that sort of thing. Pure sci-fi competence porn. A touch eye-rolly in places, but ultimately quite good fun.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/We-Are-Legion-(We-Are-Bob)/Dennis-E-Taylor/Bobiverse/9781668221570

#Bookstodon #AmReading