Adrian Tchaikovsky is trying to do a lot here, and insofar as his intentions go, I think he succeeded — Service Model is a funny, voicey book that hits its themes home. Unfortunately, the execution was just not for me.

This is objectively good storytelling that is unfortunately not well aligned with my taste in books — I just don’t love hardcore alien world scifi. So it’s not a new favorite, but I enjoyed it enough to easily finish it!

You can always count on John Scalzi to mix humor with heart in just the right way. Very few of today’s writers manage to both make us laugh and also speak to the state of the world like he does. When The Moon Hits Your Eye is no exception.

Unsurprisingly after all that hype, this genre-bender not only delivers but also hits differently than anything else Okorafor has written.

Although I could definitely tell that I was missing context because I haven’t read the original Imperial Radch trilogy, to Leckie’s credit I never felt lost. And this was a very fun story with cool, deeply lovable cannibal aliens. What’s not to like??

As you would expect of a book with a cat wearing a suit on the cover, and as you would expect from John Scalzi in general, this book was a HELL of a good time. What a quick, fun read!!

This ended up being one of my favorites from the 2023 Booker Prize longlist. I’m also glad I read this with a book club, because holy moly is there a LOT to process after that ending.

This book is like the best kind of meal you make from whatever’s in your refrigerator — a ton of ingredients you love, not too much brain power required, and a tasty result in the end. Call it the literary beach read of the summer.

Honestly, I can’t believe Some Desperate Glory wasn’t on my radar until it was nominated for the Hugo, especially with such blurb power. But wow am I glad it showed up!! One heck of a story.

Beautyland is one of those books that will sneak up on you and hit you right smack in the feels. My favorite kind of book. (The audiobook was also excellently performed, and the story was easy to follow in that format!)

I think this book successfully did what it set out to do, but tech apocalypse stories just aren't my thing. But if you’re looking for a slightly more sophisticated version of a dystopian thriller, this might be your jam.

All vibes/no plot in outer space. Harvey has given us a breathtaking meditation on what makes us human, what connects us, and our beloved planet Earth.

The Lone Man is a sci-fi beach read of a novel, featuring a murder mystery on an outer space cruise ship. It involved a lot of privilege (and alcohol), but I was hooked and had a fun time reading it.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a smart, atmospheric, anticolonial / feminist reimagining of an HG Wells classic. It’s not the fastest paced, but it is very good.

The Kaiju Preservation Society was a complete and utter delight. The perfect snack of a sci-fi novel, fun and funny and engaging.

The World We Make is not as strong as The City We Became, IMO, but it was still fun and smart and definitely worth reading.

Never Let Me Go is a quietly eerie, thought-provoking book with a strong first-person narrator. It’s engaging and will stick with you long after you finish it.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within ends the Wayfarers books on a strong note, although it also feels the most like Chambers’ Monk & Robot books. I liked it and recommend it!

Record of a Spaceborn Few is yet another emotional little space story from our liege, Becky Chambers. I loved how this one explored cultural grief.

How High We Go in the Dark is a heartfelt, unsettling book set in a near future riddled with plague and climate change. I enjoyed some chapters more than others, but liked the book overall.