February 2017 Bookpost
And here's February's list. Continuing the usual early-year scramble to get through as many of the 2016 books still on my TBR bookcase as I can before the Hugo nominating deadline. (I will, of course, fail to get through all of them.) Also notable is the late-month attempt to actually read a couple of books by African-American authors during Black History Month. I managed two; it would have been three if one of my holds on The Obelisk Gate had come through sooner.
1. Bridging Infinity, Jonathan Strahan (anthology) - The latest anthology in the series features 15 stories of vast construction and engineering projects in our solar system and beyond. My favorite stories were Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty's "Cold Comfort" and Tobias Buckell and Karen Lord's "The Mighty Slinger".
2. Envy of Angels, Matt Wallace (novella) - The chefs of Sin du Jour cater some of the strangest events ever, serving dishes that would make a Kitchen Stadium chef blanch. This is the first of the novella series; #2 and #3 will show up in my March reads.
3. Darkly Human, Laura Anne Gilman (collection)
4. Steeplejack, A.J. Hartley - Won this ARC early last year on Tor.com, finally got around to reading it. A teen girl working for a gang repairing brick chimneys and steeples finds herself investigating a murder and theft. Hartley's city of Bar-Selehm is based on 19th-century South Africa, with all the social, cultural and racial tensions that implies. Well written, made me feel for the main character when she's at her lowest points. Probably shouldn't read if you're afraid of heights (*grin*).
5. Apex Magazine #93 (February 2017)
6. Lightspeed Magazine #81 (February 2017)
7. A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers - I've heard it said this tale of the quirky crew of the wormhole drilling ship Wayfarer will appeal to Firefly fans. I agree with the sentiment; this was a fun read. For example, the Wayfarer's mechanic is basically Kaylee after several cups of coffee and a box of pixie sticks.
8. Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly - It was interesting reading this after seeing the movie and comparing the real history with the Hollywood version. In many ways, there was actually less sexism and racism at Langley than was portrayed on screen. For example, if the book is to be believed, Katherine Johnson didn't have to run back and forth between buildings to use the bathrooms; nobody really policed the supposedly-separate bathrooms. And she seems to have been accepted by the engineers in the Flight Research Division pretty quickly. OTOH, Johnson really did talk her way into the engineering meetings and Mary Jackson did petition the court to be allowed to attend night classes at the whites-only high school.
9. 11/22/63, Stephen King - February's choice for $EMPLOYER's book club. Reminded me why I don't tend to read time travel or alternate history novels. Also, the phrase "too big to edit" applies here!
10. Everfair, Nisi Shawl - I can see why Shawl's alternate history/steampunk tale set in a nation carved from King Leopold's Congo made several best-of-2016 lists. My only complaint is that it dives a bit into magic realism towards the end; I'm not fond of that genre. Nonetheless, some of the best writing and descriptions of setting of any 2016 works I've read.
1. Bridging Infinity, Jonathan Strahan (anthology) - The latest anthology in the series features 15 stories of vast construction and engineering projects in our solar system and beyond. My favorite stories were Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty's "Cold Comfort" and Tobias Buckell and Karen Lord's "The Mighty Slinger".
2. Envy of Angels, Matt Wallace (novella) - The chefs of Sin du Jour cater some of the strangest events ever, serving dishes that would make a Kitchen Stadium chef blanch. This is the first of the novella series; #2 and #3 will show up in my March reads.
3. Darkly Human, Laura Anne Gilman (collection)
4. Steeplejack, A.J. Hartley - Won this ARC early last year on Tor.com, finally got around to reading it. A teen girl working for a gang repairing brick chimneys and steeples finds herself investigating a murder and theft. Hartley's city of Bar-Selehm is based on 19th-century South Africa, with all the social, cultural and racial tensions that implies. Well written, made me feel for the main character when she's at her lowest points. Probably shouldn't read if you're afraid of heights (*grin*).
5. Apex Magazine #93 (February 2017)
6. Lightspeed Magazine #81 (February 2017)
7. A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers - I've heard it said this tale of the quirky crew of the wormhole drilling ship Wayfarer will appeal to Firefly fans. I agree with the sentiment; this was a fun read. For example, the Wayfarer's mechanic is basically Kaylee after several cups of coffee and a box of pixie sticks.
8. Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly - It was interesting reading this after seeing the movie and comparing the real history with the Hollywood version. In many ways, there was actually less sexism and racism at Langley than was portrayed on screen. For example, if the book is to be believed, Katherine Johnson didn't have to run back and forth between buildings to use the bathrooms; nobody really policed the supposedly-separate bathrooms. And she seems to have been accepted by the engineers in the Flight Research Division pretty quickly. OTOH, Johnson really did talk her way into the engineering meetings and Mary Jackson did petition the court to be allowed to attend night classes at the whites-only high school.
9. 11/22/63, Stephen King - February's choice for $EMPLOYER's book club. Reminded me why I don't tend to read time travel or alternate history novels. Also, the phrase "too big to edit" applies here!
10. Everfair, Nisi Shawl - I can see why Shawl's alternate history/steampunk tale set in a nation carved from King Leopold's Congo made several best-of-2016 lists. My only complaint is that it dives a bit into magic realism towards the end; I'm not fond of that genre. Nonetheless, some of the best writing and descriptions of setting of any 2016 works I've read.