Review Roundup (I'm back!)

Hello! It's been a while since I've posted, and there's been a lot of reasons. Mostly I fell out of the habit of writing up the books I've read because I got busy in my work and personal life, and since then it's been hard to get back into it. But recently, with the pandemic and all, I have more free time and also am in a good state of mind for once in a very long time. So I'm going to try to post more regularly here, and potentially expand what I write out.

So! To start things off: some short reviews of a selection of some of the books I've read over the past few months.

 To be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers


We'll start with the best of the batch. To be Taught if Fortunate is a sci-fi novella about four astronauts scouting four alien worlds for potential habitability. Each planet has a distinct environment, one nightmarish, one idyllic, and, the last, barren but hopeful. I loved this book. It's very character-focused, and the trials (or lack there of) they find on each planet gives us new insight into their relationships and how they function as a crew.

A lot of sci-fi tends to focus more on the technological requirements of space travel, but To be Taught if Able uses its premise to examine the social requirements, among other things. Our characters do not turn on each other, nor does their mission does not go astray because of human error. It is, ultimately, a very hopeful book, and one that focuses on the potential of human empathy. It is definitely worth a read.