This has been a year of book club books, and others. In no particular order:

Dungeon Crawler Carl Books 1 – 8 by Matt Dinnamon, read by Jeff Hays [audiobook (Audible) & Hardback (Book 8, Bookshop.org)]

I’m not going to say anything that hasn’t been said a million times all over the internet — a fantastic comedy sci-fi thoughtful book series with a ridiculous premise you enjoy suspending your belief for. Great characters, brought to life exceptionally well by Jeff Hays and Soundbooth theater. The only book I’ve read so far made better by the audio reader.

I had exlusively listened to 1-7, and as an experiment I read the paper version of book 8. The books are indeed excellent without the reader, but the reader adds another dimension. There’s no wrong way to consume this series.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins [paperback, Bookshop.org]

Read for book club. I thought it was a fascinating tale that told me a lot about Mexican immigrants. After reading, discovered the author had no first hand knowledge, and I’m not sure whether what I read was grounded in reality or not.

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang [paperback – Bookshop.org & audiobook – Audible]

Book club read. This book was fine. Good premise (two grad students descend to the underworld to try and bring back their professor so he can approve their dissertations), competently written, but… I struggled in spots to keep reading. I’m told her other books are much, much better.

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm [Bookshop.org eBook]

Pretty good. Fun premise akin to the SEP internet craze– creatures that embody ideas, eat ideas, memories, etc. It was missing something, but I wasn’t sad I read it.

The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin [bookshop.org]

Book club read. Very enjoyable sci-fi of a world of outcast oregenes who can move earth. I understand it’s a series, and I may read on.

My dog also enjoyed it– luckily I had completed the chapters he ate.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid [bookshop.org]

A good romance read set in the 1980s NASA era. science + romance = sweet spot.

The Sam and Friends Script Book by Craig Shemin [bookshop.org]

A follow up to his Sam and Friends biography of the earliest Jim & Jane Henson work, no true Muppets fan should be without this one. I got an early copy with an error, and personally helped the author debug the issue. Not to brag.

The Women by Kristin Hannah [bookshop.org]

Book club read. A well written historical fiction dive into the nurses who served in the Vietnam war. Spoiler: It wasn’t very fun, though there were positive moments.

Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson [Drama Book Shop, New York]

An okay play, but I wanted more… science, I guess? This is such a fascinating topic, perhaps my expectations are unreasonably high.

The New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman

Since I started listening to the amazing Data Vs. Dogma podcast, I’ve been tearing through books that dive into the history of the Jewish and Christian movements. There is so much interesting context around these books that have had such a profound effect on world history.

God: An Anatomy by Francesca Stavrakopoulou [Kindle ebook]

Dr. Stavrakopoulou was on Data vs Dogma. Good book.

World of Tomorrow (Supergirl comic collection)

Picked up after the movie– fun to see the source material and compare. I like both versions.