#bookreviews

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STRANDED ASTRONAUTS, A BATTLE for control of interplanetary mining, and a chance to save Earth’s climate are the stakes at play in Daniel Suarez’s near-future thriller. Excitement and hard science abound. B PLUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/critical-mass-daniel-suarez/1140672929?ean=9780593183632&aug=1

@bookstodon

SPECTACULAR FANTASY THRILLER replete with magic, angels, demons, witches, and bloody revolution. Tense, beautifully paced action and an engrossing, vividly envisioned world. A MINUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch-king-martha-wells/1141976525

@bookstodon

SEEKING BELOVED GHOSTS, a family travels to a mysterious village called HOME where the living are as imprisoned as the dead. Delicate yet wrenching horror captures the desperation of loss. A MINUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/linghun-ai-jiang/1143174186?ean=9781958598023

@bookstodon

THE MYTH OF THE “SELF-MADE” PLUTOCRAT and its impact throughout US society, with some encouraging dispatches from places where other ideas, like mutual aid and cooperatives, are working. Well researched, wide-ranging reporting. B PLUS

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bootstrapped-alissa-quart?variant=40517189599266

@bookstodon

A DEFT STEAMPUNK THRILLER mixes subtle body horror with classic Gothic traditions. Relatable, determined protagonist and a well crafted, suspenseful plot. B PLUS

https://rawdogscreaming.com/cover-reveal-vial-thoughts-by-van-essler/

@bookstodon

SHARP NEAR-FUTURE NOIR sets a gig-working hacker and her private eye mentor on the trail of a multiple murderer. Shades of Chandler and Gibson, but with a distinctive, witty, contemporary voice. B PLUS

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bang-Bang-Bodhisattva/Aubrey-Wood/9781786187017

@bookstodon

THE STRUGGLE TO STAY ALIVE when your brain doesn’t want you to—a thoughtful, devastatingly frank combination of memoir and philosophical essay on suicide draws on literature, art, religion, and psychology, as well as on moral philosophy. B PLUS

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709261/how-not-to-kill-yourself-by-clancy-martin/

@bookstodon

Over at Nerds of a Feather, @carturo222 was quite disappointed by B. L. Blanchard's 'Mother,' which he considers a sequel that fails to live up to the quality of its predecessor.

http://www.nerds-feather.com/2023/05/review-mother-by-b-l-blanchard.html

@bookstodon

Cover of B. L. Blanchard's 'The Mother'. A woman stands on an cliff edge of dirt, looking at a block of apartment buildings across a crevasse filled with mist. It is night, and the colours are all shades of blue and grey. 'The Mother' is printed diagonally across the cover, paralleling the line of the cliff. In the top right corner, highlighted by a shaft of moonlight, are the words 'a novel'. At the bottom: B. L. Blanchard author of The Peacekeeper'

GRIPPING INTERPLANETARY THRILLER, set on a near-future, partially terraformed Mars, hits all the high points you’d find in Michael Crichton and Nancy Kress. Lots of action, smart world-building, the highest possible stakes. B PLUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cold-light-of-stars-rysa-walker/1143442986

@bookstodon

OUT OF THE DARKNESS, both literal (early blindness from retinitis pigmentosa) and figurative (complicated family ties, loss, and the weight of addiction), the late Lucas Matthiessen built a beautiful, enlightening life and a touching memoir. B PLUS

https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781956763324/first-light/

@bookstodon

INTERSTELLAR SPIES, PIRATES, and a mysterious ring world all feature in an exhilarating space adventure with a memorable cast—human, alien, and artificial intelligences alike. A MINUS

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lokis-Ring/Stina-Leicht/9781982170639

@bookstodon

CHARMING SMALL-TOWN MYSTERY set in 1963 Texas features a plucky young secretary turned sleuth as protagonist and a delightful supporting cast. Well crafted and full of vivid touches. B PLUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-i-had-a-hammer-teresa-trent/1143236406?ean=9781685123024

@bookstodon

BEHIND THE QANON PHENOMENON: a clear-eyed, well researched, compassionate look at the movement, its impacts, and its intersections with other belief communities. B PLUS

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/trust-the-plan-will-sommer?variant=40493482541090

@bookstodon