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I enjoyed Sayaka Murata's previous two books, so I was excited about this short story collection. I love short stories! But LIFE CEREMONY was hit or miss for me. Mostly miss.

The only story I enjoyed from start to finish was "Eating the City," on finding nature (in this case, edible nature) between the gaps of concrete of a large city—but with a twist of horror. And as horrifying as it was, the title story, "Life Ceremony," stayed in my mind long after I finished it, as I mulled over how customs can change so drastically from generation to generation, and where we draw lines between right and wrong.

Overall, though, I'm disappointed. I'm not all that squeamish, but large portions of this book were so gross that I ended up skimming or even skipping pages. (Think bodily fluids and human flesh-type gross.) All of the stories are super weird—which I usually find delightful!—but it fell flat here. I was bored so much of the time. I kept reading only because of how much I'd enjoyed her other books. I'm not sure it was worth it.

If you end up giving this book a try, all I can recommend is, don't read it while eating. 😱

I started noticing parallels between unschooling/self-directed education and my values as an anarchist around the same time, when my now-teenager was "preschool" age. These ideas are so intertwined, each informing the other, always reminding me there are other ways of living in this world and interacting with people of all ages...especially children. There are few people I trust as much as carla joy bergman to put together a book like TRUST KIDS!, which explores how we can break down the hierarchies that keep children from experiencing autonomy and consent in all areas of their lives (not just in their education).

I wanted to race through this book—it's so down-to-earth and a joy to read! But each piece had so much to say—important points I wanted to make sure I took in fully. TRUST KIDS! features essays, interviews, poems, and artwork from scholars, activists, and artists of all kinds of backgrounds and demographics. I read a number of new-to-me voices, but also many familiar, trusted voices, like Idzie Desmarais, whose essay "Anarchy Begins At Home" moved me deeply. ❤ (Everyone felt familiar and trusted by the end of the book!)

One of my favorite passages is from "A Fatigue-Wearing Judas: Acknowledging Histories and Breaking Cycles" by chris time steele:

"Learning is about unlearning, relearning, or learning-through as well...Unlearning isn't an event, it's an ongoing process, which involves being in community with others, reflecting on internalized white supremacy, and diagnosing the patriarchy within myself."

TRUST KIDS! counters the lies capitalism, colonization, and empire have taught us about children AND about ourselves.

What would a worldwide, lasting revolution look like? What would be the obstacles and what tactics would be needed to overcome them? How are we going to survive climate change? These are the themes Kim Stanley Robinson tackles in his 570-page cli-fi novel THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE.

The narrative is disjointed, with epistolary chapters placed throughout. If you roll with it, it works well. You get a well-researched, fairly well-rounded picture across class, power, and geography. The format makes for a clever way to introduce details that otherwise might not fit into a traditional narrative. I also appreciate the global perspective of this book. The U.S. is not at the center at all, and is critiqued heavily and fairly.

THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE envisions a world that includes the Half-Earth concept as one of its solutions to combat climate change. Half of the planet would be reserved exclusively for nature; the other half for humans, centered in sustainable cities. It sounds plausible in the novel, but I had this nagging, bad feeling about it. I kept thinking, you're never going to get 100% compliance on that, no matter how many incentives you offer. And we have a terrible history of forcing Indigenous peoples off their land. Nowhere in the book is that addressed and, so far, what I'm reading about Half-Earth doesn't assuage my concerns.

So, I'm feeling meh about this novel. When I was able to believe it, its hopefulness felt inspiring and relieved some of my fears. When cynicism (reality?) got the best of me, I had to set it aside for a bit, which is why it took me so long to finish it. Plus, I have major problems with a top-down approach that is just repackaged state power claiming to be a solution. (Obama loving this book should have been a red flag for me.) But this is science fiction. It doesn't have to actually solve anything. There were plenty of moments where the book imagines creative ways to forge ahead, and for that, I'm glad I read it, even if I'm probably not going to pick up another Kim Stanley Robinson book in the future.