Book 1: The Hidden Life of Trees.

@RyanHyde @puffer be sure about what I'd read and none of them really discussed the ending because spoilers. So we're left to fill in some blanks and I agree with you "How we got the intel" would have been a good story. I feel if all your characters are, at some level, unlikable, you have to have some other positive or interesting payoff. I did not see that here and having read Tchaikovsky's "Shroud" a while back, this was not as good.

@jessamyn @puffer Anders is the one who confused me the most. There was just something so incongruous about his trauma response and how it informed his decision making. I mean, I think that’s by design to make him unsettling, but he made a pretty unconvincing hero at the end. Again, maybe the point.

But yes, they’re all unlikable. And so is the vision of humanity presented (which was a pretty naked commentary on the unreliability and vapid nature of social media). Again, maybe all of that is the point. The Mak Tek were actual monsters (I did kinda get chills when Martin revealed that they’d killed off two other species), but so was the version of humanity in this novel. They didn’t actually know the salamanders were going for all out genocide before the humans made their own genocidal plan.

Anyway, I’ll add Shroud to my hold list. I’ve been meaning to try Adrian Tchaikovsky out.

Book 4: Providence. I've liked Barry's other books and I liked this one in a different way. It's a straight up long-haul forever-war sort of story about a crew of four flawed people on a four-year tour of deep space with a mission to kill a seemingly endless supply of one type of alien creatures. Oh and their ship is run by an AI so sophisticated that the humans are really only there for PR purposes, and maybe to help the AI company sell more AI. Written in 2020 but still feels fresh.

Book 5: Night Hawks. Another one of the forensic anthropologist mysteries where we again are working towards a thrilling conclusion of the series. This one had a convoluted mystery, a lot of rando characters with similar-sounding names and not a lot of history stuff which is usually my favorite part. And then there's the overarching plot arc which continued in a good way. A nice familiar read but not one of my faves of the series.

Book 6: Tigers Between Empires. An exceptional book about wildlife, specifically tiger, conservation in Siberia and also to a lesser degree in China. Slaght, who also wrote a compelling book about fish owls in the same region, talks about US/Russian cooperation for the Siberian Tiger Project from the early 90s until now. A lot changes, a lot stays the same. Color photos of amazing animals and a lot of nerdy science. You really get to know the place; an excellent geopolitical conservation tale.

@jessamyn OMG! Thank you!! I *loved* his Fish-owls book! I am immediately going to find this one!

Book 6: Tigers Between Empires. An exceptional book about wildlife, specifically tiger, conservation in Siberia and also to a lesser degree in China. Slaght, who also wrote a compelling book about fish owls in the same region, talks about US/Russian cooperation for the Siberian Tiger Project from the early 90s until now. A lot changes, a lot stays the same. Color photos of amazing animals and a lot of nerdy science. You really get to know the place; an excellent geopolitical conservation tale.

@jessamyn This looks fantastic. I was just watching a documentary on the Amur tigers the other day. What I would give to be able to go see them. I've got plans this year to see jaguars in the Pantanal and pumas in Patagonia, but I suspect I won't ever get the chance to go see these cats.

Book 6: Tigers Between Empires. An exceptional book about wildlife, specifically tiger, conservation in Siberia and also to a lesser degree in China. Slaght, who also wrote a compelling book about fish owls in the same region, talks about US/Russian cooperation for the Siberian Tiger Project from the early 90s until now. A lot changes, a lot stays the same. Color photos of amazing animals and a lot of nerdy science. You really get to know the place; an excellent geopolitical conservation tale.

Book 7: The Treasure of the Black Swan. A graphic novel about a shipwreck and the drama trying to figure out who was legally entitled to the treasure. It involves diplomats, lawyers, treasure hunters and US, Peruvian and Spanish jurisdiction. Based on a true story (which I did not read up on until afterwards) it's an interesting and well-told and easy to follow story even though it was clearly a pretty convoluted situation at the time.

Book 7: The Treasure of the Black Swan. A graphic novel about a shipwreck and the drama trying to figure out who was legally entitled to the treasure. It involves diplomats, lawyers, treasure hunters and US, Peruvian and Spanish jurisdiction. Based on a true story (which I did not read up on until afterwards) it's an interesting and well-told and easy to follow story even though it was clearly a pretty convoluted situation at the time.

@jessamyn

I read this a while back and enjoyed it. Have you read any of Paco Roca's other books? His "Memoirs of a Man in Pajamas" is fun.

Book 7: The Treasure of the Black Swan. A graphic novel about a shipwreck and the drama trying to figure out who was legally entitled to the treasure. It involves diplomats, lawyers, treasure hunters and US, Peruvian and Spanish jurisdiction. Based on a true story (which I did not read up on until afterwards) it's an interesting and well-told and easy to follow story even though it was clearly a pretty convoluted situation at the time.

Book 8: Vern Custodian of the Universe. A short fun graphic novel about Vern who is having a tough time coping with the earth being a mess. His mom and grandma nudge him into a job at Quasar which... does what exactly? Stuff happens on an interdimensional level and Vern has a front-row seat. This is one of those graphic novels which really feels like it was a lot of fun to draw: quirky, trippy, and colorful, with a good sense of humor and a good heart at the center of it.

Book 9: Haunt Sweet Home. A short novel about Mara, a youngish woman who doesn't quite fit in with her family or life in general. After drifting about, she lands a job on the night shift of a reality tv show about people who buy houses and then find out they are haunted. You'd think it would be tough to find enough people for that, but the crew gives extra haunting nudges along the way. Mara's a bit of a loner and still figuring things out and the show gives her life a temporary focus.

@jessamyn I read that last year and really enjoyed!

@platypus It has a weirdly low rating on Goodreads and I can't figure out why, I thought it was solid.

@jessamyn that's a pity for the author, I agree. I suppose as a novella it might've not had enough content for some people? But I felt the plot worked well to the form and sometimes I need novellas.

Book 9: Haunt Sweet Home. A short novel about Mara, a youngish woman who doesn't quite fit in with her family or life in general. After drifting about, she lands a job on the night shift of a reality tv show about people who buy houses and then find out they are haunted. You'd think it would be tough to find enough people for that, but the crew gives extra haunting nudges along the way. Mara's a bit of a loner and still figuring things out and the show gives her life a temporary focus.

Book 10. Apple Watch for Dummies. I knew this book wasn't going to be great. But I got a used Apple Watch (partner has one, he likes it, was I just reflexively disliking?) & wanted to learn about it w/o watching a video or reading AI slop. I learned HTML from a Dummies guide, how bad could it be? THEY MISSPELLED THE WORD WATCH, for one. Tons of typos. Text which felt copied straight from Apple's marketing. Awful "jokes." I learned about maybe four features and feel dumber for having read it.