I’ve been reading Tress with my 9-year-old, and she loves it. While his longer books have worn me down, it’s fun to introduce her to Sanderson.

Yeah, hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but the idea of a spacefaring civilization only having a concept of he/she pronouns is very amusing.

Heart-breaking and soul-flaying, but yes: very, very good. The third book puts such a beautiful cherry atop the whole series.

I keep telling myself to read more N.K. Jemisin, but I keep not wanting to be depressed.

Babel by R. F. Kuang, really enjoying it. I’ve been trying to learn a second language this year, and the idea that determining the relationship between languages can be a source of magic is very fun.

Also, the Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin. I understand it’s a good faith attempt to examine 1969 America’s notions of gender and sex, but 50 years on, the age is showing. The default pronoun for all these non-gendered characters being ‘he/him’ scratches my brain continually.

Listen, if Rand had gone off to study the blade with lady sex-ninjas, I think I would remember!