At the Library 4/18/24

At the Library

By Tammy Valentine

This past Saturday we had the Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club. The discussion was made more interesting because the group consisted of an age range between someone in their mid-thirties to someone in their 80s! You just never know who will like what genre because most of the group has been reading science fiction for decades.

I never imagined I would be a part of anything to do with science fiction, but I have discovered it is so much more than what I had originally thought. Since last summer we’ve read books with stories set in the past, set in the far future, along with the present via the dystopian genre.

The books we have read include Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary and Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House.  After reading Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale I couldn’t wait to get into Oryx and Crake. And Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary was all about science in his novel set in space. With Ninth House, which is more fantasy than science fiction, I rediscovered the fun of reading!  I felt like I was in junior high again, lost in another place and time.

The next book we are reading is titled A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. The genre of this book is called solarpunk, something completely new to me.  Solarpunk is a subgenre that is part art, part literature and all a part of a diverse community.  Themes include sustainability through renewable resources with an optimistic view of the future. This genre also has an aesthetic of light colors in blues and greens, giving the feeling of cleanliness.  I am excited to venture into a completely new land with this one!

If you would like to dip your toe into a new adventure, then sign up for this quarterly book club which will next meet in July.