I’m starting off this year with a series of monthly book reviews. For those who are not familiar with me, I ready mainly science fiction, contemporary romance, contemporary fiction and non-fiction.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Published in 2021, this now-classic science fiction novel explores what it means to be a person, a popular theme in sci-fi. While the book itself is wonderful and beautifully written, the audiobook is a true masterpiece. It is narrated by Ray Porter, one of my favorites who also does a brilliant job in the Bobiverse series. The whole thing is a transformative experience on audio that I recommend to literally anyone and everyone.
I chose to re-visit Project Hail Mary as there is a new movie project coming out in 2026 starring Ryan Gosling and a few teaser clips have dropped about the project. I will absolutely go see this film, but remain a bit skeptical. Some of my favorite science fiction books have had disastrous film adaptations (cough… Ender’s Game … cough) but I still hold out hope that this can be a better movie than some book adaptations.
Overall, the audiobook is well worth anyone’s time and is a great time.
5/5
Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
This contemporary romance novel published in 2023 is a beautiful story about love while weaving in an incredibly well-done theme about limb difference. The author herself has a limb difference and so the topic is handled with so much grace and expertise. The pacing of the story is excellent and I was really impressed with the handling of complex situations by the author.
This is the first in an interconnected world. The second novel in this duo, Out of the Woods, comes out at the end of this month and I’m excited to read it as well. Bonam-Young handles the spicy scenes with such care and I can’t wait to see what she has next.
5/5