Book: Embassytown - China Mieville Date: May 24, 2026 Opinion: I really enjoyed this book, it explores a human enclave on an alien world. The aliens are unusual in how they communicate, called Language, that requires special humans with special training called Ambassadors. Things change when a new ambassador arrives. The writing flows the protagonist before and after this change. It's very well written and explores interesting theme. I was fully engaged reading it. 5/5

Book: Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky Date: April 12, 2026 Opinion: A post apocalypse robot story, following a valet robot who appears to have gained some level of sentience. Really good and well written, with a strong dry wit. It gets a slight be repetitive towards the end but definitely worth the read. 4/5

Book: There is no anti memetics division - qntm Date: March 17, 2026 Opinion: From the SCP genre, think inexplainable occurrence in the modern world being studied by a modern bureaucracy, like HP Lovecraft for the present day. Here the story posits that there are things (places, creatures, concepts etc) that cause people to forget they exist after learning of them, and there is a division of a quasi Men in Black organization that deals with this, but how do you deal with things that you forget about as soon as you are done? While I'm not a Lovecraft fan or find SCP that interesting, I found this a very engaging premise that was well written. It does go off the rails a bit in the later chapters but I felt the writing was strong enough to make it still enjoyable to read. 3/5

Book: Circular Motion - Alex Foster Date: March 17, 2026 Opinion: I did not enjoy this book. The plot hook is that the world's rotation is speeding up because of this new faster flight system that only goes westward. It is an analogy for climate change but I found it a very ineffective one, not least because half way through they introduce an even more convoluted solution that really under cuts the challenges of dealing with climate change. The story itself follows a few characters emotional journeys through life, who all have some loose connection to each other. Again some are interesting but half way through also change on a dime, leaving a lot to be inferred without the literary skill to support that. There is also a lot of weird Product name drops which I just found odd. Not one for me. 2/5

Book: Is This Working - Charlie Colenutt Date: February 21, 2026 Opinion: A contemporary version of 'Working by Studs Terkel', it is an account of people talking about their jobs, what they think and feel about their work. This is a much lighter read then Working, each section is shorter and more contemporary so easier to understand. I thought it a great read, a snapshot of life in Great Britain at this time. While I don't think it gets to the heights of Working in terms of literature it is more approachable and so might help people understand their work and lives. 4/5