Despite being an environmentalist, I have shamefully neglected the oceans in my reading choices. A huge oversight on my part - for our world is mostly water. And while I am well-aware of how important the ocean is, I never thought about it like I do our terrestrial habitats. And then I read this line: "When you splash through the waves at the beach, you're connected via seawater to every drop of water in the global ocean."

I paused, really thought about that, and then it sunk in how amazing the sea is. My local sea, the one I put my feet in, is usually dark, choppy and uninviting. But really, I have stood in all the seas. I have stood in the same water that exotic fish, sharks and turtles swim in. From that line onwards, I devoured this amazing book with gusto.

Helen Czerski is a scientist, but this book is written in such an accessible way without diluting the information. You can feel the authors deep respect for the ocean in her words, and her need for you to understand just how important and fascinating these watery depths are.

The ocean has shaped the entirety of humanity. Our cultures, lifestyles and habits are all impacted by this expanse of blue. "The patterns that influence civilizations--weather, resources, culture--are often a consequence of the patterns that the ocean engine generates."

I was just as fascinated to learn about this aspect as I was about the geography and biology of the sea, and Czerski writes it all in such a wonderful way, blending her own experiences with data and facts.

This book was a well-deserved winner of the @wainwrightprize for Conservation Writing, and I encourage anyone with an interest in our world to pick it up. Thank you so much to Wainwright for sending me a copy!

The pace is picking up in this series! The Tombs of Atuan follows a young girl who was taken from her family at 5 years old to be a reborn priestess. She grows up in a cult-like setting, very sheltered, very controlled. Her life is a monotony of daily tasks. In her free time, she explores a giant underground maze (a labyrinth, if you will).

From the Wizard of Earthsea, which wouldn't pass the Bechdel test and takes place all over the map of Earthsea, Le Guin brings us to the Tombs of Atuan, where no men are allowed to set foot.

This smaller enclosed space allows Le Guin to stretch out her skills in character building and intricate world-building. The entire first part of the book is spent doing just that. It isn't until Ged appears past the halfway mark, that the plot starts to really chug along. As a result, we as readers really get to know Tenar/Arha, and understand her and the choices that she makes from the life she has led. We struggle with her as she weighs the consequences of her actions and learns from them. Even though there was a clear "good" answer, even I felt unsure what Tenar would end up choosing.

The story is relatively short, but there are many great and valuable life lessons woven through out. That of freedom, victimhood, morals, and redemption. So much was contained in so few pages!

The Earthsea series would be a great bedtime story for kids.

(sidenote; people seem to ship Ged and Tenar but isn't there a huge age gap????)

I was looking, after many years, to get back into listening to audiobooks, and this was a wonderful starting point. The audiobook’s production together with the first-person narration made each listening session feel like a visit with the auntie I only wish I had: massively big-hearted, maybe a little crass, definitely irreverent, and—mostly importantly—a fantastic storyteller.

Besides the joy that experiencing the story in this format brought me, the other highlight for me was Chakraborty’s character craft. Not just the titular, rightfully beloved, Amina but all of the people populating the ports and islands around this magical 12th century Indian Ocean feel fully formed and life-like in both their foibles and their virtues. There is such a broad and realistic range of humanity represented, from the truly villainous to the perfectly darling, but primarily the mothers, fathers, former partners, fast friends, brief acquaintances, etc. that of course fall somewhere in between.

It’s hard to formulate a thorough review for a book that has been so consistently popular, and popular for a reason. A lot of its praises have already been said, so it’s difficult to know what I can add to the conversation that hasn’t been before. But ultimately, Animal Farm serves as an allegory to the communist revolution in Soviet Russia that still stands as a prescient and ever relevant read in today’s fraught political climate. Highlighting the dangers of revolutionary movements turning repressive in their own right, figureheads behind these movements can often wield their influence for self-serving interests under the guise of benefits for the many. Each animal functioned as a representation of how different individuals may respond and rationalize tyrannical and restrictive political structures. It was an easy book to get through while being so poignant and powerful in the same breath. I truly believe it should be required reading at some point in time for everyone.

it’s hard to put this book into words in the same way it’s hard to put grief into words. but zauner did just that - put grief and all its complexities into words, laid vulnerable and bare. my mom passed away recently, and even though our parent-child relationship couldn’t have been more different from zauner’s with her mother, this book gave me such catharsis and understanding. a heavy, gorgeous, impossible book. i tear up every time i think about it.