yagathereader

i love those science/nature books you pick up because you're interested in jellyfish and half the book is about the author's breakup if I read fiction I want it to *wreck* me à la Maggie O’Farrell

1171 points

0% overlap

My Taste

Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)

Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive

Reading...

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The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie

yagathereader

Edited

Thoughts from 87% (page 279)

“Regardless of any other aspirations they claim to have, Musk, Bezos, and Branson should be remembered for the environmental destruction wrought by the corporations they have helmed. They should also be remembered for hanging on to their riches rather than making this potentially transformative money available to public trusts that are tasked with responding to the climate disaster. They should be remembered for the way they partnered with white supremacists in order to get their way. Instead of saving Earth, these menespecially Bezos and Musk dream of exploiting it while on a mission to exploit else-where, and they hope that other space geeks like me will join them in the delusion. But Swiss astronomer Didier Queloz was right when he said in his 2019 Nobel Prize lecture that rather than trying to resettle elsewhere in space, we should endeavor to find a way to live in equilibrium with our home planet. Queloz might seem like the best person to comment on this, since he won the Nobel Prize for his contributions to the discovery of the first of what are now nearly five thousand confirmed exoplanets, 51 Pegasi b.”

🔥🔥🔥 I love this author.

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When Lemons Give You Life

Anna Johnston

Redemption is a dish best served warm . . .Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite. He’s done with grief, guilt and the beige slop they dare call food at Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility, where he now resides.Life’s given him all the lemons he can handle – so he breaks into the nursing home kitchen to bake himself one last tart. It’s supposed to be his final meal, but the act of cooking stirs a dormant joy. Soon, he’s regularly sneaking in after dark, serving up flavour and comfort to his fellow residents. Yet behind the apron is a lie so big it could destroy the one thing he has left to protect . . . Meanwhile, Griff’s younger sister Lisa is navigating a new ADHD diagnosis and the spark of an unexpected romance. Despite their fractured sibling relationship, she dutifully visits Griff, though she knows hope of a reconciliation is gone, buried in the silence between them. But the truth has a way of boiling over – and when secrets, soufflés and second chances collide, they may discover a recipe for forgiveness.Anna Johnston's second novel is an enchanting story that will appeal to fans of Richard Osman, Joanna Nell and Amanda Hampson.‘Smart, authentic and full of heart.’ Graeme Simsion, author of the international bestseller The Rosie Project'Anna Johnston imbues her characters with a warmth, tenderness, and singularity that makes them irresistible. A charming tale of redemption, complex sibling bonds, and the joy of a meal cooked with love, this book will leave your heart full and your tastebuds ignited.' Mikki Brammer, author of the international bestseller The Collected Regrets of Clover'An absolute chef's kiss of a novel, prepared with heart and humour, guaranteed to please your palate.' Troy Hunter, author of Gus and the Missing Boy'For the burnt-out and world-weary, Anna Johnston’s novels offer essential therapy – wickedly funny stories about flawed heroes with the power to restore our faith in each other.' Kirsten Miller, author of Lula Dean’s Little Library of Burned Books

Post from the The White Shroud forum

yagathereader

Intro

From the intro the author is compared to Kafka and Freud. Then goes on to say he started medical studies but soon quit and “all I took from my medical studies was a love of corpses.” 😄💀

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The White Shroud

Antanas Škėma

The White Shroud (Balta drobulė, 1958) is considered by many as the most important work of modernist fiction in Lithuanian. Drawing heavily on the author’s own refugee and immigrant experience, this psychological, stream-of-consciousness work tells the story of an émigré poet working as an elevator operator in a large New York hotel during the mid-1950s. Using multiple narrative voices and streams, the novel moves through sharply contrasting settings and stages in the narrator’s life in Lithuania before and during World War II, returning always to New York and the recent immigrant’s struggle to adapt to a completely different, and indifferent, modern world. Strong characters and evocative utterances convey how historical context shapes language and consciousness, breaking down any stable sense of self. As in other major modernist works, Škėma uses language and allusion to destabilise. Narrative, voice and language shift continuously, capturing the anti-hero’s psychological and cultural disorientation — the complexity of experience in a modern world where, in Yeats’ words, “the centre cannot hold.” Like the author’s, Garšva’s frame of reference is vast — quotes from French arias, Kafka and American culture collide with visceral memories of archaic Lithuanian folk song. Garšva’s use of poignant and comical émigré slang in his interactions captures the ironies and absurdities of the immigrant’s situation. By the end of the novel, further grammatical and linguistic disarray mirrors the final unravelling of Garšva’s mind as he descends into madness. Like all powerful fiction, this novel draws the reader into an intimate, culturally and historically specific world to explore universal human themes of selfhood, alienation, creativity and cultural difference. This English translation promises to appeal to various audiences: readers of modernist and world literature, scholars of Baltic literature and refugee studies, and members of the Lithuanian diaspora unable to access this novel in Lithuanian. Written from the perspective of a newcomer to an Anglophone country, White Shroud encourages readers to better understand the complexities of immigrant life.

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Apostles of Mercy (Noumena, #3)

Lindsay Ellis

Apostles of Mercy is the new alternate history first contact novel from the instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal and LA Times bestselling Lindsay Ellis.First Contact has not been going well. The nations of Earth are rapidly militarizing against the arrival of the Superorganism, an alien civilization that promises to destroy humanity before it can develop into a real threat. The Superorganism has done it before–to their distant transient relatives–and they could easily do it again. But the alien Ampersand and his human interpreter Cora Sabino are done with trying to save humanity from both the Superorganism and itself; to them, this is a civilization that does not deserve to be saved.When a strange new form of communication between the two of them reveals to Cora how alien Ampersand truly is, she begins to question her blind devotion. But she soon learns of a danger that may force them to leave Earth before either of them are a group of superorganism enemies that have been wreaking havoc on Earth for decades. Existence on the margins has made them desperate and bent on revenge against any of Ampersand's race whose path they cross. Before Cora and Ampersand can make their final escape, these hostile aliens stage an attack, and take that which is most dear to both of them.Ampersand's enemies will not consider any form of truce; the greatest threat to them is not from the Superorganism, but from an increasingly fearful and violent human civilization newly aware of their existence. Cora and Ampersand must go to extreme measures to take back what was stolen and prevent wholesale human extermination–but in doing so they may be no better than the civilizations they are trying to escape.

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yagathereader

Jul 02, 2026

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)

4.0

Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.0Plot: 4.0Audiobook: 4.0

This is a book that I should’ve done an immersive read with but I just didn’t have the time. I think it would work great in a book club because so many points are so deep and would drive interesting discussions. I know it’s deep and beautiful but I didn’t catch all of it the first time through.

yagathereader finished a book

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie

(Alternate cover edition of ISBN 031624662X / 9780316246620.) On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Post from the Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1) forum

yagathereader

Thoughts from 17%

I kind of like when a book is written like it’s in translation of being retold in translation. Describing the language the people are talking and the nuances. Work good for sci-fi I think.

yagathereader started reading...

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie

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The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America

yagathereader

Jun 29, 2026

The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America

4.5

Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.5Audiobook: 4.5

⚰️

⚕️

A look into assisted dying through a series of stories with a lot of information alongside the stories. It was really well done. I felt connected to the people. The author brings up a lot of good points and conversations around assisted dying. I feel more informed and also better connected to the human side of the issue.

yagathereader finished a book

The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America

Anita Hannig

An intimate investigation of assisted dying in America and what it means to determine the end of our lives. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning cultural anthropologist Anita Hannig brings us into the lives of ordinary Americans who go to extraordinary lengths to set the terms of their own death. Faced with a terminal diagnosis and unbearable suffering, they decide to seek medical assistance in dying—a legal option now available to one in five Americans. Drawing on five years of research on the frontlines of assisted dying, Hannig unearths the uniquely personal narratives masked by a polarized national debate. Among them are Ken, an irreverent ninety-year-old blues musician who invites his family to his death, dons his best clothes, and goes out singing; Derianna, a retired nurse and midwife who treks through Oregon and Washington to guide dying patients across life's threshold; and Bruce, a scrappy activist with Parkinson's disease who fights to expand access to the law, not knowing he would soon, in an unexpected twist of fate, become eligible himself. Lyrical and lucid, sensitive but never sentimental, The Day I Die tackles one of the most urgent social issues of our how to restore dignity and meaning to the dying process in the age of high-tech medicine. Meticulously researched and compassionately rendered, the book exposes the tight legal restrictions, frustrating barriers to access, and corrosive cultural stigma that can undermine someone's quest for an assisted death—and why they persist in achieving the departure they desire. The Day I Die will transform the way we think about agency and closure in the face of death. Its colorful characters remind us what we all stand to gain when we confront the hard—and yet ultimately liberating—truth of our mortality.

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The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America

Anita Hannig

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You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion

yagathereader

Jun 28, 2026

You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion

5.0

Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0Audiobook: 5.0

The author (a medical & abortion provider) writes about abortion through a series of stories of people who have had abortions. Usually with each story she dissects facts surrounding abortion, such as, medical abortion, parental/partner consent laws, mandatory wait time, “pregnancy crisis centers,” etc.

Very in depth, some things I knew or were aware of. Told through story this topic is always more nuanced and empathetic.

The only thing I would add is an updated intro focusing on the things that have changed since Roe was overturned.

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You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion

Meera Shah

"Moving, multifaceted, and deeply human...as eye-opening as it is compelling” —Cecile Richards, author of Make Trouble At a time where reproductive rights are at risk, these vital stories of diverse individuals serve as a reminder of the importance of empathy, finding community and motivating advocacy For a long time, when people asked Dr. Meera Shah, Chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, what she did, she would tell them she was a doctor and leave it at that. But when she started to be direct about her work as an abortion provider an interesting thing started to one by one, people would confide that they'd had an abortion themselves. The refrain was often the You're the only one I've told. This book collects these stories as they've been told to Shah to humanize abortion and to combat myths that persist in the discourse that surrounds it. A wide range of ages, races, socioeconomic factors, and experiences shows that abortion always occurs in a unique context. Today, a healthcare issue that's so precious and foundational to reproductive, social, and economic freedom for millions of people is exploited by politicians who lack understanding or compassion about the context in which abortion occurs. Stories have the power to break down stigmas and help us to empathize with those whose experiences are unlike our own. A portion of proceeds will be donated to promote reproductive health access.

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Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

yagathereader

Thoughts from 3%

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You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion

Meera Shah

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yagathereader wrote a review...

yagathereader

Jun 27, 2026

The Great Wherever: A Novel

3.0

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 3.0Characters: 2.5Plot: 2.0Audiobook: 2.0

👩🏾‍🌾

👻

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio/ Henry Holt and Co. for the ARC audiobook.

A multigenerational tale with magical realism exploring a Black family from reconstruction era to present day. Themes of motherhood were strong and what it meant to be a woman in each time period.

I had high hopes and was hooked with the writing from the beginning; however, it soon fell flat, either from the complicated timelines and POVs or just the plot in general.

Overall, I just did not connect with the characters or the plot. Aubrey was immature and didn’t have quite the overall redemption story in the end. She made bad decisions and never addressed them, just “well that was kind of bad” and moved on without introspection. I’m not sure the ghosts’ POV added anything to the plot— seemed redundant because we got the first person stories and then the ghosts rehashing it. Also a few plot holes surrounding the ghosts.

It seemed the opposite of “trauma porn” but to the extreme. Some bad things happened in the storyline, but no one faced consequences and the author didn’t deal with it. Just moved on. If she wanted to write a light summer read, just do that without a heavy setting. Mixing them both together was discombobulating.

I think the biggest issue I had was with the audio. The narrator was bad per se, but I don’t think she fit this book. It was SO HARD to know who was talking because she didn’t change her voice AND because the timelines and POVs were all over the place. Aubrey was sometimes first person, sometimes third person. Same for the ghosts. I also couldn’t keep the family tree straight and could’ve really benefitted from a pdf showing the names and connections at least.

yagathereader finished a book

The Great Wherever: A Novel

Shannon Sanders

From an award-winning writer, a debut novel that’s a fresh and dazzling portrait of a family and its history in the American South, from Reconstruction through the present dayAt thirty-two, Aubrey Lamb is stumbling into adulthood. A semi-employed gig worker in Washington, DC, she's grieving the recent loss of her father and the end of a relationship that she’d thought would lead to marriage. When Aubrey learns that she has inherited a shared stake in a sizable Tennessee farm from her father, she simply sees an opportunity to get out of the city—and the potential to erase a mounting pile of debts.Upon her arrival in Lanyer County, though, Aubrey meets the relatives with whom she shares ownership of the farm, and discovers the backstory of the land, beginning with her great-grandfather Thomas—one of the first Black landowners in his community, who gave his four children a homestead on which they could flourish.But the land proves to be a burdensome inheritance. Over the years, it divides the family, turning Thomas’ descendants against each other and drawing the attention of external forces only too eager to wrest the land from Black hands. These struggles come to a head when a catastrophic tragedy befalls the Lambs, splintering the family and echoing down through the decades, with repercussions for Audrey herself.As Aubrey learns this history from her living relatives, the ghosts of her ancestors interject with their own exasperated, gossipy commentary on the flaws and foibles of relatives living and dead, and stake their own claims on the farm.Injecting the expansive family sagas of Honorée Fanonne Jeffers and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton with a very modern voice, The Great Wherever is at once grand and intimate; it explores the ways we learn to define ourselves through and against our family, how we carry on after loss, and how the past lives on in all of us.

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