Welcome to Litsy!

A beautiful novella that highlights the wonders and dangers of space exploration. Ariadne and her team are accomplished scientists and engineers eager to discover what lies beyond our sun. I swooned a little at all the science jargon. Chambers did a great job of making complicated concepts accessible. #queerbc

Overall, I thought she did a better job in the Monk and Robot novellas. Here, her attempts to contemplate some rather big philosophical points are adequate but a bit too overt and the ending was too Schrödinger to be successful.

There is an interesting section in the back. Her mom is a scientist and is her science consultant. They did a panel together and she included some of the Q&As from that panel.

Current vibe: windows open, autumn candle burning, fleece blanket (because its delightfully chilly), & a book

I love autumn 🍁🧡🍂

So good! Would not have picked up but read for a book club. So beautiful and thoughtful and nuanced. Interesting commentary on what it is to be part of a collective and part of humanity

My year in books!

My motivation to read has been lacking lately, but I am glad I pushed through on this one. The Wayfarers series is high on my list, but I chose this as my first read by Chambers when I found it on a list of books with ace representation. Beautifully imaginative, wildly original, heartbreaking, inspiring, funny. I absolutely loved it, and its title may be my new favorite title.

Really enjoying this novella so far.

I subscribed to Kindle Unlimited for the summer and started with this novella. Currently I'm laying in @LittleMouse5708 's camper with the kids and dog after a fun holiday celebration. Finished this while getting the kids to sleep and it was another solid pick from Becky Chambers. Quietly thought provoking with characters you grow to love.

For a short book, this one gives you a lot to think about. It is written as a journal of sorts chronicling the mission of a space crew travelling to four new moons/planets to study life. Chambers does an amazing job crafting a future world that is believable yet fantastic. The story addresses ethical dilemmas, interpersonal relationships, and the concept of home.

No BookSpin finished yet but I am happy to report a #BookSpinBingo instead that I achieved by finishing these reads, all picks for me:
- To Be Taught, if Fortunate by Becky Chambers: a beautiful space exploration novella;
- Heart of darkness by Joseph Conrad: a harder to read but excellent classic novel about European colonialism and ivory exploitation taken to extremes;
- Lewis Carroll's excellent Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; ⬇

4⭐️

Research focused on space and now finally in space has taken off again thanks to funding of individuals across the world. With their support, four lucky astronauts are part of the 6th expedition to travel through space and study the biology, weather, and geology of new planets. Taking you through the travel report of their 4 planets they visited, Ariadne and the crew of Lawki 6 share their worries, joys, and adventure is this amazing novella.

Four explorers on a long term mission to find out more about how life evolved. They've become a family. And when news from Earth stop to come in, decisions have to be made.

I love how Chambers manages to talk science without it going over the heads of the reader.

#FabulousFebruary @Andrew65

A novella that packs a punch. I went into this pretty much knowing nothing aside from recognizing the author name and I came out having read a fantastic small story about humanity, our choices and life. Beautifully written, you get very attached to these characters in a very short amount of time. I finished this a few days ago and it‘s still sticking with me. The science in this is so well done that it truly feels like this novella is possible.

Just delightful. A thoughtful amount of fascinating science; endearing, very real characters; heartwarming found family dynamics; an optimism heartening but not naive. 4 astronauts embark on a lengthy journey into another solar system to do research about life on 4 planets. Halfway through, communications from Earth complicate their mission. All queer crew! One bi+ woman, one unspecified queer woman, one ace guy, & one trans guy. Love to see it!

Loved this novella. Becky Chambers writes so beautifully and I was totally engrossed in this letter from an astronaut back to earth. It celebrates science, curiosity, and the human need to explore.

If you think you don't like sci-fi, maybe this could be the book to change your mind? 😉

Sci-fi isn‘t usually my jam but this was an interesting, brief read. There‘s not a huge amount of plot in this novella, rather it‘s a meditation on why we explore space, and what it means to find a home in our world(s). I really enjoyed this.

This is a beautifully-told tale of an exploration ship sent out to find new habitable worlds that Earth could settle, who continue long after their mission has been forgotten back home. There isn't much plot, what there is is more of a meditation on why we explore the universe.

This Hugo Best Novella nominee about 4 astronauts on a scientific mission describes really well what it means to be a scientist and the story celebrates discovery and exploration. I love that the title comes from a message from Earth to extraterrestrials sent on the Voyager missions. #hugo2020 #hugoawards

#JubilantJuly @Andrew65

I have learned that Becky Chambers's books are not for me. Which is too bad because I'm sympathetic to her themes of community and cooperation. But for me her stories are too light on plot and absent of dramatic tension. So also this one, except that by now I know what to expect in a Chambers story and so was not disappointed. I did appreciate the theme of scientific research as a force for social cohesion, and enjoyed the cool alien biology.

An interesting listen, with a good narrator, that asks questions more than supplies answers (in a good way). I enjoyed the descriptions of the various planets and the close-knit crew.

It just never quite grabbed me like Chambers‘ Record of a Spaceborn Few.
#AdvanceListeningCopy

The novella category is always super strong for the Hugos so it really shouldn't have surprised me how much this book f'ed me up. It started off a fascinating portrayal of space exploration for science and ended up with me stuck in a book fugue. Five stars.

I have been absent from Litsy for a while, as I needed a break from social media. I have read a bunch of books during that time but not too many great ones. Did love the tagged one which I finished today ♥️

What a cool book! It‘s kind of a space travelogue, told by a scientist sent out with 3 teammates to study other Goldilocks planets.

I loved this! If you like both sci-fi and natural ecology non-fiction, this might be perfect for you.

Lots of bonus points for a bisexual main character.

this is my first Becky Chambers read and i see why she was recommended to me. although this novella did not “wow“ me, i did enjoy the writing style. i am curious to read one her full length novels.

The writing style was beautiful and the characters relatable, but the end was not so great.

I some ways this felt like not much more a playground for Chambers to explore ideas she had for alien environments and creatures. But she‘s such a strong writer, and her characters are so beautifully rendered that you don‘t mind coming along for the ride. This wasn‘t quite as satisfying as her Wayfarer books, but still has everything in it that I enjoy about that series.

It's fortuitous that we lacked the live video coverage of the Apollo and Eridania missions, because the immortal words that flowed forth from mission specialist Jack Vo's mouth as he became the first human to set foot on this new planet were: 'What the fuck is that?'
We left that portion of audio out of our official report.

This was a nice surprise. I finished reading the Murderbot series and this came up as a recommendation. It has openminded characters as astronauts on a lifelong journey in which they sleep between the worlds they explore and instead of terraforming the land, their bodies are changed to handled the new world, decades later. It is such an creative look a space travel with interesting, yet subtle characters and diverse world building.

After all the fun and great books of #NewYearWhoDis, a giveaway too? You‘re awesome, @monalyisha ☺️

Just like last year, I loved getting to read from someone else‘s favorites. I read five books from my match‘s list, and really enjoyed them all. My favorite was the tagged book. Thanks again for such a great selection, @sebrittainclark 😃

From the top list, I‘ve only read number 7. From the bottom: 1, 2, 3, and 5.

Wow! Becky Chambers's To Be Taught, If Fortunate is a phenomenal example of a science fiction novella. Narrated by Ariadne, one among a handful of space explorers on a science-focused expedition, the novel examines the emotional distance that accompanies the decision to explore the solar system. In their search, the crew focuses to a remarkable extent on the mundane: ⬇️

Been riding out a migraine spiral for about a week. It‘s always frustrating, but man, it makes me appreciate my library. Just went out and grabbed a bag of books, and it was so worth tiring myself out! They always have something new or new-to-me that I can get excited about. I‘m so excited to get into more Becky Chambers and learn more about human history in her universe. Also pictured is Ripley, has already pushed the book out of my lap once.

A scifi book about astronauts who go out to explore new worlds knowing that time on earth will pass much more quickly than their subjective time. So they must leave everyone they love.

The book was good and thought provoking but not as good as the Wayfarers series. Well, I don't know if it wasn't as good as much as it wasn't the same type of scifi which was disappointing to me. I really liked the end but I won't spoil it for you!

I‘m trying to get back into sci-fi with this novella. Becky Chambers is one of my favorite sci-fi authors. I love her Wayfarers series and can‘t wait to see what this standalone novella has to offer.

This sci-fi novella was great. Still thinking about it and actually considering reading it again. A short read but very impactful ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Becky Chambers did it again. :)

Sometimes I catch myself thinking science fiction isn‘t really for me, and then I remember Becky Chambers exists and writes incredibly good sci-fi. And thank the stars for that.

A fascinating character study about four astronauts traveling to alien planets in a not-so-distant future. A perfect blend of science and humanity that doesn‘t at all need a sequel, but gosh I would love one.

Another great read for #NewYearWhoDis.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

After a long (unintentional) hiatus, I have returned! One of my goals this year is to keep better track of what I‘m actually reading. I‘m using a journal, but also wanted to get back to using Litsy and the two things went hand in hand. So here I am today, on a dreary Sunday afternoon with a cat, a cup of tea, and a new novella.

A tightknit squad of queer scientists in moments of jubilation and crisis as they explore a far flung star system. A love song to science and space exploration, an invitation to seek the stars for knowledge not profit. It feels like it could be a possible prequel to the GC - but there‘s no explicit connection. Just tears, rolling helplessly down my cheek.

"A home can only exist in a moment. Something both found and made. Always temporary, in the grand scheme of things, but vital all the same."

This was like catching up with an old friend. Chambers' imagination of the future is filled with hope and humanity, and she always manages to make me cry. This novella fills her world out a little bit more, and I pray to the stars that she continues writing these books ❤✨

First 5 ⭐ read of 2020.

❤

Why is there no sloth emoji?
🐛🌱

#wintergames #ReadNosedReindeer #TBRRead @Clwojick @StayCurious

Becky Chambers is a marvel. Her gift is in portraying worlds that are messy and complex and realistically difficult, but also beautiful and compassionate and full of thoughtful human (& alien!) kindness. This novella, which exists outside of her Wayfarers series (although possibly a prequel? who knows!), is a lovely poignant read.

I passed my #readingchallenge goal of 100 books a while back--but I always like setting the number at a doable target so that I don't focus on the number so much that I worry about going after long books or riding out the occasional reading slump. #2019ReadingChallenge

Thanks for tagging me @DannyHattan ! I'm tagging @sebrittainclark @ChasingOm @LibrarianRyan and anyone else who wants to take part!

A moth was a caterpillar, once, but it no longer is a caterpillar. It cannot break itself back down, cannot metamorphose in reverse.

1. The New One by Mike Birbiglia

2. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

3. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

5/5

I think Becky Chambers is a phenomenal science fiction writer, and this novella is another example of how good her work is. This is a story about the crew of a spaceship that is studying life on exoplanets. It's about what they find on other planets and what happens while they're gone.

It's a really incredible story, and I can't recommend it enough.

A thoughtful novella outside of the Wayfarers series. It‘s 80 yrs in the future and humans have invented a technology to reform the human body to suit different planets - allowing further space travel. We follow a small scientific crew, quirky and loveable (which Chambers does so well) and through them begin to understand what it‘s like to leave earth for so long, to spend light years in suspended sleep and to explore new planets. Delightful 👍

5 stars / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A great sci-fi story if ever I've read one exploring the future of human space exploration. A crew catalogs incredible new discoveries & are pushed to their psychological limit on a mission to 4 exoplanets. Explores hopeful possibilities about the future as well as dark realities, all with plausible science to back it up. A truly excellent read & one fans of The Martian & The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet will especially enjoy.

Guess who just went to the library to pick up holds and left with... twice as many books😅