January 2025 Reading

Published: 2025-02-01 1:30 PM

Category: Books | Tags: reading, science fiction, space travel, mary doria russel, mary roach

New year, new books! I finished three in January and I'm on my way to however far I get in 2025.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void - Mary Roach

I enjoyed this book more than the other book I read by Mary Roach, Fuzz. Mary has a ton of sidebar humor thrown in and she covers a lot of the details of space travel that aren't discussed in most publications. Each chapter was dedicated to a particular facet of living in space from hygiene to bone loss in zero gravity. She quotes early astronauts (Jim Lovell and Frank Borman are frequently featured) along with the researchers and engineers who have to solve the problems that come with living in space.

Peter and the Shadow Thieves - Dave Barry

Another read-aloud to my kids, this is the second book in the Peter and the Starcatchers series. This was a sprawling book, going from Mollusk Island (Never Land) to London and beyond. Peter goes to warn Molly and her father of approaching danger and has to figure out how to navigate the dangers of London. Meanwhile, the other Lost Boys are left alone on Mollusk Island to figure out how to make do without Peter.

I don't think it was as good as the first book and several parts felt very drawn out, but my kids and I had fun reading it together.

Children of God - Mary Doria Russell

This is the sequel to The Sparrow, which told the story of Jesuit priests travelling to Alpha Centauri following music heard by SETI. I read that back in 2020, which was an emotional trip. This book was no different. Set years after Emilio Sandoz was returned to Earth, it picks up the story with a second mission of priests returning to Rakhat with Sandoz unwillingly brought along.

I started and stopped a couple times while reading it because the themes were so heavy. New characters emerge and we learn about what happened to both Emilio and the peoples of Rakhat following The Sparrow. Each of the plots wove together seamlessly and brought the entire Rakhat story to a fitting end.

Onward to February! I keep track of current and upcoming reading on LibraryThing if you want to see other books I've read and what I have coming up.