🪐🚀👨🏻‍🚀Aliens, Banned Books and Dragons!

 

Walking to Aldebaran is a standalone novella by Adrian Tchaikovsky about astronauts from Earth who get the privilege of being the first to examine an alien artifact in the Kuyper Belt. It appears to be an artificially created portal (wormhole) to other planets. But what is it really? And what is it capable of? This was a creepy, quick read.

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    Rogue Protocol, the third novella in The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, finds Murderbot growing into his independence and trying to understand the complicated relationship between humans and robots. He makes friends with another robot similar to him, but not a SecUnit; rather, it is a friend and is befriended by their humans. This makes Murderbot so angry, and he doesn't know why. Wells packs a lot of character growth and exploration into 158 pages. 

Here is a link to the previous Murderbot books: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Murderbot

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One of the best depictions of a middle-aged, menopausal woman who tries to do it all

    The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen is the second book to take place in Tanria, a former prison for the old gods and recently cleared of its infestation of drudges. Bannen's depiction of a middle-aged, menopausal woman who is trying to keep up with being a mom, employer, friend, grandmother, and widow leaves her feeling more like an object and less than a person. The book holds together because Twyla is someone we know, even though her day job is hunting bad guys and helping dragons. She gives lots of mom energy. 

Here is a link to the first book, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Mercy+and+Hart

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    The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman is a Newbery Award Winner, and my club is discussing it this month. I recall reading it when my children were in late elementary school and enjoying its rags-to-riches, prince-and-the-pauper over-the-top storyline. But it has been challenging to find. When I reread it, I think I understand why. Jemmy, the rat catcher's orphan son, becomes the crown prince's, Prince Brat, whipping boy. This is a historical truth. There were children designated to receive the punishment of the royals who misbehaved. There are several scenes of children being whipped. I suspect that has led to its decline. It will make for an interesting discussion!

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   I chose  Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller because it was on a list of books about books. It was a book about the power of books to educate and to change hearts and minds. George R. R. Martin says: A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. Some studies show people who read tend to be more empathetic: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3559433

    I wanted to like this book because I have found that books can be transformative in understanding others who hold convictions that differ from my own. I think this book aimed to do that, but in the end, what I experienced was that only those who read banned books would have the "right" set of beliefs. This made the characters on both sides of the moral divide two-dimensional and stereotypical

    Another theme could be: our secrets make us sick, and I agree there are complex topics like racism,  abuse, and fake news that need to be discussed, but I doubt anyone responds well to "only ignorant idiots would believe that." 

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