Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir

From Storygraph: Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission–and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery–and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone. Or does he? 

My Thoughts: I mostly enjoyed this story and I want to see the movie. I’m always curious how people are going to translate the written descriptions—will it be anything like I visualised when I was reading it? I loved the imaginative take on possible alien life evolved in different conditions and the interaction between the two main characters. I disliked the narrator’s voice. It felt too juvenile for the character. I also found the flashbacks, although needed for the overall plot line were a bit disruptive to the plot flow for me. 4-stars.

Practicing Christianity – Margaret M. Miles

From Storygraph: Men and women throughout history have learned to shape their lives around Christian ideas, attitudes, and values in many different ways. They have been helped by liturgies, sermons, visual imagery, religious drama, and hymns. But perhaps the most important sources were the classic devotional manuals, like The Imitation of Christ and The Pilgrim’s Progress, many of which are still in use today. In this book, Margaret Miles subjects these devotional manuals to a detailed critique. Miles speaks as a scholar, as a Christian living in the modern world, and as a woman, and she ends by discussing the relevance of her findings to Christian life today. Dr. Miles rightly highlights the importance of manuals in the spiritual formation of lay people down the ages. Her ‘active and disobedient’ reading of historical texts which were written for the ‘care and cultivation of an interior life’ engages the reader in a serious and fascinating study. In fact she has succeeded in fulfilling every literary critic’s dream. She has written a book which sends us straight back to her primary sources by providing richly documented insights into the relevance of the imagery to our contemporary search for God.

My Thoughts: I had high hopes for this book but in the end it didn’t deliver in the way I wanted. The author looked at various historical points of view on practicing Christianity. I think part of my issue with it was that the author was particularly focused on critiquing and bringing forth valuable learnings for her time, but the context has changed significantly since 1990 and we are facing a heap of different problems piled on top of the nuclear question. 2.5 stars, not because it was a bad book, more because it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton

From Storygraph: Dutiful Newland Archer, an eligible young man from New York high society, is about to announce his engagement to May Welland, a suitable match from a good family, when May’s cousin, the beautiful and exotic Countess Ellen Olenska, is introduced into their circle. The Countess brings with her an aura of European sophistication and a hint of perceived scandal, having left her husband and claimed her independence. Her worldliness, disregard for society’s rules, and air of unapproachability attract the sensitive Newland, despite his enthusiasm about a marriage to May and the societal advantages it would bring. Almost against their will, Newland and Ellen develop a passionate bond, and a classic love triangle takes shape as the three young people find themselves drawn into a poignant and bitter conflict between love and duty. Written in 1920, Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a time and place long gone by–1870s New York City–beautifully captures the complexities of passion, independence, and fulfillment, and how painfully hard it can be for individuals to truly see one another and their place in the world.

My Thoughts: We read this for the latest round of the CBBC. I think people either loved it or hated it and I loved it. I thought it was quite funny, the way she brings to the fore all the ridiculous rules and expectations of the day but also sad because everyone is so stuck. I’ve been dipping into Les Miserables and it is not dissimilar in that respect. Of course I hated all the characters, they need a good shake up. 4.5 stars.

The Correspondent – Virginia Evans

From Storygraph: 84 Charing Cross Road meets A Man Called Ove in this heartwarming, witty story about the life of an extraordinary woman, told through her letters. In her letters to family and friends we come to know the life of Sybil Van Antwerp: stubborn, cantankerous, opinionated, always steadfast in her belief in the power of the written word. But as the clock begins to tick for Sybil, the need for a few post-scripts to the life she’s led becomes apparent. Fixing her difficult relationship with her children. Taking a final chance at romance. Atoning for an old legal case which has come back to haunt her. And finally, reckoning with a devastating loss that she has spent the last thirty years holding close to her chest.

My Thoughts: Like just about everyone who has read this, I loved it. 5 stars.