ct smith

FICTION: Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Listening on audiobook during chores.

NONFICTION: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King
Rereading because I have a goal to write more in 2026

We Used To Live Here, Marcus Kliewer - 5/5⭐
Holy smokes, that made me feel like I was losing my grip on reality. Another book picked on vibes because of r/booksthatfeellikethis.

Piranesi, Susanna Clarke - 5/5⭐
Adored it. Accidentally read it in under 24 hours. Picked it up after seeing it recommended a bajillion times on r/booksthatfeellikethis.

Trying to Give Ease: Tommie Bass and the Story of Herbal Medicine, John K. Crellin, Jane Philpott - 5/5⭐
Very well researched, mostly fair and it didn't paint Southern Appalachians as anti-medicine hillbillies, which was refreshing. Other studies of Southern Appalachian plant medicine have been way less balanced and quite enraging. This was very good. Tommie Bass was a fascinating man.

The Germ in the Dairy Pail: The 200-Year War on the World's Most Amazing Food–Milk, Forrest Maready - 3/5⭐
Interesting, gave me a lot to think about -- and the historical context for the distrust of raw milk was neat to learn about. Parts were kind of redundant, it could probably have been 1/3 shorter, and parts felt like they veered toward conspiracy theories, but it was otherwise more balanced than I expected. I had a whole thing written out to defend my academic curiosity because raw milk is controversial, but I've decided that I don't want to defend my curiosity and that if people want to get upset about the books I'm reading, that's their problem and not mine. The world needs curious people who are willing to learn about things they may not agree with.

Roadside Picnic, Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky - 3/5⭐
Listened to this on audiobook during chores. It was entertaining, but I think I would have enjoyed it more as a physical book, not an audiobook.

I Blame Myself But Also You, Spencer Fleury - 4/5⭐
A book of stories written by an old coworker. I preordered it last year and finally read it. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the stories. Fully entertaining.

The Guide, Peter Heller - 5/5⭐
Very entertaining. Read it all in one go on a Saturday night. Grabbed from the library after loving The Dog Stars. I like Peter Heller because I like this prose, but I'm not at all familiar with the Western US, ranch life, or fishing, and it seems he writes about that often. So, it's almost like visiting an alien planet for me.

I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman - 4/5⭐
Can't remember how it ended up on my radar. Loved it after the first few parts.

Nutrition for Women, Ray Peat, PhD - 2/5⭐
IDK why or how this book showed up at my house but I read it. It's a book of essays and articles, I'm not a doctor and much of it was boring, I don't really know what to think about it. I might read more about progesterone.

The Wall, Marlene Haushofer - 5/5⭐
I enjoyed it tremendously. I borrowed my copy from the library, and will buy a copy if I ever seen one secondhanrd.

The Dog Stars, Peter Heller - 5/5⭐
Grabbed this from the libary. I didn't know what to expect. I absolutely loved it, it was heartbreaking and beautiful. I loved the way Heller handles the dialogue, it made it hard to tell what was thoughts and what was said. Very appropriate for the book. Wow. I'm going to buy my own copy to have.

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, Ethan Mollick - 4/5⭐
Enjoyed it very much. Super approachable without a lot of jargon. Feels practical. Listened to this for Tom Johnson's Human in the loop book club.

The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story, Olga Tokarczuk - 3.5/5⭐
I felt it was very slow at first, and I don't enjoy historical stuff much, but it picked up rapidly for me toward the end. The prose was beautiful, I enjoyed it. I was thinking I'd rate it a 2, until I got close to the end. The last quarter of the book made it a worthwhile read and redeemed the experience for me. Picked this up after absolutely loving Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. Both books had the same translator.

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir - 5/5⭐
Picked this up on a whim at Sam's Club. I ABSOLUTLEY LOVED THIS and would read an entire series of books about the characters.

Progressive Delivery: Build the Right Thing for the Right People at the Right Time, James Governor, Kimberly Harrison, Heidi Waterhouse, and Adam Zimman - 4/5⭐
Won an audiobook copy in a giveaway on LinkedIn -- the parts that were relevant to my work were super interesting. Some of it not directly relevant to my role, but the case studies really helped me understand how progressive delivery can be applied in different contexts.

Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg - 4/5⭐
Time to gain bene gesserit witch-like communication powers, or something. This was really good, and I ended up texting several friends to apologize for my communication missteps after reading it.

Hell Divers, Nicholas Sansbury Smith - 3/5⭐
Listening on audiobook during road trips and chores. I found it entertaining and liked that there wasn't explicit content or gratuitous gore. It was really tense the entire time and never let up. I liked the voice actor reading it.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk - 5/5⭐
I really enjoyed this book. I love the Slavic wordiness. I was hooked from the first sentence. I have to return this copy to the library, but will be buying my own copy to read again and annotate.

Lost Souls Meet under a Full Moon, Mizuki Tsujimura - 3/5⭐
Entertaining but it's not really my sort of book. I did like how neatly everything was arranged, though, and there were a few moments that made me feel emotional. Only bought it because the nerdy gal who doesn't make eye contact suggested this while I was checking out at B&N and she's so visibly shy that it must have taken great courage for her to do that and I couldn't say no.

Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton - 5/5⭐
5/5 for page-turningness entertainment value alone. Binge-read in under 24 hours cause it was quite the page-turner! It's even more terrifying now, having worked in tech with various "visionaries" who may or may not remind me of John Hammond.

Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver - 5/5⭐
POTENTIAL SPOILERS. Read like my own memoir, my own voice. I am afflicted. I've never felt so understood but also so many of those feelings I want to ball up and wrap my whole body around and keep them quiet cause there's no way to explain them to folks who ain't lived it. This is the best book I've ever read and it's one of the only things that's ever truly moved me. It wasn't just me. I ended up sob-laughing and reading the last page over and over again cause I can't believe my own good fortune.

Authority, Jeff VanderMeer - 2/5⭐
I found it boring but read it as a means to an end.

Acceptance, Jeff VanderMeer - 3/5⭐
I thought the ending was weak but then I learned he wrote an additional installment 10 years later so I might revise this.

Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer - 4/5⭐
I was entertained and it gave me weird thoughts. I don't read fiction typically, but this short book hooked me. This was part of an actual effort on my part to expand into reading fiction, despite my discomfort.

DOCS AS TESTS, Manny Silva
I preordered it and binged it the day after it released. Great information that I'm still trying to figure out how to apply to my own docsets.

Payments Systems in the US,
Read it for work.

True to Form, Eric Goodman
Read it to rehab an old injury.

Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick, John W. Hurley
Read it out of curiosity.