“Some alien civilisation might look on and ask: what are they doing here? Why do they go nowhere but round and round? The earth is the answer to every question. The earth is the face of an exulted lover: they watch it sleep and wake and become lost in its habits. The earth is a mother waiting for her children to return, full of stories and rapture and longing. Their bones a little less dense, their limbs a little thinner. Eyes filed with sights that are difficult to tell.”

Orbital is a day in the diary of 6 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard a space station. As the space station orbits the earth, it experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets in a 24-hour period. The book is light on plot and character development but still an outstanding read for me. The prose is captivating and meditative. We follow the characters through these 16 orbits, get a sneak preview of their lives back on earth and on the space station and most importantly we participate in their journey as they document and admire our only home – Earth.

Orbital is an ode to planet Earth. The low-orbit perspective offers the crew a chance to marvel at the beauty and magnificence of the planet’s continents, mountains, rivers, valleys, deserts, etc. During daytime there are no visible traces of humans. Mankind’s presence can be seen only during night when cities light up. It is a humbling thought that we humans - who are so proud of our existence and consciousness - are hardly noticeable in broad daylight few thousands of kilometres above ground. We search for heaven in skies but what if we are already in heaven here on earth. It is only a matter of perspective – a fact alluded to throughout the book through various examples.

We have come a long way from thinking that earth was the center of our universe to knowing that we are a pale blue dot in a vast expanse of stars and galaxies.

“Its not everything and its not nothing, but it seems much more than something.”

American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton

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informative mysterious fast-paced

4.5

Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In the opening scene of the book, we find our author and narrator, Gabriela Wiener, at an ethnographic museum in Paris in the pre-Colombian artifacts exhibition section. Gabriela is Peruvian and resembles the faces of the sculptures she is seeing at the museum. What is unusual is that she shares the surname of the European plunderer, Charles Weiner (a Jewish-Austrian), who brought over these artifacts to France in late 1800s. Shortly after, Gabriela’s father passes away leaving her the translated copy of Charles’ work, “Peru and Bolivia”.

I found parts of the book very moving. We see the author navigate grief by digging into her family's past and her father's affair. We find out from Peru and Bolivia, how racist and hypocritical Charles was. At times praising the magnificence of the Incan past and the very next moment slandering it. It is speculated that Charles left a lineage in Peru of which Gabriela is a descendant. I found the author's quest to uncover the truth and reconcile her heritage compelling. The author examines how her lineage has impacted her life. She is in a polyamorous relationship with a South American male and white Spaniard women. During her visit to Peru, she engages in an affair, prompting her to ponder the possible connection between her actions and her familial history of infidelity. However, this aspect of the narrative turned me off. While the author acknowledges her confusion and tumultuous life, I struggled to discern the correlation between her choices and her lineage.

We read about the colonizers, racism, the brutal treatment given to natives and the most disheartening of it - the human zoo. Those parts are not easy to read. It brought back some history lessons I learned as a kid about colonisation in India. I found the concept of ‘Decolonisation of your desire’ intriguing and wished it was explored further. The Panchiland poem that Gabriela writes for that group is intense.

Undiscovered is an autofiction - part autobiography and part fiction. A genre very new to me that left me occasionally frustrated trying to distinguish between fact and fiction. It’s a book that will read differently to different readers, sometimes thought provoking and at other times messy. Julia Sanches is the translator for Undiscovered. She also translated Boulder which was shortlisted last year.

Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior

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challenging sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Prophet Song is a story of a family and society caught in midst of a war. It all begins when Eilish, a scientist and mother of four, answers her door to find the secret police on her doorstep asking for her husband, a trade unionist. Soon after her husband is taken in for interrogation by the secret police. As the war breaks out and everything, they know changes, Eilish's eldest son, Mark vanishes.

The night the police knock, darkness enters Eilish's home and makes itself comfortable. Darkness is a character that silently runs the show in this story. We go through our lives without noticing its hidden presence that is just beyond the light we know and take for granted. This story is heartbreaking and harrowing and sadly a reality across the world today. We briefly see these stories on TV but in Prophet Song you are part of the spectacle. During an author talk I attended, the author mentioned that one of his goals with this story was to move past the sympathy and get to empathy. I think he delivered on that precisely.

The story takes shape around Eilish’s consciousness. We see her struggles to stay strong and maintain her composure for her children but at the same time silently chipping away parts of herself. Some of her decisions frustrate the reader but I think this is where the empathy comes into play. Its easy to criticize when one is an outsider but if one puts oneself in Eilish’s shoes one might end up at the same place.

The book makes you question humanity and how do you find hope in amidst a war. Is there hope to be found? We see the trauma play out in Eilish’s children with Molly, an out-going personality turning inwards and Bailey maturing too early for his age. These and thousands of the other children going through something similar would be forever changed for life. At that impressionable age what do they make of the world we have created?

Prophet Song is a challenging read but a much-needed one today.

Thank you Publishers Group Canada for my copy.

The Defector by Chris Hadfield

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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_head_full_of_books_'s reviews 43 reviews

_head_full_of_books_'s reviews
43 reviews