Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

As I rule, I'm not a sci-fi fan. I don't know why, it's just never really pulled me in. Maybe it's deeprooted trauma from being made to watch Star Wars on repeat when I was younger both by my Dad and my brother. My brain just shuts down and I'm not interested.

But a few years ago I went to see The Martian and I thoroughly enjoyed it. (If I remember rightly I was on a bit of Matt Damon binge at the time). I then read Artemis and though that was cool as hell, and then I went back and read The Martian... incredible.

So when Project Hail Mary came out, I was obviously going to give it a go.

I cannot put into words how impressive I found this book. It might be because I have a limited point of reference but:

It was the first time I've ever had to put a book down because I actually felt like I was going to throw up from Vertigo. WEIR MANAGED TO MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS PHYSICALLY IN SPACE

I actually had to sit up in my ~~pit~~ bed at points because I was so tense.

Now I'm not saying I don't normally feel emotions when I read books because I do; I cry, I laugh out loud, I cringe. But to feel such intense feelings that had drawn me in so deep... bloody brilliant.

Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship. His two crew mates are dead and he's just woken up from a three year medically induced coma to do... something. But he can't remember what.

The story is told through a series of flashbacks amongst his real time experiences and he works out pretty early on that's he's there to save the world. OF COURSE HE IS.

The science in this book is mind-blowing. It could all be complete bollocks for all I know. I haven't even so much as thought about a petri dish in 20 years. But it sounded bloody good.

Grace is such a normal person too. He's not even an astronaut - he's a high school science teacher. And his thought processes throughout the entire ordeal (because that's exactly what it is) are perfectly reasonable given his situation.

This is an incredible story, written absolutely fantastically. I don't think they'd ever turn it into a film, but I would be first in line to see it.

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Christmas At The Island Hotel - Jenny Colgan

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times - for me, snuggling down with a Jenny Colgan book is like a hug from an old friend. And Christmas At The Island Hotel is no exception. Now, this is part of a series in the way that it follows a family of characters for their fourth installment, however as always, this works perfectly as a standalone book. Fintan, grieving the loss of his partner, has been left to open The Rock - the hotel on the island of Mure. Suddenly, this born and bred farmer needs to source a kitchen team to maintain the legacy of his late partner. And now he has a French chef that no one else wants, working in his kitchen. Konstantin, Norwegian party boy and all round spoilt brat, has been cast out by his Dad and has to learn how to be self sufficient. He finds himself on the remote island of Mure, halfway between Scotland and Norway, with no money, no friends and no idea how to chop an onion, As always, Jenny expertly weaves the lives of the characters togeth

This Time Next Year - Sophie Cousens

I wanted a wholesome New Years based read to finish 2022 with, and This Time Next Year delivered! I originally added this to my list back at the beginning of 2021 and I found it on Apple Books for just £3.99 so decided to go all in. Minnie and Quinn were both born on the 1st January 1990. Born in the same hospital, to strangers, they meet again on the morning of their 30th birthday after an eventful New Years Eve. This book reminded me a lot of One Day - the way the story is laid out - flashbacks to New Years Eves of years gone by, showed where each of the characters were at the varying points of their lives. With interwoven stories throughout the years, the two begin a friendship that neither of them quite have the time or inclination for. This was the perfect cosy read for the end of the year and I sped through it in one evening.

Barbarian Lover - Ruby Dixon

If someone told me 6 months ago that I'd be using Blue Alien smut as a palette cleanser between my books.. I probably would have laughed at them. But that's apparently the BookTok curse. Once again, I found myself diving into the world of Ruby Dixon's sci-fi romance series and this time we were following Kara's story. Once again, this is a FUN series. The format is similar in all of them, so it's not groundbreaking writing or literary fiction but it's good natured, easy to read and there's plenty of big blue alien d*ck.

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