Summer Reading!

Summer reading is known in P-12 educational programming to enhance academic retention and boost creativity. As adults and academic professionals, summer reading can not only help you catch up on your TBR list, but also reduce stress as a great escape. The JOSF editorial team participated in summer reading and here's a listing of the books we read:

A few folks on staff read some classics.

Our Managing Editor read and taught George Orwell's '1984' in a summer online class called "Science Fiction & Society"!

Débora Madrid read 'Logan's Run' and said at the top of the summer," I watched the movie years ago but never read the novel. I am collaborating in a book project about this classic so I have to read it carefully and to think a lot about it this summer!"

Sayan Chattopadhyay revisited 1975 collection of stories! Here's his takeaway: "This collection pushes the boundaries of science fiction through sharp feminist lenses. Even just two stories in, I can sense how Tiptree weaves dazzling plots revolving around alien invasions, sentient ads, love-as-doom into something far deeper. It feels like an excavation of the emotional damage shaped by gender, war, and isolation. I’m looking forward to how the remaining stories continue to unsettle not just with more of such ideas, but with emotional precision and a haunting kind of honesty."

Newer titles were tackled too!

Kris Larsen read Micaiah Johnson's 'The Space Between Worlds' and had this to say: "Dystopias, parallel universes, female protagonists: need I say more? I love science fiction that gets the science right (or right-ish); a positive book review from  New Scientist magazine (including a comparison to Stephen Baxter!)  colored me intrigued. I’m looking forward to reading this on a long flight  between continents (rather than universes)."

Deputy Editor Barbara Jasny said, "I have read some of Tchaikovsky’s solidly hard sci-fi and heard that this HUGO award finalist was very different. It is, in fact, a wryly humorous satire on the collapse of society that results from human nature and technological development. It focuses on a robot valet who kills his master and then embarks on an epic journey through a crumbling world that leads him to discover his own free will."

And comics weren't excluded!!

Sayan read the 'Mrityubhumi' comic series. He had this to say: "A gripping post-apocalyptic saga where an unknown outbreak turns humans into immortal cannibalistic beings. What sets it apart is its local voice, as Kolkata becomes both the battlefield and memoryscape here, which, to me in literature, is new. It’s horror rooted in place, forcing us to ask: where do we run when the monsters wear our faces? Or rather, who actually is the monster? I'm enjoying every page of this post-apocalyptic Kolkata."

Anthony capped off the summer with John Jennings' 'Blue Hand Mojo', saying, "If you loved Sinners and want to see more Black Southern folklore in speculative fiction, look no further!"