Great novels

I read a lot,  but never the books you'll find in book clubs.  I read romance,  science fiction,  post apocolypse and fantasy.  I read a lot and most of it is pretty good.  Books I'm happy to pass the time with,  books that I smile on rereading.

I read The Space Between Worlds when it first came out and really enjoyed it.  A lot of science fiction has superior writing - think of Ursuala le Guin or Margaret Atwood.  I hold Micaiah Johnson up to those standards.  The writting is excellent,  but what I reallly loved is what she did with the notion of the multiverse and how it works.  

I didn't know she had written a sequel,  I just stumbled across it on amazon.  So I reread The Space Between Worlds - love rereading! - then started the new book - Those Beyond the Wall.   Set in the same universe,  ten or so years later,  with some familiar characters but introducing the amazing Mr Scales.  I loved it even more.  

I don't want to give spoilers,  but I do want people who may be on the fence about science fiction or just buying a new book today a gentle nudge - go get this one.  Or at least read the reviews which are deep and thoughtful and show why you should immerse yourself in this gorgeous writing and fierce ideology today! 

I have seen the future...

I love science fiction.  The best of it can hold up a mirror to us today and show us what is possible, probable,  actual...   So Black Mirror is perfectly named.  It's a British series about disturbingly possible futures.  Season Three has come out on Netflix and I just watched the first episode,  Nosedive.

It felt to achingly,  truly possible.  We are in a pastel pretty society where all that matters is your social rankings,  and most exchanges with others are ranked.  Everyone walks glued to their phones,  watching their rankings climb or fall and some (not all,  but certainly our sweet heroine) longing for a higher slot that would get her into a better class of apartment, job, life.

So my heart ached for Lacie and the tortures she put herself through.  This episode felt completely real and possible to me and I don't want it.  It's easy for me,  I'm not really a native of this internet age,  and can take it or leave it.  But for those born in it, it's hard to shrug off.  This show reveals the dangers of that.

I recently read an interview with Pixie Geldof,  a girl born to both fame and tragedy,  and how she says it was so hard to turn into herself when the media was selling an idea of her when she wasn't even fully formed yet (the wild child,  the crazy named Geldof girl)

I think that's true for all girls (and boys) growing up on facebook, instagram and snapchat etc...  those images create perceptions and then all of a you is trapped in that box.  That's why I like tarot,  it's a multi faceted reflection of you,  there are so many cards to pick,  and all of you can be expressed through it...