April 2025 BookSnacks
Vol. 28—Scientifically Fictitious
Welcome back to BookSnacks! I’m so grateful you’re here! In this letter you’ll see:
The BookSnacks you might have missed!
Our regular book reviews
From the Book-ish Market (emphasis on ‘ish’)
What I saved on Substack this month
Exciting, right?! Let’s get to it.
And if you find something useful or joyful or meaningful here, you can buy me a coffee or become a paid subscriber! This monthly letter is free but paid subscribers get access to The Reading Pantry, where I answer questions about all aspects of reading, and The Young Reader’s Bite, a specific book guide for kids of all ages!
Snacks you might have missed this month:
The Reviews!
I have read four, yes four, sci-fi books by male authors this month and two by female authors. This is a genre that I apparently only read 1-2 times a year and hence why I haven’t before this month noticed the very stark and maybe annoying(?) tropes and patterns in the genre. For efficiency I will bullet the list.
Male authors like to write male main leads in first person POV
They also like for there to be some sexual scenario that is only possible because of the fictional science they have created in their story
They also like to leave the book on a gigantic unknown—not the kind where you want to know what happens next—just something you don’t know, and probably never will
Female authors like their science to create emotional turmoil and unknowns rather than physical
Female authors also like to write some sexual scenario only made possible by the fictional science in their book
While many science fiction novels have done well to predict the future or to at least try to ward us away from it, there are many that simply exist for the fun of fake science. And, it seems, those are the ones I chose this month. Let’s get into it.
Currently Reading
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (‘21) 📖
Midread Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read if you like:
Interstellar (available for free with Hulu sub)
Arrival (available for free with Hulu sub)
Libro.FM $20 | Bookshop $18 | Barnes and Noble $20 | Amazon $14
I think I’ve convinced myself that I read The Martian by Andy Weir when it was released many moons (get it?) ago but I have this distant inkling that I didn’t. I do know that I saw the movie and it was delightful. Now, Project Hail Mary, Weir’s third novel. This film is to be released in March 2026 and it stars Ryan Gosling. The story follows a junior high science teacher as he’s recruited to save the planet and humanity on a solo mission to another solar system. It was exciting for about a third, then got boring for a couple chapters but has significantly picked up since. The science in Weir’s books is always fun to read about. He has an ability to describe and explain things in a way that makes me feel like I understand it. I love that the main character has a unique sense of humor. And now that I’ve gotten a better grasp of it I can easily see why they cast Ryan Gosling in this movie. He’ll likely be perfect for it! Can’t wait!
Just Finished
The Measure by Nikki Erlick (‘22) 🎧
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read if you like:
Libro.FM $20 | Bookshop $18 | Barnes and Noble $17 | Amazon $14
I went into this book blind. I do that a lot and it rarely pays off, you’d think I would learn something from that. I heard talk of this book from a few avid readers who said they ‘haven’t stopped thinking about it’ or that it was ‘life-changing’ and added it to my list. It’s set to be adapted and thus I determined I must read it. Now, after reading it, I have determined that maybe I won’t be able to trust those who recommended this one. The premise, now having read it, does sound promising. One day everyone in the entire world is delivered a box with an inscription that says, “The measure of your life lies within.” It is soon discovered that the boxes hold an indicator of the length of a person’s life. The book follows eight people’s journey after receiving their boxes. This may have been a 5-star read had the writing really blown me away or the character development been deeper. I did enjoy it, it just didn’t break the Top 10.
Vintage Read
The Electric State by Simon Stalenhag 🎧🎥
Read if you like:
Libro.FM $7 | Bookshop $37 | Barnes and Noble $20 | Amazon $15
I chose this book because, of course, the adaptation was being released this year. When it came time to hunt it down it was difficult to find. No library had a physical copy and I could only find the audio book. After purchasing it and listening to it, and feeling like it was a bit vague or underdeveloped I discovered it is actually a graphic novel. So, I declare user error for my first read. In the book it’s 1997, and a runaway teenager and her yellow toy robot travel west through a dystopian USA. The ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside, heaped together with the discarded trash of a high tech consumerist society in decline. The teenager and her robot companion set out to save the dystopian wreck that the world has become. Now, had I read the physical book, I might have understood it better and maybe even enjoyed it more. Look at these drawings from the book:
So beautiful and interesting and full of feeling, right? I love them so much.
I also watched the movie adaptation on Netflix, of the same title. It stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. Stanley Tucci is also in it, but he’s the bad guy. I actually really enjoyed this movie, my full review is on this month’s podcast episode.
The Book-ish Market
In Book-ish buying news, the plans for the bookstore are moving forward. I am very nervous and scared that it is going to go terribly. But I’m trying really hard to pump myself up and say it will maybe be fine! Should we do a big ol’ name announcement soon?? Anyway…
Papier is having a sale on photo books and a few other items for Mother’s Day, I love their journals and planners, especially the daily planner and the recipe journals.
My latest beauty routine addition now that the sun is out. So far, it’s fairly lightweight and doesn’t stink so I’m on board.
Just rebought this for the fourth time! And I’ll never quit it.
My new favorite shirt—I’m already ordering it in three other colors. I’ve learned I apparently need to order things in ‘tall,’ so that’s what I’ve done and it fits great.
Substack Saves
of teaches us how to do nothing this summer and I love it. I’m all in. recently posted a study on everything coming up Greek and it was a delightful read. Favorite quote: “We return to these stories not because we’ve forgotten how they end, but because we’re still trying to understand what they mean.” It was so delightful to read some analytical text for a change. Felt like I was back in college.🤓Snacks-To-Go
Dark Matter: A scientist figures out how parallel universes work and attempts to switch lives with himself. Interesting but the writing fell flat for me and there were parts I wish had been better developed or had more depth. It’s been adapted on Apple TV and I liked the first couple episodes.
The Ministry of Time: Ummm, Meh? The writing for this one also fell flat for me. Another very interesting concept and it also had me pretty hooked for some intermittent chapters. There is a time travel ministry attempting to ‘save humanity’ by ‘adjusting’ the past. They are bringing historical figures into the modern days. The timelines and such got confusing at the end. Liked, didn’t love.
Mickey 7: A quick, snippy futuristic novel that involves multiple clones of the same person and their attempt at keeping both of their selves alive. It was good, until i ad the epiphany on the podcast about why the author might have actually written it🤢
And that’s it!
There are 207 of us here! Thank you for reading here today! I’m grateful for you.
If you found something to add to your TBR or something to remove😉, become a paid subscriber so you don’t miss the weekly content. Or buy me a drank!
Talk soon,
Adri