Red Mars, Green Mars: Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, not exactly brand new, but it’s been on my list for forever. I enjoy it a lot - it classifies as hard science fiction, the author has clearly researched the subject to bits. It’s actually quite impressive in its erudition. And at the same time it’s keeping the reader interested by keeping the same cast of characters around. One more book to go!

The Calculating Stars: book club book, Hugo award winner. alternate timeline story: a meteor falls on Washington in the 50s, an extinction level event. Humanity has about 50 years to find a solution, and one possible avenue is space travel. The protagonist is a young woman who’s working for NASA, and has been dreaming of becoming an astronaut forever - but women don’t get that option. We’re also talking about an era before computers, or rather when computers were women. I’m the target market for this book, although I’m not sure I 100% liked it, although I can’t put my finger on why. I read the sequel after finishing, where the main character is going to Mars. Wait, Mars again? A theme for this month.

The kick-ass writer: Chuck Wendig writes his advice on how to write. I’m not sure it’s up there with Stephen King’s On Writing, but it’s definitely entertaining.

The month has speeded by, and it feels like October is going the same way. ‘Metro boulot dodo’ as we say in french, routine presenting one thing after another. Not the worst thing, I suppose. More books next month …