Goliath

Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi, 327 pages

It's just 30-40 years in the future, and after centuries of ecological, economical, and racial disparity in policies and action, the rich white folks of the U.S. have left behind the dregs of the country to live in a space station colony. This book, however, is mainly about those who are left — mainly poor people of color, struggling every day with toxic air and depleting resources. Yes, there are a few people returning from the space colony as journalists and first-wave gentrifiers, but the bulk of this book is about the everyday people who are struggling to survive in New Haven, Connecticut.

This was not an easy book to read on many levels — there's not much of a storyline, and it's hard to tell who's speaking and when each passage is taking place, while the struggles of the left-behind people juxtaposed with the cringey journalists and Earth returnees make the events of the books uncomfortable. But I'm pretty sure this book isn't supposed to be an easy read. It's meant to be read and ruminated on and discussed, and I came out of our Orcs & Aliens discussion last night with a much greater appreciation for the book than I had going into the chat. Read this if you're ready for some deep introspection about race, class, and political and ecological policies in the U.S.

The 22 Murders of Madison May

The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry, 322 pages

Madison May is a beautiful young real estate agent when a showing goes awry and she ends up murdered in the house she's trying to sell. She's also an aspiring actress who gets murdered in the alley outside her house on the way home from an audition. New York Daily News reporter Felicity Staples is researching the first of Madison's murders when she accidentally slips into a parallel universe and learns about the second murder. Soon Felicity is on a parallel universe-hopping race to keep Madison's obsessed killer from murdering her yet again.

This sci-fi-tinged thriller is gripping and fast-paced, particularly because you're never exactly sure what's going to be different in each world. Sure, the science of the movement between universes is very hand-wavy, but it's still an intriguing premise for a thriller, and a very quick read.

A Beginning at the End

A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen, 390 pages

Six years after a pandemic has knocked out 70% of the world's population, life is starting to return to a sort-of normal. People have settled into Metro areas or hippie-esque Reclaimed areas, though there are looting gangs that still rove around the countryside. In San Francisco Metro, former pop star Moira is trying to shed her past identity, despite her estranged father's controlling attempts to track her down, while widower Rob is trying his best to raise his 7-year-old daughter Sunny, who thinks her mom is coming back. And then there's Krista, who, even before the pandemic, decided to move forward and never look back. But the reemergence of a flu strain like the one that caused the pandemic heightens anxieties, throwing these four into each others' lives in ways they never imagined.

Oof. This was a hard one to read right now, as COVID-19 cases keep rising in the U.S. I certainly wouldn't have read this if I didn't have to for a committee I'm on, especially because of how realistic all of the press releases and politicians' speeches are, despite the book being written and released BEFORE COVID-19 hit. (Really, the least realistic thing about the whole book is the president taking the disease seriously... and the fact that the president is a woman.) I can't recommend reading this one, at least not for several more years.