A Dying Planet

 Book 40 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from March 17 - April 29

A Dying Planet: Short Stories

My Opinion

2 stars

This series of books from Flame Tree Publishing are the only ones I buy for looks first, content second.  I try to choose ones that will interest me but I've also purchased my top contenders so I have to branch out.  Stories with the theme of a dying planet felt appropriate for the dumpster fire we're currently living in.

This is a collection of 34 stories, some new (this is their first publication) and some old (the oldest was an ancient Egyptian myth from around 1350 bc).  As always, I'll include a little something on each individual story below.  Overall, the collection was not my favorite.  I rated it 2 stars because the stories weren't all duds but I had to force myself to buckle down and just finish the book.

Another ding on the book:  there was a story that continued online but wasn't actually available on their website.  

The first few books I read from this series had some stories that continued online (which I don't like as a feature; the stories should stand alone plus if the story is too long to be printed it shouldn't be included in a book of short stories) so then I started checking ahead of time to skip the stories that weren't complete in the book.  Then the next few books I read didn't have any stories that weren't self-contained so I thought it was something they tried and didn't continue.  So I was tricked.  I don't like stories that continue online but it's worse to have it say it continues online and then not be available.

The Destruction of Mankind

This is an ancient Egyptian myth written in hieroglyphics.  I don't have anything to say about it because it wasn't really a story.

How to Reclaim Water

It was very ironic to read a story about rationing and reclaiming water while the sounds of a thunderstorm play in my headphones to cancel out noise.

The letters back and forth was a good way to tell the story and keep it moving, and I like that there wasn't a meeting or final ending.

The Hollow Journal

"I want to say that the world ended all at once on a perfect Saturday, but we all knew the end was coming for a long time."  Oof, what a line.

This was a lovely story and found pockets of humanity in the little that remained.

Power Grid

I could feel the stifling isolation.

Rainclouds

It's amazing how the shift from assuming they were on Earth to finding out they're not can happen with just a few subtle words.  A lot of death for just a few pages but an optimistic ending.

A Quiet, Lonely Planet

That was lovely.  I didn't realize how invested I was until I found myself rooting for her to back to her "home" and friends instead of leaving for somewhere new.

The Arrow of Time

That had an emotional arc I wasn't expecting in such a short story.  I think about time travel a lot.

Acrylics for a Wasteland

I wanted more of an ending.  The character had a lot of emotion and depth that I wasn't expecting from a survival story.

Milking Time

That was a tough (in a good way) read.  Very visceral and too close to the edge of believability, especially with the world we currently live in.  

The Air Trust

Dangit, I let my guard down and was tricked!  The first few books I read from this series had some stories that continued online which I didn't like so then I started checking ahead of time to skip the stories that weren't complete in the book.  Then the next few books I read didn't have any stories that weren't self-contained so I thought it was something they tried and didn't continue.

Unfortunately, this story continued online.  Worse, it said it continued online and then wasn't actually available on their website.

So I read a "short story" that was 42 pages in the book and wasn't the whole story but now I don't know the end.  That's a bummer of my investment.

And now I have to start checking for incomplete stories again.

The Last Day on Earth

Very short.  I read with trepidation, afraid there would be a twist like "The Mist" or something, and I'm glad that wasn't the case.

Omega: The Last Days of the World

This was an absolute stinker that may weigh the whole book down.  52 pages long, I gave up and skimmed just to see what the comet would actually do.  Too analytical and unemotional to get into.

The House on the Borderland

Too long.  I don't think the story fit the theme of the book, it felt like more of a monster/ghost story.  I know I was skimming but I didn't see the connection to a dying planet at all.

The Rediscovery of Plants

Bleak yet beautiful.

The Sun Takers

Very creative and surprisingly emotional.  I was glad things seemed to level out at the end.

Scream and I'll Come to You

There was a lot packed into this short story and I was fully absorbed.

Mono no aware

My palms were sweaty reading the ending.  It was oddly comforting to read a calm, orderly reaction to chaos.  I loved the line, "It is in the face of disasters that we show our strength as a people."

The Dream of Debs

It's amazing the story was written in 1909.  With a few communication changes I can see the same thing playing out today; people's greed and class warfare hasn't changed.

And Fade Out Again

Typically I would feel more claustrophobic reading a story that takes place underwater but the character's calmness made me comfortable as well.  Unexpected ending.

The End of the World

An interlude of mythology before continuing the book.

Free Air

That read like something from a Twilight Zone episode (or maybe the newer reference would be Black Mirror but I haven't seen it).  A sense of apprehension throughout the whole thing with an extra twist at the end.

A Line Cutting Canvas

An interesting concept.  Even if it's not the assignments they want, I'm glad this society appears to take care of all its members.

What Treasures We Store on Earth

It's sad that the most outlandish part of this story is the great treatment parents get.  Sterilization?  I hope it doesn't happen but I can see it.  Benefits such as housing, food, money, and appreciation for new parents?  Unbelievable.

The Final Chapter of Marathon Mandy

Even with the title giving it away I had hoped her ending would be different.

Communal

I felt like this was a long setup for half a page of explanation at the end.  The increasing paranoia and isolation felt realistic.

Ambassador to the Meek

It felt short but had a good arc.

The Empire of the Necromancers

It's ambitious to write a sci-fi short story because throwing a reader into a completely unfamiliar setting with unusual names can feel very overwhelming.  This story wasn't successful to me because I felt lost the entire time and then it was over.

The Isle of the Torturers

I didn't realize until I finished it that the same author wrote this as the one above but it makes sense because I had the same issues with this one.

Decimate

That had the unsettling feeling I expect from doomsday-type stories.  The randomness of the selection would be the hardest part to live with as you wait your turn.

Whose Waters Never Fail

Strangely uplifting.  It was nice to see little pockets of humanity and love amid very tough conditions.

Two Worlds

It was fine.  These stories are in alphabetical order by author and I may have liked this more at the beginning of the book.  I'm bogged down and ready to be done with this book.

A Martian Odyssey

Other than the constant use of 'queer' as a descriptor for strange things, I wouldn't have known this wasn't written by a contemporary author.

The Time Machine

I'd read this story by H.G. Wells before.  Long but fine.

Black Isle

I wish I had a better understanding of what happened to the animals.

The Lantern of Lost Memories

 Book 39 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from April 20 - 24

The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi

published 2019

Summary (via the book jacket)

This is the story of the peculiar and magical photo studio owned by Mr. Hirasaka, a collector of antique cameras. In the dimly lit interior, a paper background is pulled down in front of a wall, and in front of it stands a single, luxurious chair with an armrest on one side. On a stand is a large bellows camera. On the left is the main studio: photos can also be taken in the courtyard.

Beyond its straightforward interior, however, is a secret. The studio is, in fact, the door to the afterlife, the place between life and death where those who have departed have a chance - one last time - to see their entire life flash before their eyes via Mr. Hirasaka's "spinning lantern of memories".

We meet Hatsue, a ninety-two-year-old woman who worked as a nursery teacher, the rowdy Waniguchi, a yakuza overseer in his life who is also capable of great compassion, and finally Mitsuru, a young girl who has died tragically at the hands of abusive parents.

Sorting through the many photos of their lives, Mr. Hirasaka offers guests a second gift: a chance to travel back in time to take a photo of one particular moment in their lives that they wish to cherish in a special way.

Full of charm and whimsy, The Lantern of Lost Memories will sweep you away to a world of nostalgia, laughter, and love.

My Opinion

5 stars

Holy. Shit. What a read.

This small, delicate read was just exquisite. I'm typing this review with a lump in my throat as I'm recommending it to everyone in my family.  Although it looks like it took 4 days to read, I started it on the 20th, realized I would need a blank slate of time to read it all at once, and then had that time today.

I never reread books but not only do I want to read this again, I want to do so immediately.  I probably won't be able to recapture the feelings of the reveals along the way but I think there are things that would mean more now that I know what's happening.

Sex Object

 Book 38 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from April 15 - 19

Sex Object by Jessica Valenti

published 2016

Summary (via Goodreads)

Author and Guardian US columnist Jessica Valenti has been leading the national conversation on gender and politics for over a decade. Now, in a darkly funny and bracing memoir, Valenti explores the toll that sexism takes from the every day to the existential. 

Sex Object explores the painful, funny, embarrassing, and sometimes illegal moments that shaped Valenti’s adolescence and young adulthood in New York City, revealing a much shakier inner life than the confident persona she has cultivated as one of the most recognizable feminists of her generation. 

My Opinion

2 stars

What would I be if I lived in a world that didn't hate women?

This question starts the memoir of Jessica Valenti and as the title suggests, it skews heavily to comments, entitlement, and sometimes the actual physically taking of her body by men.  I chose it from a display at the library and when I checked it out the librarian said she was happy I was taking it because apparently the display was to draw attention to books that need circulation or they'll be weeded.

At first I wanted to rate it a neutral 3 stars because I feel like a bad feminist if I don't but then I realized that inflating a rating just because she's writing about important content isn't the move.

You know how sometimes you read a memoir and relate to it so hard?  Or (more often for me) sometimes you read a memoir and don't relate at all but can understand their life based on their writing?  Unfortunately, this was neither for me.  The author and I have had completely different experiences but I struggled to understand her viewpoint because the book felt like it was skimming the surface with occasional bombs of deep reveals.

I did appreciate her unflinching honesty and hope she's found peace in her life.

Faye, Faraway

 Book 37 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from April 2 - 12

Faye, Faraway by Helen Fisher

published 2021

Summary (via the book jacket)

Every night, as Faye puts her daughters to bed, she thinks of her own mother, Jeanie, who died when Faye was eight. The pain of that loss has never left her, and that's why she wants her own girls to know how very much they are loved by her - and always will be, whatever happens.

Then one day, Faye gets her heart's desire when she travels back in time and is reunited not just with her mother but with her own younger self, the little girl she can scarcely remember.

Jeanie doesn't recognize grown-up Faye as her daughter, even though there is something eerily familiar about her. But the two women become close friends and share all kinds of secrets - except for the biggest secret of all, the secret of who Faye really is. Faye worries that telling the truth may prevent her from being able to return to the present day, to her dear husband and beloved daughters. Eventually she'll have to choose between those she loved in the past and those she loves in the here and now, and that knowledge presents her with an impossible choice.

If only she didn't have to make it...

My Opinion

3 stars

I checked this out from the library after seeing it in Bookpage.  Although 10 days passed from when I started to when I finished, that isn't a true representation of the reading.  I probably read it in 2-3 sittings; I read a lot the first day, lost my mind and wasn't reading anything for about a week, and then finished it in a day or two.

I love the concept of time travel and actually think about it a lot.  This book had a really interesting concept.  It stayed in reality more than I usually see for this type of book but trying to have explanations for everything also made it a bit clunky.

I like that it started right away and I was absorbed while reading.  However, it never quite made the jump from "good" to "great" for me and I didn't understand the looping of the ending and how a very big thing that happened in her childhood seemed to cause the time travel yet apparently she time travelled beforehand to make the big thing happen.

So this book felt a bit ambitious but I would read the author again and would love to see her take another pass at this idea.

Manboobs

 Book 36 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from April 2 - 7

Manboobs: A Memoir of Musicals, Visas, Hope and Cake 

by Komail Aijazuddin

published 2024

Summary (via the book jacket)

What do you do when you're too gay for Pakistan, too Pakistani to be gay in America, and ashamed of your body everywhere? How can you find happiness despite years of humiliation, physical danger, and a legion of Brooklyn hipsters who know you only as a queer from Whereveristan? How do you summon the courage to be yourself no matter where you are?

Even as a young child in Lahore, Komail Aijazuddin knew he was different - no one else at his all-boys prep school was pirouetting off their desks, or being bullied for their "manboobs", or spontaneously bursting into songs from The Little Mermaid, Aijazuddin began to believe his only chance at a happy, meaningful life would be found elsewhere: America, the land of the free, the home of the gays. But the hostility of a post-9/11 world and society's rejection of his art, his desires, and his body would soon teach him that finding happiness takes a lot more than a plane ticket. Searching for his place between two worlds while navigating a minefield of expectations, prejudice, and self-doubt, Aijazuddin discovered - sometimes painfully, sometimes hilariously - that there are people and places he'd need to let go of to move forward.

Manboobs is a riotously funny memoir of searching for love, seamlessly blending humor, politics, pop culture, and the bravery required to be yourself. Aijazuddin confidently announces himself as an exciting new voice in humor with his moving and charming reexamination of the American dream and our search for home.

My Opinion

3 stars

Being an effeminate boy is like carrying a bomb only other people can detonate, and I spent most of my childhood hiding the trigger switch from casual arsonists.

The memoir started with a note that it's more "true than real" as he recounts memories and I like that framing.  Although the author moves quickly through his life which could feel a little surface-level, stopping to think about what he's not saying adds an extra layer.  I don't think there's a single demographic he and I share but I appreciated reading his perspective.

Circumstance had deluded me into thinking we were on the 

same side, but the truth was we were only running from the same enemy.

That statement, recounting the lack of intersectionality some of the liberals around him share, stopped me in my tracks.  If this wasn't a library book and I was a highlighting type, that definitely would've been earmarked.

If anyone reading this is interested in the marketing, I checked this book out from the library after reading about it in Bookpage.