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I think I'm going to try to read these in order. Seems more fun that way.

Chosen at random but it's already got me.

Accidentally started the third book in the series first. It's good enough that I am considering stopping, going back and reading the first two, and then coming back to it.

Lovely book that reads like cashew butter. Pretty diverse vignette of characters, but with a definitely through-line. As usual, the inner jacket gives pretty major spoilers, but the details of the story are so emotionally charged, it doesn't really matter if you already know every single plot point and twist--it's just a plain old captivating tale.

My first time reading anything of Doerr's, and I don't know why but I was somewhat resistant to emotionally investing in this book for about the first half, but the characters and their hopeless trials, and their tiny triumphs, eventually won me over.

I love the main thesis of the book. It's kind and pragmatic, while still being foolishly hopeful in a thematically endearing way.

Oops I just realized this is the third in a series. I was just thinking to myself, I am so confused. Why is this woman parenting a tiny living spaceship? I feel a bit better knowing there's two books I missed. Still, in for a penny in for a pound.

"Daniel H. Wilson's latest book, Hole in the Sky, combines his knowledge as a scientist with his background growing up in northeastern Oklahoma as a Cherokee citizen."

www.kosu.org/podcast/okie-geek/2025-11-28/daniel-h-wilson-imagines-first-contact-in-oklahoma-based-novel-hole-in-the-sky

This book has a number of flaws but it does one thing well - the author is very inventive in creating a zoo of fantastic/magical animals. Those passages describing the animals, their behaviour and their enclosures are the best part of the book. She also seems to be rather knowledgable about the work behind the scenes of a zoo. If you're in any part critical of zoos, though, this book would be very frustrating. The only criticism is only presented once and is rather superficial. I appreciate the effort of the author to make the protagonist someone with anxiety but unfortunately, she comes off as rather annoying and also immature for someone her age for about half of the book. There thankfully is some character growth eventually. The pace picks up at around the halfway mark and while the mystery turns out to be somewhat predictable in the end, I enjoyed the book overall. Objectively, it only merits 3 stars but it felt more like 4, so I'll settle at 3.5.