This month’s choices:
Fiction
Project Hail Mary
By Andy Weir
I featured this book three years ago, but with the new movie version dominating the box office, it’s a timely repeat.
While most people know Andy Weir from his smash hit, “The Martian”, I think “Project Hail Mary” is even better. In fact, I consider it the best book I’ve read in at least the last ten years.
It combines science, mystery, and suspense, and blends it all into a story with terrific characters—essentially only two of them, with a few bit players on the side.
It’s another space story, but set MUCH farther away. Ryland Grace is on a mission to save the human race, but winds up encountering a representative of another species who is on a similar path. Ultimately, they must work together, orbiting a distant star.
Even if you’re not usually a sci-fi fan, this might convert you.
Here’s my STRONG recommendation: Listen to the audiobook on this one. Yes, the paper and ebook versions will be entertaining, too. But for a reason I can’t tell you (without spoiling part of the book), you just need to trust me on this. Get the audiobook, which you’ll find here.
Nonfiction
A Walk in the Park
By Kevin Fedarko
I’ll admit something—I never knew that hiking the entire Grand Canyon would be such a death-defying adventure.
Until I heard about “A Walk in the Park.” Kevin Fedarko shares the true story of how he and his buddy, photographer Pete McBride, took on an ambitious adventure tracing the canyon’s harsh, unforgiving contours over hundreds of miles. And all without trails, signs, or easy exits.
They battle unimaginable heat, dehydration, multiple injuries, and the mental strain of navigating one of the most dangerous landscapes in North America.
But it’s not just a survival story. Fedarko also weaves in the remarkable history of the Grand Canyon—its geology, its Indigenous heritage, and the ongoing tensions over conservation and development. Along the way, the journey becomes a meditation on endurance, friendship, and the often fragile relationship between humans and nature.
You might say you love to hike—I certainly do—but it’s stories like this that show us how we’re often just going for a long walk. This, my friend, is a hike. And not the kind I think I’d ever attempt.
Find your copy here.
We Solve Murders
By Richard Osman
The author behind The Thursday Murder Club series introduces a new, equally delightful series.
Last Month’s Picks
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Happy reading!
On Writing
By Stephen King
Part memoir, part masterclass. The legendary author offers up one of the best books on writing ever penned.