Stanisław Lem, Solaris book
The Drone Outside, Kristine Ong Muslim book
Solaris, Stanisław Lem
(3⭐)
Huge ideas, can see the impact of this book throughout sci-fi as a genre. But my god, the characters are dull. 20% is recounting fictional academic rivalries between ppl you never meet.
The Drone Outside, Kristine Ong Muslim
(5⭐)
Tiny miniatures, all great.
Ancillary Justice book against a bookcase
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (3.75⭐)
The Radchaai feel like the evil twin of Bank's Culture. I liked the she/her pronouns throughout but I didn't love that she makes a point to tell us what gender the main characters are interpreted as in gendered societies.
When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill (4⭐)
Could've been shorter. Unusual structure but fun piece of alternate history fiction. Kinda wanna be a dragon now.
Among the Burning Flowers book
Among the Burning Flowers, Samantha Shannon (4⭐).
A nice companion read to Priory of the Orange Tree. Did read like parts that got the cut during editing, but I enjoyed it anyway.
The Friends of Lyme Regis Museum have an appeal to raise funds for an exceptionally rare, partial handwritten letter by pioneering fossil collector Mary Anning.
Artist Lee Brown has generously donated an original piece of art work to help with fundraising
Here's the link if you want to bid on it!
Ever wanted to see how a coral skeleton grows? In this paper (led by: @jtrendbio.bsky.social) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... we use Live CT, a method of scanning live organisms using microCT, to visualise how the skeleton grew over about one month.
The Membranes book held against a backdrop of a bookcase
The Membranes, Chi Ta-Wei (5⭐). Part of my quest to read more Sinophone science fiction. This was written in the 90s in Taiwan. Anything I have to say about it wouldn't do it justice. Highly recommend.
These Burning Stars book on a lap book holder
These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs (2.5⭐). I really struggled, then I saw a review that said "if you liked Gideon the Ninth, you'll love this" and that made sense. Next to no setting, I struggled to work out where I was half the time. I shan't bother reading the others.
The Left Hand of Darkness book on a lap book holder
Fevre Dream, George R. R. Martin (3⭐). Read it with a friend. Couldn't get over the self insert protagonist.
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (4⭐). Justice for Estraven! Genly Ai is a misogynist Issues with characters aside, I'd love to read a copy with she/her or they/them pronouns.
A Desolation Called Peace book on a lap book holder
Alien Clay book on a lap book holder
Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (4⭐). Same vein as animation series Scavengers Reign and Vandermeer's Annihilation. I love Tchaikovsky's biology.
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (3.5⭐). Stopped sulking and bumped up my score. Not as good as the first. I have a lot to say about the aliens.
A Memory called Empire book on a lap book holder
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (4.75⭐). Political intrigue, poetry and mild sapphic romance. What more could I want.
MARCH:
The Dark Side of the Sun, Terry Pratchett (3.5⭐). Early Pratchett, didn't hit like Strata. Some interesting thoughts but narratively a bit all over the place.
The Invention of Nature book on a blanket
Tales from the Forbidden planet book on a lap book holder
Tales from the Forbidden Planet, mixed authors (3.5⭐). Very mixed bag. The accompanying artwork is beautiful for all of the stories.
The Invention of Nature, Andrea Wulf (4⭐). A book about Alexander von Humboldt. Could've been better about his sexuality. I really enjoyed it otherwise.
Terra Nullius book on a lap book holder
Borne book on a lap book holder
Terra Nullius, Claire G. Coleman (5⭐). I will never get this book out of my head. It was absolutely harrowing, but also incredible speculative fiction.
Borne, Jeff Vandermeer (4⭐). Pretty miserable planet, but I really had a soft spot for all the characters.
Legends and lattes book
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea book on a lap book holder
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, Rebecca Thorne (4.5⭐)
Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (4⭐)
The weekend I read these two books, I was feeling run-down and tired. I just needed something cosy and extremely low-stakes. These are perfect for that vibe.
Counterweight book
Matter book
Counterweight, Djuna (3.5⭐). Didn't astound me, maybe something lost in translation. Very Phildickian.
FEBRUARY:
Matter, Iain M. Banks (5⭐). My last Culture novel I had left to read. Starfleet with drugs and very liberal gender politics. True gay communists in space!
A View from the Stars book
A View from the Stars, Cixin Liu (3.5⭐). A mixed bag for the short stories, the essays are very interesting. Lots of interesting stuff about the recent history of speculative fiction in China.
Monk & Robot duology, Becky Chambers (4.75⭐). Absolutely lovely sci-cli-queer-fi fluff. Gimme 10 of them.
Foundation book
Foundation, Asimov (3⭐). A re-read. Big ideas, of course. I can see how this was very unusual in terms of pulp sci-fi. Just couldn't get over the lack of women, it reads like the entire universe is populated with male monks. I do have some feelings about what they changed for the show now, though.
Exhalation book
JANUARY:
Exhalation, Ted Chiang (4.5⭐). I didn't enjoy as much as Stories of Your Life and Others but there were some gems in there.
The Burning Kingdoms trilogy, Tasha Suri (4-4.5⭐). Really gorgeous books, wasn't wild about the ending.
Anyone else reading a tonne in an attempt to escape various bad habits re: social media?
Thought I'd document what I've been reading here 📚🤓
If you are looking for an example of best-practice in abstract-writing, this is a good starting point
Congratulations Dr Anderson! Great news :)
Richard Owen Research Fund applications now open! Small grants of up to £1000 to assist palaeontological research on fossil fauna and flora of the British Isles and Ireland. Deadline: 28th Feb 2026. Award is open to both amateur and professional palaeontologists. https://www.palaeosoc.org/grants-prizes/research-funding-details/
Are you looking for a small grant to assist your palaeontological research on fossil fauna and/or flora of the British Isles and Ireland? 🦕🐌🦎🦈🌿
Applications are now open for our Richard Owen Research Fund. Further details can be found here: www.palaeosoc.org/grants-prize...
Deadline 28th Feb 2026.
Awesome opportunity to nominate an early career researcher for the Edward Forbes Prize.
Deadline just 5 days away!
#palaeontology
Had lots of fun delivering the @sicb-dcb-dvm.bsky.social Carl Gans award lecture yesterday at @sicb.bsky.social #SICB2026! Grateful to have the support of so many incredible colleagues in comparative biomechanics.
Annotated mallard head muscle diagram in front of a landmarked 3d model of a duck skull
I'll never bitch about mammals again ever.
A 1672 bunny rabbit from St Isidore’s #Rome - symbolising the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception (JMcC)
Today 8 Dec is the feast.
During the earliest stages of domestication, dogs in archaeological sites would be indistinguishable from wolves.
Unless you find them on a small island where no wolves would survive on their own, eating things wolves normally don’t eat.
Such as here:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Deadline next week! Don't forget to nominate! (and if you have problems, get in touch with us directly via our website)
The poster for the Marsh Palaeoart Award IT reads: marsh palaeoart award this award recognises talent in the depiction of fossil fauna and flora from the british isles winning prize: £500 + 1 year PalSoc membership art can be in any medium judging panel of palaeoartists and scientists, incl. last years's winner, MAtt Humpage submissions open:20th October, 2025 submissions close: 25th November, 2025 for full details and entry requirements visit: www.palaeosoc.org this award is supported by the Marsh charitable Trust
A reminder to all #palaeoartists; the deadline for the Marsh Palaeoart Award is fast approaching!
If you want to submit I'd recommend doing it ASAP as, while it says 25th Nov here, the webpage specifies the 21st (I'm glad I checked😅).
Anyway, good luck to y'all!
#paleoart @palaeontosoc.bsky.social
Nice 3-year teaching+research postdoc at NYIT!
careers-nyit.icims.com/jobs/4126/po...
The human anatomy teaching experience is tremendously valuable; for people in our fields (e.g., morphology, biomechanics, palaeontology) it opens up great faculty job opportunities! And the NYIT faculty are great.
