Monthly Mini Review

All Seated On the Ground by Connie Willis – B I saw this short story mentioned in a thread where posters were saying it was the best of Connie Willis’ short stories so I looked it up. I couldn’t buy the story on its own because geo restrictions, but I found it was available in a library book as part of The Best of Connie Willis and placed a hold so I could read the story.

Meg Yates is a humour columnist who unexpectedly finds herself on a committee trying to communicate with the six Altairi aliens who arrived on the doorsteps of Denver University nine months before. Many experts before her and on the current committee have failed to find a way to break through the Atairi glare of disdain before her but her particular history and a chance encounter with some Christmas music and choir director lead to a breakthrough. Continue reading

Why I read it: This was an Audible 2-for-1 sale recently so it cost me half a credit (or about $5.50). I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog (scroll down for my brief review) and I’d heard this was funny, with a little romance too.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Pop culture, chaos theory and matters of the heart collide in this unique novella from the Hugo and Nebula winning author of Doomsday Book.

Sandra Foster studies fads and their meanings for the HiTek corporation. Bennet O’Reilly works with monkey group behavior and chaos theory for the same company. When the two are thrust together due to a misdelivered package and a run of seemingly bad luck, they find a joint project in a flock of sheep. But series of setbacks and disappointments arise before they are able to find answers to their questions.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Oh, this book was so much fun! I don’t know really that it is properly categorised as science fiction – it’s more science geek but there’s no time travel or alien technology. The book is firmly grounded in the 1990s. In some ways it is a kind of fairy tale, but what it mostly is it fascinating and laugh out loud funny.