PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir
Only Andy Weir can take us to deep space, immerse us in science but explain it in a way "anyone" can understand and tell it with wicked good humor. We begin with a science teacher turned last minute astronaut who is sent out to deep space with little training to save the Earth when the sun stops giving us heat. Easy right? Dealing with problems and variables he can't control he teams up with an unlikely partner to save the world from extinction. So much fun to read and smart - this is the one space book everyone should read. Weir's "Astrophysics For Dummies" approach that doesn't make you feel like a dummy makes us all want to be armchair astronauts. Can't wait for the tv/movie of this one! 5 stars

GREAT CIRCLE by Maggie Shipstead
An engaging saga of early female aviators, artists and early 1900's Montana combined with a dual story of a child actress hoping to jump start her failing career by playing Marian. Marian and Jamie's story takes us from prohibition Montana where Marian gets involved in a tangled relationship with a bootlegger rancher. Jamie looks to California for a fresh start and dreams of becoming an artist. Years go by and both are involved in the war as Marian goes to Europe and Jaime goes to Asia which brings them back full circle. Marian is obsessed with flying the circumference of the Earth from pole to pole. The modern story of Hadley whose life mirrors Marian's and whose career will come full circle with this movie. It is a love story, history lesson and vivid adventure with nods to Steinbeck, "Legends of the Fall" and THE GOLDEN HOUR by Beatriz Williams. It is the kind of book you want to go back later and reread to discover what you missed the first time through. 5 stars

SORROWLAND by Rivers Solomon
Vern has run away from the strict cult she was born into. She gives birth to twins alone in the woods and raises them on the run from unseen demons. Always alert to those who would take her or her children, she is trying to get to the only people she knows who have escaped. On the run and free for the first time, Vern's body is changing and she is learning firsthand the new power she is being given as a host to a fungus. Vern and her children are both strange and familiar in this deep, dark tale of love, community and good vs. evil. Think Frankenstein tripping on some bad mushrooms after escaping Charles Manson's family.  4 stars