And that's completely sidestepping Le Guin's incredible ability to build these fascinating worlds with a rich philosophy and, in this case, religion

The Hainish Cycle truly is a magnificent work, and a must read for any fan of sci-fi or just... top tier literature

I can't recommend it enough! I was prepared for a loss of quality of life but I prefer my kobo to my kindle!

The only loss has been the audible exclusives, which is far less than I was expecting

That's probably the best way to emulate how it was originally read back in the day!

The only Russian literature I've read was the first half of Anna Karenina, the book group I was doing it with fell apart. That's a blindspot I plan on racking eventually

And that's just a few of the 200ish books I read last year

Have you read any of these? What were some of your favorite books of 2024? Any recommendations for me in the new year?

I look forward to getting to know y'all and joining this wonderfully friendly community!

But obviously, I have to choose the one that inspired my name here.

Lavinia is Le Guin's final and, in her words, best novel. I was absolutely blown away and see myself returning to this book again and again. Especially as I get more familiar with it's source poem

Le Guin has many, many books that have impacted me, all in different ways.

The religious deprogramming in Tombs of Atuan, the vitriolic justice in The Word for World is Forest, the sheer creativity in Always Coming Home, the somber reflection in Tehanu, and on and on.

I haven't read any of his famously humorous erotic short stories (though I now plan to!), I love love loved this book.

The realistically cynical take on hollywood, the creative monsters, and spine-tinglingly tense flashbacks were all delightful!

Again a stand-in for her entire bibliography, I was not expected to be so affected by this book.

But it really made me reflect on my own education experiences, both positive and negative, and impacted how I'll approach education if/when I have kids of my own.

I adore everything Chambers' has written, and could pick any of her books to put here. I chose this one solely for an incredibly powerful, entirely platonic scene that only works because of the worldbuilding.

A fantastic showcase of what makes Sci-fi/Fantasy so special

While I was lot more iffy on her debut series, The Poppy Wars, this book instantly made me a day one reader of anything Kuang writes.

While far from a polyglot, I've spent a decent amount of my life learning languages, and I adore how translation and magic is depicted here.

A stand-in for her entire bibliography (except the Parable books, I haven't read them yet), I just adore the way Butler keeps returning to themes of power dynamics and dubious consent in relationships.

While I think Kindred might be the stronger book, it's Fledgling I can't stop thinking about.

This book came at just the right time for me. I loved all the characters, the tone, and the heart.

I particularly enjoyed the nuanced and sympathetic depiction of Ames!

This is a book I've been wanting to read for so so long. I was very intimidated by it, but it's exactly as good as I've heard!

While the pacing is a bit uneven, it sets up the incredible payoff.