I’ve honestly wanted to start participating in this weekly meme in 2014, however, I would always seem to get distracted during the hours leading up to Thursdays OR completely forget to compose my thoughts for this meme until into the weekend; at which point, the time had come and gone. I like the fact we can exchange thoughts percolating in our minds that run the gambit of the bookish world, creative outlets, or thoughts we want to share that might show a bit more about who we are behind the bookish blog we maintain. I am going to attempt to thread the journal of my 10 Bookish / Not Bookish Thoughts by order of the entries arrival into my life rather than a preference of 1-10.

BE SURE to visit my FIRST ENTRY: Bookish Not Bookish No.1

BE SURE to visit my 2nd ENTRY: Bookish Not Bookish No.6

And, my 3rd ENTRY: Bookish Not Bookish No.10

as well as my 4th ENTRY: Bookish Not Bookish No.11

A list of 10 Thoughts on exploring Astronautics & Space Science | Hostess List

*waves!* to my fellow Sci Fi Geeks who are embarking on their own literary and cross-media journey this Sci Fi November! I decided to break the mould of how I am announcing my #SciFiMonth adventures here on Jorie Loves A Story by creating my second #SciFiMonth book tag as I truly enjoyed doing this last year and I feel its become a NEW tradition for me during the event!

Ever since I was a Young Astronaut as a kid you could say I’ve had this long seeded appreciation for the Cosmos, Astrophysics, Astronomy, Cosmology and Astronautics. When it comes to sorting out which stories I want to endeavour to read during #SciFiMonth every year, I get wicked giddy about seeking out Space Opera stories and all the lovely sub-genres which pull us into the further reaches of space and the explorations we can seek out the universe.

This was more aptly seen when I was reading through the 3x trilogies of #TheClanChronicles which to this day is one of my favourite series I’ve read, blogged and ruminated over as a book blogger. It was such a transformative experience for a girl who loves the stars and a Spacer lifestyle. Do visit those reviews if you’ve ever wanted to seek out a Hard SciFi series which grips you from the first story and holds you glued into its heart until the very last page is read. It is both epic and dramatically emotional to read because of how Czerneda writes such a smashingly realistic series which feels as if you’ve lived those lives by the time you’ve reached the conclusion. The only part of the series I haven’t yet read are the “Stories of Plexis” which is a fan-based anthology of shorts set on Plexis and involve the characters and/or other aspects of life on Plexis which is set in the Clan Chronicles universe.

This year, I had an opportunity to read two different works of Space Opera featuring Astronautic storylines which were the following: The Lady Astronaunt series (courtesy of the publisher) and Kate Elliott’s new release “Unconquerable Sun” which made my Most Anticipated Reads List for 2020. I was meant to host the RAL for SUN during #SciFiMonth this year but I had such an unrelenting bout of migraines from May-October, I opted out of hosting rather than to set myself up for failure if my migraines were to return this November. I did unfortunately have one for over a week as I get these massive supernova migraines which can last upwards of 5+ days and take nearly a full week longer to recover after they’ve left me. Thus, my entrance into Sci Fi Month this year was a bit delayed to say the least but I am not letting that dis-sway me from what I’m reading, what I am reviewing and what I’m sharing this year for the event.

I decided to take Imyril and Lisa’s advice and push Unconquerable Sun’s RAL into early 2021 whilst keeping myself focused on the Lady Astronaut series instead as I can approach that without the added issues of sorting chapter breaks, discussion points and coordinating the Twitter chats & blog schedules for readers to upload their reviews, thoughts or reading takeaways if not offering fuller reviews.

I started seeking out the books Ms Kowal mentioned as being of particular interest to readers of the series to better understand her own route of research as a writer who created the series and that led me into fetching quite a few by interlibrary loan as much as finding quite the collection of her research books within my local library’s catalogue which was surprisingly lovely. The first book which emerged as a favourite of mine was “The Moon-Doogle” writ in the ’60s and published in ’64 which surprisingly stands the tests of time of remaining both relevant to our concerns for space & Astronautics today as much as it had back in the 1960s. I only wish I could have taken more notes as I had to sort of plough through it last minute as I had run out of hours to read it as it was decidedly overdue by the time I gave it back to the library. Not something I want to have happen but with migraines and health afflictions, sometimes it is unavoidable. It is also a book I would LOVE to have in y personal library one day even if it is a rather rare book to both find and to have a price tag not set at some astronomical price point! lol

Through Kowal’s Author’s Notes and the notations about her research for the Lady Astronaut’s series I’ve come to realise her fascination with the stars and with space exploration as much as the science behind how we launch ourselves to Space is equal to my own curiosities and fascinations into the same topics and subjects in which she rooted her series round. It has become a refreshing pursuit of chasing after her research whilst endeavouring to expound on my own knowledge of those topics and subjects which equally give me a heap of joy to be reading.

Thereby as I continue to seek out Hard Sci Fi over Soft and as I find myself more compelled to be listening and reading to stories set in Space moreso than elsewhere, I am embarking once again into Sci Fi Month with a heart full of awe and joy by what I am finding in those stories as I adventure through Science Fiction on a path only my own heart can curate a route.

I am so happy Imyril puts together our Mission Logs (Week One & Week Two as well as Week Three & Week Four) as I use those as my map to seek out my fellow Sci Fi Month participants and to see what everyone is discussing about a genre I’ve loved the longest as both a reader and as a watcher of Science Fiction.

Let’s dive straight into it, shall we?

It should go without saying – this list was provided by #SciFiMonth!

With the first section a salute to Imyril for sharing the “Get to know the SF Reader” tag! This tag was originally shared by Maryam @ Maryam the Curious SFF Reader and created by Booktuber @ Books With Emily Fox as a SF re-imagining of the Get To Know The Fantasy Reader tag.

No. 1 | Get to Know the (SF) Sci-Fi Reader

Throughout my journeys into Sci Fi November (personal favourite alt. name for Sci-Fi Month), I’ve been wanting to write more posts outside of book reviews and it has taken me on a winding road of sorting out ideas and actually producing that kind of content on Jorie Loves A Story. More or less, you could say most of those are still drafted ideas rather than actual published posts. Perhaps, if I start early enough 2021 will have a fuller rounding of posts, reviews, memes and other lovelies during #SciFiMonth! And, by extension #WyrdAndWonder, too. For now, I was just thankful I could give myself an extension to this year’s event during this first week of December.

However the point I was trying to make is the only time I’ve come closer to talking about my Sci-Fi geeky past and present is when I wrote the essay I entitled: Seventeen to Seven: One Girl’s Quest for Sci-Fi which in of itself was my own version of a ‘get to know the Sci Fi Reader’. Consider this an updated version seven years later! And who says numerology isn’t in our lives?

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Sci Fi November 2019