Welcome to Litsy!

What a cool, little book! It is both cute and philosophical at the time. Dex is a non-binary human in the future who is rabidly trying to find their purpose in life and comes across this chill robot. I needed to hear what this little book had to say. I recommend it if you'd like a warm hug from a robot.

This was truly wonderful. I loved everything about it. I'm going to have to buy this and the second one. Love love love!

A cozy book with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. A comforting literary journey for anybody whose felt lost while searching for a greater purpose in life.

“Are you afraid of that?” they asked. “Of death?”
“Of course,” Mosscap said. “All conscious things are. Why else do snakes bite? Why do birds fly away? But that‘s part of the lesson too, I think. It‘s very odd, isn‘t it? The thing every being fears most is the only thing that‘s for certain? It seems almost cruel, to have that so…”
“So baked in?”
“Yes.”

#BookBinge

Found this article on spiritual books when looking for #Spirituality & I liked the diversity of genres:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/g33351669/best-spiritual-books/

Featuring two of them; the tagged book has been loaded in my Kindle #TBR for ages now & the Frankl book is a classic & a favorite.

This was such a delight! I absolutely loved it. It makes me happy to know there is a sequel already released, but I would have been just as content with this one being a stand alone.

Word came through today that I am set to start work Tuesday, so I am making the most of my last few days of freedom. Enjoying a tasty brew while starting this cozy sci-fi read. Been getting lots of warnings about the mental dangers of the dark winters in Alaska, so taking advantage of so far minimal sunshine (it has been very rainy since we arrived).

The tagged book is one of my favourite “road trip” stories I‘ve read. Though it‘s not a car but a Tea Wagon & the trippers are a Tea Monk & a Wild Built Robot. It‘s sweet, it‘s funny, it‘s sad & it‘s very very wise. I highly recommend the sequel, A Prayer For The Crown-Shy too.

#SundayFunday

Book #10 of the year: “A Psalm for the Wild Built” by Becky Chambers

This was another gift from Taz! A very quick and cute read. Sometimes I enjoy a light hearted piece of fiction every now and then 😉

A profound, deeply moving story about what it means to be human. It‘s a story about how we build meaningful, mutually respectful relationships between each other & with the world around us, a story that examines having a purpose & just being. It asks us to think about where we are now, where we are going & how we will look back on the journey. Can a SF story about a monk & a robot make you think deep thoughts about about life? Yes. It can.

40 Chicagoland stores participating in an #IndependentBookstoreDay crawl makes for an epic Saturday. I‘m probably one and done this year but I did hit a local fav where I picked up the tagged book as well as a couple of others. Just in time too as it‘s started raining! ☔️📚

This book read like a warm cup of tea on a rainy afternoon, and I enjoyed every steeped sip. No conflict, just contemplation (and a few chuckles).
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely devoured this book, all in one evening, because it completely enraptured me. It exceeded my expectations on so many levels! It's beautiful and comforting while also being deeply thoughtful and playing a delightfully subversive game with its characters. I cannot recommend it enough!

#hopepunk #newfavorite

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it made me sob several times. Emotionally I am going through a similar struggle to Dex, so it hit a bit close to home. I cried as well, because the book setting makes me mourn the loss of a future I cannot live in, which profoundly saddened me. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

Because I absolutely hate doing my taxes, it took the promise of rewarding myself with a book purchase for me to finally get them done today! But, hey, look what a good purchase I finally got to make!🤣

Robots and humans live separate lives now, and this cozy adventure follows a non binary human and a robot who end up meeting. There‘s tea, there‘s philosophy, there‘s healing, there‘s crack a smile humor. Definitely will be reading the next book, really enjoyed this.

A beautiful short story/parable/fable. #bookclubreads

The characters and world are really interesting, but this novella should've been part of a larger novel. The whole story really serves to set the stage for the sequel, but this opening story of how the monk and robot met easily could've been rolled into the rest of their story. The robot has great dialogue, but it's introduced for a while.

My wife recommended this novella, so here we go!

I loved this book! It was both simple and deep, like a hug. I have a feeling this will be one of my favorite books of the year!

Finishing up #12booksof2022 with 3 from the end of the year. Obviously my record-keeping was a bit flakey, but these more-or-less match up with the months.

Wild-built ❤️🤖🫖 Glad I finally got to Becky Chambers

Cities 🌃 Strange but I loved it

Open Water ❤️ A story of a relationship, of life as a black man in London, of art and music… Amazing debut!

Thanks for organising @Andrew65 - I‘ve loved looking back and seeing everyone‘s picks!

A charming sci fi story of friendship. Set in the future, a traveling “tea monk” who feels unfulfilled in his calling sets out to find a lost monastery. On his way, he encounters one of the long lost robots of the factory era, now free and wild. The two become traveling companions and must find their way together. Loved this odd book! Discussions of big questions and great writing. 1st book of 2023.

I tried *REALLY* hard to narrow my top books from 2022, and did pretty alright considering that my list started with 49 books on it. I didn't include multiple books from the same series. If I had to pick only one top book, it would be the tagged. #FavoriteReads #TopBooks2022

#12Booksof2022 On the first day of Christmas, my reading gave to me...a Monk and a Robot having tea.

Nothing beats Becky Chambers. The Monk and Robot books are like a soothing balm for the soul. I will read as many of them as she chooses to write!

@Andrew65

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5 This is a book about finding peace with the present and the beauty of simply existing. I recommend this book for readers who enjoy science fiction and/or books about living in the present. Id characterize this book as queer, cozy sci-fi. It is a small book in length, and it has a sequel! I found it to be a balm for the soul. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4995309748

I went a little wild with the library holds for #AuldLangSpine 😆 My mom (who works at the public library and often grabs my holds for me) says that this isn‘t that crazy - some people fill a full shelf!

Now I just have to restrain myself from reading them right away. Good thing I have plenty of other books!

April was attacking the bag my mom brought the books in, so her tail is making a cameo in this photo #catsoflitsy

Lists went out. This is a very dangerous day for the length of all our TBRs😂 @SueK I‘m super excited to dig into your list! I also read the Maus books this year and loved them! There are a few books on this list that are on my TBR, so I can‘t wait to dig into them, and a few lighter books I haven‘t heard of but am thrilled to have recs for! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

#SundaySentence

Even if you fully know that you live in a natural world that existed before you and will continue long after, even if you know that the wilderness is the default state of things, and that nature is not something that only happens in carefully curated enclaves between towns, something that pops up in empty spaces if you ignore them for a while, . . .

A soft Pick because this took me longer to get into than I‘d hoped, and you definitely have to be in a cozy contemplative mood to get properly stuck in, but I did like it in the end.

I feel like I need to hug Mosscap and Dex. I kinda felt understood, but not necessarily in the way I was expecting to be. And I‘m crying for absolutely no reason. As per usual. And the crickets!

If you ask six different monks the question of which godly domain robot consciousness belongs to, you‘ll get seven different answers.

#FridayReads #FirstLineFriday

Thanks for the tag @CBee

📗 A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
🖋️ Tamora Pierce and Terry Pratchett
🎥 Pacific Rim
📺 Pushing Daisies
🎤 The Piano Guys
🎶 Praying by Kesha

#ManicMonday #LetterP

I can see why Chambers has so many fans both here on Litsy and in the world because this is well written, but it just didn‘t work for me. Maybe I‘m too cynical or jaded this week but Dex‘s naïveté annoyed me and the robot reminded me of what I hate about the character Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Sorry y‘all. ?

#HugoAwardWinner #pop22 1 more to go! I‘m sorry if I miss someone on the tags. It‘s been awhile.

This was a interesting and sweet book to read.

I didn‘t love Becky‘s previous book I read a while back but this was good.

Read for #NerdDaily2022ReadingChallenge

4/5

I try to like science fiction/fantasy, but I just don't.

Really wanted to like this, but it's just not my jam.

A four hour audiobook that took me 2 weeks to finish.

#itsnotyouitsme

❤️❤️❤️ 🤖 🫖

Loved it! I‘ve been meaning to try Becky Chambers for ages, but genuinely didn‘t expect her work to be so sweet. I loved her ideas, the fact that a robot could be so much closer to the natural world than a human, and (of course) the importance of tea!

And the audio was great too!

I love the concept of this novella - that our future need not be doom & gloom. This was childlike and enchanting - a sweet escape. Works for #HugoAwardWinner #pop22 and #Booked2022 #HopePunk ♥️ #Hoopla

Tea monks and robots 🤖 ?!? What have you gotten me into @squirrelbrain @rockpools My final book for #Pop22 and #Booked2022 😃 This is wayyyyyyy outside my reading comfort zone….

I loved this book so much I bought a copy for a friend. She was talking about how she tried reading sci-fi but always made her feel bad. I thought I'd try to show her that not all sci-fi is created equal. What books have you shared with others that you loved?

Time for a cozy, happy #bookandtea reread 🥰🍄

#DeweyOct #Readathon #DeweysReadathon @DeweysReadathon #Scarathlon #Scarathlon2022 #TeamMonsterMash @StayCurious #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #Pointsathon @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES #OutstandingOctober @Andrew65

1) Berkeley, California, U.S., where it's 9 am ⛅
2) Hard to say - I am excited to reread the tagged! 🌳
3) TJ's Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans 😍
4) I'll be reading some with my husband of 2 months, who's also a reader 🥰
5) This is my first Dewey's readathon where I have no undergrad or grad school reading to include, so I'm looking forward to not having pressure to read for school! 😊
#DeweyOct #Readathon @DeweysReadathon #DeweysReadathon

Who‘d have thought I‘d like a book set in the future, with a robot? Well, I did; it was a very sweet book - not at all robot-y! I‘m not sure I‘d read any more in the series though.

This is my last book for #booked2022 #hopepunk- yay!

I‘m also using this for #hugoawardwinner for #pop22 & only have two more books to go for that challenge. One I‘ve just started on audio, and the other is the #authoramonth for November - how organised am I?! 😇

What a lovely story this was. It has this fundamental sense of gentleness and decency to it. In a lot of ways, the book feels like the tea ceremony that forms a major part of its story: a moment of respite and togetherness. The setting is utopic, to be sure, but one that feels unusually lived-in and real. And not one without heartache or burnout or personal existential crisis. Through all that, though, it‘s a story in love with life.

Next

Finally reading Becky Chambers. ❤️❤️❤️

Also, it‘s a book about tea. What‘s not to love?!

#Roll100 October

Hoping to read at least two of the three. The tagged book and The Ex Hex.

I don't really know how to describe my feelings for this book. I took my time with it, even though it is short. So much truth and wisdom in this book. So much understanding of the human condition. It made me feel like I wasn't alone in the things I think and feel. A little less crazy, maybe. My husband is reading the sequel, so I'll wait until he's done to move on to it.

"Without constructs, you will unravel few mysteries. Without knowledge of the mysteries, your constructs will fail. These pursuits are what make us, but without comfort you will lack the strength to sustain either."