Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A book set in space.



I am faced with an embarrassment of riches here, and I have no idea which book I will choose, but I can think of DOZENS I could add to the Listopia!!! I am SO excited! gahhhhhhhhhhh

"Set in space" means set in a spaceship or space station (or just an astronaut floating haplessly through space, but that sounds depressing) - it could involve travelling to another planet, but the bulk of the story should be off-world.


Listopia list is Here: A Book Set in Space

Most the sci-fi I read isn't actually in space so I'm looking forward to this prompt.

Oh I can think of several nonfiction ones that I already own for this prompt.

I generally avoid space settings, but I'm slotting in Murderbot here!

Maybe this will be the year when I finally read The Martian. I love the movie.

*quietly chants Murderbot, Murderbot, Murderbot*

Not all the the Murderbot series count (some of them are set on planets, much to Murderbot's chagrin), but Rogue Protocol , Exit Strategy , Network Effect and Fugitive Telemetry are set entirely or mostly on ships or space stations.

Dawn would work

The Expanse books are great.

Ellie wrote: "Most the sci-fi I read isn't actually in space so I'm looking forward to this prompt."



Yes that's why I'm so excited about this one!! Most of the SF I read is not actually set in space, so this is an interesting limitation.

I love this setting type and I don't actually have any that would work for it on my TBR list, so I'll add a bunch to the the listopia and see if there's anything there that I haven't read yet.

Scifi isn't my usual preference, but on my TBR I found Beacon 23 and Into the Black, which I think will work.

I also think Once & Future fits seeing as it's billed as a queer retelling of King Arthur in space.

While *some* of the action takes place on Earth, the majority of it takes place in space. The book is about what would happen to humanity if the moon exploded. Seveneves

Nadine in NY wrote: "(or just an astronaut floating haplessly through space, but that sounds depressing)"

made me laugh out loud as it reminded me of the film Gravity haha

tea_for_two wrote: "*quietly chants Murderbot, Murderbot, Murderbot*

Not all the the Murderbot series count (some of them are set on planets, much to Murderbot's chagrin), but Rogue Protocol, [book:Ex..."

ahh that's a good catch, thank you for the heads up! :)

Highly recommend Dead Space. It’s a locked room murder mystery set in space. Loved it.

Also recommend Illuminae Amazing trilogy.

I think I will do the next Murderbot book or another book by Kali Wallace Salvation Day

Oh yeah, I forgot about . This is the one I will read!

was really good too!

I ended up watching a movie yesterday, can't remember the title, but discovered it was based on a true story so I looked it up.

Now I'm curious about this memoir.

Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut

If you prefer your science fiction with more science, you might like Alastair Reynolds.

I loved House of Suns and the setting is mostly in space.

Erica wrote: "Maybe this will be the year when I finally read The Martian. I love the movie."

I loved the movie too, and thought the book was fantastic! Highly recommend!

My Enemy, My Ally and Rogue Squadron are two great choices for this prompt (some planetary stuff may happen, but the bulk of the time is on spaceships).

As much as I want to read 'Reaching For the Stars' for this one, it's mainly an immigrant storyline who spends a lot of his time on Earth as he tries over 6 times to get into NASA. Not really a lot of space stuff going on there.

I'm thinking I'll try something else. I don't have many space books, but I think I can find some that take place somewhere.

Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers!

Dune by Frank Herbert

Not sure how persnickety I want to be with this prompt. I'm currently reading Lucky Stars: A sci-fi comedy series, which is hilarious. It's partly set on earth and partly on an alien planet, but also partly aboard a spaceship...a spaceship with a unique personality.

I don't know if I should use this book for this prompt:

Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars

This book has the word 'stars' in the title. So part of the book deals with space and the possibility of extraterrestrials. It also fits the 'future' prompt.

Erica wrote: "Maybe this will be the year when I finally read The Martian. I love the movie."

I read it a few years ago for this prompt and I loved it. I don't like to read science fiction but this one had me laughing out loud. I'm thinking of reading Project Hail Mary this year.

Time to re-read the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, having re-read The Hitchhiker"s Guide to the Galaxy recently

This is not a great list, so tread carefully if you're following the prompt closely! A LOT of these books (including The Martian, the top book) are set mostly or entirely on planets. Gideon the Ninth is another example (they're in space for like one chapter and on planets the rest of the time) and The Sparrow another.

Chelsea wrote: "This is not a great list, so tread carefully if you're following the prompt closely! A LOT of these books (including The Martian, the top book) are set mostly or entirely on planets. Gideon the Nin..."



I agree completely, but clearly not everyone is a purist about this. I think a lot of readers who do not normally read sci-fi are a little confused about what "set in space" means, and to them it means "anything not set on Earth." Perhaps ironically, I remember we had the same problem in 2018 when the category was "set on another planet" - people were suggesting books set in space, or set on our moon (which in my mind is not a planet).

I'm not a big scifi fan and the series I'd planned to use for this prompt and the Future one fell through. Bummer. I wound reading The Disasters. It was fun though a little rushed at times. I'd say close to half of the action takes place "in space" and it reminded me a bit of the Illuminae Files.

I recommend middle grade trilogy by Yoon Ha Lee:
Dragon Pearl
Tiger Honor
Fox Snare

I have Tripoint by CJ Cherryh already on my TPR stack, but Cait Gordon has a new one, Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and her books are always hilarious. Maybe I'll use the Cherryh one for "book published under a pen name."

I re-read The Restaurant At the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams. There is some time spent on planets but mostly takes place on spaceships in space

“Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” book 1

Emily Mandel – Sea of Tranquility

I did not know what book I would use for this prompt. Oddly enough I happened to pick up a book today that I kept seeing at a bookstore. I bypassed it so many times, but this time I finally caved and it happens to fit this prompt:

To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery

I read this The Loneliest Girl in the Universe which is spent 100% on a spaceship. It's good too!

- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (classic children's book)
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
-Dark Horse by Michelle Diener- Science Fiction Romance, Artificial Intelligence
- Into the Dark by Mara Frost- Science Fiction Romance, Humor, Aliens

I went with Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! by Cait Gordon. It's a fun space opera with an optimistic vibe. Each character is disabled in some way, and all of them get to be fully-formed main characters. Review:
http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...

I read:
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring Stover

Finished: 05/04/2024...Happy Star Wars Day!

Finally decided on mine:


Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes & Our Future in the Cosmos

Robin wrote: "I read:
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring Stover

Finished: 05/04/20..."

What did you think of it? If you liked this one by Stover, Shatterpoint about Mace Windu is also great. The novelizations of Return of the Jedi, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and Solo are also great books of that type.

Brandon wrote: "Robin wrote: "I read:
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring Stover

Fini..."

They're all on my list.

I read White Holes: Inside the Horizon. I can't pretend that I understood all of it (understatement) but I like Carlo Rovelli's style, and the way he uses quotes from Dante to illustrate the book (poetry I can understand). And there's a reference to space dust in the end, so very Philip Pullman.

I highly recommend The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet for this prompt!

Laura wrote: "I recommend middle grade trilogy by Yoon Ha Lee:
Dragon Pearl
Tiger Honor
Fox Snare"

Wow! This series looks like one I would enjoy! Thank you for posting!

Robin wrote: "I read:
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring Stover

Finished: 05/04/20..."
Very cool! I had no idea about Star Wars Day!!

I read An Unkindness of Ghosts. excellent read. It's science fiction set in the premise of the antebellum south but in space.

I have just read Orbital which is set on a space station and which I thought was beautiful.

The Starflower by K.A. Kenny is a perfect fit!