Book review : To The Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage

  Oh My Gosh, so I assumed this was going to be a book for me, in fact, I was fully prepared to LOVE love this book to the ends of the earth.  To the Moon and Back, indeed. 

    Obviously I'm telling you this because, spoiler.  I did not love this book that much, maybe to Tallahassee and back.  

This is a complicated story of a a young woman who has worked her entire life to become an astronaut. As readers follow her journey, they move through her life and grapple with her character as she decides what it means to be a Cherokee, a scientist, a lesbian and a sister, aunt and daughter, and indeed, there is more. It is a very ambitious novel addressing identity, family, obligations and ambitious and belonging. 

   In the end I struggled with this one. On one hand I was very invested in the main character getting to space. On the other, I was somehow not invested in chapters and chapters and chapters of relationship drama.  Be it from her Mother, her sister or her girlfriend, it eventually felt overplayed.  I know that some people's lives are indeed like that, but at one point if I wasn't 3 hrs to the end, I would have just DNF the whole thing. 

   Despite me not really enjoying the novel, I think it is well written and for many this is one they might want to read. In general picks from Reese's book club tend to be very readable  I am a bit embarrassed to admit, I just had to look up exactly who Reese is and after looking over her picks, this one seems like one of the more adventurous picks. The rest that I viewed, seemed to be sort of safe book club picks.  This one was more on the wild side, and, with her cinematic background, I can entirely entirely see this book being made into a mini-series - the amount of family drama would draw in quite the audience. I did enjoy that it was written as a contemporary novel and that made it feel quite real.  Characters were well fleshed out though none were particularly likeable to me. 

So... would I recommend this novel?  Possibly. I would not recommend it to just anyone, but for the right person, this will be a 5 star read. 

For me it was about a 3.25  but that's all based on vibes alone. 

First Published :  9/2/25

Pages: 448

Available as an Audio Book : Yes   ~ 14 hrs

Trigger Warnings:  poverty, racism, classism, domestic violence, medical issues, body horror, slavery, 

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)

Book Review: Burn Down Master's House by Clay Cane

 Wow!  Just WOW!!!

I had this book tagged on Libby and thus I was able to borrow it almost immediately with it came out. 

It's kind of unique that it is the first book I have finished in February, Black History Month in the United States. 

This is a really unique piece of writing.   I was initially attracted to the cover, because it is a piece of art that really grabs the attention. 

Ray Jean-Giles is the cover artist.   And I really am awe of the cover. 

I honestly did not know what I was getting into, which tells you the power of a cover.  I put that book on "Notify me"  and borrowed it asap. 

It could have been anything. 

The author starts off by explaining that indeed this is going to be an uncomfortable book for some. I wasn't sure exactly where I'd fall in the comfort zone, but I decided to give it a go. What I got is a deeply engaging and at times very satisfying piece of quasi-historical fiction. 

Readers follow 4 quasi-interconnected enslaved persons as they face absolute horror in every day life. 

If anyone ever trots out the narrative that slavery had some kind masters and that it couldn't have been all bad, etc- this is the book to point them to. Because I felt that this laid bare the brutality- both intended and thoughtless that characterized American slavery. 

The stories contained in this novel area based on detailed research of actual persons. The characters, like enslaved persons who lived years ago had varying reactions- some defied their masters outright, others in smaller ways, and others slipped away to freedom while exacting a precise revenge.  The story that held my attention the most was of Charity and Larkin where one feels a relief as Charity becomes free, only to have that relief torn away in one short moment.  While these interconnected stories are based on real events, it's also true that no one can really know all the exact thoughts and feelings of another. It is plausible that a bit of a modern feel pops in here and there, but to be honest, I felt like this only added to the depth of the novel. Cane isn't trying to recreate a history, as an author, I felt that he was almost partnered with these figures to bring this period to life in real, agonizing detail so that readers might really take a pause to examine all that we've been taught about slavery in the US. 

The results are a combustible novel that sizzles with revenge, tender love, and defiance. 

In short, I loved it, could not stop reading it, and also hated it.  it took me about 5 days to read it, which is really... a record for me for speed. 

Should you read this book?  Yes. It likely isn't a great one for Book club, but it SHOULD BE.  It's one to put on the TBR. 

   I did the audio book, and it is narrated by Clay Cane himself.  I admit, I didn't really like the hesitating way that he read his work, but I'm assuming that, like everything else, this was a deliberate choice. It did make me sit up and listen carefully. 

First Published :  January 2026

Pages: 288

Available as an Audio Book : Yes   ~ 11 hrs

Trigger Warnings:  poverty, racism, classism, bugs, medical issues, body horror, slavery, SA, 

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)

January 2026 Reading Wrap Up

 Well, I must first remark upon the weather. 

It's super cold here. Like. the coldest I can recall in years and years. 

It's a little bit hard to handle just because I don't really have cold weather gear.  but I do have a space heater, and blankets and an indoors so I am exceedingly blessed in this world. 

Ok now.  Moving on. 

Winter's embrace needs to move on, or tone it down some. 

in Winter's Embrace. , 1907. [United States: publisher not transcribed] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018696747/.

In January, I finished a whopping 21 books. I am really enjoying my Outer Space theme, more than my Water theme from last year. 

Lets Break it down a bit. 

Books in Translation:  2/21  So about 9.5 % of my reading. Both of the books I read were excellent reads and I was very happy to have read them. 

    

Books By Diverse Authors:   3/21  14%

 

Of these three, I highly recommend The Manor of Dreams, but I don't know that any of these would steer a curious reader to DNF, they were all well written. 

This was not my month to be reading books by diverse authors. Many of the books had diverse characters, but the authors I looked into pretty much...were kind of the standard white bread authors. 

Non-Fiction reads:  3/21 14%  I read three books about Outer Space,  all of which were interesting and helped me understand the universe.  They did kind of decrease my excitement when reading some space setting romances, especially the idea that astronauts are really just moving about the space station in maximum absorbency garments - diapers if you will. 

Total Books on my Outer Space Theme? 9/21 about 43%  so I am approaching half of the books read to be about Space.  

Favorite reads?  I really liked almost everything I read this month.  I did have to DNF a non-fiction book about Black Holes.  I started it several times and eventually just gave up.  I could not with it. I will have to get black hole understanding elsewhere. 

Will I complete 21 more books in February?  That remains to be seen.  It helped that I read a few novellas this past month, and I don't know that I've got more of that on the horizon. 

I am starting off February pretty strong with some diverse authors, and a book in translation (The Plotters!) but it's a short month, and I'm finding I may not have quite as much reading time as I work to master my new job and continue at my old one part time. 

Life is full and ok. Things in the world are on fire and thus I feel I must also, in my own way, attend to that fire.  Sadly, reading will likely not be the actions required to throw some dirt on the fire.