It's Hugo Time (reviews of literature and California)

Been a bit of a hiatus since my last post due to travel and life generally feeling like it won't stop moving. I'm still busy, and I've accumulated enough stuff to write about that I don't think I can fit it all in one post. I've watched some movies and read some things and even finally finished episode 2 of BBC Pride and Prejudice.

 

I anticipated one problem that might come with a blog is hesitating to write reviews immediately after finishing things. If I sit on a review for several weeks, how well do I even remember what it is I'm writing about? The writing itself also just takes time. I write a post and reread and reread, or I add things to this page just for fun (look at my new like button!), and all of a sudden 6 PM has become 12:30 AM and I've gone past my unofficial bedtime. 

 

Did you know that Pratima's Articles has 25 all-time views from Singapore (in 18 years)? I must've had a fan there. I also have more views from Finland (6) than India (5). Veryy interesting. I'm prone to getting lost in the sauce of statistics, but the vast majority of the blog views come from yours truly. 

 

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Because I soft-launched the Hugo Awards already, I think I'll start with that. The Hugo Award is an annual award for science fiction and fantasy (SFF) media, mostly for literature (novels, novellas, novelettes, short stories), but they also recognize other content as well. 

 

The Hugos are the maybe most well-known literary award for SFF (the other big one is the Nebula), but they're actually entirely fan-voted. No jury of experts or nothing. There's a yearly sci-fi convention called Worldcon, and the attendees of that event nominate and vote and decide which books on shelves get a little "Hugo Award Winner!" sticker. That's a lot of power given to a small group of ~1500 fans. 

 

I discovered a few years ago that you don't even need to actually attend Worldcon to vote. You can purchase a World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) membership for $50 just to vote, though attending the actual convention is more expensive. After the award nominees get announced, the membership gives you access to a voter "packet" which contains a lot (but not all) of the nominated works (lots of ebooks, some other media, and even some Steam codes for video games). More details on the 2026 Hugo Awards here. 

 

ANYWAY, in 2025 I purchased a membership and read a bunch of short stories and novelettes and poems and comic books and a few novellas. And then I voted. My (expert) opinion was taken into account. It was a fun experiment. I decided to do it again this year. 

 

In 2026, I even nominated some things. I nominated Percy Jackson season 2 for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form), but it did not make the top 6 finalists—criminal. 

 

This year, I wanted to aim to read all the nominated short stories and novelettes and poems and most of the novellas. I've fallen behind already, but it's okay, it's just for fun it's just for fun it's just for fun.  

 

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Since my last review post, I've read one novella and two short stories, all of which were 2025 releases nominated for 2026 Hugo Awards. 

 

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (novella) 

Fun attempt at a murder mystery in a world where murder isn’t really permanent. Lots of details felt a bit too convenient, but it’s nice and short so no big complaints.

Some weird banking/financial talk that seemed unnecessarily convoluted. I would’ve liked to understand it in theory, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t make sense to an accountant either. 

 

Read: April 30, 2026

Rating: ★★★ / 5 

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This was a pretty simple murder mystery on a spaceship, and as a murder mystery, I don't actually think it was that strong. The sci-fi technology focusing on memories was interesting enough, but I don't consider it "award worthy," I guess. At least I finished it. 

 

I have since started three other nominated novellas: Cinder House, The River Has Roots, and The Summer War. All three of them read like fairy tales, but maybe any fantasy audiobook narrated by a Brit automatically sounds like a fairy tale to me. I don't think I'm much of a fairy tale person; I must lack whimsy. I'd guess that at least two out of these three books are destined to stay unfinished. 

 

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In My Country by Thomas Ha (short story)

Publisher: Clarkesworld Magazine 

 

Story about stories and censorship. It's meta in the sense that I'm not really sure what the message is. Definitely well written; Thomas Ha has a good style. Eerie dystopian vibe. 

 

Read: May 2, 2026

Rating: ★★★★ / 5

 

I read a novelette by Thomas Ha for the Hugos last year as well: The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video. Also dystopian, but a bit less abstract, I'd say. Between the two, Brotherhood is still my favorite; I liked that one a lot. 

 

From what I've heard, Ha often leans into the horror genre, and I see pieces of that in In My Country. 

 

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Six People to Revise You by J.R. Dawson (short story)

Publisher: Uncanny Magazine

 

Nice story that hits emotionally, but the premise and world-building is all just a vehicle for a pretty basic story about self-acceptance. It's not really what I'm looking for in speculative short fiction as the speculative aspect just feels like window dressing.

 

Read: May 3, 2026

Rating: ★★★ / 5

 

The Uncanny Magazine Podcast episode featuring this story also includes an interview with J.R. Dawson. Six People captures feelings that are relatable to anybody, but it's specifically a story about being queer and accepting parts of yourself that other people may not see positively. I enjoyed hearing her talk about it. 

 

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Lastly, I will review the month of May so far. 

 

I think the last few weeks have been good. I got recruited to teach juggling at a mini Renaissance Faire. I dressed up for May the 4th. I went to a concert at the Sinclair in Cambridge. I influenced two people to get library cards within the span of a couple weeks. Call me an influencer (but not derogatorily). Finally, I obtained a dabbing basketball sticker. 

 

There was also one travel-related crash-out, but I think that's just standard. During said travel, I rode some trains (Caltrain and VTA light rail: ★★★★★) and went to a Percy Jackson location (a Percy Pilgrimage if you will—Alcatraz: ★★★★★). Other things happened on this trip (🦭), but those are the relevant details. I like trains (fact) and I like Percy Jackson (fact). 

 

Wait no, there's more relevant details: I also bought some books for children. This blog has a lot of book content, so I will include it. My cousins are quite young, so I bought some books that I thought might appeal to quite young humans. Both books were purchased at Bookasaurus in Sunnyvale, CA (I'm not an expert on children, but I liked the store, lots of books and toys). 

 

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers: I MIGHT have blanked and bought this book purely because the cover was half pink. I'm not really sure if the story will appeal to my little cousin, but I hope the pink unicorn wrapping paper was appreciated. I told her to give me a review after finishing, but I don't think she knows what a review is. 

 

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees: I got this for a little girl that loves animals (I knew this), and her favorite animal happened to be a giraffe (I did not know this), so I'm accidentally a winner. 

 

I have not read either of the above books yet, but I theoretically totally would. You'd just need to take my phone away and leave me in a doctor's office waiting room.

Earth goes around Sun and so do I

 

If you want a peek into my brain on this good Tuesday: 

 

So today (the day I'm starting to write this) is my birthday, the official best day of the year. It's so important to me and so ultimately insignificant, I know. I'm not 25 anymore starting today. Can't be having any more quarter life crises, but I still am a cowboy without a clue. 

 

The past two years of my life have both been tough ones in different ways. I think 25 was less tumultuous than 24, but I can't exactly do a side-by-side comparison. I've gone out of my comfort zone at least once or twice in the last year, but some people might still say I haven't suffered enough to be growing. 

 

Here is my May 2025 to May 2026 year in review:

 

I've made a handful of new friends. Maybe I've distanced myself from one or two as well. I've also met some new people that have notably *not* become new friends. 

 

In May 2025, I had one gray hair. Currently, I have at least three more.  I like them; they're cute for now.

 

I went to a whole lot of bookstores and purchased a whole couple of books. Favorite books I've gotten:

• Star Trek: Lower Decks—Warp Your Own Way (favorite book of the "year", happy to find it in a store) -- Barnes & Noble in Natick
• The Warrior's Apprentice and Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold (it's so rare to see Vorkosigan books even at used bookstores) -- Annie's Book Stop of Worcestor
• Mort by Terry P (it's so prettyyy) -- Waterstones in Oxford (in England, not New England)
• My Brilliant Friend (so I can continue to look at it and think about how I would like to read) -- Blossom Book House in Bangalore

Favorite bookstore was Sweet Pickle Books in NYC. What a wonderful place.  

 

I went to two author events and four concerts in the last year (this is not even counting half•alive in April 2025). I might be becoming a Live Music Person™.

 

Went down a Star Trek rabbit hole and then escaped it. I hope to return soon 🖖

 

I went skiing seventeen times (though four of those were snowboard days). More than I've ever been before, because I had a pass and my own skis. Did my first "double black diamond", which sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was. Rode a T-bar for the first time (thanks to shitty weather at Saddleback)! I had a Valentine's ski date with my buddy Amelia and accidentally ended up inviting 3 more people. 

 

My current personality is: Cheez-It + dinosaurs + skeletons. I'm still gonna get married at the Museum of Science, just wait. Event of the decade (which decade, though?). (The Cheez-It thing is a not-very-long-but-still-concerning story that I will not get into.)

 

Notably, I did NOT learn how to juggle pins. Carryover task for this year. Did not make any unicycle progress at all. My journey to becoming a Quincy Market clown has stagnated a bit :(

 

Since REAL ID has been mandated for domestic flights, I've only been on one domestic-flight trip. A few road trips and two international-flight trips, but yeah I took my first US domestic flight of the "year" on March 27. I traveled on my own twice. Has not been a travel-heavy year for me compared to my other years being a real adult, but two solo is pretty good, actually. 

 

I posted on Instagram 4(!) times and found a new favorite movie.  

 

I spent a lot of time by myself and a lot of time with other people. Wild, I know. Took myself to a lot of cool places and will hopefully continue to do so. (Polly's Pancake Parlor in the near future, I hope)

 

I bought and was gifted a whooole lotta fun socks. I am happy to be the resident fun sock person. 

 

I finally rode the Mattapan trolley. That was a happy public transport day. 

 

I did not cook very much, but I did learn to appreciate the simplicity of scrambled eggs with a duck-ton of butter. 

 

Almost killed my plant (and it makes me sad just thinking about it), but she's slowly coming back. Thank you, Ranjani, for the advice. I don't know whether I'll send you this post, but the thanks are here either way. 

 

I did the work to find my next apartment in the laziest way possible. Remains to be seen whether I will actually successfully move.

 

I got so much sleep, and I lost so much sleep, and it was all 100% my own fault. 

 

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I feel pretty positively now, but my existential crises usually happen in the summertime. I'm sure summer 2026 will be no different, unless I start hiking or playing tennis or pickleball or badminton. Maybe I'll go to a gun range. Training for a 5k is also still (barely) on the table. Kayaking...? Should I try sailing again? I have been soliciting opinions, and these are the main options so far.

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I was recently reunited with a certain Harvard Museum of Natural History skelly. A picture was not taken, but I'm telling you, I was there, and I have no reason to lie.