I think I bought the bio, Star, when you first recommended it, and it’s been staring at me from my TBR shelf ever since. So now’s the time. 
Surtac, you are quite right about Prophet Song. It is more terrifying than depressing, though.  I gave it to my sister for Christmas and, without fully realizing what she was getting into, she took it to read on vacation, and texted me in shock and dismay - what was I thinking!! It is definitely not beach reading. But it is an incredible work and someday i hope you get to it.

I have worked my way through Kingfisher, whom I enjoy enormously. And I also liked The Starless Sea quite a lot. 
My sister gave me a book for Christmas - The Fourth Wing, I think it was called? It seems to be all the rage, but I did not care for it at all.  Extremely derivative. 
Apart from that, I’ve been reading Anna Karenina, which has resolved me not to read any more 19th century fiction written by men involving adulterous women.  I am also reading  a biography of Lafayette by Mike Duncan, which is great, and I’ve started a biography of Lise Meitner that Star recommended about a decade ago, and I’m working my way through 20 murder mystery books by William Kent Kruger set in Minnesota. They are better than okay but not great, i think.  His main character is part Native American and the weaving of that culture into the narrative is interesting. 
I read Prophet Song by Paul Lynch last fall - set in Ireland, focusing on a small family dealing with the onset of a totalitarian regime. It is nightmare incarnate and particularly terrifying given our current regime here. One can see it coming. It won the Man Booker prize in 2023, and is an amazing work, but very painful to read. 
I also read a book called Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner, I think her name is, about a female provacateur hired by unnamed government/corporate entities to infiltrate a commune in rural France for nefarious purposes.  There was a lot of talk of Neanderthals in the book.  I quite liked it.  
And my spouse and younger child and I are watching the West Wing, which is quite a fantasy these days.  We have one episode left, and I don’t look forward to finishing. 
I see that the Murderbot TV series is on its way. I have mixed feelings about it. I have such a strong internal visual of the characters of the books that i am a bit worried about watching someone else’s realization of it.  And so much of it is internal to SecUnit, hard to see how they will convey that.  But my you

One point made in the very early pages of Life as No One just really struck me - she alludes to the need for our definition of “life” to enable us to discern “life” in alien environments.  I don’t remember many if any science fiction books focusing on the brave explorers of the universe puzzled by this question - they seem to be using the pornography definition she alludes to even earlier - but surely an ethical spacer needs to be able to identify “life” so as not to squash it. 

Oh dear.  So many horrible fires, everywhere. Not to mention hurricanes and floods. I do feel fortunate so far. But we had a drought here this past fall and we would likely have lost everything if the forest behind our house went. We’ll have to start living like my family members in Sonoma county - with a go bag always packed - if we keep getting the droughts. 

Surtac, I share you appreciation for Mick Herron [sp?] and once we finish our first time through 7 seasons of West Wing (we started before the US election, when it was inspiring, and now it just seems like a fantasy or an alternative universe but if we can avoid comparing it to what’s about to happen here come the new year it is good escapist tv) we are going to resume Slow Horses.