© 2026 Clay Reads

I follow my curiosity and share what I find.

Welcome to my bookshelf. Sci-fi, self-help, literary fiction, and everything in between.

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Best of 2025

Books I Keep Recommending

A large, intelligent spider confronts a lone astronaut on an alien terrain with webbing in the air and a lush Earth-like planet and spacecraft looming above — capturing the central tension of Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Children of Time

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Evolved spiders, a dying human race, and an ending I didn’t see coming.

Post cover of Trust by Hernan Diaz

Trust

Hernan Diaz

Start slow, finish stunned. This Pulitzer winner is a masterpiece.

A lone astronaut in a white spacesuit floats tethered near a large cylindrical spacecraft, facing a glowing yellow star in deep space. The scene captures the isolation and intensity of interstellar travel, evoking the themes of survival and discovery from Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir

A lone astronaut, an alien friend, and a race to save Earth. Pure joy.

Armored SecUnit “Murderbot” with a glowing red visor stands guard on a rugged alien world during a dangerous planetary survey.

All Systems Red

Martha Wells

My mom begged me to read this for years. She was right.

Split-screen illustration showing a hunched young man in a cool blue room with shadowy figures pointing behind him, a broken chain across the center, and—on the warm golden side—an elderly philosopher’s profile above a sunlit path where a lone figure walks forward beneath birds and an origami crane, symbolizing freedom from approval-seeking (featured image for The Courage to Be Disliked).

The Courage to Be Disliked

Fumitake Koga & Ichiro Kishimi

The book that changed how I think about other people’s opinions.

Silhouetted woman approaches a fog-shrouded Gothic mansion under a full moon, evoking the eerie atmosphere of The Haunting of Hill House.

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson wrote the blueprint for psychological horror.

Latest Reviews

Abstract philosophy book review image showing a reader at a night study desk with headphones, notes, and a glowing spiral diagram representing Ken Wilber’s integral theory and fragmented ideas coming together.

A Theory of Everything Ken Wilber Review

Clay | May 15

A Tough Read with that Rings True Today This is going to be a tough review. A Theory of Everything by Ken Wilber[…]

A young girl and a mysterious teacher stand near a fractured colony on an alien world, with ravens overhead, a starship nearby, and a glowing buried machine beneath the landscape.

Review of Children of Memory (Children of Time #3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Clay | May 8

The Most Star Trek Book in the Children of Time Series It is time for the third installment of the Children of Time[…]

Featured image for Embrace Discomfort by Michael Easter showing a man leaving a comfortable indoor space with a couch, phone, and escalator behind as he walks toward stairs, sunlight, and a rugged mountain path.

Embrace Discomfort: Lean Into Challenge to Improve Your Life by Michael Easter

Clay | May 1

Why Michael Easter Wants You to Lean Into Challenge I discovered Embrace Discomfort: Lean Into Challenge to Improve Your Life by Michael Easter[…]

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