A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
Rating:
Read before: No
Ownership: My best friend threw the book at me because I had to read it, she was right.
Ok, this is a book about a monk and a robot. But it is also a book about tea, about what offering someone a cup of tea is like and what it can provide relief, for listening to them. It is also a book about identity, about what defines humanity, a soul and conscience. It is about duties and expectations.
If you expect a light book, this is not for you despite it being relatively short. Because it is a book that will make you think and reconsider your whole life. You will wonder why you are not doing something else, or if you are truly happy.
Overall, the point of this book is about the purpose and about choices. What do humans need? It depends on who you ask and when. If I am terribly tired, I would say sleep or overall peace. But who knows what we really need. It is hard to talk for the whole of humanity, as much as we are a collective we are also a bunch of individuals and this book will make you think about all of this and more. Honestly, I cannot recommend it enough even though I can barely describe it without retelling the story.
But the main character is non-binary, serves tea and does their own mixes for a living moving around in a little wagon type thing that offers tea services and a friendly ear and delicious mixes to soothe the soul. I just loved the concept of this, and I wish I could do this tea mastery serving to others the right tea, perfect for their needs and the time of their lives.