Reading the Hugos

Someone You Can Build a Nest In

A book club in which we read current and potential Hugo Award nominees.

The Hugos are one of the most prestigious awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy media, and one of only a few major awards that are actually voted on by readers! Let's get together to discuss current and potential future Hugo Award nominees and decide whether we would vote for them or not.

The book selection for June is Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell.

Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.

However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way. Can she learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life? And can that love survive when she finds out that Homily's entire family believes she is the source of their family curse?

For teen and up readers. Books can be checked out at any NLRPLS library location or online on the Libby app. For more information, contact Megan at Laman Library. No registration required.

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