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Updated: Nov 9, 2021 116 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Paperless Towels

Coffee Break |

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Even though I've written posts on zero-waste cleaning products and green cleaning products that actually work, it's still so easy for me to use too many paper towels. We use both paper napkins and cloth napkins at home, and I recently switched to these reusable makeup pads from Paula's Choice — and now we have “paperless towels.”

After seeing a reader recommend the Etsy shop Gina's Soft Cloth Shop in the comments on a recent post, I clicked on over. The shop sells reusable/washable fabric products like “paperless towels,” baby wipes, and napkins, and uses birdseye cotton, organic cotton flannel, white cotton flannel, organic cotton/bamboo velour, and organic cotton/bamboo fleece.

The paperless towels are available in sets from 5 to 50. I chose this 10-pack of seconds for $8.50 (all with various “cosmetic flaws”). I finally put them in the kitchen this weekend, and I made sure to grab them instead of paper towels for things like wiping a fridge shelf, wiping water off the counter, and so on. They don't have the same absorbency as a paper towel, so they wouldn't be my first choice for a big mess — an old towel would be a better choice for that. Otherwise, they're great (and very soft), and can save a ton of paper.

This “extra big stack” of 50 is a good buy — it's on sale for $63.96 and qualifies for free shipping. (Your choice of colored edging is also included.)

With the coupon code BEKIND, you can get 15% off of your next order.

P.S. Because you obviously need water and energy to clean these, I did some googling to see if these are really more sustainable than paper towels. This Sierra Club article says “it's a wash.” This Washington Post story, which cited the Sierra Club's conclusion, noted “you can basically make an argument for whatever side of the divide you favor” but pointed out that used paper towels can't be recycled and end up in landfills, while their manufacture contributes to rising CO levels.) Btw, you can also buy 100% recycled disposable paper towels.

Sales of note for 9.10.24

Sales of note for 9.10.24

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About Kate Antoniades

Editor of Corporette since 2014, Kate Antoniades lives in her hometown of Rochester, NY. A cat person and Oxford comma loyalist, she loves thrift shopping and has too many craft supplies.

Comments

  2. Coach Laura

    The extra big stack doesn’t seem to be on sale for $63. It shows the sale price but when you put it in the cart it’s $79. I can’t find any that are on sale, other than the discount.

  3. Anonymous

    The reason I haven’t switched from paper towels to rags is that I have no convenient place to hang the rags to dry so they don’t mildew.

    • Anon

      I just have a little plastic bin that sits on top of my drier. I hang the rags on the edges until they dry, then they go in the bin until I do a load of towels (usually weekly). My laundry room in adjacent to my kitchen, so this is especially convenient, but would work even if the laundry was further away. I live somewhere pretty humid, but have no problems with mildew.

      • Anonymous

        Yeah we have a mesh bin in the laundry room (close to kitchen) where we drape these and other wet towels. In a prior place we used a bin under the sink with holes on the side but a solid bottom, and emptied it ~every night. We haven’t eliminated paper towels but based on how infrequently we buy them now, I’d estimate we’ve cut our usage by 50-75%. Keys were (1) buying a ton (I think we have like 50) and (2) setting up a relatively convenient place to discard them.

        • Wheels

          I have a raffia basket that hangs above the washing machine. If they are really wet then I hang them over the edge or over the washing machine taps.
          No problem with mildew, even when wet ones get thrown in and ignored for a few days (and I am super cautious on mould issues).
          I agree with others that having plenty on hand is key.
          They also do a better job than paper towels I reckon.

    • Anon

      I have a metal basket for these in my kitchen — if they are particularly wet I hang on the side, if mostly dry I just toss them in. So far so good. Same system for cloth napkins and kitchen hand towels.

      I wash mine with my regular weekly load of towels and so far no issues, and minimal if any increased water/detergent usage.

    • Anonymous

      I drape them on the side of our laundry hamper until dry, then toss inside.

      • Anonymous

        PS – we live in an apartment with no laundry so generally don’t do wash more than once a week.

    • Anon

      I wash mine frequently so they don’t seem to mildew. If I have a batch that I left more than a couple of days, I add some borax powder to the load.

    • anon

      I have been using towels vs paper towels for years and have never had a mildew problem. I am always bewildered by this when it comes up! Mine get thrown back into the laundry area and get washed fairly regularly (due to the laundry cycle generally). How we are your towels getting? Admittedly, I am not a neat person so I feel like if anyone should have this problem, it should be me!

      • Anon

        In my experience it’s more about your climate and the type of HVAC system you have, rather than your housekeeping skills. I grew up with a wood-burning fireplace and our house was so dry my eyes always felt like sand, so we never had mildew. Now I have forced-air electric heat, and the house is a petri dish.

        • Anon

          I can’t imagine anything drier than forced-air electric heat. Now I’m scared of fireplaces! I’m regretting moving from a place with radiators to a place with forced air heat (though it’s gas) because it’s so dry.

    • fada f

      I partially switched to microfiber cloths but found that they got gross unless I washed them fairly quickly after. I now only use them for dusting/wiping down counters, not for anything messier. Still use paper towels for that.

      • Wheels

        I didn’t replace my microfibre cloths with more (bought cotton instead) as I wasn’t keen on the idea of all the microplastics they release.

      • Anom

        It’s a no-win situation. Microfiber gets into the water stream and pollutes waterways with micro plastics.

        Perhaps my kids’ habit of wiping their hands on their clothes is the most sustainable (yet disgusting) option…

  4. kag

    White towels for cleaning up messes will eventually get permanent stains. Colours and patterns work way better.

    • Senior Attorney

      Counterpoint: I like white ones so I can bleach them. In my experience the colored/patterned ones just turn a sad gray over time.

      • Anon

        How do you keep them white even with bleach? My husband and his putting lotion on his cracked hands (a long tail of accutane, he insists) and then wiping excess lotion onto white towels had made them a yellowish-gray bit of nastiness. What has not worked: long soaks, long soaks with bleach, long soaks with ammonia, long soaks with OxyClean, long soaks with Clorox II. About to order new hand towels b/c I just cannot deal with how nasty they look.

        • Anon

          Get Greased Lightning or a commercial degreaser from a janitorial supply and soak them, then wash as normal.

        • Senior Attorney

          I use a spray-on pretreating product called Zout (it comes in a red bottle and I get it at Target). You might also try washing soda and/or borax.

          But really the answer is “dish towels are a consumable.” We replace ours every Christmas.

  5. Anon

    Since you’ve all been so good about sharing shopping tips I thought I’d share these booties I just got

    https://www.nordstrom.com/s/6447762

    I was looking for something that I could keep by the door to take the dog for walks but I find myself actually wearing these all day. They’re really comfortable. I never though I’d be wearing easy spirit but here we are.

  6. Anon

    if it makes its way up to SCOTUS, do we think the OSHA regs will stand? on a related note, if a business can legally choose to only serve those who are vaccinated…can a business also choose to only serve those who are unvaccinated? (there is a medical office near me with a doc who has kind of gone rogue who has said her practice is going to focus on unvaccinated patients bc she is anti vax). granted, i dont know why any vaccinated person would want to frequent a business like that…

    • Anon

      IDK but I’m hoping that this is moot soon. Went to get my 10 YO his first shot today. No line for shots. No line for some sort of other legit therapy. HUGE line for COVID testing (my guess: mandatory testing for people who didn’t get shots or just want to test to travel, etc.). Our county was previously a hot spot (15% + tests) and has now dropped below 5% +, so I’m crossing my fingers for no Article III standing :)

      I know they’ll take it and decide. Maybe we won’t care by then much.

      • Anon

        Yep, this. Especially with the new treatment for COVID rolling out, I’m hopeful it’s just a non-issue.

        • Anonymous

          The only way it will be moot is if people get vaccinated before it gets to SCOTUS, and that’s just not going to happen if implementation of the OSHA regulation is enjoined.

      • Anon

        Are you in the south? Covid is abating there currently, presumably because your winters are much milder and don’t drive everyone indoors. A lot of the upper Midwest/mountain west is really surging right now. The virus is not done with us, even if you want it to be.

        • Anonymous

          It’s also because a whole lot of people in the south have already had COVID so there are fewer susceptible persons.

          • Anon

            The total numbers of people infected in NY and NJ is likely higher than just about anywhere else, especially if you factor in how hard it was to get tested in spring 2020. But the SEUS has more people infected recently and I think that’s definitely a factor. Immunity doesn’t last forever.

        • Anonymous

          In the south and we get winter where I am. Too cold to eat outside now but our numbers have been going down since schools FINALLY reopened, which I. Am pleasantly surprised at. It is a plague among the unvaccinated for sure but not generally, so it is here and not here. Feels weird but I will take it. And I have my booster shot lined up for me soon.

          • Cat

            lol at too cold to eat outside.

            Signed, Philadelphian who can’t swing the proverbial cat without running into a “streetery” with individual dining areas that are open-air, divided from other guests, and with plenty of heating elements.

        • Anon

          I checked my map and coastal california and the SEUS up through the mid-Atlantic look good now. But IDK why Arizona looks worse than CA and the SEUS — it is warm, too.

          But I don’t know if surging is the right word. To me, the summer Delta spread was a surge. This, even when higher, is just high relative to how low it is elsewhere. IDK that it seems catastrophically bad.

          • Anon

            Surging means the rate of growth is high. You can have a surge starting from overall low numbers, and you can also have a plateau at high numbers that’s not a surge. Right now the US overall has plateaued at a pretty high case rate (70k/day, which is lower than winter 2020 and late summer/fall 2021 but higher than at any other time during the pandemic). But several northern and western states are surging, meaning the rate of growth in those places very high. Much of Europe is also surging right now, despite vaccination rates that are significantly higher than the US. I think it’s very unlikely we get through winter without getting back up around 200k cases a day, but it probably depends on how many people get boosters and get their kids vaccinated.

            Arizona did not have nearly as big a late summer surge as the SEUS did, which is likely why things are worse there now. There are many factors in play here; weather is one of them but not the only one.

    • EB

      First question – I think it depends on who you ask. Very smart people on both sides will tell you opposite opinions. I think your last sentence answered your second question. Zero chance I’d give her my business. But if you’re asking from a legality perspective, sure, so long as it isn’t discriminating based on a protected class like race, sex, etc., which it isn’t.

  7. Anon

    Is the current Sephora sale the last one for the year that’s a general percent off any product, other than discounts on specific products? I forget how their sales calendar usually works.

    I’m trying to do a no buy, but I’ll run out of moisturizer before the spring sale, so I want to plan my timing.

    • Anon

      I think there are just two per year that are % off. They may do something for Black Friday but that’s usually targeted products and not an overall discount. After Xmas, holiday sets remaining will go on clearance.

  8. Anonymous

    I have the Boden Florrie Dot Print Jersey Dress in Navy. Does it read “summer”? Or can I wear it right now? If now, how would you style it? Thanks!

      • OP

        That’s where I land. But I love the way it fits, so I thought I’d ask around! I should probably just get it in black, too.

    • Shelle

      I bet it would pair well with accessories in fall colors like burnt orange, burgundy, or browns. Maybe a scarf or leather jacket?

  9. They will stain

    I stopped buying paper towels and paper napkins a couple of years back. I still have one of the three rolls I had in the cupboard at my switch.

    I still use paper towels for first wipe if there’s a raw chicken spill or broken glass.

    For everything else I use thin cotton napkins, microfiber cloths and cotton kitchen towels (dish towels). Zero percent of my reusables are white, matching or an investment.

    • pugsnbourbon

      I use microfiber cloths too, but now I’m hearing about microplastics. I’m not going to immediately throw them away – they’ve been washed so many times that any plastic bits are long gone – but eventually I’ll replace them with cotton rags.

      • No Face

        Wow, had no idea microfiber towels had any plastic. Mine are old and look terrible and I planned to buy new ones. I’ll just get cotton.

      • They will stain

        Get a Guppy washbag or similar!
        It’s sort of like a lingerie washbag, but for microfiber and fleece. It collects the microplastic lint in the bag.

        I’m thinking that with so much less detergent (and the supply outlets) use for microfiber and using a Guppy bag, you’re ahead.

  10. Anon for this

    Someone who lives in another country occasionally sends me e-mails to my personal account by mistake. Sometimes these are of a personal nature (photos, etc.) so I don’t think they are phishing or a scam or anything like that. The last name is similar, but not exactly the same, as my last name, so I think it’s just a typo. I am thinking I should let them know that they are sending stuff to the wrong e-mail address. What is the best way to let them know that? I was going to ignore it, but I’ve received maybe 3 of these now and I think if it were me, I’d want to know. Thanks.

    • Anon

      “Hi, writing to let you know that this is the wrong email- I am not Jane Doe. Have a good day!”

      It’s really not something to overthink.

      • Anon

        +1 I once got a WhatsApp message that clearly wasn’t meant for me and seemed important (it was about a contract signing) so I just wrote back “I think you have the wrong number, my name is ___ and I’m not involved in this matter” and the person was super appreciative that I let her know.

      • anon

        This actually happens to me a lot which is hilarious to me bc my name is not super unique but also not super common. I respond pretty much exactly like this. I usually get a thanks and everyone goes about their day.

      • Vicky Austin

        +1. Same way you would if someone called/texted you with the wrong number.

        I have a friend A who has had the same phone number for 10+ years who is still getting bothered by people who think they can still reach B at that number. Mine is 1 digit off from a locksmith in my hometown and I get a lot of panicky calls for that. Part of life these days!

    • Anonymous

      If it’s the same person, just send them a hi, you’ve sent this to the wrong email address, kind regards.

      And if you want to never think about it again, set up an email rule for your app that will give this person’s address the same boring you-sent-this-wrong automated reply whenever they send it wrong in the future and delete the email from your inbox.

    • aBr

      Just tell them. I’ve been on the sending and receiving end of the “I think you mistyped the email address” emails.

    • Anonymous

      The address they mistyped the first time probably autopopulates now. I would let them know by a short response. “I believe this was misdirected to me due to a typo in the address”

    • pugsnbourbon

      This happened to me, but all the emails were about a Tesco account. I live in Indiana. I forwarded them to the “contact us” email on the Tesco site and had the rest go to spam.

    • Curious

      A person with a name similar to my father’s, but living in Hobart, Australia, once replied like this for me. I very much appreciated it :)

    • LawDawg

      Please tell them. Some guy in Australia was getting family emails about my dad’s move into assisted living. Why oh why did my brother decide it made sense to add a “0” after his name on gmail when his name was being used by someone else?

    • LawDawg

      Please tell them. Some guy in Australia was getting family emails about my dad’s move into assisted living. Why oh why did my brother decide it made sense to add a “0” after his name on gmail when his name was being used by someone else?

    • Anonymous

      Yes, I do. I have a really common name and have the corresponding email (with no numbers) and gets tons of correspondence for other people. Like, I’ve gotten emails from people’s real estate lawyers, tax attorneys, about parking tickets, from their moms (!!). I always email to let them know they have the wrong address.

    • Anon

      I recently got an email for an intake form and an appointment reminder for a psychiatrist. Most definitely not for me, so I called up the psychiatrist’s office, explained that it was the wrong email, and asked them to (1) call the patient with the appointment reminder, because s/he didn’t get it through email, and (2) get the correct email. The office seemed glad to know of the mistake.

    • Anon NZ Pen Pal

      I have a special relationship with the person who has almost my same email address but is a famous photographer in New Zealand. I have gotten press inquiries for her, info about modelling gigs and also info on when her neighbor was selling a chest of drawers. I know this is not relevant to you because you don’t know the intended recipient, but I usually forward on with a note wishing them well from <> in <> I follow her on instagram and generally just treat it as a random cosmic connection in my life!

  11. Anon

    Q for the CPAs – is it correct the expanded child care tax credit is not a thing for 2022? This year it was more lucrative for us to use that than a dependent care FSA (we were eligible to claim $8k of expenses = $4k credit) but if it reverts to the original credit limit and income level, we’re better off using the full $5k dependent care FSA limit. Our AGI is about $100k and we’ll have ~$12k in daycare expenses next year if anyone wants to check my math. It’s open enrollment season and I’m trying to figure out how to fund the DCFSA. Thanks!

  12. Anon

    Favorite color for a home office? The blah beige color in my basement office is becoming a real downer now that the days are getting shorter. I’m a lawyer and do video court hearings and depositions from home so needs to be somewhat neutral / serious.

    • Anonymous

      I’d probably do a beautiful deep/dark color on an accent wall across from your desk (yes, yes, I’m aware accent walls may not be the most current, but it’s an office, it’s a basement, etc. etc.). Something you love to look at, and that glows in the light you have in your room, but that isn’t showing as your video backdrop.

    • trixie

      White! I love the brightness of white. Choose 3 colors, walls are white, trim is color b, and doors or shelves are color c. Add an accent color, not too crazy as you have to do your zooms, and boom!

    • Anon

      My home office is SW “sagey” and I love it. It’s the palest green, and with my wood desk and white filing cabinet and plants it’s perfect for the “zen library” vibe I was going for.

    • A

      Teal walls. Pops of colour in red or coral or pink or yellow or white. Whatever you think looks best with teal.

  13. Anonymous

    One thing I loved about WFH: early dinner. I love starting dinner at 5 or earlier and eating before 6. Even if I have to continue working after. It eliminates my afternoon snack which cuts out like 200 calories I don’t really need. Man I’m going to miss it.

    • Anon

      I’m permanently work from home but I feel like it’s led to a huge amount of weight gain because the fully stocked kitchen is right there and I’m eating small amounts all day. When I worked in an office I only had the food I brought with me. We ate dinner before 6 even when I was in the office though.

      • Anonymous

        I hate early dinner! What I really liked was when I was WFH and done at 5 with no commute but didn’t have to serve dinner until 8:30 because of other family members’ schedules. I had time and energy to do what I wanted to do in the evening. Now their schedules have changed and I have to start cooking right after I’m done with work. By the time dinner is through, I have no energy left to do my own stuff and I end up collapsing with a book or an iPad.

    • Sloan Sabbith

      Oh god, I hate early dinner. My parents eat dinner at 5 and when I lived with them I would too most nights. My most productive hours are 3-7 or so and so a 5 pm dinner really threw me off.

      • Anon

        Early dinner is SUCH a pain in the warmer months. It basically assures you can’t get any yard work done on a weekday.

  14. Anon

    Any recs for sci-fi by or about women? I’ve dipped my toe into sci-fi for the first time this year, reading Recursion by Blake Crouch and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I loved Recursion and will read other Crouch books. I thought the plot of Project Hail Mary was great, but I found Weir’s writing style extremely grating and in particular hated the way he wrote his one (barely present) female character so I’m not inclined to read more by him. I know it’s a very male dominated space but in general I prefer to read stories by and about women, and would love recommendations if anyone has them. I read The Echo Wife and really enjoyed it but I think it’s more of a domestic thriller with sci-fi elements than true sci-fi. But more books like that would be welcome too, it doesn’t have to be “hardcore” sci fi.

    • Anonymous

      The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers! It’s about characters and society and is not at all driven by technology like a lot of male-written sci fi, and characters of all genders and species are well developed. I read every book in the series in one sitting.

      Sadly, Wayfarers is done and I just couldn’t get into the first book in her new series.

    • SFanatic

      Old time classic recommendations are Ursula K LeGuin and James Tiptree. For something newer,NKJemison’s trilogy was amazing

    • Anonymous

      Becky Chambers – the Wayfarer series. “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” is the first book

    • No Face

      Have you read any Octavia Butler? I love the Xenogenesis trilogy, which starts with the novel Dawn.

    • Anonymous

      Would you be willing to try steampunk paranormals as a sort of scifi adjecent genre?

      I remember enjoying a couple of the The Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger.

    • Anon

      The Broken Earth series by NK Jemisin. By and about a woman. Bonus – the protagonist is a 40-something woman and not a teenager!

      • Anon

        Also adding: Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (novella)

        Also, I will second SA’s rec below for The Power.

    • Anon

      Ooooh my god, the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Start with All Systems Red. I eat these up and re-read them at least yearly. I cannot over-emphasize how much I love murderbot.

      I also love Becky Chamber’s Wayfarer’s series (starting with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet) as well as “To be Taught, if Fortunate”.

      I also liked the Calculating Stars. If you give Andy Weir another go, Artemis is about a woman and I think it’s well-written.

    • Senior Attorney

      Pasadena’s finest: Octavia E. Butler! Start with Kindred, which is more time travel than space opera but just amazing.
      The Calculating Stars and its sequels by Mary Robinette Kowal.
      The Power by Naomi Alderman (got this from a recommendation here and loved it).
      This is YA, but A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle is a classic for a reason.
      The City We Became or anything else by N.K. Jemison.
      Anything by Ursula K. LeGuin.

        • Senior Attorney

          Happy to be book friends!

          Honestly, it’s been a couple of years to I had to go back and remind myself of the end of The Power… yeah, not my fave.

    • Korvapuusti

      Lois McMaster Bujold!! The Vorkosigan series is excellent and even the books with a male protagonist tackle interesting societal issues with fantastic storytelling and an emotional core.

    • Anon

      Male author, but Alaistair Reynolds writes very science-y SF that heavily features female characters (as both protagonists and antagonists). At lot of it is very dense and long but his novel Revenger, which is about two sisters, is a bit more accessible and I found it pretty enjoyable.

      Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit series also has some great female characters, and explores gender in some interesting ways. Lee is a man as well, though.

      Ancillary Justice and its sequels, by Ann Leckie, are fantastic and also explore gender roles in a way that is similar to (but better than, IMO) Ursula LeGuin’s Left Hand of Darkness. I know this is heresy and I love other LeGuin but that wasn’t my fave.

      Martha Wells is a great favorite of mine. The protagonist is a robot that kind of vibes male (but again, robot) but there are very good and interesting female characters.

      And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth, which is about teenage l&sbian space necromancers and is the most fun I’ve had in book form in lo, these many years.

    • Sloan Sabbith

      Station Eleven has some sci fi elements.
      Bindi is a sci fi novella series.
      Outlander is sort of sci fi, although it’s a stretch to consider it true sci fi.
      There are a lot of YA sci fi writers who are women- a lot of it dystopian future writing. Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Marissa Meyer.
      I haven’t read it but This Is How You Lose the Time War is popular and by a woman/man team.
      Time Traveler’s Wife
      The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a time travel book with some sci fi elements. The author has also written other books.

    • Anonymous

      Semiosis by Sue Burke has a variety of narrators, but it’s a really interesting take on colonizing a planet and parasitic hosts

      Sisters of the Vast Black, by Lina Rather (novella, nuns in space essentially)

      The Luminous Dead, by Caitlin Starling is on my TBR list, along with Space onstruct) but may meet your criteria
      ortunate” (another shorter, more philosophical novella) instead of her found family ones

      There’s both fantasy and sci-fi short stories in N. K. Jemisin’s “How Long Till Black Future Month” and there were some real great ones in there

      Zero Sum Game, by S.L. Huang is also on my TBR, but my husband (who goes in for more “hard” scifi than I do) read and like it

      And of course, Lois McMaster Bujold starts her Vorkosigan series with two really excellent ones with a female main character – Shards of Honor & Barrayar

    • Is it Friday yet?

      I haven’t read them yet (on my list!), but the Murderbot series by Martha Wells is supposed to be fantastic.

      • Nesprin

        I’ve read them and they’re great! Also in the vein of nonhuman protagonists written by women Ann Leike’s Radch series is great.

    • An.On.

      ARRRRGH, my original comment got deleted, I think, but in no particular order:

      Zero Sum Game, by S.L. Huang
      Semiosis, by Sue Burke
      Lois McMaster Bujold – Shards of Honor & Barrayar specifically have a female main character
      Sisters of the Vast Back, by Lina Rather (novella, nuns in space)
      The Luminous Dead, by Caitlin Starling
      To be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers (more philosophical than action)
      How Long Till Black Future Month (Short stories), N.K. Jemisin
      Connie Willis (she does novels too, but I favor her short stories)

      I also read these, and found them just okay, but they’re very highly rated:
      A Memory Called Empire (series still being published), by Arkady Martine
      Gideon the Ninth (series still being published), by Tamsyn Muir

      And a couple by women authors about neither male/female main characters:
      Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice series
      Martha Wells, Murderbot series

    • Anon

      I’ll second the others who say Octavia Butler, NK Jemisin, and The Calculating Stars (I’ve only read the first one in this series, but that’s because my library only had the first one until recently), plus The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I also like a lot of books that are more fantasy than scifi, like everything by Naomi Novik and the Gideon the Ninth series, but might still be appealing.

      • MagicUnicorn

        Naomi Novik is fantastic. Also love: Leigh Bardugo and Robin Hobb, although perhaps they stray further to the fantasy side of things. Excellent reading, regardless.

    • Anon

      Lois McMaster Bujold (the Vorkosigan series) is one of the OG sci-fi greats.
      I also love Elizabeth Moon for military space opera.
      Ann Leckie (Ancillary Justice and the others in that series) is great, in her main character’s native language everyone is referred to with female pronouns and it’s full-on AIs and space stations sci-fi.
      Becky Chambers is a fairly new author and I like some of her books better than others (many are set in the same universe but don’t necessarily need to be read in order) but she’s exploring some interesting ideas. A Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet is her first, and I think my favorite.

    • Nesprin

      Anyone who claims SF is male dominated has missed the plot of the last couple decades, and is probably trying to sell you on some mediocre SF. Among my favorites (and favorites at the Hugo/Nebulas):
      Ursula K. Leguin,
      Octavia Butler,
      Connie Wells (Crosstalk and To Say Nothing of the Dog, holds the record for Hugo/Nebula awards),
      Lois Bujold (Curse of Chalion is fantasy, and voted the best sf/fantasy novel of the last 2 decades, but her Vorkosigan novels are great space operas)
      NK Jemisin (never has a McArthur Genius award been more deserved)
      Ann Leike,
      Martha Wells (most of her work is fantasy/not SF, but Element of Fire and Death of the Necromancer are both outstanding)
      Kate Elliot (dips her toes into SF every so often)
      Catherine Asaro (obscurer than the luminaries above, but I’ve enjoyed her work)

    • amberwitch

      I agree with a lot of the recommendations you already got; Martha Wells, Lois McMaster Bujold (especially the ones with Cordelia Naismith as the protagonist), Ann Leckie, Becky Chambers (except Records of a spaceborn few, which I couldn’t finish), Gail Carrigher (steampunk)
      I’d add Elizabeth Bear, Tanya Huff’s Confederation series, Julian May (older), C.S. Friedman (This Alien Shore, Inconquest born, The Madness season)

      And as a couple of outliers:
      Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series (dystopic future with magic taking over from technology)
      Wen Spencer Mostly mixes her Science fiction with urban fantasy, but the Ukiah Oregon (male protagonist however) is more Science fiction-y

  15. Breathe

    What is the alternate framing for “I am feeling overwhelmed” to a) self when you are trying to have a more positive mindset, and b) to others when what you want is some space to declutter (the to do list) and decompress, without being perceived as slacking or not pulling one’s weight?

    Currently in this mental space. Emotionally tired (buried my aunt yesterday after a sudden death that I don’t know if I have processed yet), I am also understaffed with ongoing recruitment meetings, have two major projects to roll out before end of the year, I keep forgetting to eat, and my sleep is pretty much interrupted by my anxiety from the things I have to check off.

    Signed

    Single with no one to share these with save for anon friends of the web

    • Anon

      Condolences for your loss. It’s hard to balance life and work sometimes, especially when something big/unexpected happens.

      To self: I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment, but I can get through this.

      It’s good to acknowledge that things are tough while recognizing that it won’t be like this forever. Some things are in your control (choosing to eat and sleep!), and you can focus on those.

      To your team and/or supervisor): I need to take a couple of days of PTO [or a day to be offline, whatever fits]. I’ve got a lot going on right now and just need to take care of some things so that I can refocus to push through on the [X] projects. I’ll be available again on Monday. I’ve rescheduled [meetings], and I’ll touch base with [whoever necessary]. If anything super-urgent pops up, call me. [[If you need to ask for help: I could use your help on [getting the response to X out the door on Friday, or whatever], please, but otherwise, my workload is under control for the moment.]]

      If you get pushback, then feel free to mention your aunt’s passing, and specify that you were close. That would end any debate from rational people.

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