None of this is spare time. I can’t spare it.

Ursula K. Le Guin, a visionary writer from Berkeley, California, transformed the science fiction genre with her brilliant world building. At a time when the field was largely male-dominated, she emerged as a pioneering figure, popularizing the field of speculative fiction to a more mainstream audience. In No Time to Spare, a collection of the best blog posts from the last decade of her life, Le Guin reflects on aging, society, and creativity. Although her success was closely tied to traditional publishing, she continued to hone her craft, finding new ways to connect in the form of short essays.

I appreciated her honesty regarding many of her stories, where she openly admitted she hadn’t figured out the moral. While a good portion of the essays did not pique my interest, I could still find beauty in her descriptive world. Le Guin writes with an elegant balance between clarity and emotion. Her attitude towards life is truly unregretful. For instance, in her sixtieth reunion Harvard questionnaire, she answers:

Question 14: “Are you living your secret desires?” Floored again. I finally didn’t check Yes, Somewhat, or No, but wrote in “I have none, my desires are flagrant.”

My favorite parts of this book are the sections titled The Annals of Pard, dedicated to her cat, Pard. Like many of the other essays in the book, the stories about Pard are very simple—mostly random thoughts and observations about her companion.

While the essays are loosely organized around topics like age, feminism, and society—many of which I can’t quite relate to—I found myself strangely comforted by her outlook on the world. Even though there isn’t anything groundbreaking in this book, unlike many of her other award-winning works, her sensitivity and wisdom feel authentic in a way that makes me wish she were still alive for a conversation.

What it made me think about above all is how incredibly much we learn from our birthday to last day—from where the horsies live to the origin of the stars. How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.

Overall Rating: 7/10