@sephster @neil
I'm limiting myself to authors who sell direct, without DRM in the case of ebooks. But not necessarily books I read in the last year
Si Clarke's Devon Island Mars Colony series is about creating a colony on Mars. Not much physics, but lots about the human practicalities and difficulties.
Si Clarke's Starship Teapot series is odd-ball, humourous sci-fi. Reminds me of Douglas Adams.
Elliott Hay's Vigilauntie Justice series is about a bunch of old ladies doing whatever is needed to keep their community safe.
All the above are available at https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/ The author (one person, two pen names) is on fedi at @clacksee
Dharma Kelleher writes queer crime fiction. I've read some of her Jinx Ballou books and can recommend them, but I haven't read any of her other books.
https://dharmakelleher.com/
I've read and can recommend Michael W Lucas' git murder novels, which are crime fiction set at tech conferences. He's also written tech books and (I think) sci-fi.
https://www.tiltedwindmillpress.com/
@mwl