Posts

Showing posts from January, 2022

Exit Strategy

Image
  Author: Martha Wells Series: The Murderbot #4 Publication year: October 2, 2018 Book Description (from GoodReads): Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right? Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit. But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue? And what will become of it when it’s caught? Thoughts: By now it does feel a bit formulaic. The adventures keep piling up. Murderbot is still a bit annoying insisting it does not have feelings and continues to think humans cannot really care about or it should be possible to care for humans.  Anyway, Murderbot decides to finally go back to Dr. Mensah and pro

Completed series 2021

Image
 Taking a look at the start of the year and I did have a list of series to complete this yes. It can be found here . To recap real quick: 1. Precious stone trilogy by Kerstin Gier. I complete it. It was a clear disappointment. I liked the idea much more than the execution. The time-traveling was very interesting, the family drama, the plots, and the real enemy waiting and moving the pieces of the game in the background. The main character was annoying, even more so than in the first book. The love interest and the "romance" well my enjoyment went downhill only for that.  2. Series of unfortunate events by Lemony Snicket . I completed it. My enjoyment was so-so. It becomes repetitive and predictable. I was expecting that but I became annoyed by the absurd and awful human being in the story. Every adult was an imbecile that can't see what's right in front of them. I liked it mostly but by the end I simply wanted it to be over. I might revisit a few of my favorites but

2021 Reflections

Image
  So we have seen the statistics for the reading. But I did have set goals at the start of 2021. Were they accomplished? To start off, the series to be completed this year are coming a bit later. So we will leave that off for now.  The Kindle book's goal was left very open and it's hard to account for it now. I did get through 23 books from Kindle, so I will give myself this one as a win. The balance of books was left almost as soon as I started. So let's do a quick one, the physical books are the only ones that will count, not digital (ebooks or Audiobooks).  Some are not going to be very doable, I moved to another country in August and brought zero physical books therefore some will stay unread for a while. So I have 12 books still unread from the ones bought in 2021.  For ebooks, I bought 156 and only read 23 so that means 85% of them are left unread. So that would have been a big fail. Good thing I gave up officially.  So another priority in my reads, it can be also fou

2021 Reading Statistics

Image
  Let's take a look into 2021 in lovely statistics. It might be a boring subject. This in no way is meant to make others feel pressured or compare themselves. Numbers are not the most important thing. Reading happens to be my escape from the real world and due to the current times and my lack of options for the first half of the year that I was not leaving my house at all, well that provided a lot of time I was able to spend reading.  This year was filled with changes and scary situations that had me up and down emotionally. But we can look back in my reading journey and count it as a success.  From these numbers, this represents my goal to have been accomplished in 156%.  From them, 7% were rereads- 23 books. That is a bit below, my goal was 10% but I was very close. My next year's goal is set up differently I will use a number as the goal instead of a percent, I see it more achievable.  The formats are a bit more even, not bad really. I did want to take advantage of my online

Rouge protocol

Image
  Author: Martha Wells Series: The Murderbot Diaries #3 Published date: August 7, 2018 Genre: Sci-Fi Book description (GoodReads): SciFi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah’s SecUnit is. And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good Thoughts: Murderbot is still on the move. After their last mission and with money and a bit of practice the next mission begins. The course is set, and pretending to be human without the help of ART might prove to be more difficult than Murderbot wanted.  Murderbot heads off to Milu, a deserted terraforming facility in space, to investigate the past of a murky group called GrayCris, yes the same group we saw in the first book. It is probably because Murderbot still feels guilty about Dr. Mensah and the other humans that they abandoned. The new crew of humans als

Artificial Condition

Image
  Author: Martha Wells Series The Murderbot Diaries #2 Genre: Sci-Fi Publication date: Book Description (from GoodReads): It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks. Thoughts  Murderbot decides to run away from the humans it got close to during the mission. They do not trust humans and after getting to know them, more feelings and theories are proven wrong. Murderbot had a very specific idea on what bots should be and humans. After the previous mission, all those ideas are thrown out the window.  Murderbot is annoying, they insist on their inability to have emotions and therefore they can't un

When: The art of Perfect Timing

Image
 Author: Stuart Albert Genre: Nonfiction Publication date: January 1, 2013 (sidenote: I am reading it exactly 8 years after it was published. Not important just a nice coincidence). Book Description(from GoodReads): An elegant and counterintuitive guide to achieving perfect timing Timing is everything. Whether we are making strategic business decisions or the smallest personal choice, we must decide not only what to do, but when to do it. Act too early--or too late--and the results can be disastrous. Based on a 20-year investigation into more than 2,000 timing issues and errors, When presents a single and practical approach for dealing with timing in life and business. Good timing, Albert argues, is not just a matter of luck, intuition, or past experience--all of which may be unreliable--but a skill. He describes that skill and details the tools and methods needed to conduct a successful timing analysis. The book is the first to offer an efficient and comprehensive way to think through

January TBR

Image
 Let's start this year and with that in mind, I have a very nice list.  To start off Readathons Buzzwordathon by Keyla from BooksandLala the link to the announcement . The gist of it is, we have a word or set of words and we look for books that include it;  in the title or the series name. 1. When the art of perfect timing, Stuart Albert. This is a nonfiction. Timing is everything. Whether we are making strategic business decisions or the smallest personal choice, we must decide not only what to do, but when to do it. Act too early--or too late--and the results can be disastrous. Based on a 20-year investigation into more than 2,000 timing issues and errors, When presents a single and practical approach for dealing with timing in life and business. 2. How to lead when you are not in charge by Clay Scroggins. Another nonfiction I need to get through for work. It should bring very good team-building experiences. The pitch sold to me "will help you nurture your vision and culti