Catching Up
Man, it's been a while since I've posted. Vacation was great, and being back to work hasn't even been that bad. As of tonight it's going to get even better because I'll be doing data entry for practically my whole shift for the next little while. Big Woooooot for getting away from customer service for 80% of my shift!
In health news, I bought a vape! Yes, it is not as good as quitting smoking entirely but I've tried that and failed miserably so I'm gonna give this a go. The cartridge I bought only has 3% nicotine so I'm hopeful that I can switch to 0 nicotine sometime soon-ish. I still can't vape inside my house and tonight I discovered that there's a black wasp living behind the siding on my balcony so THIS IS AN ISSUE. Not the least because I run screaming and possibly crying from most bugs, so. I've let my bestie and her hubby know, but Amy is away for the week and her husband works literally 16 hour days in the summer. I hope that he understands the severity of my fear/need to get this sorted but... not gonna hold my breath.
After a good start at writing I struggled in June so for July I switched to a time goal instead of a word count goal. So far that's working a lot better. There are significantly less *words* so that's hard to reconcile when I am sooooo used to aiming for a high count, but I'm writing 5 or 6 days a week for short chunks and I'd rather that than never write at all.
And books! Of course there have been many many many books. (And it makes me sad that there won't be many many more books for a while, what with the whole having-to-do-actual-work-at-work thing. Getting off the phones, good. Not being able to read at work, so bad.)
Books 35 to 43
35. Shift (omnibus) by Hugh Howey
The sequel to the fabulous Wool is also a prequel. In Wool, the remnants of humanity had spent hundreds of years in underground silos, believing that the world above was uninhabitable and unknowing of the machinations of the few in charge. In Shift we go back in time to the 21st century, where we join the major players as they deliberately destroy the world. The novel takes us from that time up through the centuries at various silos, some of which - both the silos themselves and the storylines - are more successful than others. I was personally most interested in Solo's story. We met him originally in Wool, a lost man who had lived alone in an almost-abandoned silo for decades. I loved reading his 'origin story', and learning more about him. (Solo is by far my favourite character!) Following the original characters as they moved about through time (due to cryogenics) - especially Donald Keene, and in-over-his-head congressman -- also kept my interest. Less so was the story of a new-to-the-reader silo, as I felt that storyline ended up being pointless due to a reset that makes sense to the plot but still left me unsatisfied. Still, one small misstep in a fabulous book? Yeah, I'll take it and be happy.
4/5 stars
Does not meet criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge
Meets criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge 24 - something new (nano technology)
580 pages
36. Dust by Hugh Howey
And now we're back to the present for the conclusion of Howey's incredible Wool series. Everything from the previous two novels comes together here. Back to Juliette, who must find a way to save Solo while dealing with the residents of her silo who would rather believe the lies they've been fed through the centuries than the truth that is in front of their noses. (I also think it's particularly good writing when there are people in the story that I HATE while still understanding their motivation.) Meanwhile Donald in Silo 1 is still struggling to find his redemption, and Solo grows so much as a caretaker to some young children in his charge. It all comes to a head when Juliette realizes they must risk leaving the silo or they will die there, while Donald and his sister work on their end to end Silo 1's tyranny. Brilliant!
4.5/5 stars
Does not meet criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Reading Challenges
466 pages
37. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Jason is an ordinary physics professor with a wife and son. Heading home one night, he is kidnapped… and ends up in a parallel universe where everyone believes he is the inventor of a… device that can travel been worlds in an endless multiverse. Jason just wants to go home.
This was a fascinating read, but I really struggled on how to 'review' or rate it. It was a quick and easy read and I finished it in only a few hours. I wasn't enamoured with the characters. YET the idea itself is absolutely intriguing. Essentially, every path taken and choice made can result in another universe inhabited by another you. In universe 1, Jason chose marriage. In universe 2, Jason chose research. In universe 3… well, universe 3 is gone because there's been a horrible plague. You get the idea. As Jason struggles to make his way back to his own universe and his wife and child, so do many other Jasons from many other timelines. It's interesting and confusing and intriguing and I love love love the IDEA of it, but I just didn't always love the choppy writing. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but there you have it.
3.5/5 stars
Meets criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge 30 - featuring an amateur detective
Does not meet criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge
324 pages
38. Wastelands 3: The New Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams
Ugh. I've read a WHOLE BUNCH of short story collections this month, so I usually make notes so I can talk about the stories I liked and disliked. Annnnd.. I have lost my notes. See, this is why I should write these reviews as soon as I'm done reading, like I promised myself I would! I do remember that my favourite story was a soon-after-the-zombie-apocalypse scenario by Jonathan Maberry - I got quite excited when the protagonist was describing the state of the farmhouse nearby and I realized he was talking about the original movie farmhouse from "Night of the Living Dead". How cool to set his story in the same universe (in the afternotes, he talks about George Romero requesting that he make it clear his story(ies) take place in the same 'verse. Love it.)
4/5 stars
Meets criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge 26 - published in 2019
Meets criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge 51 - published in 2019
528 pages
39. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
When Carrie came across her old journals written during the filming of the original Star Wars, she decided to write about that time in her life and include excerpts from those writings in the book.
The big revelation here, of course - not gonna say spoiler alert because this was allll over the news when the book came out - was that nineteen year old Carrie had an affair with thirty-something married man Harrison Ford. And aside from that, there's essentially nothing of interest here. In fact, even the affair isn't really of interest considering how little insight we are given into the relationship and the fact that she doesn't even appear to like the guy.
I was thrilled to briefly meet Carrie at a FanExpo a few years before she passed away. I knew her only from Star Wars, and nothing will take away from the fact that she breathed life into an iconic, kickass princess-general. But… if this book is indicative of her others, I can only say that I'm glad I hadn't read any of her work before I met her, because it would have coloured an otherwise gleeful moment. The diary excerpts here are self-indulgent navel-gazing (which I can kinda forgive because, nineteen.) But it's the discussion of her fans (and her time at conventions) that rubbed me the wrong way. She goes to great length to assure the reader that she loves her fans and respects that they have such intense feelings for the movies. But… again with the but… the mocking way that she writes about fan encounters (generalizing them, in my opinion, as interchangeable annoyances) and calls her time at cons "lap dances" just spoke to a DISrespect for the fans.
1/5 stars
Did not meet criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
251 pages
40. The End is Nigh edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
An anthology of pre-apocalypse stories, part of a trilogy that forms the Apocalypse Triptych (where most authors have written stories in the same universe for each volume). The following volumes include stories set during the apocalypse and then post-apocalypse.
I expected that of the three volumes I would enjoy this the least (by which I mean, I would still LOVE it but if I had to rank it, it would still come in last) but that turned out not to be the case. There are just some really GREAT opening stories here. Among my favourites:
The Balm and the Wound by Robin Wasserman - a phony faith healer randomly picks a date for the end of the world, meaning to be out of town with his followers money when the day hits. He never expected he'd be right… or that his surprise eleven year old son from a former relationship would be the one to figure out how to survive.
In Removal Order by Tananarive Due, a teenage girl is taking care her of grandmother, who is dying of cancer, while the rest of the world is being wiped out by the plague. I could relate intensely to the struggle - for food, a clean house, a way to keep going when the world is crumbling around you.
Bring Her to Me by Ben Winters deals with a society that lets itself stagnate because they all hear "the Voice of God", who has told them the exact day they must kill themselves and 'cross over', while Will McIntosh's Dancing with Death in the Land of Nod is about a disease that starts with the inability to stop nodding and quickly progresses to complete stillness of the body while the mind is still awake and aware. The parallels between the main character's father, who has dementia, and the nodding disease were a little too pat, but the path of denial, anger, and finally acceptance were the same.
Another favourite was Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen Will Come Riding by Nancy Kress, about a volcanic eruption that causes all children to be born with a .. gene? disease?,, that makes them extremely passive. Kress absolutely nails the voice of a struggling, lower-income single mother who is the first to notice the link between her youngest daughter, the eruption, and other children in the same age group.
4/5 stars
Does not meet the criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
350 pages
41. The End Is Now edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
An anthology of during-the-apocalypse stories, part of a trilogy that forms the Apocalypse Triptych (where most authors have written stories in the same universe for each volume). The previous volume including stories pre-apocalypse, and the final volume's stories are set post-apocalypse.
I didn't find there were as many standout stories in this volume, but there was still plenty to enjoy. My favourites:
Herd Immunity by Tananarive Due. In the aftermath of a plague that has ravaged the world, a young girl finally sees another survivor and meets up with him at a deserted roadside fair. The sense of impending dread in this is simply palpable.
In The Mountain by Hugh Howey takes place in the universe of his brilliant Wool series, and gives us an alternate take on what was going on away from the people of the Silos
While Sunset Hollow by Jonathan Maberry is a pretty straightforward zombie attack short story, Agent Isolated by David Wellington is a mad-dash zombie escape story with an ending that will just break your heart.
4/5 stars
Does not meet the criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
338 pages
42. The End Has Come edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
An anthology of post-apocalypse stories, part of a trilogy that forms the Apocalypse Triptych (where most authors have written stories in the same universe for each volume). The previous volumes included stories set pre-apocalyse and during-the-apocalypse.
Another great set of stories. If anything, I was not prepared for the bleakness of some of the endings… yes, maybe that's crazy since the world has ended and everything, but I do like me something hopeful. Still, some amazing writing here. My favourites:
In Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn, society is rebuilding into small groups of farmholds that can help each other with complimentary skills. In the good groups, they grow to love each other. In the bad, there is violence and deceit. Children must be earned through hard work and good society, and investigators must intervene when someone becomes pregnant without an earned banner.
The Seventh Day of Deer Camp by Scott Sigler deals with a downed alien spacecraft and the one man who vows to protect its cargo of children. I particularly loved the smart details in this, especially using the Anonymous group as the man's staunchest anti-government defenders.
In Carriers by Tananarive Due we find out what happened to Nayima, years after taking care of her ill gramma and meeting that stranger at the fair. This was one of those series where I felt strongly toward the main character and needed for her to be alright, so reading about her trials was hard but still felt… right. Accurate. Real. And in the end, I got my hopeful ending.
The one big disappointment here was Hugh Howey's In The Woods, which continues the story of Juliette and Solo from his Wool series. This... is not what I wanted to happen. I'm just gonna pretend I never read this one.
4/5 stars
Does not meet the criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
326 pages
43. Broadcast by Liam Brown
One of those obnoxious youtube vloggers/Instagram "influencers" participates in a new form of broadcast - a chip implanted in his brain broadcasts his thoughts in picture and movie form to the world.
The problem here is that David is shallow, vapid, and self-absorbed, and he never becomes anything less than shallow, vapid and self-absorbed. Why should I care that he is struggling with regret over his decision when he has the personality of a wet dishrag? Never mind that the megabillionaire behind the broadcast is a cliché, and the one character the reader might actually like - a failed novelist who has to pay the bills by ghostwriting the autobiography of this airheaded loser - does a total one-eighty toward the end of the novel and becomes someone completely unrecognizable. Sigh.
1/5 stars
Meets the criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge 08 - about a hobby
Does not meet the criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge
192 pages
Books Read 43/80
Goodreads Book Challenge: 36/52
Popsugar Book Challenge 27/40
Total Pages Read: 15602
.
In health news, I bought a vape! Yes, it is not as good as quitting smoking entirely but I've tried that and failed miserably so I'm gonna give this a go. The cartridge I bought only has 3% nicotine so I'm hopeful that I can switch to 0 nicotine sometime soon-ish. I still can't vape inside my house and tonight I discovered that there's a black wasp living behind the siding on my balcony so THIS IS AN ISSUE. Not the least because I run screaming and possibly crying from most bugs, so. I've let my bestie and her hubby know, but Amy is away for the week and her husband works literally 16 hour days in the summer. I hope that he understands the severity of my fear/need to get this sorted but... not gonna hold my breath.
After a good start at writing I struggled in June so for July I switched to a time goal instead of a word count goal. So far that's working a lot better. There are significantly less *words* so that's hard to reconcile when I am sooooo used to aiming for a high count, but I'm writing 5 or 6 days a week for short chunks and I'd rather that than never write at all.
And books! Of course there have been many many many books. (And it makes me sad that there won't be many many more books for a while, what with the whole having-to-do-actual-work-at-work thing. Getting off the phones, good. Not being able to read at work, so bad.)
Books 35 to 43
35. Shift (omnibus) by Hugh Howey
The sequel to the fabulous Wool is also a prequel. In Wool, the remnants of humanity had spent hundreds of years in underground silos, believing that the world above was uninhabitable and unknowing of the machinations of the few in charge. In Shift we go back in time to the 21st century, where we join the major players as they deliberately destroy the world. The novel takes us from that time up through the centuries at various silos, some of which - both the silos themselves and the storylines - are more successful than others. I was personally most interested in Solo's story. We met him originally in Wool, a lost man who had lived alone in an almost-abandoned silo for decades. I loved reading his 'origin story', and learning more about him. (Solo is by far my favourite character!) Following the original characters as they moved about through time (due to cryogenics) - especially Donald Keene, and in-over-his-head congressman -- also kept my interest. Less so was the story of a new-to-the-reader silo, as I felt that storyline ended up being pointless due to a reset that makes sense to the plot but still left me unsatisfied. Still, one small misstep in a fabulous book? Yeah, I'll take it and be happy.
4/5 stars
Does not meet criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge
Meets criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge 24 - something new (nano technology)
580 pages
36. Dust by Hugh Howey
And now we're back to the present for the conclusion of Howey's incredible Wool series. Everything from the previous two novels comes together here. Back to Juliette, who must find a way to save Solo while dealing with the residents of her silo who would rather believe the lies they've been fed through the centuries than the truth that is in front of their noses. (I also think it's particularly good writing when there are people in the story that I HATE while still understanding their motivation.) Meanwhile Donald in Silo 1 is still struggling to find his redemption, and Solo grows so much as a caretaker to some young children in his charge. It all comes to a head when Juliette realizes they must risk leaving the silo or they will die there, while Donald and his sister work on their end to end Silo 1's tyranny. Brilliant!
4.5/5 stars
Does not meet criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Reading Challenges
466 pages
37. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Jason is an ordinary physics professor with a wife and son. Heading home one night, he is kidnapped… and ends up in a parallel universe where everyone believes he is the inventor of a… device that can travel been worlds in an endless multiverse. Jason just wants to go home.
This was a fascinating read, but I really struggled on how to 'review' or rate it. It was a quick and easy read and I finished it in only a few hours. I wasn't enamoured with the characters. YET the idea itself is absolutely intriguing. Essentially, every path taken and choice made can result in another universe inhabited by another you. In universe 1, Jason chose marriage. In universe 2, Jason chose research. In universe 3… well, universe 3 is gone because there's been a horrible plague. You get the idea. As Jason struggles to make his way back to his own universe and his wife and child, so do many other Jasons from many other timelines. It's interesting and confusing and intriguing and I love love love the IDEA of it, but I just didn't always love the choppy writing. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but there you have it.
3.5/5 stars
Meets criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge 30 - featuring an amateur detective
Does not meet criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge
324 pages
38. Wastelands 3: The New Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams
Ugh. I've read a WHOLE BUNCH of short story collections this month, so I usually make notes so I can talk about the stories I liked and disliked. Annnnd.. I have lost my notes. See, this is why I should write these reviews as soon as I'm done reading, like I promised myself I would! I do remember that my favourite story was a soon-after-the-zombie-apocalypse scenario by Jonathan Maberry - I got quite excited when the protagonist was describing the state of the farmhouse nearby and I realized he was talking about the original movie farmhouse from "Night of the Living Dead". How cool to set his story in the same universe (in the afternotes, he talks about George Romero requesting that he make it clear his story(ies) take place in the same 'verse. Love it.)
4/5 stars
Meets criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge 26 - published in 2019
Meets criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge 51 - published in 2019
528 pages
39. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
When Carrie came across her old journals written during the filming of the original Star Wars, she decided to write about that time in her life and include excerpts from those writings in the book.
The big revelation here, of course - not gonna say spoiler alert because this was allll over the news when the book came out - was that nineteen year old Carrie had an affair with thirty-something married man Harrison Ford. And aside from that, there's essentially nothing of interest here. In fact, even the affair isn't really of interest considering how little insight we are given into the relationship and the fact that she doesn't even appear to like the guy.
I was thrilled to briefly meet Carrie at a FanExpo a few years before she passed away. I knew her only from Star Wars, and nothing will take away from the fact that she breathed life into an iconic, kickass princess-general. But… if this book is indicative of her others, I can only say that I'm glad I hadn't read any of her work before I met her, because it would have coloured an otherwise gleeful moment. The diary excerpts here are self-indulgent navel-gazing (which I can kinda forgive because, nineteen.) But it's the discussion of her fans (and her time at conventions) that rubbed me the wrong way. She goes to great length to assure the reader that she loves her fans and respects that they have such intense feelings for the movies. But… again with the but… the mocking way that she writes about fan encounters (generalizing them, in my opinion, as interchangeable annoyances) and calls her time at cons "lap dances" just spoke to a DISrespect for the fans.
1/5 stars
Did not meet criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
251 pages
40. The End is Nigh edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
An anthology of pre-apocalypse stories, part of a trilogy that forms the Apocalypse Triptych (where most authors have written stories in the same universe for each volume). The following volumes include stories set during the apocalypse and then post-apocalypse.
I expected that of the three volumes I would enjoy this the least (by which I mean, I would still LOVE it but if I had to rank it, it would still come in last) but that turned out not to be the case. There are just some really GREAT opening stories here. Among my favourites:
The Balm and the Wound by Robin Wasserman - a phony faith healer randomly picks a date for the end of the world, meaning to be out of town with his followers money when the day hits. He never expected he'd be right… or that his surprise eleven year old son from a former relationship would be the one to figure out how to survive.
In Removal Order by Tananarive Due, a teenage girl is taking care her of grandmother, who is dying of cancer, while the rest of the world is being wiped out by the plague. I could relate intensely to the struggle - for food, a clean house, a way to keep going when the world is crumbling around you.
Bring Her to Me by Ben Winters deals with a society that lets itself stagnate because they all hear "the Voice of God", who has told them the exact day they must kill themselves and 'cross over', while Will McIntosh's Dancing with Death in the Land of Nod is about a disease that starts with the inability to stop nodding and quickly progresses to complete stillness of the body while the mind is still awake and aware. The parallels between the main character's father, who has dementia, and the nodding disease were a little too pat, but the path of denial, anger, and finally acceptance were the same.
Another favourite was Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen Will Come Riding by Nancy Kress, about a volcanic eruption that causes all children to be born with a .. gene? disease?,, that makes them extremely passive. Kress absolutely nails the voice of a struggling, lower-income single mother who is the first to notice the link between her youngest daughter, the eruption, and other children in the same age group.
4/5 stars
Does not meet the criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
350 pages
41. The End Is Now edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
An anthology of during-the-apocalypse stories, part of a trilogy that forms the Apocalypse Triptych (where most authors have written stories in the same universe for each volume). The previous volume including stories pre-apocalypse, and the final volume's stories are set post-apocalypse.
I didn't find there were as many standout stories in this volume, but there was still plenty to enjoy. My favourites:
Herd Immunity by Tananarive Due. In the aftermath of a plague that has ravaged the world, a young girl finally sees another survivor and meets up with him at a deserted roadside fair. The sense of impending dread in this is simply palpable.
In The Mountain by Hugh Howey takes place in the universe of his brilliant Wool series, and gives us an alternate take on what was going on away from the people of the Silos
While Sunset Hollow by Jonathan Maberry is a pretty straightforward zombie attack short story, Agent Isolated by David Wellington is a mad-dash zombie escape story with an ending that will just break your heart.
4/5 stars
Does not meet the criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
338 pages
42. The End Has Come edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
An anthology of post-apocalypse stories, part of a trilogy that forms the Apocalypse Triptych (where most authors have written stories in the same universe for each volume). The previous volumes included stories set pre-apocalyse and during-the-apocalypse.
Another great set of stories. If anything, I was not prepared for the bleakness of some of the endings… yes, maybe that's crazy since the world has ended and everything, but I do like me something hopeful. Still, some amazing writing here. My favourites:
In Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn, society is rebuilding into small groups of farmholds that can help each other with complimentary skills. In the good groups, they grow to love each other. In the bad, there is violence and deceit. Children must be earned through hard work and good society, and investigators must intervene when someone becomes pregnant without an earned banner.
The Seventh Day of Deer Camp by Scott Sigler deals with a downed alien spacecraft and the one man who vows to protect its cargo of children. I particularly loved the smart details in this, especially using the Anonymous group as the man's staunchest anti-government defenders.
In Carriers by Tananarive Due we find out what happened to Nayima, years after taking care of her ill gramma and meeting that stranger at the fair. This was one of those series where I felt strongly toward the main character and needed for her to be alright, so reading about her trials was hard but still felt… right. Accurate. Real. And in the end, I got my hopeful ending.
The one big disappointment here was Hugh Howey's In The Woods, which continues the story of Juliette and Solo from his Wool series. This... is not what I wanted to happen. I'm just gonna pretend I never read this one.
4/5 stars
Does not meet the criteria for Popsugar or Goodreads Challenges
326 pages
43. Broadcast by Liam Brown
One of those obnoxious youtube vloggers/Instagram "influencers" participates in a new form of broadcast - a chip implanted in his brain broadcasts his thoughts in picture and movie form to the world.
The problem here is that David is shallow, vapid, and self-absorbed, and he never becomes anything less than shallow, vapid and self-absorbed. Why should I care that he is struggling with regret over his decision when he has the personality of a wet dishrag? Never mind that the megabillionaire behind the broadcast is a cliché, and the one character the reader might actually like - a failed novelist who has to pay the bills by ghostwriting the autobiography of this airheaded loser - does a total one-eighty toward the end of the novel and becomes someone completely unrecognizable. Sigh.
1/5 stars
Meets the criteria for Popsugar Reading Challenge 08 - about a hobby
Does not meet the criteria for Goodreads Reading Challenge
192 pages
Books Read 43/80
Goodreads Book Challenge: 36/52
Popsugar Book Challenge 27/40
Total Pages Read: 15602
.