Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last week I read three books: Steelstriker by Marie Lu, Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, and The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I really need some lighter fare, so I just stared Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, and I hope it fits the bill.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have two more library books on my shelf, so it will be one of those. Probably Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes, because it's due sooner.
49. Steelstriker by Marie Lu
The second book and conclusion to the Skyhunter series picks up the action six months after the first book. Talin has now been genetically altered into a Skyhunter, and the process of linking her to the evil premier has begun. But her friends are fighting to free her and end the Federation regime. It starts out slow and a bit repetitive, but about a third of the way through the action picks up and the stakes are raised, lending some much-needed tension to the text. I liked the development of the characters and that the romances (yes, we get more Jeran and Aramin, yay) are slow to build and thus more realistic. A fitting end to the series.
Dates Read: May 01 to 06, 2023
Page Count: 384
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books with an E in the title (07/17)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - May pick
Challenge Factory Genre Roulette - Task 3 - read 3 books tagged “romance” (01/03) (09/15 total)
50. Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A few years before this book begins, aliens visited Earth for 2 days in six different zones around the planet. While the aliens themselves were never seen, the detritus that they left behind has been likened to the leavings from a roadside picnic, with curious humans taking the place of the ants and bugs that investigate the remnants we leave behind. Not only are many of the artifacts themselves dangerous, but the zones themselves are riddled with deadly traps and hazards. The stalkers who sneak inside to steal artifacts and sell them on the black market are a dying breed… literally.
The book covers about 10 years in the life of a stalker named Red. He’s a hard drinker with a good heart that he tries to hide, and his one goal by the end of the book is to help his daughter, who is mutated by whatever Red brings back with him genetically from venturing into the zone. Another very cool addition to the book is that people from the areas around the zone cannot emigrate, because when they do they bring death and catastrophe with them. I love the concept behind the book, and only wish the authors had fleshed it out more and expanded on it. Sometimes the prose is a little stilted and abrupt, but the scenes within the zone are suitably tense and creepy. This world is one I wish the authors had explored a little more.
Dates Read: May 06 to 07, 2023
Page Count: 193
4 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 27 - author from continental Europe (46/52)
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books that have an E in the title (08/17)
51. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
In the near-future, Evelyn is a brilliant scientist who has figured out how to clone human beings. She considers these replicas to be objects, to be used for their assigned task and then destroyed. Her husband has other ideas, stealing her work and her DNA and using it to make “Martine”, a submissive version of Evelyn that he can control. When he dies, Evelyn and Martine have a problem on their hands.
This is a dark book. It deals with difficult subject matter: abuse, childhood trauma, manipulation, domination. The science is pretty much hand-waved and in a society where cloning is a possibility to the degree it is in this novel, one would think that the ethical considerations would have already been debated. But Evelyn is such a self-absorbed, non-self-aware, abusive person - even though through her memories we understand why she became that way - that it’s easy to believe that she wouldn’t care anyway.
There’s a lot to think about with this one.
Dates Read: May 07 to 09, 2023
Page Count:254
4 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 13 - repeated object on cover (47/52)
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books with an E in the title (09-17)
Lost Challenges Tea, Coffee, Sugar Challenge - Prompt 10 - item related to playing card on cover [diamond] (12/15)
Lost Challenges Want To Read Bingo - B11 (03/25)
.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I really need some lighter fare, so I just stared Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, and I hope it fits the bill.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have two more library books on my shelf, so it will be one of those. Probably Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes, because it's due sooner.
49. Steelstriker by Marie Lu
The second book and conclusion to the Skyhunter series picks up the action six months after the first book. Talin has now been genetically altered into a Skyhunter, and the process of linking her to the evil premier has begun. But her friends are fighting to free her and end the Federation regime. It starts out slow and a bit repetitive, but about a third of the way through the action picks up and the stakes are raised, lending some much-needed tension to the text. I liked the development of the characters and that the romances (yes, we get more Jeran and Aramin, yay) are slow to build and thus more realistic. A fitting end to the series.
Dates Read: May 01 to 06, 2023
Page Count: 384
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books with an E in the title (07/17)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - May pick
Challenge Factory Genre Roulette - Task 3 - read 3 books tagged “romance” (01/03) (09/15 total)
50. Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A few years before this book begins, aliens visited Earth for 2 days in six different zones around the planet. While the aliens themselves were never seen, the detritus that they left behind has been likened to the leavings from a roadside picnic, with curious humans taking the place of the ants and bugs that investigate the remnants we leave behind. Not only are many of the artifacts themselves dangerous, but the zones themselves are riddled with deadly traps and hazards. The stalkers who sneak inside to steal artifacts and sell them on the black market are a dying breed… literally.
The book covers about 10 years in the life of a stalker named Red. He’s a hard drinker with a good heart that he tries to hide, and his one goal by the end of the book is to help his daughter, who is mutated by whatever Red brings back with him genetically from venturing into the zone. Another very cool addition to the book is that people from the areas around the zone cannot emigrate, because when they do they bring death and catastrophe with them. I love the concept behind the book, and only wish the authors had fleshed it out more and expanded on it. Sometimes the prose is a little stilted and abrupt, but the scenes within the zone are suitably tense and creepy. This world is one I wish the authors had explored a little more.
Dates Read: May 06 to 07, 2023
Page Count: 193
4 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 27 - author from continental Europe (46/52)
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books that have an E in the title (08/17)
51. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
In the near-future, Evelyn is a brilliant scientist who has figured out how to clone human beings. She considers these replicas to be objects, to be used for their assigned task and then destroyed. Her husband has other ideas, stealing her work and her DNA and using it to make “Martine”, a submissive version of Evelyn that he can control. When he dies, Evelyn and Martine have a problem on their hands.
This is a dark book. It deals with difficult subject matter: abuse, childhood trauma, manipulation, domination. The science is pretty much hand-waved and in a society where cloning is a possibility to the degree it is in this novel, one would think that the ethical considerations would have already been debated. But Evelyn is such a self-absorbed, non-self-aware, abusive person - even though through her memories we understand why she became that way - that it’s easy to believe that she wouldn’t care anyway.
There’s a lot to think about with this one.
Dates Read: May 07 to 09, 2023
Page Count:254
4 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 13 - repeated object on cover (47/52)
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books with an E in the title (09-17)
Lost Challenges Tea, Coffee, Sugar Challenge - Prompt 10 - item related to playing card on cover [diamond] (12/15)
Lost Challenges Want To Read Bingo - B11 (03/25)
.