Welcome to Litsy!

I scored myself a small bookshelf at Goodwill for 2 bucks. It's the perfect size for my vintage sci-fi and fantasy books, plus the few other mass market paperbacks I have. (It is not my favorite size.) Tagged book is one on the shelf tbr.

📚 Tagged, plus Lord of Light/Zelazny and Lord of the Rings/Tolkien
✒ Keith Laumer, Fritz Leiber
📽 Last of the Mohican, The Lost Boys
🎙 Cyndi Lauper
🎶 Livin' Thing/ELO, London Calling/The Clash, Learning to Fly/Pink Floyd

#manicmonday #letterL @CBee

#BookCoverChallenge
Day 291.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.

This book was a lot of fun. It is part sci-if, part mystery. There is a pandemic, but it is used for world building, i.e. this isn‘t a pandemic book. I‘ll surely read the next one.

What a great book! I love the science and the flow of this book. Not only did it feel relevant to what‘s happening in the world today, I related to the character on personal matters. I really enjoyed the mystery that they were investigating, full of twists and turns. Love Wil Wheatons narration! Would highly recommend!

John Scalzi is my now one of my favorite authors. Didn't think it would be as good as The Dispatcher but it was.

I bought this because the concept sounded interesting. And now we are living during our own pandemic. It's all just kind of surreal sometimes. #tbrpile

It's a bit eerie reading this—published in 2014 and set in the “near future“ about “a new, highly contagious virus“—during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Lock In is billed as science fiction and mystery. It's markedly different in tone from Scalzi's other books (i.e. no humor/silliness—generally what I seek when I turn to Scalzi). The mystery is not at all challenging. [Mystery has long been my favorite genre, so this is mildly disappointing.] ⬇

#SciFiSeptember @klou
#Upgrade

The main character in this near future Sci-Fi story is trapped in a body that can't move due to a disease. Dubbed as "Lock In" these victims upgrade, if you will, to an avatar in order to function.

This is a middle of the road sci-fi novel that starts off a little confusing. It gets easier to understand after the first few chapters but lags in places and never fully takes off in my opinion. There‘s are better options out there. Overall rating: 3.74 stars

1. John Scalzi is just the best!
2. Nope. Almost never.
3. Yesssss. Especially for breakfast.
4. 8(ish)
5. Thanks for all the well wishes earlier! We are all pretty good today. Had a really chill/relaxed day at home, watching some Harry Potter movies. 🙂 Just what we needed!
#friyayintro

I finished this reread yesterday to refresh for the sequel. It was just as good as the first time through. Scalzi pulls off a cool mix of scifi worldbuilding and procedural mystery.

A compulsively readable cyberpunk FBI thriller. I loved how he pushed the tech to the edge and beyond it but also made it seem relevant (the debate about “freeing” Hadens felt very similar to debates about cochlear implants, etc). The world-building is also effortlessly diverse. Onto the next book!

An original Science Fiction murder mystery.

Listemed to this a tiny bit more today while cross-stitching. It's a good thing I've read it before, with how long I'm taking to listen to it.

Here's Breakfast enjoying some quality stitching/reading time with me today! #BunniesofLitsy

This was such a great read! Complex, but perfectly presented

Books bought after seeing them listed here on Litsy. Thanks I guess. #resistancewasfutile #seewhatididthere

I LOVED this book. The world that Scalzi creates and the characters that live in it are compulsively readable. This is one of those books I was itching to get back to while I was out in the real world adulting. This was my first Scalzi and I will be returning most definitely. I also loved the cast of non-binary and disabled characters. This cishet man gets it right. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#blackfriday and #cybermonday really cut into my finances 😂 Now I just wait for all these to be delivered! #bookmail is the best though!

Listening to this as a refresher before reading the sequel. It's fun -- I always read Chris as male, so I got Amber Benson's narration to see if it changed my mind. Not sure yet, but she does a pretty good job anyway at least!

Pictured, my new hobby.

You‘ll need a key to get out.. which 🔑?
#NewHogwartsAdventure #keys

Loved it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The story was very original and it was plausible. I was drawn in from the start. The MC was relatable and his personality fit the story. The plot was well executed and fast paced. Will Wheaton did the narration. I like the tone of his speaking voice and he always brings the characters to life. 4.5 ⭐ for him.

#24B4Monday @TheReadingMermaid

I made it by the skin of my teeth. Finished All the Light We Cannot See and read Lock In. Also started two others. It was a productive weekend!

Scalzi used the word 'said' a lot in the beginning but once I was invested in the story, I stopped noticing it. I didn't like it as much as his other books I read so far, but it's a solid story. I wonder if I would have enjoyed Will Wheatons narration more 🤔

I made it to chapter four, and couldn't stand the thought of hearing the word 'said' even one more time.

Finished my book sleeve while listening to the tagged book. It has been ages since I have sewn anything, and this turned out too wide for most books 😅
#audiosewing #booksleeve

The Audible sci-fi and fantasy sale is bad for my wallet! 😱
I also purchased the tagged book.
#audiblesale

And done! First day of #24in48 finished. Time in: 13 hours. Phew!

Took an award committee audiobook break while we drove down to the arena to see Evanescence and Lindsey Stirling! Now back to Lock In until they come on. Going strong with about 9 hours! #24in48

Time for a quick reread before diving into the sequel! #24in48

I just realized I never posted a review for this. This was great! It was a mystery thriller type of book just as mush as it was a sci-fi novel (maybe more). Normally I don‘t care too much about mystery novels but this was an exception to that rule. Can‘t wait to get my hands on Head On.

This took me so long because I ended up switching between the two of these every chapter, which was a really interesting experience. 😆

This was so much fun! New and plausible technology, politics, thrilling chase scenes, and a casual diversity that I absolutely loved.

I ended up liking Amber more, because I feel she did better with the other characters. But both were fun to listen to. And I've already bought the sequel! 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

One of my favourite books! My go to on days when I just want to read something familiar. The near future world that Scalzi created is so realistic that I almost believe that it‘s real. They way he works around this new truth, reading about Chris just seems like Haden‘s is a normal part of life. Love it.

Can I just say that first off, it feels weird to be reading this small of a book. I‘ve been reading these monstrous tomes lately, so this 336 peg mass market paperback just feels weird in my hands. So light and delicate. In actual book news, I really like this book so far. The world is very interesting, there‘s a fun little mystery unfolding, and the genderless MC is an interesting touch. Also—love that cover!

Severe back pain means this is my view a lot right now. Thank goodness for books (especially thrillers)!

A light and breezy futuristic romp with some mad murder mystery solving skills. An enjoyable read.

I'd say it's a pretty perfect Friday. Sitting under a kitty, reading "Lock In", and really enjoying it. ?
(I find myself wondering how I'd design my liminal space. There would definitely be cats.)

This bargain (Q9.99) is available on Audible in the U.K. today (until midnight). Even better it is read by Wil Wheaton. Has anyone read it? Any thoughts?

@burnTheShopdown is a terrible, terrible enabler.

Bad news - sitting in the dentist office for the 2nd time today. Good news- I started this book this morning and I‘m almost halfway done though!

No phone or Wi-Fi at the new house yet, another few weeks due to a big mess up, I can get a phone signal if I stand in one small spot. Here are the new book shelves, got to better organise it but they are up.

I do appreciate a good standalone sci-fi novel, there seem to be so few compared to series. And Scalzi gives good twitter, I‘ll give him that. 3.5/5 stars: docked half of one for the lack of creativity in his actual writing.

I really wanted there to be a parallel between Haden‘s and an existing community, and the bonus novella delivered. I frequently thought of the Deaf community when listening to this book, so I was pleased to hear the comparison.

The story is great but the constant use of “he said,” “I asked,” etc after each line of dialog is grating. I don‘t think I would notice it as much on the page as in my ears.

This world-building is so good, excellently paced and not too expository.

Started this audio after deciding to tackle the new year with a new bullet journal, using what I‘ve learned about how it has and hasn‘t worked for me so far. I‘m usually pretty meh about New Years resolutions, but the timing is right for me to really tune into some intentions, so here we are.

I just started the Amber Benson version of the audio (the other version narrator is Wil Wheaton, aka Wesley Crusher on Star Trek). I'm having a weird issue with all the "I saids" and "she saids." All books have them, but when you read in print, you can skip over them. On audio, you can't, and for some reason the way Benson says them drives me CRAZY. Like, to the point where I am considering bailing. ?#audiobookissues

This is one of my favorite #futuristic books, though I don't read a ton of sci-fi. I can't even describe it well but I'm excited that the sequel will finally be out next year. #sizzlinsummerbooks @Tiffy_Reads

Just finished this today--- a quick, fun read that has been hiding in my TBR. I have no idea how sound the science is but the combo of post virus and sci fi with interesting characters and a pretty fascinating plot had me reading way past my bedtime. I *hope* he continues the series. Anyone looking for something to get lost in at the beach@or cabin this weekend, this might be what you need.

Re-listened to this now that I know a sequel is coming. I didn't know the thing about the protagonist on my first listen, so I really put effort into figuring out my biases (shaped by which version Audible threw at me before I knew there were multiple) and found that Scalzi really did a good job of making it all about your biases.

The novella at the end is pretty neat, too.