I meant to be a bit more prolific in my writing when I restarted this blog but life has once again intervened. This past month has been really busy, with family crises, school, dance competitions (my son, not me), and a few health issues thrown in. On a good note, all that waiting around has allowed me to get a lot of reading done.

I’ve managed to finish a Young Adult series by Gail Carriger. The Finishing School is a four-book series is set in an alternate steampunk England. Per Gail’s description:

Sophronia is recruited to a finishing school for spies located in a dirigible. Set in Gail’s Parasolverse these four YA books are full of steampunk etiquette, well-dressed espionage, and flying food.

This series was a fun read, just what I needed hanging out in the emergency room. I needed some characters to root for, and Sophronia and her friends, Dimity, Agatha, and Sidheag, and Soap, her boiler room beau, gave me that. Highly recommend!

After The Finishing School Series, I moved on to some science fiction, reading Martha Well’s first book in her Murderbot Diaries series, All Systems Red.

Per the book description:

“As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure.”

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid–a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.

I also really enjoyed this book, hard scifi combined with a murder mystery, it checked all my blocks. I am looking forward to the second book, Artificial Condition, as my next read.

As for other forms of media, I finally got around to watching Wakanda Forever. I loved this movie, more than I expected to. I watched it with my family, and they were also greatly entertained. Great story, great acting, great CGI, and great costumes.

I’ve been watching Wolfpack on Paramount +. Yeah, it’s cheesy but I love Sarah Michelle Gellar and was happy to see her back in a supernatural setting. I will also warn you; the protagonists are a quartet of horny teenagers. Not really my cup of tea but there is always the fast forward button, and the plot is good enough for me to forgive the romantic drama. I think the finale is tonight, so I better get going.

Thanks for joining me. I’ll try to write a more thorough blog later this week, as I’m getting ready to finally get time out in my craft shed. Let me know what you are watching and reading! I’m always looking for recommendations. Enjoy the spring weather, if you were lucky enough to get any today.

Kind regards,

Anne