The People of Sand and Slag   Paolo Bacigalupi

Short work by an author I love about a future of people who live on sand and slag who find a biological dog. Bacigalupi’s usual good prose and acid view of our future. Short, but a good distraction.

Cleaning the Gold   Lee Child and Karin Slaughter

Novel with Child’s Jack Reacher and Slaughter’s Will Trent teaming up to investigate espionage occurring at Fort Knox. Brief, but interesting enough to be a distraction. Always like Reacher and Child’s prose. Read it on my phone.

The Christmas Scorpion   Lee Child

A Jack Reacher story I read on my phone. Very short, almost nothing to it. What’s here is fine, brief hunt for an assassin, written in Child’s crisp prose, but there isn’t much. Almost not worth the $1.99 it cost. Disappointing because more would have been nice.

Neon Prey   John Sandford

Most recent book in the Lucas Davenport Prey series, nearly all of which I have read. As always, the star is Camp’s prose which is a pleasure to read, followed closely by the interplay of the characters, especially the cops. A good plot with murder, cannibalism, betrayal, and a snake bite. Well executed and interesting. An excellent distraction, wish it had gone on a little longer.

Metropolis   Phillip Kerr

Latest and last of the very enjoyable Bernie Gunther series, it takes place in 1928 Berlin. Kerr uses a framework of German cinema for this murder mystery, specifically Metropolis and other Fritz Lang films, but Bernie’s struggle to stay honest and free of political pressures as he solves the case is once again a fundamental component of the plot. Like the other books in the series, it is historically accurate, Bernie is flawed, but good, and no one gets out unscathed. Wish there were going to be more. Thank you Mr. Kerr.

Exit Strategy   Martha Wells

Fourth, and I think final, book in the murderbot diaries series. Like the previous three, in this book murderbot must protect and save stupid humans from themselves and other threats. But now it finds itself  doing similar stupid things as it develops emotional connections, which it hates, and becomes more of a person. Very well imagined and executed, and very enjoyable. Wish there were more.

Rogue Protocol   Martha Wells

The third book in the murderbot diaries. Another adventure where murderbot must protect and save stupid humans from themselves and other threats. A little more complex plot and emotions as murderbot continues her quest to get evidence against GreyCris and as she develops personally. Very enjoyable.

Artificial Condition   Martha Wells

The second volume in the murderbot diaries series. While it takes a little while to get going, it is just as well-imagined and entertaining as All Systems Red. Murderbot is once again involved with a group of endearing and frustrating humans that it likes as it continues to develop as a persona. Really enjoyed it.

All Systems Red   Martha Wells

Short, surprising, and very entertaining novel about a Security Unit robot (actually a cyborg) that turns off its governor, and acts and thinks for itself. Good action, very interesting interactions with humans, and augmented humans, and its developing personality is delightful and hilarious. Really enjoyed it.

Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called “Alien”   Jeremy N. Smith

Non-fiction account of Elizabeth Tessman’s education and work as a “hacker.” Unfortunately, the book seems written for teenage girls, there is far more detail on her clothes, hairdos, and boyfriends than the work she does, which is fine if you are a teenage girl, which I’m not. Also, Smith repeatedly describes technical problems that Alien locates, but then provides no information on solving the problems. Disappointing, even frustrating read. Too bad.

A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition   Ernest Hemingway

I have read the original version of this book many times. The prose was exquisite, and I loved reading Hemingway’s first-hand accounts of this artistically crucial period of his life that were posthumously assembled by his last wife Mary. This new edition includes a number of unfinished, never-before-published sketches revealing experiences that Hemingway had with his son, Jack, and his first wife Hadley. I found it less readable, and less powerful, but no regrets reading it.

A Farewell To Arms   Ernest Hemingway

Re-read this novel after about 40 years, and loved it even more than the first time. Especially liked the recounting of Henry’s war experiences, the camaraderie with the other soldiers, the long , dangerous retreat, and Henry’s escape and decision to desert. Contains two of the greatest paragraph’s in all of American literature. This is the ending of the second one:

“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”

Underground Airlines   Ben H. Winters

Well-imagined, very readable novel about a present-day, alternative history United States where slavery was never abolished. Though the prose is good, this book was hard to read because of the subject, and there are scenes on a modern corporate plantation that are like a horror novel. Complex human dramas throughout, and unbearable tragedies. Glad I read it, and glad I’m done. Winters is a very interesting writer.

In The Galway Silence   Ken Bruen

Latest in Bruen’s always entertaining and emotionally brutal Jack Taylor series. This time his nemesis is Michael Allen, and as always, everything that matters to Jack is taken from him. I’ve read all Bruen’s books, and I am still astonished by what Taylor causes, and even more by the losses he endures. As always, the best part is Bruen’s sharp, quick prose wound as tight as Taylor himself. Really enjoyed it, if that’s the right word. Couldn’t put it down.

The Foreigner   Francie Lin

Novel about a Chinese-American man who goes to Taiwan to inter his mother’s ashes and gets involved with local human traffickers. I found the character of Emerson, the protagonist, very dislikable. Not sure if that is intentional, or just a mistake by the author. There is nothing masculine about him, and the one sexual encounter is embarrassingly unconvincing. Also, what progress he makes toward freedom from his past and awakening turns back on itself at the end. Lin’s prose is beautiful, but the preponderance of emotional nuance is completely out of place against the narrative action. Didn’t like it, too bad.