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May 14 2013
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The Human Division audiobook cover

Human Division, The by John Scalzi

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One day I logged into Audible and they were offering a new short story by John Scalzi in the Old Man’s War universe for free. It was the first of 13 such short stories. My library is a bit cluttered because I have them all separate, but the sum of the parts is excellent and worth the clutter. Consider this an omnibus, and well worth it. As I dug into this series, I actually began to appreciate Scalzi’s writing far more than I had before. The interplay between the main character, CDF soldier Harry Wilson, and his diplomatic counterpart, Hart Schmidt is absolutely fantastic. This is a great addition, but only worthwhile if you’ve read (at least) the first and third books.

Genre: Sci-Fi
Series: Old Man’s War |
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Apr 20 2013
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The Martian audiobook cover

The Martian by Andy Weir

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What do you think is better: the book or the movie? The movie offers great action and a condensed story with some hand-wavy science that you have to take as true. The book is longer (obviously) and goes into the minute details of how the protagonist “sciences the shit out of [everything].” I thought the book was better, but then that should be no surprise coming from a book junkie like me. Science-ing the shit out of things was awesome. But I thought Andy Weir’s Artemis was better—or at least more my style. 

Genre: Hard Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi
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Feb 28 2013
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The Android's Dream audiobook cover

Android’s Dream, The by John Scalzi

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Books like this I wish I could rate 3.5 stars (my limitation is the plug-in I chose for doing these book reviews). John Scalzi comes up with amazing aliens in all of his books and this book is no exception. It’s not in the Old Man’s War universe, but the aliens are nonetheless unique and interesting. Regardless, it’s a fun story with action, cool tech, and the aforementioned aliens. It’s worth a read, especially if you like Scalzi’s style—which I do.

Genre: Sci-Fi
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Feb 06 2013
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The Player of Games audiobook cover

Player of Games, The by Iain M. Banks

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Two books into the series, and I am absolutely loving this universe. As a mystery-thriller-drama, The Player of Games is a completely different book from the action-adventure of Consider Phlebasbut—but still thoroughly enjoyable. Banks expands the universe further with this novel, and thinks through what a post-scarcity society would be like in the far-far future. I’ve often thought about how the post-scarcity is a socio-economic state to strive for as humankind. Anyway, that thought process is my own, and not what the book is about. It’s a great read and I recommend continuing with the series.

Genre: Sci-Fi
Series: Culture |
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Nov 23 2012
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Blink audiobook cover

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

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I’m writing this review six years and one month after buying this audiobook—I started this project of reviewing my Audible library at Thanksgiving 2018, and I’m writing this review at Christmas 2018—and at that distance, I recall liking this book quite a bit, but not much else. The stories in the publisher’s summary, below, ring a bell. What I do remember is that this book got me started on a string of other about thinking, decision making, and applying those insights to daily life. I may go back and re-read this as a refresher and come back to review it again. In the meantime, I recall it was a good Gladwell book.

Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology
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