Week 27 Check In

[Susan]

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to July. I hope everyone is finding time to read over the summer. The list has been pretty quiet lately. I wonder if GoodReads changes in notifications a few months ago has made it harder or less likely people see these messages.

I have a few short story finishes this week mostly on Audible. I finished them up to make space for the collections I'll take on a flight in a few weeks (back to visit the grandbabies again).

I finished The Diamond Formula and Jump! from the "Inventions" collection on Amazon. There were three stories, I finished the other one several weeks ago. I liked all of them as the short story format. They worked because they were a non-fiction short biography. These two were about DeBeers and the invention of the parachute.

I also finished listening to One Word Kill. I suggested my kids also read it as most of them play D&D which was a big part of this story. It was enjoyable. I don't normally listen to YA.

I also finished reading a short story The Wedding Setup. This was a short story by an author of Indian descent I was introduced to by an Amazon first read (There's Something About Mira).

I am now reading The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars for neighborhood book club. This is an old book published in the 1990s. I will get through it as best I can before I travel as the hardcover book is too big and heavy to take with me and book club is the day after I return. This non-fiction is an interesting history so far.

I'm also listening to one other short story Speed Grieving about a young widow. I started but have not yet finished this story.

QOTW:
With all the news about AI, have you read any books that feature AI in them? Do you have a favorite or least favorite?

I have only read one book featuring AI. I finished it several weeks ago. It was Life Derailed. It is my most/least favorite as it is the only one! It was interesting enough and incorporated AI in an okay way. It was fiction. It will be interesting to see what fiction and non-fiction books feature AI.

[Jen W.]

Hello! We had a quiet week this week. We didn't feel much like celebrating for the 4th, so we just stayed at home and played games/watched TV.

Finished:
The Floating World by Axie Oh - 3.5 stars - not for a prompt. Overall, I liked this, but I had thought it was a standalone and didn't realize it was going to have a sequel until I reached the "to be continued" at the end.

Comics & manga:
Rainbow Days, Vol. 16

Currently reading:
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust - for Popsugar's book with a snake on the cover or in the title. I just started this, so I don't have much of an opinion yet. The basic set up gives Frozen vibes, with the sister who can't touch anyone.

Upcoming/Planned:
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar - not currently for a prompt.

QOTW:
The main one I can think of is that Becky Chambers' sci-fi series has the ship's AI in it, most prominently in the second book which is all about her learning about being human.

[Rebecca]

Sorry, I did see the post but kept forgetting to comment. I'll go back and add last week's books to that one.

Becoming Wild: How Animals Learn Who They Are - This is about animal cultures, which is right up my street, but unfortunately the prose is... very purple. Also the author did a lot of telling rather than showing examples. He did occasionally stop waxing lyrical and beating his drum long enough to drop some interesting facts, but I didn't really enjoy this.

Mr. S: A First Day of School Book - Fantastic picture book in which a classroom of kids become convinced that a sandwich is their teacher. There is a lot of fun detail for the adult reader (possibly more than for the read-to child). I was delighted.

QOTW: Yeah, I can only think of sci-fi stuff where the AI is fully sentient, not the "spicy autocomplete" style we actually have.