The Marci Rating System

The Murderbot Diaries series has three super-short stories that I've seen in posts about suggested reading order. And I was pretty sure I once saw a post on tumblr with links to all of them, but hahahaha good luck to me ever finding that again. Luckily, it didn't take much sleuthing to track down workable free links, all of which seem to be as legit as anything on the internet these days.

1. Obsolescence
(this is actually a page where you can download a pdf of multiple short stories, including Obsolescence)
This one takes place waaaaaay in the past, and it's about the 'augmented rovers' that get mentioned in something MB watches. I thought it was sad, but wanted to read it just so I knew what was in it.

2. Compulsory
(not sure why this was published in Wired, but I know nothing about Wired, so maybe that's a thing it does?)
This one is set pre-series, and MB rescues a human worker at a mining facility. Includes the SecUnit lore that the workers don't think SecUnits can talk, and also clarification that SecUnits are not actually there to protect human workers.

3. Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
(this story is also currently for sale on various sites, and just showed up on hoopla for me)
Set directly after 'Exit Strategy,' and it's from Mensah's POV!

Overse, sitting with Arada’s bare feet on her lap, gestures in frustration. “It would be closer to being done if Ratthi’s tables weren’t all over the place and all the links broken. What were you thinking, Ratthi?”

“I was planning to sort it all out the day GrayCris started trying to kill us, it was very distracting,” Ratthi protests.

I've now read (listened to) the first four Murderbot Diaries audiobooks, plus Fugitive Telemetry (book 6, but the internet advised that it fits into the timeline as book 5, which it definitely seemed to do).

They were great, I loved them! (ESPECIALLY 'Artificial Condition,' because of ART, and also 'Exit Strategy,' because of TEAMWORK)

And NOW I'm up to Network Effect, and I'm NERVOUS! I have a vague idea of stuff that happens, and it's SO MUCH! I'm taking a break right now by listening to some other more relaxing audiobooks before I dive in.

Some Random Thoughts

*The weather is as gray as yesterday, with more wind and less rain. The forecast says sun this afternoon, which I'm desperately hoping is not an April Fool's Day joke.

*My excitement over my hoopla borrows refreshing today far exceeds the actual impact of this happening. I ALREADY HAVE an audiobook queued up in Libby; I DO NOT NEED any hoopla borrows today. AND YET. (I want options! MAXIMUM OPTIONS!)

*When I changed one of my calendar pages today, I thought to myself 'huh, March's picture was hummingbirds, I wonder what April's will be?' And it turns out April's picture is also hummingbirds. Is it possible I got a hummingbird calendar and don't remember? I did not do any work to actually answer this question.

*I have the snopes feed on my reading page, which I mostly ignore. Every once in a while I'll scroll by something like 'despite recent widespread rumors and tiktok trend, restaurant chopsticks not intended to be eaten.' And I'm reminded yet again that I have almost zero exposure to widespread rumors and current trends, and I feel immeasurably grateful for that.

*NOTE: I made that headline up. I really want to believe there is not any trend or rumors about eating restaurant chopsticks.

I have completed all my winter reading bingo goals! (hahaha I NEED SLEEP) Was this a wise choice for my time yesterday/last night/very very early this morning? I guess that's debatable. But it was a fun choice!

I listened to all of 'A Deadly Education' by Naomi Novik for the 'book that you put on hold' square (it's also won awards, but I was Firmly Resolved not to use the same book for two squares, unless I read it twice). Then I used 'Wild Magic' by Alexandra Ivy for the 'book that's won an award' square.

(To be fair, I was really stretching the 'won an award' thing. It was one of hoopla's February bonus borrows, which certainly felt like a prize to me. And it was my final book chosen for the bingo card, which seems worthy of recognition. AND I also personally awarded it the 'book I read to take a break from 'A Deadly Education' prize! So that's three sort-of awards, which surely counts.)

BIG KUDOS to the Libby and hoopla apps for letting me squeak by on all the 'interact with a library and library content' squares!

BOOK CLUB UPDATE: NO SURPRISES HERE

The workplace book club was introduced with mild fanfare in January, with a book selection, plans for weekly posts throughout the month, and a promised (but unscheduled) discussion to be held at a later date.

I read the book. I saw one (1) post about it on the company's online sharing place [look, it used to be google+ when I started, and it's changed SO MANY times since then that I have no idea what it's called now]. I sent an email to the nominal organizer at the start of February, sort of a 'hey, will there be a meeting? was there already a meeting? no pressure, just want to show my support' type message.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER I received a reply. So sorry for the late reply! the email said. There was no meeting! They had emailed everyone who had RSVP'd to the month-long book club calendar invite to ask if they wanted to have one, and everyone said no.

[TO CLARIFY: I had no idea we were supposed to 'RSVP' to the month-long calendar invite. What?!]

IN CONCLUSION: The 2025 workplace book club has ended EVEN EARLIER than the previous 2018 attempt. Not even one meeting! I expect in another seven years, they'll try again, but possibly no one will know about it, since if the pattern holds, it will last for even less time, and not even reach the point of picking a book.

OH NOOOOOOOOO AO3 IS DOWN! Okay, fic rec Friday is postponed to the weekend. Time for: AUDIOBOOK ADVENTURES instead!

Earlier this week I was all, 'I want a supernatural space romance, but funny,' and kudos to Dianne Duvall's book 'The Akseli' for being just that! It's technically part of a series (Aldebarian Alliance), but it's described as a standalone and explains any context needed. I enjoyed it very much!

Now I've gone back and started going through the rest of the series in order. Book one was mostly on Earth, although WAY less stressful since I already knew from book four that they'd be okay. And now I'm in the midst of book two! SPACE ADVENTURE TIME! GOSH I HOPE THEY ARE ALL OKAY, BUT I BET THEY ARE SINCE I'VE ALREADY READ BOOK FOUR! (Seriously, BEST choice.)

(Spoilers, I guess? Pretty sure it's already explained in the book blurbs, though. Also it's me talking about it, which probably gives away plenty, lol.)

File this one under: turns out this is one of the eleventy-billion reasons I love fanfic!

So: audiobooks are fun! They're great to listen to while I crochet, or while I pretend to work, or a variety of other activities. (Okay, it's mostly crochet. But right now that's a 'several hours a day' activity, so it adds up to a lot of books!)

But: it's SO HARD for me to pick a new book after I finish one! It's like an echo of the stress of new social situations: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE THEM? WHAT IF THIS ONE IS NOT FUN?

With fanfic, I know all these people! They're my people! I like them already! There's already a whole foundation of enjoyment built in to each new fanfic experience that makes it way less stressful. WHO KNEW???

*53 posts tagged as fic rec! That seems like a nice achievement for the year, even though time is meaningless and numbers don't matter.

*Lots of Star Wars and batfam on the fic list this year -- two fandoms for which I have consumed almost zero canon, which I think makes them way more fun. (There's just so much canon out there for those two things! Who has the time when there's fic to read instead???)

*I read a nonfiction book that I really liked this year! Notable in that it rarely happens! (Women Rowing North, by Mary Pipher)

*Shoutout to the SUMMER READING ADVENTURE at the local library, which re-introduced me to libby and got me to sign up for hoopla, both of which provide free books and audiobooks (and more!). The WINTER READING ADVENTURE begins on January 2nd, and I'm so excited!

*2024, year of audiobooks! It turns out that CROCHET is the answer to 'what can I do while I listen to an audiobook that provides JUST the right amount of additional engagement so that both activities are enhanced?'

An unexpected (though entirely predictable) side effect of listening to audiobooks is that I hear words spoken that previously I'd only seen in writing. And it turns out 'the way my brain imagined that word sounded' and 'the accepted pronunciation of that word' are not always quite the same.

EXAMPLE 1: DIVAN
As in, a fancy couch. I can't recall ever having the need to speak this word out loud, but I was definitely imagining it with an 'i' sound like in the word 'dive.' Audiobook says no, and the internet agrees. (sounds like duh·van, emphasis on the second syllable)

(ahahaha I was going to add 'but I was definitely right about tousled,' and then I thought I'd better double check, and I was NOT right, lol)

EXAMPLE 2: TOUSLED
As in, tousling someone's hair. Different word than 'the kids were tussling in the yard,' but I was Very Confident these were pronounced the same. BUT NO. APPARENTLY NOT. (Sounds like tau·sld, emphasis on the first syllable).

I am boggled. What in the world am I going to learn next?

Sometimes you listen to an audiobook, think 'wait, I wonder if this book has fanfic,' and LO!

Fundamental, by clottedcreamfudge

“A simple box step should be sufficient to begin with.”

“Great plan,” Kiem says. “Box step! Love it.”

“You don’t have to know what a box step is, Kiem.”

“Oh, thank fuck.”