Playing catch-up as reading so many books means I am perpetually behind schedule on reviewing them. It was a very audiobook focussed week as I spent more time running.

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells

Read this short story while listening to Network Effect (#5). This story is #4.5 in the Murderbot series and was written from a perspective that it wasn’t Murderbot. I liked that change in perspective. It was more of a short character work of Dr Mensah and her relationship with Murderbot.

Read April 28, 2025 on Kobo Clara BW.

Network Effect by Martha Wells, David Cui Cui (Narrator) and full cast

I listened to the Dramatized Adaptation for the first half and decided to read it in tandem since I felt I was missing some details. I am glad I did. There were a couple of twists that I enjoyed reading in text. This was a standard novel length as opposed to the novellas and it was one of the strongest in terms of actions. There were a lot of characters though.

1.25-1.5x. April 27-28, 2025. Kobo Clara BW.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection Volume 1 by Miya Kazuki with quof (Translator), You Shiina (Illustrator)

Now that I am done the main series, I am going through the bonus materials. I liked some of these but these stories were from the beginning of the series so it was more a serious of flashbacks. While I still adore this series, I am not young anymore so I don’t obsess over consuming everything associated with it or even reading fanfic yet. There was more of a drive to move on to to other things like Murderbot.

April 21-28, 2025.

Fugitive Telemetry [Dramatized Adaptation]: The Murderbot Diaries 6 by Martha Wells, David Cui Cui (Narrator) and full cast

While this is #6 in the series, it actually took place before #5 and is structured as a mystery. It was nice and fun. I liked Murderbot being a detective.

1.1x-1.25x. April 29- May 1, 2025.

The Littles by John Lawrence Peterson

It’s The Borrowers with tails. This was cute. I liked The Borrowers more which was a middle grade and more developed. This American series is more for younger readers. It did make me a bit nostalgic for those books I read when I first learned English as an early reader.

April 29, 2025.

System Collapse [Dramatized Adaptation]: The Murderbot Diaries 7 by Martha Wells, David Cui Cui (Narrator) and full cast

This is the latest book in the series. It was longer than some of the other novellas. I read a few chapterin tandem on my Kobo Clara BW. Some of the action was interesting and there were less characters than in #5. It did still feel like more of a set up for future instalments of Murderbot’s story.

1.1x-1.5x. May 1-3, 2025.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson with Jacqueline Woodson (Narrator)

A memoir in poetry for young adult audiences. Woodson wrote about her family and upbringing in Civil Rights era America including her family’s great migration north to New York City. Very well written and reflective.

1.5x. May 1-4, 2025.

Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, Cass R. Sunstein

I had this in paperback. I listened to Thinking, Fast and Slow last year and had the paperback too. I found that book interesting but long. I have been very particular about my nonfiction lately and this was too boring at the start. It also seemed even more dry than the other book. The case studies included judges and insurance companies which did not make me want to read it more. Back to the donation pile.

DNF at 10%. May 4, 2025.