Welcome to Litsy!

I'm glad #BookSpin finally got me to read this; it's suspenseful and surprising, and I loved the authentic look at online bonds.

Interestingly both of my spins for this month featured true conscious AI, and both are very positive portrayals. I wonder what ART and AI/CatNet would think about the regurgitated nonsense posing as AI now.

Finally some great summer weather! (Gratuitous boat pic)
This YA thriller was my 1st read of the year - a random selection from TBR. Steph is a young woman whose only friends are those she‘s made online - because her Mom keeps shifting town every few months to escape her ex. This is a fun read if youre prepared to suspend your disbelief and if the concepts of “found family” and “sentient AI” appeal to you. Ie maybe just me and @Ruthiella 😂😂⬇️

"...in a decisive majority of those stories, the AI is evil...
It is important to me not to be evil."
? Hurray for non-evil Artificial Intelligence!

I loved this page-turning YA thriller about a teenager who befriends an AI. This story is suspenseful, thought-provoking and charming all at the same time!

#BookSpinBingo #JoysOfJune
@TheAromaofBooks @Andrew65

I tore through these YA Techno Thrillers in a matter of days (and just in time for book club, too)! 😄
I was primed to enjoy these because I loved the short story that inspired them - these books are much darker than the original story, but they are eminently readable and I highly recommend.

Another book that I tore through in no time flat. Steph and her mom have been on the run from her dad as long as she can remember. When her mom gets sick, fortunately she has a group of online friends to help her stay safe. Even more fortunately, one of those friends is an AI who likes helping people almost as much as it likes looking at cat pictures.

I definitely recommend this one.

This month‘s reading was on the lower side of my average but definitely not in slump territory so I still feel somewhat productive. Standouts this month would be Koli, Obelisk Gate, and Thousand Names.
2 eBook
5 physical
I‘m now at 2475 points in my #buriedalivechallenge with 103 points average per qualifying book.
#MarchWrapUp

I really enjoyed this teenager thriller that encompasses not only the usual running for your life bits but also the importance of found family and the meaningful relationships found online. I especially liked the AI character and the way it thought through its ethical dilemmas.

I‘m dying because we have an airlock like this but ours is for our cats. We call it the catlock.

#BookReport
Had another good reading week finishing off four books and the complete Dragoneye Duology. The highlight of this week for me though was Book of Koli.

#WeeklyForecast
My goal this week is to finish the two books I've started and then move on to the last of my library pile. If I've finished those I'll then move on to my BookSpin selections.

Wasn‘t feeling up to post apocalyptic with Trials of Koli today so I thought I‘d start this one. Cal seems to think it‘s a good choice.
#CatsOfLitsy

Finally conquered the book slump! Awesome book. #readingglasses

Captivating and fun, this techno-thriller is set in the near future, peopled with queer teens and sentient AI. If you're a fan of Martha Well's 'Murderbot' series, check this out. #YA #SpeculativeFiction

Parts of this book make me super nostalgic for my rp buddies... staying online as long as I could, all the group msn chats... Though afaik none of us was secretly an AI, and our coding was limited to figuring out enough html to make geocities sites and character graphics... Good times ❤️

(cat picture because of course it has to be a cat picture)

It's a YA thriller, apparently the first of a series, featuring the benevolent AI from Kritzer's story, "Cat Pictures Please." In this one, the AI helps a girl who is on the run with her mother, hiding from an abusive father. It's mostly fun, with some implausibilities. But all false notes are redeemed by the beginnings of an appealing queer-inclusive Scooby Gang; and by a brilliant set piece starring a sex-ed robot. I'll read the next.

This was amazing! I LOVED it and I'm super salty that the sequel isn't due out until April of NEXT year.

Don't judge this book by the title and cover. It's so freaking good. If you read "Cat Pictures, Please," this is the follow-up.

The metaness of this picture. #catsoflitsy

"Having access to knowledge didn't always mean understanding things."

I loved "Cat Pictures, Please" so am really looking forward to this book. Good to hear the AI's voice again!

Also some Hugo finalists I'd like to get to. #MarchTBR

I have read multiple reviews of this one, which basically boil down to "good book with a terrible title." Let's see, shall we?

Next up! #amreading

My feelings about this one oscillated wildy while I read it, but I'm settling on 'low pick.' The pacing was off throughout -- super slow for the first half, super rushed for the second, and while it ended on a satisfying conclusion, I'm grumpy at it.

In addition to the focus, I'm having real problems with the pacing on this. I'm a good quarter of the way in, and the story drags and meanders and repeats.

So far, this book seems to be 20% teens talking in chat groups and zero percent from the perspective of that cool AI character I loved from the short story, but it's still early on yet. It could improve.

#releasedayyay! I did have this preordered, but it being YA I was on the fence about it, and then I was frustrated with Macmillan's new policy on library e-books and so fell completely off. Currently on the waitlist for the library print copy.

https://boingboing.net/2019/11/19/setec-astronomy-kitteh.html

(Releases November 2019) I had adored the short story this novel is expanded from, but I'm apprehensive about the novel. Kritzer's opted to make it YA, and that's... not really my genre.

Still! The excerpt is very much in the voice of the AI character, which I had so much loved reading in the short story. So, I'm tentatively very interested in this?