Golden Son

Book 76 is Golden Son which is book 2 of The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown.

This series continues to challenge what I think is right and what is reality. I'd like to think I'd handle things better but I'm not sure if Darrow does what we all would: A mix of right and what must be done.

Still one of the best series to come true in the last few years. Coloured people, politics and entitlement all mixed in modern relevance.

4 betrayals out of 5.

Should I read this? If you want some philosophically challenging science fiction.
What did I learn? I would never be a revolutionary.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Book 34 of 2017 is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō.

I am very undecided on this book. It has the salesmanship that makes you want to dive in and change your life but it promises disappointment in my eyes.

The one thing that has happened since reading this has been my ability to throw things out without remorse. That alone is an amazing step.

I can see how this could change your life. I don't know if it will change mine.

3 discarded items without spark out of 5.

Should I read this? Honestly, I'm not sure. Ask me in three months.
What did I learn? I can throw things out without guilt, as long as I don't tell anyone about it. This is freeing.

Talking As Fast As I Can

Book 2 of 2017 is Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham.

I am so glad that I read this within weeks of watching the revival of Gilmore Girls. Graham had me in fits of laughter, tears and finally with my heart broken for the third time as I say goodbye to Lorelai again.

The thing I loved the most about this was that she writes like she seems in Gilmore Girls and that did not disappoint me.

There are spoilers towards the end so don't read it until you have watched every episode ever made including the revival.

The writing is free and honest. I consumed this is just under 6 hours.

Five cups of mother and daughter banter out of five.

Should I read this? If you are a Gilmore Girls fan then absolutely. Not sure it will mean as much if you aren't. But who isn't a fan?
What did I learn? I learnt that the last four words of a TV show are very important.

Grunt

Book 1 of 2017 is Grunt by Mary Roach.

This is a book I was trying to get through before the end of 2016 but December was disrupted and so this ends on the second day of the new year. Last year, I missed completing my 2016 Good Reads Reading Challenge with 30 or the 36 books finished. For 2017, I've set the challenge to 30 books which does not feel daunting.

Having never read Mary Roach before, I was expecting this to be a boring text book with some good statistics. Boy, was I wrong. She is a very entertaining writer and had regularly laughing between IEDs destroying penile function, disinterested sharks and polar bears obsessed with tampons.

I can't say I enjoyed every section. This was about war and that means that there are hard truths to read. Some chapters saw me put down the book and walk away for a few days to read fantasy in order to process the horrors of war. Roach does talk about everything with respect and an appropriate sense of humour. She had my respect on that.

This is both disturbing and enlightening. It is not for everyone.

Four special ops goldfish in a submarine out of five.

Should I read this? This is a hard one to answer. It may trigger people who have been in similar situations. It may be a bit to gory and detailed for some. I very much approached it as science and still cringed regularly. I'd say only read it if you can compartmentalise well.
What did I learn? Where to start: so much. That's why I would recommend reading this book. It made me look at war science in a very different way. It's not just nuclear science or signals processing. There is the people part. I guess I learnt that... these are real people dying for... something.

Unsubscribing from All the Things

I reside in the home of consumerism and have been swept up in the ease at which everything comes to me in this country and specifically in Seattle, the home of delivery.

In my ongoing quest to consume less, I looked at where I am exposed to advertising which has so much say in what I buy. If you say it doesn't then I call bullshit on that.

The answer was in email and on Facebook.

I proceeded to unsubscribe from every email sent to me by a business. This has had me realise that they lie and keep sending stuff to you over and over until Google mail helps you unsubscribe. Yes, they mark those jerks as spam.

The second avenue is Facebook. I've stopped liking my friend's statuses that mention a brand of any kind. I'm also leaving all groups that are selling me something.

This has changed what I read in a day. Lets see what happens in a week.

A week of not buying everything I want

Wow, is it difficult to not shop online constantly when you live in the US and work for Amazon?!

It's what the company I work for does best. Not just them but every online company in the US.

I can order everything online and have it delivered to my home with the only human inconvenience being dealing with my delivery guy (I joke):

• Instant groceries via Prime Now and Instacart, if I'm unwilling to wait a day for Amazon Fresh, Safeway and QFC;
• Christmas trees and people to pick up those Christmas trees when done;
• Petrol/Gas for your car;
• A massage at home;
• Organic tampons;
• Furniture. Yes, every single piece of furniture you can imagine; and
• Anything else you can imagine.

We live in the future and I want my flying car!

You think I joke, but I have pre-ordered two Star Trek: TOS Bluetooth® Communicators. One for my sister and one for myself.

We live in a time when you can get anything you want. My smartphone is more powerful than the computer that landed man on the moon. My speakers hear my commands and turn my house lights on and off , read me the news and tell me the weather or time if I'm too lazy to lift up my so smartphone.

It is so easy to buy. It takes a level of mindfulness to wake up after a goodnight's sleep and cancel that order of plastic garden flamingos. Yes, that happened last week.

People joke that we once had arguments about facts and now google (with a small 'g') everything and Snopes it on the spot. I extend on that and say that we have a conversation and can act on every whim and buy any damn thing we want.

But do we need those things?

This week, I have decided to not by anything that I do not NEED. When I say need, it must be essential to my survival or maintaining my basic standard of living.

In the spirit of a good Amazonian, I decided to keep a Wish List of A Week of Wants and refuse to buy anything that didn't go under the banner of essential.

I'm not saying I will buy them in a week but I am keeping a list of everything I would have purchased given the chance.

This will be both informative and confronting.

Would you face your inner consumer and not be disgusted?