Hooked on Books discussion

ORIGINAL Members Starting the BR: Quill Questers
Challenge: Book Quest Adventures

REOPENED for: Char, C, and Beth
Challenge: Toys/Objects Roundup

Book: All Systems Red by Martha Wells


Anyone is free to join in this Buddy Read! Happy Reading!

Starting today .
Well i have started and put it down already , not used to audio and finding i still need to sit and concentrate , was hoping i could do a bit of multitasking ..but no !!!

First things first ..do we have the same narrater Kevin R Free...i dont like his voice , very bland .im use to putting my own voice to the charater. Do people really listen to anything higher than 1.5 speed ...its just gobbledygook, cant make out anything .
Bit boring at the moment , but then i dont like sci fi ..we'll see

I don’t mind Kevin R Free for some stuff (I liked him for Sorcerer yesterday) but he is a little flat sometimes.

And I listen between 3-4x speed…I can’t pay attention if it’s slower 😂

No way .😳😳😳.fastest mine goes is 3.4 and i cant understand it

I have pretty severe ADHD which makes reading and audiobooks my superpower (everything else not so much lol)

I will be starting this one today too. I’ve read it before and only 3 stars but everyone absolutely raves about this series so I want to try again

I don’t know how you listen to audio at 3 or higher, Amanda. 2.0 is my norm unless the accent is strong, then 1.5.

I like this series and love Kevin Free’s narration. Seems perfect for a robot to me.

I can't listen to audiobooks (also ADHD and I read like crazy because of it) because I read so fast and they are so slow. I know you say you listen super fast, but I'm just not sure how that would be enjoyable for me. Reading fast I can still pay attention and savor, but I don't think I can do it with the squeaky high pitch.

But then again, I've never tried. I just know that regular speed KILLS me and I love reading and blocking out everything else (the only thing that does).

I can't tolerate regular speed either. It's painful.

Theres a lot of strange names in this one and terms ive not come across/ sci fi words and im struggling to understand whats going on as i cant see the words ( does that make sense).
I like to go back and re- read if i dont understand something but finding it difficult with audio

Does your library maybe have a copy? I know it’s really popular so they might have it.

I think it might be more like a serial than a true novel so some of it might be described later (but I never read past book one lol)

I’m a couple chapters in and I’m enjoying Murderbot’s snarkiness. I like him really trying to do everything he can to not talk to anyone.

I really don’t know why this one’s hitting me different than the first time I read it but I’m almost done and see why people are obsessed. I feel like murderbot is just saying what every antisocial introvert is thinking lol

I am getting into it a bit more and yes i do have a soft spot for Murderbot ..still not sure ill read the others though 😄😄

The rest of the series is really good. Murderbot is a great character and his “relationship” with the other characters evolves. The snarkiness is a mainstay though.

Amanda wrote: "I really don’t know why this one’s hitting me different than the first time I read it but I’m almost done and see why people are obsessed. I feel like murderbot is just saying what every antisocial..."

So true. Lol

I actually really want to pick up the others now. Maybe you just have to read it twice to get the full effect

I think if i had read the book i would proberly enjoyed it more . It was the audio experience i didnt enjoy , im presuming its one of those things that gets better the more you do it .

Im always flicking back in my books and re- reading / checking and you ( well i ) couldnt do that with audio.

Id like to know how he gets on in the other books ,and ill check out Amandas idea of our library but if not i think ill wait for one of you to let me know 😄😄
Ive read somwhere , it is going to be a tv programme ..and released in May .

I'm almost exactly half through--Murderbot was just attacked and shot himself!!!

I love this and it's moving so fast. I'm reading of course (and yes, I use the search function all the time, Janine, to remind me who all the characters are/where I've seen them before).

I love that all he wants to do is watch soap operas. It's like me--all I want to do is read romance novels.

I've got to finish my Red Dragon books and then I should get to this one.

I loved it--so fast and so good. I'm pretty sure he'll be back, despite his running away. What a great character, and such an exciting book.

I’ve started. Excited to reread this one.

Finished and enjoyed it more than before. There are so many good lines from Murderbot in the book. I've always listened to the audio and love Kevin Free's narration but some time I want to read the ebook so I can underline these quotes.

I love the fact that he uses his videos to help him figure out how to interact with the humans. Such a great character!

For anyone continuing the series, I've read all of the books, some more than once, and they're all excellent.

I will definitely be continuing and am mad they don't fit anywhere in my challenges so far!

Jackie wrote: "Finished and enjoyed it more than before. There are so many good lines from Murderbot in the book. I've always listened to the audio and love Kevin Free's narration but some time I want to read the..."

I also felt like I noticed so many amazing quotes this time around

I am also hoping to work these into challenges, Amanda!

This one is pretty cute. A self-conscious robot who doesn't want to interact with humans.

Gotta say the way Mensah talks to the Murderbot is how I sometimes "talk" to chat GPT...LOL

I did get the Dramatized Adaptation of the Audio books so its kinda cool

and the obsession with the reality tv is awesome.

Yes!!!

I love that he relates these humans to characters in his shows.

I can't believe he left them! Ugh. Gotta read more. This was great.

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REOPENED for: Char, C, and Beth
Challenge: Toys/Objects Roundup

This is a reread for me. I read the entire series in 2023. For me, the first one was the best, and the series got a bit away from Murderbot himself and leaned more into the sci fi (which isn't a typical genre for me).

We are reading book 2 this month as well if you have time to join us in that after this one
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks!

Okay, just started it..
5% in - Pure scifi like space, robots etc is usually never my cup of tea, but I'm kinda excited to see how this book will go.. Also doesn't hurt that this book is shorter, so I don't love it, I can finish it faster..

(view spoiler)[My version of the book atleast started off with no introduction 😂 and we jumped straight to the crater exploding.. (hide spoiler)]

Looking forward to starting this! It's been on my horizon for a while and never popped to the top.

Just finished chapter 4 - I'm reallyyy liking our Secbot Murderbot so far.

I finished yesterday. It was a 3.5* read for me. I had a hard time feeling empathy for Murderbot, based on his social interactions and some of his work ethic, even though he really stepped up when needed. (view spoiler)[I did not understand why he would leave the team at the end though, since his "friends" had bought his freedom and were giving him a new life. Why not stay with them for a while? Is the realization that he could pass as an augmented human that important to walk away? Clearly he cared about those humans, so the leaving didn't make sense at all to me. (hide spoiler)]

I will probably try the second book in the series, just to see how it is, but idk that it will be a top priority.

I actually liked it ... though I agree with you C, about his decision in the end..
I'm not sure if I'll continue the series, but I liked this book..

I absolutely love this character! His snarkiness, for me, is his most appealing quality... when I read this in 2023, I made a note that Murderbot is me. 😅

My favorite quote: Yes, talk to Murderbot about its feelings. The idea was so painful I dropped to 97% efficiency. Me too, Murderbot. Me, too.

Interesting take on the ending... it wasn't something that had occurred to me; I just looked at it as his natural desire to be on his own after being controlled for so long.

I will definitely reread book 2... I'll say no more than Murderbot develops an unlikely "friendship."

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