[22] The Future is Yours by Dan Frey
Fiction / Thrillers / Technological, Saw on BookBub

Synopsis: Ben Boyce and Adhi Chaudry have developed a way for a computer to talk to the internet one year from now – so anything you would have known in a year, you can know now. They want to sell this technology and share it with the world, but the government has other ideas.

Review: This book is such an interesting topic and had such high hopes, but since it’s written epistolary(ish?) style (all emails, texts, hearings, etc.) I just couldn’t get into it. A lot of the story was left out, and I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters. Kind of a bummer. The rights have been purchased for TV adaptations, so maybe that’ll be better.

Recommend? No

[23] Hemmingway’s Cats by Lindsey Hooper
Fiction / Animals, gift from Christina

Synopsis: Recent college graduate Laura Lange came to Key West to find herself while working at the historic Hemingway home as a tour guide (with all those six-toed cats!), and… I don’t even know what to say. Meets a lot of interesting folks while there? Helps a bunch of cats survive a hurricane?

Review: This book is cute but it’s all over the place. The writing is juvenile, the characters aren’t well developed, and the few chapters from the cats’ point of view are just odd. It’s set up like Laura is immediately going to be in a love triangle with two men who live in Key West, but that isn’t what the book is about.  Part 1 is all about her meeting everyone there, then Part 2 switches to focusing more on everyone else’s stories. We learn some info about Laura in the last third of the book that just feels out of nowhere, and… eh. I somewhat enjoyed this book, for the hopefully accurate historic information about the Hemmingway house, but otherwise, meh.

Recommend? No

[24] Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure, heard about from Stephany (surprised I hadn’t seen it!)

Synopsis: Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up from a coma in space and cannot remember who he is or why he’s there. It comes back to him and bits and pieces – oh yes, he’s on a mission to save humanity.

Review: I was really looking forward to this book because I’ve really enjoyed Weir’s other two, but it just moved a bit too slow for me and the sciency stuff was WAY. TOO. SCIENCY. Just whoa. Paragraphs of Dr. Grace doing calculations and science in his head? Random facts thrown in to show how smart he is? I wouldn’t say it was hard science fiction – I could follow it – it was just too much. It was boring. Those parts made me lose interest in the story, which is a shame, because it’s a great story, and I loved the ending, but it was just a bit of a slog. Even the intense parts of the story felt dimmed down by the sciency “gotta figure this out!” paragraphs.

Recommend? Maybe? If you’re into reading math calculations.