Harper’s future in a dystopian society is all mapped out. She’s an ace developer, and she’s expecting to get picked high for a great job in the annual Bid Day selection of who gets what jobs for life. Wealth, perks, clean living. Except she doesn’t get picked for the best job; she gets picked by no one, except for the last-chance job.
What I Liked
There are lots of other series that have a similar premise — selection to a specific group of young people. Except rather than ending up in the right house via a sorting hat or in the right faction by choice or volunteering to be tribute, this one has the opposite spin. The choice goes wrong instead of right. And Harper has to deal with her new life that is very different than she expected. There are signs that things in society are not all on the up-and-up, with hints of corruption at multiple levels. Until it becomes clear that even Harper’s bid day experience was rigged.
What I Didn’t Like
Unfortunately, her romance with Eli is rather predictable and some of the antagonists seem one-dimensional. The ending raises the stakes, but a bit too much of a gap for me from earlier, just jumps up too abruptly. I’ll still read more in the series, though.
This is a bit of a hard category to nail down. Obviously, everything we do is an “experience” in some way. And I obviously don’t mean simply that…
On the other hand, I’m also not sure if I ONLY mean big experiences. Retiring would be big, but not an experience; going to the circus would be an experience, but not necessarily big.
I guess that I’m more talking about doing things that are not part of my ordinary world. Or perhaps even more simply, things that take effort to do. D&D, even, takes effort.
We’re going to go see Singin’ in the Rain at Centerpointe in June, and it sort of counts, I think.
Usually, I would include various restaurants in the list, except that I don’t have a list at the moment of “must try” restaurants. I should, I suppose, although my interest seems pedestrian…I was following a guy on FB who created a group centred around “Club Sandwiches,” which he called “Clubbing for Cancer” — trying to find the best club sandwich in Ottawa while fighting cancer. He lost his battle, unfortunately, but the group is still active and I liked the premise. I thought of doing wings, but it’s often subjective; burgers, pizza, etc. are all overdone (sometimes literally). But I do have this idea for going out for a simple breakfast — eggs (sunny side, of course), toast, bacon, juice. Home fries if available. Maybe sausages. Normally, no, for bacon or anything else. I don’t really think of that as “an experience” necessarily, but I do have a list of some 70 places that people suggested. I’ve done 3 so far. I tried to tick the box for another one between Christmas and New Years and it was JAMPACKED. Not a relaxing vibe at all. But I’ll probably do a few more over the next year.
I could include astronomy viewings, but again, not really what I’m thinking of, that’s kind of separate.
I am a member of the Capital Crime Writers group, I suppose that would count for an outing to hear a guest speaker.
I could also benefit from a simple baking course, if I could find one that isn’t during the day (I’m not retired yet!).
And I am still thinking about a retreat weekend sometime. Just me and my thoughts.
Oh, and if I get a chance to ride an e-bike or drive a jetski or boat, that would count too.
That’s about it. I’m not dreaming big this year. I did the Bouchercon last year, and we went to BC, even went to an orchard and picked apples (I’ve always wanted to do it and never went!) but this year will be more about home stuff, saving the gusto perhaps for Egypt in May 2027.
Until then, I’ll have to noodle some more stuff. Feel free to suggest out-of-the-ordinary things to try.
Women are hired to work on code-breaking cyphers, amid a flurry of men with giant egos, poor mannerisms, and potential nefarious intentions.
What I Liked
Previous stories have trodden the same ground, although often in WWII. This one picks up after the war, focusing on the beginnings of the Cold War. Cat Killeen moves hundreds of miles to work in Arlington Hall, home of the Army Security Agency. The story follows generally a combination of her getting to work with someone brilliant but difficult at work, showing her aptitude for the work, and building a social life with some other girls who work in the same unit, with the requisite dating of someone from security intelligence (aka maybe a spy!).
What I Didn’t Like
The story was decent but a little short on action; it was the “cozy” equivalent of a spy thriller. There’s also a scene where things happen to her rather than because of her, and it feels like a lost chance for more agency in the protagonist. So the ending felt more flat than determinative.
Yep, I started playing D&D last year. Except my attendance has sucked as my mental health waxes and wanes more than the moon. 2025 was rough for me both physically and mentally, and some Tuesday nights, I just couldn’t suck it up to play.
My coworker Devin set up a group, and my friend Stephan joined in. We’ve added another friend of Devin’s, Owen, and recently another friend of Stephan’s, Jeff.
We started off with a traditional style game in D&D land, in person, at Devin’s place. That didn’t work out as well as we had hoped for attendance and everything, so now we’re playing a Savage World game on Foundry where we play by remote. The first few nights were rough for the tech side of things, but we added Teams to handle our voice comms, and just use Foundry for the game without video or sound, so it works a little more stable-ish.
But the “night” isn’t really about the RPG, it’s about me doing something social with people. And as a single investment, it’s pretty good. I just have to commit to it more.
That’s it, that’s all. I need to put butt in seat and connect more regularly. I enjoy it, but some nights, I just don’t have the mental energy. 🙁
