Christmas and solstice and many of the other celebrations of the season are past, and I hope you had a good time! If you are looking for a few free Kindle books to add to your reader or app, Unlawful Harvest is free for a couple more days. This promo ends New Year’s Day, so grab it now. I’m not sure how many of the others listed in my blog are still free, but it’s worth it to check them out!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I just finished Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. I had certainly heard about it before, but I hadn’t read the book or seen the movie. If you are looking for a book with lots of 80s pop culture nostalgia, this is the one to read! While set in 2045, the protagonist and his competitors must learn everything they can about 1980s technology, music, movies, etc. in order to solve the clues that Halliday has left behind. I don’t read a lot of sci fi/futurist fiction, but this one was full of references to the TRS-80 Color Computer 2 (saving programs to cassette tapes), War Games, and so much more.
“Before I died,” Anorak says, speaking in much deeper voice, “I created my own Easter egg, and hit it somewhere inside my most popular videogame—the OASIS. The first person to find my Easter egg will inherit my entire fortune.”
Ernest Cline, Ready Player One
In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
