Seven Things

01 - I've been reading nothing but book samples and that's okay — I guess I'm not interested in reading much these days. Reading slump, reading fatigue, reading pause, whatever you call it, is not something to make a big deal of. I'm a moody reader who don't always want to read and there's no changing that. Reading is reading even if you never finish a book.

02 - A book I'm never going to read: The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud — Why are there cannibalism in a children's adventure book? I was going to read this but decided I can't deal with the above matter. One reviewer said it was intense and in real time - just no to this. This is not a spoiler. I guess this is content awareness of a sort. But what's irks me more is the wholesome cover - the girl is blowing bubblegum for goodness sake. See the cover here.

03 - A book sample that I'm not sure I should have read — A book started in the point of view of a 2-year-old but his age wasn't mentioned in the beginning so when he mentioned soiling himself, I just go what? He may be a baby genius but I just cannot believe his brain would be that developed that he can understand what he sees or thinks in a comprehensive way although judging by the writing, it seemed to try to make him a bit dumb about things but at the same time, not really. Was I prejudiced because of his age? Maybe. I don't know. I just found it kind of unbelievable. So, yes this is fiction but if I can't even believe it on a general level, then what's the point? Is this author reaching for the way-way-way youth market? Baby geniuses aside, if the author had made him 4 or even 3, I might believe it more. Even though this was a prologue (the rest of the book is told from his adult view), I still don't like this introduction to this main character enough to read the book. (I can't remember the title but it was the first book of a series.)

Signal the movie

04 - Recent film I watched: Signal The movie: Cold Case Investigation Unit > link
This was okay although I wondered why the policeman (Saegusa) went to battle three guys while his fellow two policemen are in the control room staring at screens. Saegusa got stabbed, shot at, punched and pretty much almost died but no one was there to help him. What is the point of being in a team when your team members aren't doing anything while you fight like crazy with the bad guys? In the end, Saegusa dragged himself to where the culprit was, all bloody and wounded, why? So he can be the sole hero? But no, the solution is something else which means his fighting was kind of in vain. I'm not going to spoil it for you but if you have seen the show, then you know how this movie would end. Watch this movie for free with commercials at youtube here.

05 - It's kind of odd the way Blogger now only works with tracking protection off. You can't sign into other Blogger blogs to comment unless you turn off tracking protection. I don't know why that is when it wasn't like this before they changed spam filters (or whatever it was changed that had to do with spam). Of course my browser remembers my options so I don't always have to turn tracking protection off but why do we even have to anyway? You can leave comments without signing in (assuming the blogger had chosen to allow anonymous commenting) but I don't like using anonymous to comment when I have a Blogger account. (To turn off tracking protection in firefox, you just click on the shield icon next to the url address bar.)

06 - Because of region restrictions or region block, I cannot watch the last season of Vera. The company that mades the show didn't allow digital purchases in the U.S. which was how I watched the show but I didn't get to watch all the seasons because of region restriction. So yes, I can subscribe to Britbox to watch the episodes I missed and the last season but I refused. I'm not going to subscribe just to watch one show. I guess I'll have to read episode recaps to find out what happens or maybe not.

07 - Firefox keeps asking me to update even though I have updated a million times already — Why don't they just make it that you update to the very latest version whenever you update? Why does it work in increments? So yes, apps needs to be updated for security reasons and such but come on, how much update can they do anyway? I can download the latest, greatest version but then I would have to rebuild bookmarks and preferences but that won't solve the update problem because there will always be updates. Why did firefox removed the option NOT to check for updates? Why don't users have a choice to check for updates and then choose when to update? Why are app makers (and computer makers) keep removing options that allow users to make choices? Are users so dumb that the choices have to be made for us?

What's on your mind these days?

Types of stories I dislike reading

This week's Top Ten Tuesday's is Books on My Spring 2023 To-Read List. I don't make any kind of reading list so here are types of stories or genres I dislike reading but I'm not saying I wouldn't read them but I won't go looking for them. Books often bring unexpected surprises so I never rule out not reading a book but definitely not #1 or 2 because I just can't handle them. For more Top Ten Tuesday, visit That Artsy Reader Girl here.

01 - Horror — I really, really cannot read about zombies or vampires/body harm or anything that is classified as horror. I know horror isn't just zombies or vampires but they are the ones that somehow got framed to be the spokespersons. I just think reading anything horror just leads to nightmares but it's probably because I'm a scaredy cat. I see nothing wrong with not wanting to be scared to death.

02 - Romance with Smut/Erotica  — Just nope.

03 - Anything set during war time — You know there will be death and grief when there's war and I don't mind reading them but I don't know, sometimes it seems a bit too depressing to me. But I'm not saying I won't read such books because I had, I just don't know if I want to read books that are certain to bring in the gloom.

04 - Spy/Undercover — I don't quite know why I dislike this type of books but somehow I just do. I suppose it's all the lying they have to do or perhaps all the fake relationships they have to make or perhaps there is no reason. Can a person just dislike something for no reason?

05 - Fairies/Fae — It's very odd but like spy/undercover stories, I just don't like these type of stories. But somehow if it's a fairy godmother, I like them but they don't count as fairies, right?

06 - Orphans who are thieves - I actually don't read a lot of stories with orphans who are thieves but I read a lot of synopsis with this idea and I'm sick of it. The idea that orphans become thieves is just not true.

07 - Teenage romances — I guess I'm too old to read about teenagers and their angst but somehow it's the romances that always annoys me more. I'm not saying I can't believe in teenagers having deep, romantic love but why do they (authors, I guess) make it so hard to believe in the relationship? I guess the ones I dislike the most is hundred-year-old men dating 16-year-old girls. The fact that these hundred-year-old men acted like teenagers is annoying as heck because if they can't mature after a hundred years, then there is serious problem, isn't there?

08 - Music-related — I love music, I just seem to be bored with talks about making music or music-related things. It's really odd and I don't know why that is. Although, I probably would enjoy reading a biography or autobiography of a musician's life but I don't know why that is.

09 - Authors or famous people as characters in fiction books — I just don't really want to read Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters or any of those classic authors or inventors or famous people as fictionalize characters doing fictionalize things and living lives they shouldn't be living unless it's a middle grade book. Somehow children version of famous people seems more appealing than adult versions.

10 - Politics — Anything to do with politics, I just get bored by it. Even political thrillers to me aren't really the types of book I like reading. I have noticed there are political/spy stories which I guess is a natural combination but that's definitely books I wouldn't choose to read.

What types of books do you dislike reading?