M.A. Kropp: Writer, Blogger, GeekGirl. My Life. My Words. My Way.
We got our first significant snow of the season on Saturday. It started as rain, and progressed to a heavy, wet snow that lasted most of the afternoon. We got maybe six inches or so? A lot of branches down and a few trees here. This is what it looked like off the deck: It … Continue reading Winter Is- No, Wait. It’s Here.
My rating: 3 of 5 starsPublished in 1993, Parable of the Sower is set in the 2020s in a society ravaged by climate change, corporate greed, and inequality of wealth. Lauren Olamina lives in a gated community outside Los Angeles with her father, stepmother, and brothers. Lauren is a hyperempath, which means she is able … Continue reading Friday Review: Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia E. Butler
This Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the US. With the pandemic looking like it is ramping up again, many people, us included, will be scaling back on the holiday gatherings this year. We will not have the usual out of town folk here this year. We all just felt it was the safest thing and … Continue reading Thanksgiving Week
My rating: 4 of 5 starsFive independent hackers are given a choice by the government: serve as white hat hackers completing assignments given them or face prison for their past cyber crimes. Faced with that choice, they decide to take the offer. They are sent to an isolated compound where they and the other teams … Continue reading Friday Review: Zer0es by Chuck Wendig
I started writing a post about the election and its coming aftermath, but, you know what? I got discouraged and upset and borderline angry as I was doing so, and I realized something. That's been the problem for a long time in this country. We are a divided people. We sit around glaring at each … Continue reading How Do We Go Forward From Here?
A few unrelated jumbles of thought for the beginning of a new month: Saturday was Halloween. Our town decided not to cancel trick-or-treating this year, but encouraged masks for everyone and the usual social distancing practices. We did have candy to hand out. Yes, I wore a mask- a proper one. Didn't get many kids … Continue reading And Just Like That, It’s November!
Often, when we hit this point in the year, I am thinking "Gee, I can't believe it's almost November. The year will be over before we know it." This year feels a bit different. I am sure you have all seen the memes about how long this year 2020 has seemed. With the COVID pandemic, … Continue reading Winding Down the Year
My rating: 4 of 5 starsIn this third installment of the Tufa series of novels, we meet Bo-Kate Wisby who, with her lover Jefferson Powell, are the only two Tufa ever permanently banished from their tribes. Now, Bo-Kate has managed to find her way back to Needsville, and she arrives with plans for revenge on … Continue reading Friday Review: Long Black Curl (Tufa #3) by Alex Bledsoe
Things are rolling along. With a little luck, the BaldMan will be released from rehab this week. That will be very good thing. It will be a bit more than a month since he first went to the hospital. I won't say it will not also be weird. I mean, it's been a month. I've … Continue reading Getting Back in Sync
This little "adventure" has dragged on far longer than I either expected or wanted it to. The BaldMan has been in one hospital or another since early September, and as of today, is in rehab to gain back some strength and become ready to come home. No idea as of right now when that will … Continue reading Slowly Getting Back into Things
And So On... 