39 books in January.   I'm a little bit behind on my 500 book reading goal, though.   

Favorite books?  Robot Pony, World After, Miller's Robocop, Backup, Dating After Dark, The Day the Robots Woke Up, and Bot! Combo Pack.   

Disappointments?   Transformers Retribution, Serial Killer's Guide, and, yeah, the Robocop novelization.   

Overall, though, pretty good month.   I'm only like ten books behind, and I had a lot of fun reading a majority of the books.   

By the way, is this something you guys are interested in?   I don't wanna bug y'all, but if you like the monthly wrap up, let me know.  I'll continue!   (I saw one or two other people do this, and figured I'd put my own spin on my wrap up, just doing the count/highlights/letdowns.)

*wipes a tear away*

The highest compliment I can give Madeline Claire Franklin's Robot Pony is that I wanted so much more! Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely perfect as a short story. In fact, I'm almost certain that anything else would ruin the magic of it. Still, I can't let it go. It hit me in just the right spot.

A human girl. A robot pony who is meant to be nothing but a mere toy. The utterly beautiful friendship that builds between them. I loved it. Loved it all. I picked this up to take a break between longer books, and found myself wishing for more.

What else can I say without ruining this for you? Read this. Thank you to the wonderful people who suggested it to me in the first place!

What A Wonderful Short Story!!!

I saw All Hail Grimlock's review for this one and I thought it looked like a neat story so I went and checked it out and it was free on Amazon so I grabbed it.  It's a short story, a very short story.  The story itself only goes to about the mid 30% on my kindle and only took a few minutes to read.  At first I was thinking it was a very simple story that was easy to read no matter the age group.  I was right about it being easy to read but I was so very wrong about it being simple.  A simple story couldn't make you feel this way in only a few pages.  A simple story could not make you care about characters so quickly and a simple story could never pull at your heart in such a way.  The message is as universal as it is timeless and yes it can be understood by nearly any age group but simple this story was not.  Calling it simple would be wrong unless you want to say it was simply beautiful in which case you'd be right. 

So heartbreaking!   

This is the story of a family, a father, a mother, and two girls.   Amanda wants a pony, and throws a shitfit when she gets a robot pony.   Jenn, her sister, takes to the pony, calling it Po, riding with it, and treating it more kindly than society says she has any reason to.   To the point of sleeping with it, brushing it, not allowing it to stay out in the cold. 

Po is her friend, and she Po's.   

The problem occurs when the ponies show erratic behavior, throwing their owners, and recall is sent out.   Her father, and mother, must send back the pony.   

And this is the payoff.   This has me blubbering.   Beautiful.   Just absolutely gorgeous, and life affirming.    Highly recommended.   It's incredibly short, but well worth the read. 

Reading Challenge: 24/500

They lived in a world of technology, where everything was automated and digitized and operated on wavelengths and wires. There were robots for farming , robots for cleaning, robots for plowing the streets after snow and robots for cleaning the air around factories. And at their father’s company, they figured there might as well be robots for pets as well.

Franklin, Madeline Claire (2011-07-14). Robot Pony (A short science fiction story) (Kindle Locations 70-72). Unknown Press. Kindle Edition.

Wants!   Waaaaants!

Sometimes they curled up together at night on the floor of Jenn’s bedroom, and she would fall asleep against Po’s hide, listening to the whir of the gears in his heart,

Franklin, Madeline Claire (2011-07-14). Robot Pony (A short science fiction story) (Kindle Locations 83-84). Unknown Press. Kindle Edition.

Oh. My. God.   That sounds so amazing!  I want to curl up like that with Ravage.   (And I don't care that he's evil and would rather squish me than curl up with me.)