This is one of my favourite memes, that I really don’t do often enough. It’s one of those memes that gets you talking about books that you already have instead of getting you pumped up about going out and buying something else new.
Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:
- Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
- Link back to the creator of the meme, Bookshelf Fantasies.
- Check out other posts, and have fun!
ARMADA by Ernest Cline
From Goodreads:
“Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.
But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.
And then he sees the flying saucer.
Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.
No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.
It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?”
How I got it:
I was browsing amazon, looking at completely different books and saw this one for $11. I thought it was an okay deal, but nothing to get excited about. I was about to browse off the page when I realized it was $11 for the HARDCOVER! I bought it right there and then.
When I got it:
About a year ago.
Why I want to read it:
Uh… Ready Player One. Duh.
Oooh! Looks like another meme I could participate in… forever… because I have hundreds of unread books on my shelf…
For real. I could do it every week. For the rest of time.
I’ll have to participate in this one, given the number of books in my TBR pile sat on the coffee table. It might encourage me to read an old one, rather than buy something new. Maybe …
Or maybe a little from column A, a little from column B!
I listened to this on Audiobook a few years ago, during some long commutes (like 2+ hours) and I will tell you that the ending made me pull over and honk my horn to myself in frustration. I’m sure I looked like a crazy person.
Is it weird that I want it read it more now?
Nah, completely understandable 😜