NNO Book Club: All Systems Red

For December we try to read something shorter or lighter or just more fun than some of the wonderful, but often heavy, books we read all year. For December 2025, I’ve decided to just get you all hooked on a series that came highly recommended to me – and is really fun.

Also, AppleTV released a series based on this book and has already confirmed a second season based on books 2 and 3 in this series. For this month, we are reading All Systems Red, book 1 of The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells.

***Book summary from Goodreads***
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.

***This month's restaurant selection***
This month we are trying something new that is sort of similar to a few other places we really like – so I’m hopeful. Bolay Fresh Kitchen seems to have an interesting mix of bowls and other somewhat healthy nosh and lots of customization options. You can check out their menu here: https://order.thanx.com/bolay.

***Not sure about book club or never been to one before? ***
Read the book (or some of the book). Come to the Meetup. Eat yummy food and chat with folks about what you thought about the book. REPEAT!

***Not sure where to get the book? ***
All books we select have a decent number of copies (at least 3-4 across all formats) at both the Hillsborough and Pinellas County Library. And, of course, you can always buy a copy.

***Didn’t finish/hated this book?***
Come to the Meetup anyway! If you didn't finish - just be aware, there will be spoilers. If you hated it, come and rant! In my experience, the books that generate the best conversations and the books we really love are rarely the same books.