books

Comfort Re-Reads

Everyone has something they reach for when they are stressed, sad, or need a pick-me-up. For me, I reach for favorite books. Mostly, I read favorite book series, but occasionally I reach for a stand alone. One thing that is consistent in these books is that they have a happy ending. I need to know that things end well during stressful times. Good must triumph over evil, the couple ends up together, and the main characters don’t die. I’ve had a stressful few months, so here are the re-reads I’ve reached for:

The Deed of Paksenarrion Series (3 books)
by Elizabeth Moon

This fantasy trilogy is the best depiction of a paladin in literature in my opinion. The trilogy follows her development from mercenary (Sheepfarmer’s Daughter), to knight (Divided Alliegience), to paladin (Oath in Gold).

The Honeybadger Chronicles Series (4 books)
by Shelly Laurenston

Humorous romance series with strong, quirky female characters. Three half sisters who share a close bond developed from surviving the horrible parenting of their father.

Guild Hunter series (14 books)
by Nalini Singh

Paranormal romance series with an urban fantasy feel to it filled with humans, angels, and vampires. This series has a couple unique spins in this genre: archangels create vampires and some humans have the ability to track down vampires by scent. Angels hire these guild hunters to capture vampires who break contract and run.

Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir

This is my favorite science fiction book from last year. I highly recommend the audio version of this book. Man wakes up with no memory in another solar system and slowly realizes that he’s there to save humanity…alone.

Heartstrikers (5 books)
by Rachel Aaron

Urban fantasy series where the main character is a young dragon who is the disappointment of his clan because his is too nice. He’s thrown by his mother into the DFZ, a city built on the ruins of Detroit run by a lake spirit who hates dragons and allows them to be hunted in her city, with no access to his dragon form, no money, and no help.

A Modern Witch Series (7 books)
by Debora Geary

This series is no longer published, so it’s a bit hard to get your hands on. It’s a sweet romance series where magic and computers are blended together to do some really unique things in the real world and the gaming world.

Witchlight Trilogy (3 books)
by Debora Geary

This is a trilogy chronologically in the middle of the Modern Witch series that is also hard to find. It is set in the same world but not focused on romance. There is a group called Witchlight who help witches who have troubles or have lost there way. Its a trilogy about them finding their way and developing friendships in the witching community found in the other series and with each other.

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Video Games

Unpacking

I love organizing things, so when I heard about the game Unpacking, a game where you unpack things and put them away in various rooms in a house, the concept really appealed to me.

Unpacking is a puzzle game that gives you a sense of accomplishment as you find a home for everything while listening to really relaxing music. The premise is that you are unpacking someone’s worldly possessions as they move to various places throughout their life. It starts in a little kid’s room, and ends in a two-story house. Each game save is a photo album full of snapshots of a room from each level you’ve completed. Additionally, you can unlock stickers that can be added to the album as you complete various secret challenges.

I truly found this game fun and relaxing. The game design impressed me with the way I could interact with the objects I was unpacking and the various ways I could place them. I also found it interesting how I was piecing together my knowledge of the person whose life I was unpacking. During one level, I couldn’t find a home for one item that was obviously special to the person, and I got frustrated. Once I figured it out, though, I realized that the creator was making me feel the frustration this person must have felt trying to find a place for it when they were moving in with someone else and trying to combine their lives’ treasures. That was a truly clever way of telling a story.

I only had two minor problems with the game. First off, after I put everything away and reached the end of the game, I went back to try to get all the sticker achievements I had missed. I found it frustrating to continually have to navigate out of the photo album to the main screen to access clues for the sticker achievements; the sticker books inside the album did not have the clues. It would have been easier if I could have stayed in the photo album interface to access them. The second problem I had with the game was the price. As much as I enjoyed it, I paid the full price of $19.99 for the game, and it only took me about 6.5 hours to finish it. I play a lot of indie games, and I feel that this one was overpriced for the time it takes to finish it.

Yet, I would still recommend the game. I enjoyed the gameplay, the music, and the story. Just buy it when it goes on sale so you aren’t disappointed by the game play to price ratio.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, macOS, Linux, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

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Video Games

Failing for Jack-O

I fell for Fall Guys early. It reminds me of watching MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) on G4tv with my friends. This games makes me smile with its cute characters, colorful scenery, fun obstacles, costumes, and “woo-hoo” cries of joy as you run around trying to complete various zany obstacle courses.

Normally, when I play, I don’t care if I win or lose. I just play because it makes me happy. Now, though, I’m playing with a goal…to get the Jack-O upper costume from the Fall-o-Ween Challenge. And it’s kicking my ass.

It’s all my fault. I am great at most of the Season One challenges because I played that season like crazy. Unfortunately, I’ve only dabbled in the other seasons, and now I am paying for it. I’m halfway to my goal, but the climb certainly feels all uphill since the Trick show is all slimy climbs to the top so far.

Did I mention that the slime climb was my least favorite in Season One? the first round you either play Slime Climb or Slimescraper. Both are uphill races where the slime slowly creeps up behind you. If you fall into it, you fail. The first time I finally completed the first Treat round on Slime Climb only to find that the second round was the OTHER climbing show giving me so much trouble, I was like…REALLY! You’ve got to be kidding me!

Yet, I persist. IT WILL BE MINE!

There is something about this costume that calls to me. Maybe it is because it reminds me of Sam from Trick ‘r Treat. Don’t ask me why my mind goes there – I never said I was normal.

I have 7 days to complete 4 more challenges. I apologize to everyone who gets me on their Treat team now. I do sometimes hold my own, but sometimes I am thrilled that my name isn’t attached to that little guy.

Wish me luck!

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About Me

Why I’m Blogging

When you love something, you want to talk about it. You want to share it. Well, I love books and games, and I want to share my passion for these things with others.

My Interests

Books

So, I read a little bit of everything, but my favorite genres normally involve fantastical themes: urban fantasy, fantasy, paranormal romance, magical realism, fairy tales, etc. I found a way to make books a part of my career – I’m a librarian. Books are my main obsession. I work in a library and I have a library at home. I always have a book or my Kindle on me, and I listen to books when I can’t sit down to read them.

Asking me to tell you “what’s your favorite book” is like asking me “which one’s your favorite child?” It’s an impossible question. Acceptable questions and answers from today (each day may give you a different answer) include:

  • What are you reading right now?
    Audio: Liar’s Oath by Elizabeth Moon
    Paper: Games Creatures Play (anthology with Charlaine Harris, etc.) and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
    Kindle: Midnight Crossed by Charlaine Harris and Where the Wild Things Bite by Molly Harper
  • What is your book club reading right now?
    Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
  • What book would you recommend that you read recently?
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

And, yes, I read that many books at the same time. I am in a book club (a club full of other librarians actually). And last month I gave my husband the recommended book for his birthday since I loved it so much – the audio is amazing, and they already are working on the movie with Ryan Gosling as the lead!

Games

My other passion is games. I play card & board games, roleplaying games, and video games.

I have over 300 games in my game closet. I focus mainly on Euro games. Favorites include: Terraforming Mars, St. Petersburg, Robo Rally, Dominion, and Dungeon Lords. I haven’t played much in person because of COVID-19, but I do play with friends online using either Tabletop Simulator or Board Game Arena.

Right now, I’m a casual D&D roleplayer. I used to go to conventions where I played, dmed, and once helped run a con. I’ve also played Torg, Call of Cthulhu, and Shadowrun. I went cold turkey when 4th edition came out, and didn’t start playing 5th until about 4 years ago.

As for video games, I started playing video games on an Atari. My first online games were MUDs in the 90’s. I now have over 1,000 games on Steam. I do own a Switch, but I primarily play on the PC. This may change when I get my Steam Deck. I’m can’t wait to have all my Steam games on a portable device that doesn’t weigh 7 lbs. I play mostly indie games now. Common tags in my library are survival, crafting, building, puzzles, roguelite, roguelike, turn-based strategy, platformer, sim, and rpg. I can’t pick a favorite game any more than I can pick a favorite book, but I can list the games I’ve played in the last month: Fall Guys, Going Medieval, Inscyption, Midnight Protocol, Valheim, Patchwork, Hidden Folks, Rogue book, and Beat Saber.

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