Saturday, March 9, 2013

Update on New Years Resolutions

A while ago I posted my New Year's Resolutions (Here). It's nearly 2 1/2 months after the start of the year and most people have already stopped going to the gym or given up the diet that they so insistently vowed that they would stick to this year. Thus I figured I would revisit my list to see how I am doing.


  1. Read 100 Books  - I am pretty sure I will make this one as I have read 43 books as of now.
  2. Finish Writing the Book I started during Nano - still only ~1/2 way done, but I have worked a little bit more since my resolution was made. Hoping to finish, edit and self publish using PubIt
  3. Get my house clean and keep it that way... this one is still eluding me, however I think that it will happen this week, well at least the cleaning part, I cannot say if it will stay that way.
  4. Learn new cake decorating skills - I have to admit that I have done nothing with this right now and with no cakes scheduled until May at this point I have no reason to do anything unless I am bored. Hmm maybe later this week... after the house is cleaned of course.
  5. Try something new - I still have no idea what this should or will be, unless I take #6 on the list into consideration but I think I will hold out for something more exciting.
  6. Find a better balance with work - Well I guess that I am working on this one now! Earlier in the week I received a job offer and decided that it worked better for my family for me to take it. After turning in my notice on Wednesday it was decided (by my boss) that my last day would be Friday. So yesterday was my last day at my old job and I have all next week to do whatever. Monday I have my drug screening and have to fill out all the paper work and then on the 18th I will start my new position. It's nothing super cool or revolutionary but I am excited none the less... and perhaps a little scared of the "unknown"  

For the most part I think that I am moving the the right direction to fulfill most if not all of the goals I have set for myself this year, but only time will tell. 

I would love to hear from anyone out there reading this on your own resolutions and if you are following through with them or if they have fallen by the way side.  

Book Club - Link to All Titles

Here is a link to all the Books I have "reviewed." I am going to attempt to review at least one a month but no promises if I get busy.

Divergent (book 1 in Divergent Series) by Veronica Roth

Deep into the Game (episode 1 in Gameland Series) by Saul Tanpepper

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Book Club! Deep into the Game - Gameland series

I love to read so I decided to include a blurb and small review of a book series I just finished called Gameland. The whole of Season 1 of Gameland was put out in 8 separate installments or episodes which are available for e-readers and in actual book format. The first episode in this series is called: Deep into the Game..

From Goodreads:
In the center of Long Island's forbidden wasteland, overseen by an omni-powerful corporation known as Arc Properties, is GAMELAND, a virtual reality arcade where the rich and privileged act out their base fantasies employing zombies as avatars. Connected to their Infected Undead Players via neural implants (government-mandated in the event of an outbreak) and using remote gaming controllers, Operators pit the Undead against one other in a high stakes game of violence, money and power. For the poor, the televised action on state-controlled Media streams is both horrifying and powerfully addictive.

Volunteering to become an Undead Player is illegal, but the lure of fame and money attracts some to The Game.


EPISODE 1: Deep Into The Game
Zpocalypto gamer Jessica Daniels and her gang of code jackers decide to break into Long Island's Gameland hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the Infected Undead, and in doing so they risk additional years being added to their Life Service Commitment (a civil or military obligation fulfilled after death). But getting past the barriers - the EM field, the wall surrounding the island, the mined waters - requires the assistance of a stranger to their fold. His inclusion raises tensions within the group, particularly between Jessie and her boyfriend. So too do the risks mount. After a terrifying "accident" during preparation nearly takes the life of one of their members, emotions run dangerously high, threatening to abort their plans.
But they press on, and what they find when they finally arrive in the abandoned wasteland is like nothing they ever expected. Their excitement, however, quickly turns to dread as the reality of their situation - and the dangers - become all too clear.



About Saul Tanpepper the author (from his website):
"after high school, studied pre-medical sciences. i was fascinated with the natural world and, in particular, the workings of the human body. my interests grew keener and keener so that i eventually went on to do my doctoral dissertation in molecular genetics. after that, i taught science. but even though i had left behind that old barren field of my childhood, it didn't mean i ever stopped thinking about
it. in 2001, i wrote and published a short story, BREACH, a tale of hauntings and murder and primal evil.

in 2008, i left my teaching job to write full-time. i still think about that old field and those old stories, but now my tales are haunted by newer things, secrets learned as a scientist. seeded with my understanding of human genetics and disease, the fallow field of my childhood is beginning to sprout, producing fruit for your consumption."




Read this if you like: the Walking Dead, Zombies of any sort and post apocalyptic scenarios such as Divergent (which I previously reviewed) or Hunger Games this might be a series that you enjoy. 

My opinion:
The story of Jess and her friends and family and their lives in a zombie made world is compelling and makes you want to read through the night to know what might happen next. The thought of reanimating recently dead people and using them as an army so fewer people are killed or as sewer cleaners in both genius yet disturbing. Its something that I had never thought of but I can see multiple sides to all arguments which is why I probably never decided how I felt about some of the roles certain characters play in this world.

There are some slow parts in the books that slow down a bit and they had me eager for the pace to pick back up but I also felt that the slow parts were necessary as they were also parts when the characters had to slow down physically and could do nothing but anxiously wait for one thing or another. Whether this was intended or just happens to be my take on the scenarios, I enjoyed the parallel.

Throughout the series I found myself attempting to guess what would happen next and unlike most books and movies I can honestly say I had no real clue. Each book leaves a cliffhanger that leaves you wanting to know what happened next and pulls you into the next book. True that not every question is answered in the series but that's how it is in our everyday lives as well so I see no real issues with it. Some of these questions are answered in the prequel, Golgotha which takes place ~18 years prior to the Gameland series.

Pro:
From what I can see on Mr Tanpepper's website it looks as though he is going to be continuing the Gameland series with a second season which will hopefully be beginning publication of the first new episode in the next few months (yippie!). My only reservation will be that I will only be able to get one episode at a time and thus not be able to read the entire season in a weeks time. Looks like I will have to hang onto the cliffs until the next episodes are published.

Con:
For me the most aggravating part was when my Nook would have complications and not want to turn pages or would simply say that it had to stop running my book. I do not know if it was because I was reading the Omnibus version which is like 3200 pages and thus it was running slow as a result or if the book program itself was faulty, in any case its the only book that I have had this issue with.