The Residence is a book about the haunting of the White House during President Franklin Pierce’s term written by Andrew Pyper. The timing seemed perfect to read this book since it
The Residence Review – A Haunting in the White House
The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes
The subtitle of this book is The Hunger Games #0. However, it actually covers the 10th hunger games. It mainly takes place in the Captial. Not the glamorous Captial in the original trilogy, but instead a battered, war damaged city in the middle of being rebuilt after the district war.
Being relatively new, many changes were implemented during this Hunger Games, such as gambling, sponsor donations and television appearances for tributes. We are presented with a teenage Coriolanus Snow who is part of a new mentor system for the tributes representing the 12 districts in the Hunger Games. We learn a lot about the youth who would grow up to become the brutal President Snow, such as his experiences during the district war and the aftermath. Not to give the plot away, this book provides a clear picture of how Snow became the man he was in the original trilogy. As their family saying goes,
Book Review: No Filter – The Inside Story of Instagram
I first heard about this book while listening to an interview podcast episode on The Verge with the author Sarah Frier. It sounded very interesting and so I decided to give it a chance. After finishing No Filter, I don
Book Review: The Century Trilogy
The Century Trilogy begins with Fall of Giants which starts at the beginning of the 1900
PC Gaming on the Nintendo Switch
I recently noticed most of the games on my Nintendo Switch were originally released for PC. In fact, many of them I already own on PC. But, why would I repurchase games I already own? As much as I love my Nintendo Switch, the graphics and resolution will always be better on PC. For the record, my Switch game collection includes:
- Bioshock infinite
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Diablo 3
- Civilization VI
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- Minecraft
For me, I find when I game on my PC, I have to dedicate most of my attention to the game. However, with my Switch I can usually have the TV going at the same time and multitask. This plus the fact I can play the Switch just about anywhere (unless it
The New Abnormal
It has been two months since I
Book Review: Code to Zero
This thriller book was an exciting rocket ride right to the end. The story takes place in the late 1950’s during the Cold War and the space race between the US and USSR. We start off with our main character, who has no memory of who he is and how he ended up in such a strange situation. Follett does an amazing job drawing out this character by having him rediscover his identity and the people in their life. The pacing in the book kept me intrigued throughout the story. The mystery of our main character amidst a critical rocket launch, creates a tension filled backdrop with elements of love and hatred, camaraderie and betrayal and ideological differences. I highly recommend Code to Zero for anyone wanting to read a great mystery thriller in the Cold War era.
Animal Crossing Time
Animal Crossing New Horizons launched a month ago on Nintendo Switch. Being a huge Animal Crossing fan, I had my preorder in for a digital copy. (Downloading games instead of getting the physical copy is so much easier.) I
Reality Sinks in – One Month of Social Isolation
Today marks one month of my social isolation as a result of COVID-19 safety measures. This involves working from home, staying home except for the essentials and keeping a two meter distance from others. The first week, it was a bit of a novelty, including thoughts of money and time saved. As time passed and more news started coming in, reality has slowly sunk in. News of people passing away, people you know who have become infected, makes it impossible to ignore.
Thoughts of the
A Fortnight of Social Distancing
Today marks two weeks of social distancing as a result of COVID-19, which feels like a good time to think about the changes. As everyone should know at this point, staying at home is the best way to combat this virus. Luckily, I am able to work from home and I have everything I need to do my job. At first the biggest change is dealing with the lack of connecting with people face to face. Technology does provide a lot of alternatives such as social networking, messaging apps and video chat. Another difference is having almost no travel time. In two weeks, the only traveling I have done is just quick walks within a few blocks of my home. There are many paths in the area and very few people use them, so it
