The Devil's Hour has done a feat that no tv show has done for me in a couple of years which is making me throw my hands up in the air after the credits roll for the last episode and go

WAIT HOW DOES IT GOES FROM HERE?

Also Peter Dougan Capaldi got bitches good (it's me I'm bitches) when he said he was done with Doctor Who because that had my silly little bean-sized brain so convinced that this show could not have anything to do with wibbly wobbly timey stuffs when it very obviously has something to do with wibbly wobbly timey stuffs. It's true comrades, stanning old men makes you dumb.

I was so dreading this show would portray autistic kids as horrible, straight up demonic little shit but was relieved in the end. The fact that it did the opposite and even grounded a plot point around it was *chef's kiss*.

And yes. Peter Capaldi playing evil maniacs. In handcuffs. Looking like a dried up old owl. So handsome. Need to smack him in the forehead.

Being a Multi-Shipping bastard with a love for rare pairs is such a mood 😂

But yeah, I played Hearts of Stone and I really loved the dynamic of Gaunter and him (just like I loved and was unprepared of the tension between Dettlaff and Geralt in Blood and Wine XD)But when I looked at ao3 there weren't many stories of them and most of them were smut. (Nothing against smut but I want other things too). It's an interesting ship to look at all of the ways it could go. Either the angsty or even dark side of it or a more soft side.

Though it's also interesting to explore how Gaunters interaction would go with other Witchers. I sometimes like to imagine how hard of Stone would have been if it had been another Witcher taking the contract, for example Lambert.

I knew of the Letho/Lambert ship and I def. understand why people ship it but wasn't aware of Eskel/Letho until I saw art of it on your blog!

And on topic of crack ships...I kinda like the idea of Dettlaff/Lambert? It doesn't even have to be in a romantic sense tbh but I think they could have an interesting dynamic.

Response under the cut cause I like to get very wordy lmao

The first time I played HoS I was like “who tf is this creepy man oH NO BAD” and the second time my eyes had been opened and I was like “oH WAIT OKAY” and wow the noise I made when I heard him laugh right before the test thing he makes Geralt do???? Mortifying, especially because I was on call with two friends at the time, rip me

But also the way he says “business with you is pure pleasure” to Geralt(during the “bad” ending)???? Unreasonably horny, Gaunter, who gave you the right

(I haven’t put much thought into Geralt/Dettlaff, but it could be interesting🤔)

So yeah my first instinct with Gaunralt was immediate smut time but I have branched out more, mostly by asking for fic prompts, and explored them a little more as a pair with fascinating potential for both sweet fluff AND dark angst👀 I may explore the angst a little more at some point if the muse permits

Oh man at one point the thought of Gaunter/Lambert did occur to me but the main thing that made me go hm maybe not was that Gaunter hates when people are rude to him, and will outright kill them for it if he can afford to, which I imagine is pretty frequently, and Lambert is usually pretty darn rude. HOWEVER if he needed Lambert for something maybe he’d put up with the rudeness? I haven’t really worked out how that would happen tho but it’s a fun thought

I’ve also considered Eskel/Gaunter, but honestly I feel like Eskel would see Gaunter and just be like “thanks but no thanks” and Nope tf out of there. Tho as I mentioned I can defo see Eskel and Gaunter together but really only with Geralt involved too

I even briefly considered Gaunter/Letho but I can’t see that working particularly well. If Gaunter managed to rope him into something he would probably just do his job and then fuck off immediately without even taking a reward😂😂😂

One day I may explore Lambert/Letho a bit more, it’s an intriguing pairing, but idk how nuanced it would be? In my mind they would kinda just grate on each other’s nerves until they banged I guess, which I can appreciate, but with Eskel/Letho I personally hc them as being able to be vulnerable and sweet with each other, which is something two big scary burly dudes might not be able to find very often... and while I do enjoy the sexy times dynamic of Eskel being the soft and gentle one and Letho being super hardcore, I almost prefer to consider the softer side of Letho and the more aggressive side of Eskel when they’re together? Idk I just love Letho to pieces and I feel like the instinct is to make him super tough and hardcore and unfeeling, but I just want him to be able to be vulnerable sometimes, yknow? It must get tiring to have people assuming you’re a brute 24/7, someone needs to hug him and let him be soft

But yeah I’m pretty sure that about 25% of the Eskel/Letho tag on ao3 is my fics, though the lovely and fantastic @dravenxivuk is actually the one who got me into them in the first place, she does some really incredible art of them too!!!💕

And oooh interesting!! I have no idea how Lambert and Dettlaff would mesh?? Maybe like bc Lambert can have a sort of abrasive charisma he does something offhand for Dettlaff without really thinking and then they sorta become like drinking buddies?? (Basically what happened with Dettlaff and that nobleman whose name I do not remember lmao)

Idk!! I’d be curious to hear more thoughts on that👀

The Busywork of Sniffing Roses

A few weeks back, I was discussing the mounting pressure I felt to provide a consistent flow of content on my blog with one of my friends, particularly when it came to impressions for the video games I play. These always seem to be the ones that draw quite a few readers than my other ones. And these posts also seem to occasionally warrant a like from a random person on the internet, thus validating my very existence. So, you can see why I push myself through the games I play, taking screenshots of inappropriate stunning moments that would further serve to wow or astound my audience.

Yet the way I play my games flies in the face of maintaining a regular schedule. Most of the games that draw my attention are lengthy behemoths. Much like the books I buy, the games I play can get to upwards of eighty or ninety hours depending on how much of a completionist a person can be.

Though I’m not one to chase trophies, I do like to experience most everything a game has to offer before I see the credits roll. For me, the credits are a way to tell me that the game is finally over and that I can set it aside for something else. It is because of this strange perception that I have on games that I strive to do absolutely everything I can before the credits roll. While it does mean I might miss out on playing through the additional post-game content (which is rare in most games but a staple feature in many a role-playing game), it does mean that I’ve basically explored the entire world and done most of the sidequests and minigames that have caught my eye.

In fact, when I platinumed Ghost of Tsushima, the trophy popped just as I wrapped up the main narrative. Why? Because I had essentially cleared out all the outposts, found all the foxes, composed all the haiku and completed all the shrines.

It is also the reason why I spent an entire DAY simply sailing around the Skellige Isles in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. If there is a question mark, I will find out what it is and make it known! The latest entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise also saw me spend far too much time roaming around the vast playgrounds Ubisoft gifted the players. 

This ‘habit’ of mine also very much helped in several other games that I somehow managed to platinum. Like Horizon Zero Dawn. By that game’s end, I was only one trophy away. And, in order to get it, I just needed to hit the straw deer scattered around the village. Easy. Done within the hour.

The problem that comes from my playstyle is that I’m unable to provide a complete and multi-faceted view of a video game until I’ve finished and seen the last few cutscenes. True, I could give an impression of the first few hours and the gameplay, but for this humble blogger, the narrative of the games I play have always been the driving force. Everything else is secondary. My video game literacy is decent. I pick up controls quickly. And while good mechanics do contribute to an enjoyable experience, they’re simply just that: mechanics to move the player from Point A to Point B.

In all honesty, I’d probably struggle through Tetris after the first hour. If, however, a developer could slap on a somewhat riveting storyline for why I was moving all these tetromino blocks to create solid lines, I might be able to push through.

So, despite howlongtobeat.com telling me that the games I’m playing should take a certain amount of time to complete, the yearning I have in open-world games (for which there was a lot released in Holiday 2020) often means that I can’t complete the video games I play within as timely a fashion as I would greatly desire in order to churn out interesting content for all my followers to read. 40 hours? Okay. But why does the game clock say that I’ve already put in 38 hours and after perusing online walkthroughs I only seem to be halfway through?

Gosh darn it! Why did I spent four hours playing Orlog? 

At time of writing, I’m still plugging away at Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon. When this goes up, I’ll probably have started Immortals Fenyx Rising or just bought Bravely Default 2.

The one thing I’m struggling with is how slow it is to level up even during Chapters 9 and 10. Nearly 60 hours in and I’ve done plenty of karaoke, bashed away at dream sheep and got my company to the Number 1 spot on the local Yokohama stock market, but none of my party members have actually hit Level 30.

In saying that, I’m still a level or two higher than the bosses I faced and I haven’t experienced too much of a difficulty curve...

But the progress just seems a little jarring to me. It would have been better if there was a more even grade to the levelling (particularly for jobs). Then again, it IS a Japanese role-playing game and if there’s no grinding...is it really a Japanese role-playing game?

Still, that’s no reason for me to cut out all the things that I enjoy doing in a video game just to make sure I beat the game in a timely manner. There are other things to write about than the video games I play. And maybe there’s an audience for that kind of content as well. Although, truth be told, I’m not sure how many people actually read whatever I throw out into the void that is the internet. Perhaps most people skim through whatever nonsense I write and toss in a like. While others barely glance at my weekly attempts to ensure some kind of routine.

In any case, what I often have to remind myself is that this blog isn’t a job. It’s something fun that I enjoy. The moment it stops being that, it should be an indication to perhaps stop or at least give some thought as to why what previously gave me joy now seems like such a chore.

And that includes the playing of video games. Because, if I’m not having fun with a game, what’s the point? Time is precious and it needs to be spent wisely.

Hey all, Dani here.

I love talking about books. It’s the reason why I started this book blog, but over the years I’ve tried to balance my love of reading with all of my other geeky passions and hobbies. Occasionally that means posting about non-bookish things on here. Honestly this is more like my little corner of the geek universe. Today is one of those days where I just feel this huge need to talk about not quite as bookish things.

I say not quite because today I’m talking about shows that I’ve been binge-watching or re-watching quite recently. However, I can also say that they all have books attached to them, so I’ll talk about both the show and the books that go along with it.

It’s kind of a shorter list, but I’m probably going to gush about most of these for a little bit so it’ll still be a decently sized post.

First off, I have to talk about “The Good Place.” This show just finished its four season run recently, and I’ve somehow managed to avoid spoilers for the season finale, which is really impressive. I’m in the middle of season 3, so I’ll have to wait a little bit to be able to watch the final season, but you guys, this show is utterly amazing! The way it is able to balance all of these deep philosophical and ethical lessons and debates with ridiculous randomness and hilarity, as well as having massively compelling characters is just wonderful.

The character development is pretty exceptional overall as well. Watching these characters, who some of them are self-centered or obnoxious or arrogant or downright evil, learn and grow and change through all of these events that happen, and all of the ethics lessons that are presented to them, it’s just a delight to watch.

I don’t own this book yet, but come on, how cute is the idea behind it? A cookbook based on the show? Like, there are some pretty fun episodes around food and such throughout the show, so I’m excited to take a look at the book in the future.

Next, I’m going to mention one of my more recent manga/anime obsessions, and that is “Fruits Basket.” When it comes to reading I’m only through the third volume of the Collector’s Editions, which I think is like the first 9 volumes of the standard manga editions.

This story is just really cute, and like a lot of manga and anime I seem to enjoy, there is a fairly decent focus on food. It is a shojo manga, which is a story that is aimed more towards a teenage female audience, and the stories typically involve romance. This one follows a young woman named Tohru, whose mom recently passed away, and through a series of circumstances she ends up temporarily moving in with a classmate…only to learn that he and several other members of his family are possessed by the animal spirits of the Chinese Zodiac.

I just think that Tohru is so adorable and caring and compassionate, and watching how she interacts with members of the Sohma clan is really intriguing. I didn’t get into this series back when it was originally released (back in like 1999/2000), and didn’t even actually know it existed back then. I think the only manga/anime I really knew about back then was Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, though I had heard of Dragon Ball Z and all that.

Anyway, I’m glad that Funimation decided to bring back the anime, mostly with the original cast as well. Much like what they did with Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, this new adaptation is supposed to follow the manga more closely. Now, considering I never watched the original series, I can’t say if that’s true or not. But based on images I’ve seen from both shows, I can say that the art and animation style has certainly improved over the past two decades, so that’s great.

I’m looking forward to continuing with this series and meeting the last members of the Zodiac, and seeing how Tohru living with a few of the Sohmas affects and changes them all.

My third current show obsession is “The Witcher.” Clearly I have to talk about this show, because I’m a little bit obsessed with it at the moment. I have the whole season downloaded on my phone so I can watch it anywhere/anytime. I own all of the books. We own a couple of the games.

The action in the show is phenomenal. Okay, yes, if you aren’t fully paying attention, the timeline in season one can be a little confusing, because there’s like three different timelines running at once for most of the show. I personally didn’t have any issues with it, though I know a lot of people complained about it. I enjoyed the costuming, and the magical special effects. The creatures were fantastic. There was a dragon in one of the episodes and he was glorious. Most of the creatures that Witchers hunt were delightfully creepy, which I thought was pretty darn cool.

I had tried to read the first book of stories twice before the release of the show and didn’t make it that far in, because while it was good, I still struggle with translated books. After watching the first couple episodes of the show, I picked up the book again and I was completely hooked. I don’t know what it was but all of the stories and characters and the world, it all just clicked for me, and now I just really want to binge-read the whole series, but at the same time, I want to savor the books…especially since we’re apparently not getting season two until at least early 2021.

Okay, fine, I have another manga/anime to talk about, and that’s “Black Clover.” Yes, I gush about this series pretty much every time I do a Manga Monday review for one of the volumes. I absolutely adore the characters in this show/series, and I’m excited about every time I get to enjoy more of their adventures.

Honestly, seriously, one of my absolute favorite parts about the Black Bulls squad of the Magic Knights is how they work together, and fight together, and stick up for each other, and defend each other, and how they never ever give up. They could be hurt and weak and be at the end of their magical ability, but if the people around them need protecting, the Black Bulls find a hidden reserve of strength and find a way to overcome any obstacle in front of them. It’s really awesome and inspiring.

Plus getting to watch the development of each character’s magic is really fun too. I’m completely caught up on the released volumes of the manga, but I have I think like 40 episodes or something of the anime to watch yet. I’ll be getting to that on my Funimation account next; I want to finish Fruits Basket first.

Finally, my obsession absolutely continues with one of my favorite shows, which you can watch for free on YouTube or you can just listen to as a podcast, and that is “Critical Role.”

Again, this is another one of those fandoms that I’ve talked about a number of times on this blog. I’ve been to three of the Gen Con live shows, I own a whole lot of merchandise, and I just love how this show sparks the creativity of so many and helps to inspire a lot of us out there.

I just, I really connect with the characters, each of them in different ways, but you do grow to really love them, and it’s all improv, and some of what happens is truly decided by rolls of the dice, so you never exactly know what to expect. But the characters and the stories are just complex and they get deep, and sometimes you’re watching it and you get emotional about it. If you’re like me then you get emotional sometimes while thinking about the characters and the story lines. Like, you know, right now while I’m typing this. I’m probably not helped by the fact that I have the show on in the background as I try to get completely caught up. –not having the best internet at home has meant that Damian and I have fallen quite a bit behind. It’s like if we don’t get to watch it live each week that we sometimes forget that we need to watch it.

There are a number of books that can be enjoyed from this fandom. There’s the art books, the prequel comics, a third party 5th edition setting book, and coming in March an official 5th edition setting book. So there’s so much out there to expand the massive world that Matthew Mercer has created and it’s fantastic.

All right, that is all from me for today. What are some shows that you are currently watching/obsessed with? Let me know in the comments, and I will be back soon with more bookish content.

Recommendations: Shows I’m Loving Right Now Hey all, Dani here. I love talking about books. It's the reason why I started this book blog, but over the years I've tried to balance my love of reading with all of my other geeky passions and hobbies.

Nintendo’s first open world game I started playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild earlier this month. I’m a bit behind everyone else, since I wanted to wait until I moved apartments to give myself enough time to devote to the game. I’m only about 35 hours deep so far, which is only scratching the surface but is equivalent to the entire length of a lot of other games. So I feel like I’m qualified to jot down a few of my initial impressions here.  First off - and this goes without saying if you’ve seen the Pixel Grotto Twitter account, which has featured a buttload of BotW content lately - this is a very, very good game. It might be one of my favorite games ever, but since that’s quite the committal statement, for now I’ll just say that it’s invigorated my appreciation for Zelda after an over-reliance on formula and blatant nostalgic repackaging turned me off of the series in recent years. 

Most of all, I’ve been impressed by the open world, which is the first that Nintendo’s designed after years of trying to pretend that an open world Zelda wasn’t what people were asking for. I was honestly kind of worried, because early footage of Eiji Aonuma playing the game with Shigeru Miyamoto featured the two of them talking in a cringe-worthy way about things that had been a given in open world games for the last decade. (“Oh isn’t it amazing that you can set a beacon and go to those mountains alllll the way over there!”) Knowing Nintendo’s track record for not paying attention to what the rest of the industry is doing, it seemed very possible that they would deliver something that amounted to a Ubisoft game in 2010 and then call it a day.  While BotW does have its own version of the dreaded Ubisoft radio towers, I’m glad to report that the open world is of the meaningful variety rather than the “scatter a bunch of collectibles around a map because MOAR CONTENT” school of thought. In that sense, it’s quite similar to the open world of The Witcher 3, which I described two years ago as filled with possibility rather than monotony. In other words, there were interesting side missions and just enough cool stuff visible in the distance to make me actually want to explore, rather than simply to check off a laundry list of quest markers. I find myself endlessly comparing Breath of the Wild to The Witcher 3 (incidentally subtitled Wild Hunt) as I play, probably because they’re the two largest open world games I’ve experienced. So far, both go above and beyond the call of duty at delivering a sprawling setting, though it’s clear that they each have separate strengths. The Witcher 3 is a much more story-driven experience, with nearly every side quest delivering unique twists and plenty of fully-voiced dialogue that BotW simply lacks. (Not surprising, since Zelda has always primarily been a gameplay-driven series despite boasting the best lore out of any of Nintendo’s franchises.) Meanwhile, BotW features tighter combat controls and some interesting light survival mechanics, like hunting, cooking and crafting. This sort of busywork normally annoys me in other games, but it’s presented surprisingly well here, since BotW’s main theme is surviving the wilderness of a post-apocalyptic Hyrule. There is the problem of Link’s weapons ALWAYS breaking, though, which is something Geralt never had to seriously worry about. I don’t hate the weapon durability mechanic as much as Jim Sterling did, but this GIF describes the nonsense of a sword shattering in five hits perfectly.  There are other comparisons to be made - The Witcher 3 features more impressive urban areas and easier horse controls, Breath of the Wild has an in-game camera that lets you take selfies (!!!) - but in the end, both games shine with well-constructed excellence, and Geralt’s third adventure was actually a small influence when it came to BotW’s creation. Eiji Aounuma is quick to say that his team’s biggest inspiration came from their past successes with Skyward Sword, and that his mission with Breath of the Wild was to address the criticisms that game received. He did acknowledge that he played the Witcher and several other western titles for research, though, and I for one am glad that Nintendo finally decided to dig into what their competitors were doing. Zelda needs to follow modern trends - Ocarina of Time was the best game ever when I was 10 years old, but as I got older, other franchises started giving me that unparalleled sense of adventure way more than Zelda, which was content to regurgitate Ocarina’s formula with relatively minor tweaks. Thus far, The Witcher 3 is the closest thing to the video game of my childhood dreams, at least when it comes to delivering that magnificent sensation of travelling across a wonderfully-realized fantasy realm where anything seems possible. But while I still have about 100 more hours to go before I can make a conclusive assessment, it appears that Breath of the Wild might make it up there too. 

Finally, the Zelda franchise has captured my attention again, and it feels darn good.

In my extensive quest for appropriate images for this blog post, I Googled “breath of the wild open world” and “witcher 3 open world,” and jacked the Zelda screenshot from a Daily Dot article and the Witcher pic from this wallpaper site. Thanks Google Images. 

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is Coming to Nintendo Switch in March

February 5, 2020 6:25 PM EST

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is back by popular demand, resurrected by Krome Studios and fan support for current-gen consoles.

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is one of my all-time favourite games. Sure; it didn’t set the world on fire. Some may have said that it’s a ‘Crash Bandicoot clone‘ that ‘makes no effort [to] hid[e] its influences.‘ That doesn’t stop me loving it as much as I do. People like me might be in the minority, but gosh-darn-it there’s enough of us to bring this game back!

Last year developer Krome Studios launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring Ty the Tasmanian Tiger to the Nintendo Switch. Originally released back in 2002 for the GameCube, PS2, and original Xbox, an HD remaster was brought to Steam in 2016 and has received ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ reviews (98%).

The crowd-funding campaign, which aimed to raise $50,000, ended up being backed by over 2500 people and reached $132,242 in total. The stretch goals they hit meant that ports for the Xbox One and the PS4 were now possible. Adapting the code and the base gameplay of the 2016 remaster, news about a release has been rather quiet since the Kickstarter campaign drew to a close. That was, until today.

Written in a blog post to Kickstarter backers, and shared with Eurogamer, the developer confirmed that Ty the Tasmanian Tiger will be coming to the Nintendo eShop on March 31, 2020. They also elaborated on further ports, saying that a PS4 version would come “as soon as possible,” with Xbox One sometime “after that.” In a poll on their Kickstarter page, backers were given the choice about which system, after the Nintendo Switch, should be given priority. PS4 came in as a clear winner.

The Nintendo Switch has seen a number of good ports over its relatively short lifespan, including CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Its porting prowess is one of its unique selling points over its competitors. That being said, very few developers take the time to integrate motion control functionality into their titles. This is where Krome Studios seems to have gone the extra mile, as you can see from the video demonstration below.

Do you have fond memories of Ty’s outback adventure? Will you be picking up this beloved remaster when it comes to the Nintendo Switch at the end of next month? Make sure to let us know in the comments below!

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger releases on March 31, 2020, for Nintendo Switch.

February 5, 2020 6:25 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/ty-the-tasmanian-tiger-is-coming-to-nintendo-switch-in-march/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ty-the-tasmanian-tiger-is-coming-to-nintendo-switch-in-march

Hey all, Dani here.

Well things are about to get real interesting around me. The county I live in in Ohio just got its first confirmed case of COVID-19, but as of right now, my workplace is still open. We’ll see if that changes by the end of the weekend. Is it wrong that I’m hoping things stay open long enough for my book order from yesterday to reach my house? Like that package should reach me by Tuesday or maybe Wednesday. Just let me have those 8 books and then everything can go on lockdown. I know that sounds ridiculous, and I do want people to be safe, so I understand if my shipment is put on hold. I just, the books will be so lonely locked up in a warehouse for a couple weeks.

Okay, so I saw this post over on Sahi’s blog, My World of Books, and it sounded like a fun book tag. And I haven’t done a tag in a while, so this seems like a good time to do one. Anyway, please go check out Sahi’s blog because there is a lot of great content over there, and Sahi is awesome.

Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you

Answer all the questions down below

Pingback to the creator: Ellyn @ Allonsythornraxx

Nominate 5+ bloggers to do this tag

*Feel free to not take the term ‘book’ too literally, please recommend graphic novels, comics and other works too!

1. Recommend a book from one of your favorite genres

My favorite genre is fantasy. I read a whole bunch of it, so that’s going to make this a little bit difficult. Let’s see what I can come up with.

It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I haven’t talked about this book in a little while, and the sequel is out in July.

Here’s the unfortunate part about this duology…a deadly plague is sort of a bit plot point. Apparently it’s bigger in the sequel/conclusion than it is in the first book, but it’s still a fairly big point in the first one. So, if that’s going to affect your current anxiety or mental state then perhaps stay away from this recommendation.

Is it weird that I sort of want to re-read this book soon because of the global situation? Am I just a very weird individual? Yeah, that’s probably true.

2. Recommend a short book

For a short book…how about a series of short reads? The Vox Machina Origins comic series is about to complete its second arc. The first arc was 6 issues of like 24 pages each, or collected into one volume, and the arc has 5 of the 6 issues out, again like 24 pages for each issue. There is action and magic and camaraderie and shenanigans. It’s a pretty good read.

And if you can’t leave your house then you can totally get the digital version through places like Dark Horse Comics or Comixology.

3. Recommend a book-to-screen adaptation

Okay, this one is easy for me. But you know what, I’m just going to go ahead and give you two recommendations. First up is Black Clover, and I definitely recommend both the manga and the anime (Just take my advice and watch it dubbed, not subbed–main character Asta has a habit of annoyingly yelling everything in the subbed; it’s not fun. Dubbed has it mellowed out a little bit). It is a fantastic adaptation.

And honestly, I’ve read both story collections from the Witcher series so far, and those books are what were used to adapt the first season of the Netflix show, and I have to say that they did a pretty darn good job adapting the world, the monsters, the magic, and the story. I’m definitely impressed.

4. Recommend a book out of your comfort zone

I’m still not the biggest reader of science-fiction. I love to watch it but I don’t read it that much. This book was one that took me a while to read because it was out of my comfort zone, but it is one that I’m glad I read and I actually need to read it again. Oh, and there’s also a fantastic TV series based on this 9-book epic sci-fi series, so feel free to check out “The Expanse” as well, either before or after reading the books.

5. Recommend a book series

Hmm…what series shall I recommend for you all today? Okay, you know what, I’m going to recommend a comic series for you guys. Actually, as I tried to find the appropriate image from my WordPress media collection, I realized that I actually have a few different completed graphic novel/comic series that I haven’t talked about in a while, so I might have to do a graphic novel recommendation post soon.

I love Sandman. It’s a great series, with so many different tropes and genres mashed together into a truly wonderfully epic story. Follow Dream, his sister Death, and all of his other siblings, plus a huge host of other characters through this 10 volume set. Seriously, you won’t regret it.

  6. Recommend a standalone

You do know that I mostly read fantasy series right? This is not cool, to make me try and find a standalone book to recommend. Oh boy. Let’s see what I can come up with.

Okay, okay, I found one, and it’s one where I’m immensely sad about the fact that it is a standalone. I was really hoping for this to be like a trilogy, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Anyway, this is a pretty fantastic fantasy read. It’s Pokemon meets Avatar: the Last Airbender, which I thought was a very intriguing concept.

7. Recommend a book you don’t talk about enough

Oh man, this one is hard, I talk about a lot of books quite frequently. Hmm…let’s look through my WordPress media and see if I can find something for this one.

Okay fine, so this is technically more than one book, but you know, I haven’t talked about them in a while, and now seems like a good time to recommend some completed series that people can totally binge-read right now if they so choose.

I was way more into the spin-off series Bloodlines than I was the original Vampire Academy, though both are great series. I just liked Sydney and Adrian more than I did Rose and Dmitri. No hate, please. They are both good couples.

Actually, hmm, I probably am overdue for a re-read of these slightly angsty YA vampire romance books.

8. Recommend your ‘staple’ book

My staple book, my go-to recommendation for the past like 5 years continues to be Colorworld by Rachel E Kelly. I am obsessed with this series and think it is just an absolutely fantastic read. I could gush about these books over and over again, and for a rather long time as well. Actually I do have reviews up for the whole series, so you can check those out: Colorworld, Teleworld, Lumaworld, Shadoworld, Dreamworld, Waterworld: Ezra, Waterworld: Charlotte, and Waterworld: Xavier.

9. Recommend the book/s that got you into reading

Umm…Dr. Seuss???? I have literally been a reader my whole life, so I was too young to recall what book really got me into reading. If you want to go with what book(s) I first majorly fangirled over, that’s a different story.

Why yes, I do have the complete Animorphs series on my bookshelves. I pretty much ordered every single one of these from the Scholastic bookfair/booksale thing they did back in elementary school. And no matter how many book unhauls I do, I just can’t bear to part with any of these books. There are a couple I want to get nicer copies for, because childhood me was not always as good about taking care of books–so #9 and #13 definitely need replaced. I think everything else is fine.

I actually need to re-read these sometime. Oh, I actually did see online that for right now you can read the whole 54 book main series for free, so if you’re at all interested, you can check that out.

10. Recommend 3+ bloggers who recommend great books

Flavia @ Flavia the Bibliophile

Kathy @ Books and Munches

Sofii @ A Book. A Thought

Okay, well I guess this is where I’m supposed to tag people. This is always my least favorite part of doing tags, honestly. So I’m going to slightly cheat, and tag the three bloggers I recommended above and then two more so I hit that 5 blogger mark in the rules.

Flavia @ Flavia the Bibliophile

Kathy @ Books and Munches

Sofii @ A Book. A Thought

Danielle @ Life of a Literary Nerd

Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog

YOU! (if you want to, dear reader)

The Ultimate Recommendations Book Tag Hey all, Dani here. Well things are about to get real interesting around me. The county I live in in Ohio just got its first confirmed case of COVID-19, but as of right now, my workplace is still open.